Topic: First Drive: 2014 Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class

[Snowman]

The only reason I drive an Audi is because I have 3 Japanese cars backing me up.

Have you suffered from similar reliability problems as Sailor? Over the past year how many times have you had the car back to the dealer for warranty work?

Zero....and I beat on it. This is my first venture into German muddy waters and I am nervous.

[Railton]

The only reason I drive an Audi is because I have 3 Japanese cars backing me up.

Have you suffered from similar reliability problems as Sailor? Over the past year how many times have you had the car back to the dealer for warranty work?

Zero....and I beat on it. This is my first venture into German muddy waters and I am nervous.

What's the mileage on it now Snowy?
Railton

[johngenx]

Zero....and I beat on it.

But what about the car?

[CanuckS2K]

Zero....and I beat on it.

But what about the car?

  

[rrocket]

Zero....and I beat on it.

Completely stock...cough, cough...no ECU tune...cough, cough......

[Snowman]

Zero....and I beat on it.

But what about the car?

   you would beat it if you had this car 

[Snowman]

The only reason I drive an Audi is because I have 3 Japanese cars backing me up.

Have you suffered from similar reliability problems as Sailor? Over the past year how many times have you had the car back to the dealer for warranty work?

Zero....and I beat on it. This is my first venture into German muddy waters and I am nervous.

What's the mileage on it now Snowy?
Railton

13, 4xxk as at today.

[sacrat]

Not clear to me why everyone is so down on M-B deciding to become a full line car company in NA.  Not that they have much choice with the upcoming CAFE.   They have sold As and Bs, and Cs with tiny diesels in Europe for years and now they are making a push here with a clever use of the B ( extended A) platform to make a small sedan that will appeal more to Americans than the hatchbacks and be cheaper than the C class.   What the hell is so upsetting about that?

Because it's not an infinitely upgradable RWD monster truck. Can't show up anywhere in something like that in Alberta 

haha.  awesome.   that pretty much sums it up.

Really?! Can you be any more prodigiously stupid? I'm looking at the show guide for the recent Calgary International Auto and Truck Show. Here are the vehicle ads in order from page 1.
 
1. Ford Escape 2.Acura RLX 3.Chevy Silverado 4.Cadillac ATS 5.Subaru Forester 6.Mazda 6

Got it? One truck out of six ads.

Calgary was also chosen as the only Canadian Auto show to have the $2.4 Million Bugatti Veyron on display.

Much like Northridge, many Albertans own an American pickup as well as a luxury German sedan because they use them to do work, not as "Cowboy Cadillacs".

I guess I shouldn't be surprised to hear such drivel coming from the (former) "Centre of the universe", but please, GET WITH THE TIMES (before they leave you behind).

p.s. Check out the latest issue of MoneySense to see which city they voted as best in Canada (it wasn't Toronto or Ottawa)

[safristi]

  Drumheller? ?? ..................why aren't ya out driving aboot
that fabulous FLAT 200,000 Acre ex cow pasture? ?

[dirtyjeffer]

i don't know why this CLA is getting so much hate, and why it is being compared against an ATS...you'd think it was being made by Hyundai to be garnishing so much flack.

like the new B250, i think this is a great vehicle for MB to launch here...the move to upscale downsizing is becoming stronger, and that is a good thing...not all of us need 3 ton Buicks or thirsty Ecoboost F150s, but still want some style and features, and vehicles like this offer just that, without having to re-mortgage the house to get them.

i think what MB may be saying here is, look, we can make a sexier Camry...the Camry and Accord sell a TON of vehicles, despite being bland and FWD...it wouldn't surprise me to see many of these on the road over the next few years...and comparing it to an ATS is silly, this isn't a sports sedan, the ATS is.

[Fobroader]

Not clear to me why everyone is so down on M-B deciding to become a full line car company in NA.  Not that they have much choice with the upcoming CAFE.   They have sold As and Bs, and Cs with tiny diesels in Europe for years and now they are making a push here with a clever use of the B ( extended A) platform to make a small sedan that will appeal more to Americans than the hatchbacks and be cheaper than the C class.   What the hell is so upsetting about that?

Because it's not an infinitely upgradable RWD monster truck. Can't show up anywhere in something like that in Alberta 

haha.  awesome.   that pretty much sums it up.

Really?! Can you be any more prodigiously stupid? I'm looking at the show guide for the recent Calgary International Auto and Truck Show. Here are the vehicle ads in order from page 1.
 
1. Ford Escape 2.Acura RLX 3.Chevy Silverado 4.Cadillac ATS 5.Subaru Forester 6.Mazda 6

Got it? One truck out of six ads.

Calgary was also chosen as the only Canadian Auto show to have the $2.4 Million Bugatti Veyron on display.

Much like Northridge, many Albertans own an American pickup as well as a luxury German sedan because they use them to do work, not as "Cowboy Cadillacs".

I guess I shouldn't be surprised to hear such drivel coming from the (former) "Centre of the universe", but please, GET WITH THE TIMES (before they leave you behind).

p.s. Check out the latest issue of MoneySense to see which city they voted as best in Canada (it wasn't Toronto or Ottawa)

People living in the COTU forget that there are lots of Albertans that dont sit in cubicles to make money. They make lots of money by actually having to visit a well site every now and then, cant take an E63 to see that,  but a Gmc Denali 1500....no problem. You cant reason with anyone that cheera for the Leafs )

Sent from my Galaxy S3

[Ex-airbalancer]

Not clear to me why everyone is so down on M-B deciding to become a full line car company in NA.  Not that they have much choice with the upcoming CAFE.   They have sold As and Bs, and Cs with tiny diesels in Europe for years and now they are making a push here with a clever use of the B ( extended A) platform to make a small sedan that will appeal more to Americans than the hatchbacks and be cheaper than the C class.   What the hell is so upsetting about that?

Because it's not an infinitely upgradable RWD monster truck. Can't show up anywhere in something like that in Alberta 

haha.  awesome.   that pretty much sums it up.

Really?! Can you be any more prodigiously stupid? I'm looking at the show guide for the recent Calgary International Auto and Truck Show. Here are the vehicle ads in order from page 1.
 
1. Ford Escape 2.Acura RLX 3.Chevy Silverado 4.Cadillac ATS 5.Subaru Forester 6.Mazda 6

Got it? One truck out of six ads.

Calgary was also chosen as the only Canadian Auto show to have the $2.4 Million Bugatti Veyron on display.

Much like Northridge, many Albertans own an American pickup as well as a luxury German sedan because they use them to do work, not as "Cowboy Cadillacs".

I guess I shouldn't be surprised to hear such drivel coming from the (former) "Centre of the universe", but please, GET WITH THE TIMES (before they leave you behind).

p.s. Check out the latest issue of MoneySense to see which city they voted as best in Canada (it wasn't Toronto or Ottawa)

People living in the COTU forget that there are lots of Albertans that dont sit in cubicles to make money. They make lots of money by actually having to visit a well site every now and then, cant take an E63 to see that,  but a Gmc Denali 1500....no problem. You cant reason with anyone that cheera for the Leafs )

Sent from my Galaxy S3

I would like to know is how many people are actual born in Alberta ?
Or are they all like Haper born in The GTA could not get layed, drop out of U of T and then move to Alberta 

[sacrat]

I would like to know is how many people are actual born in Alberta ?
Or are they all like Haper born in The GTA could not get layed, drop out of U of T and then move to Alberta 

And then became Prime Minister? Poor guy...

[jyarkony]

i think what MB may be saying here is, look, we can make a sexier Camry...the Camry and Accord sell a TON of vehicles, despite being bland and FWD...it wouldn't surprise me to see many of these on the road over the next few years...and comparing it to an ATS is silly, this isn't a sports sedan, the ATS is.

Why not compare it to the ATS? Once the CLA arrives, both will be their brand's smallest sedans, with accordingly small back seats, priced from the mid-high 30s to the 50s, and offer the option of 2WD or AWD attached to a DI 2.0L turbo. As much as the ATS credibility as a sports sedan means something to enthusiasts, a lot of shoppers will simply be looking at it as entry level luxury and won't be so hung up on the primary driven wheels....

They may not compare as sport sedans on a track, but they will be compared by plenty of shoppers with $40-$50K (or whatever equivalent in monthly pease payments) as small luxury cars.

[sailor723]

ok let's compare.  for most people, the ats being the better sport sedan will be meaningless.   being 10k dollars more than the cla won't.

i think it will be easy to keep the price of the cla 4matic under 40k.  right now all i see is high 40's to low 50's for the ats 2L awd.  10k is not chump change.  then we have the a3 sedan which is going to be announced on march 27th.  i expect the a3 sedan to start around 32k.  both the cla and a3 are going to be seen as much cheaper alternatives to the 3 series, a4, c class or ats/cts.  while the germans cover their bases, caddy pretends they deserve to be pricing their cars like they are all that and a bag of chips.   then there is the q50, which is going to ring in at or below the ats as well.  people can argue until they are blue in the face about how good the ats is (and i agree it's very good) but they are fighting an uphill battle against brand loyalty (to other brands) and their own idiotic packaging. 

as i sat down with the sales guy the other day trying to build an ats and all i could think was, hey wait, the a4 is cheaper and this thing is as expensive as a 3 series!!   WTF?   (see that, i used capitals.  )   this is caddy blowing an opportunity to win over new customers.

I have to agree. I think there are a lot of "non-enthusiast" buyers who will look at the ATS vs CLS and think "jeeze...I can get a similar (size/trim/features) car for 10 grand less and it's a Mercedes Benz!"  As it's been said before....a good percentage of buyers don't know and don't care which wheels drive their car.

[Sir Osis of Liver]

There are a lot of non-enthusiasts which still hold Cadillac as a premier brand too. I know more than a few who would have no clue what an Infiniti was.

[Rupert]

   Nice car and ATS/CLS comparo's are valid in my opinion. Sensible power and torque and driven at right end for best average utility. Luxury at, getting to be, a reasonable price and size for some...(not me, don't have an oil well to visit in back 40, in schlupping truck). All singing and dancing high stepping muscle has few places to go to do the same. I don't think that FWD or RWD makes much difference here for most. Not to say that AWD would not be better for some...but if you don't need it, why bother. I don't think that I could bring myself to punish such a nice looking product just for fun. I 'admire' it a lot...'like' is reserved for purchase possibility...er, when the well comes in. No one seems to remember all of the years when us erstwhile raggedy arsed kids west of Ottawa river...payed over the odds for gas in order to finance the wells requiring schlupping trucks to 'not dirty' the sporty limo to go and ogle. Ah well.