Topic: Test Drive: 2017 Mercedes-Benz CLA 250 4Matic

[Niklasky]

It seems like the upcoming CLA will put things right, it should be much nicer inside and out, as per the newly presented A Class.

[Jaeger]

Ouch!!!

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2018/02/barks-bites-mercedes-benz-cla-250-shining-beacon-inauthenticity/#more-1614064

More bad press about this car. This a a stinging review.

Wow....everything we've said about the CLA in a nutshell. Its not scathing, its the real deal

Yup. Dropping truth bombs left and right.

The worst part is if Honda, Toyota, hell, even Kia, came out with a car this poor, everyone would be all over them, but this is a Benz, we are supposed to be blinded by the hood badge. Might work on the ignorant types, actually by the number of these I see around it has, but anyone who goes into a test drive and actually looks at the car objectively will be highly turned off.

Believe it. Badge wh0res are some of the most vocal and belligerent of car enthusiast. Thankfully we have few if any here that fit this description.

I'd argue that badge whores aren't enthusiasts though. Most enthusiasts, I would submit, would share the opinion of this article and buy a car on merit. The problem is that this car doesn't even do anything better than cars that cost less and in many cases does things worse.

Semantics. They are a subset of people interested enough in cars to spend the kind of time that you and I do discussing them on public forums. You can say they aren't enthusiasts because their priorities are not yours or mine, but that's an arbitrary exclusion, if a welcome one.

[Noto]

It seems like the upcoming CLA will put things right, it should be much nicer inside and out, as per the newly presented A Class.

Perhaps, but has pricing been announced?

[OliverD]

It seems like the upcoming CLA will put things right, it should be much nicer inside and out, as per the newly presented A Class.

Perhaps, but has pricing been announced?

The car hasn't even been announced.

[evil_twin]

Ouch!!!

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2018/02/barks-bites-mercedes-benz-cla-250-shining-beacon-inauthenticity/#more-1614064

More bad press about this car. This a a stinging review.

Wow....everything we've said about the CLA in a nutshell. Its not scathing, its the real deal

Yup. Dropping truth bombs left and right.

The worst part is if Honda, Toyota, hell, even Kia, came out with a car this poor, everyone would be all over them, but this is a Benz, we are supposed to be blinded by the hood badge. Might work on the ignorant types, actually by the number of these I see around it has, but anyone who goes into a test drive and actually looks at the car objectively will be highly turned off.

Believe it. Badge wh0res are some of the most vocal and belligerent of car enthusiast. Thankfully we have few if any here that fit this description.

You're the guy who removed the Hyundai badges off his Genesis right 

[carcrazed]

I agree about the CLA 250 being a bad buy.  Would you say the same to people who buy the AMG CLA 45?  375hp/350tq in a small body sounds good on paper, but that interior isn't up to MB standards.

[carcrazed]

I agree about the CLA 250 being a bad buy.  Would you say the same to people who buy the AMG CLA 45?  375hp/350tq in a small body sounds good on paper, but that interior isn't up to MB standards.

There's at least an argument to be made with the AMG. I still think one can do better but one can at least field an argument. You can't do that with the 250. You have no argument other than you wanted a cheap Benz.

Yup.  A female friend bought a CLA and I thought "typical", then I noticed that it was a AMG CLA 45. So thought, "Good for her".

[Niklasky]

It seems like the upcoming CLA will put things right, it should be much nicer inside and out, as per the newly presented A Class.

Perhaps, but has pricing been announced?

The car hasn't even been announced.

It doesn't need to be. You know it's coming. There are spyshots of it here and there.

[Jaeger]

Ouch!!!

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2018/02/barks-bites-mercedes-benz-cla-250-shining-beacon-inauthenticity/#more-1614064

More bad press about this car. This a a stinging review.

Wow....everything we've said about the CLA in a nutshell. Its not scathing, its the real deal

Yup. Dropping truth bombs left and right.

The worst part is if Honda, Toyota, hell, even Kia, came out with a car this poor, everyone would be all over them, but this is a Benz, we are supposed to be blinded by the hood badge. Might work on the ignorant types, actually by the number of these I see around it has, but anyone who goes into a test drive and actually looks at the car objectively will be highly turned off.

Believe it. Badge wh0res are some of the most vocal and belligerent of car enthusiast. Thankfully we have few if any here that fit this description.

I'd argue that badge whores aren't enthusiasts though. Most enthusiasts, I would submit, would share the opinion of this article and buy a car on merit. The problem is that this car doesn't even do anything better than cars that cost less and in many cases does things worse.

Semantics. They are a subset of people interested enough in cars to spend the kind of time that you and I do discussing them on public forums. You can say they aren't enthusiasts because their priorities are not yours or mine, but that's an arbitrary exclusion, if a welcome one.

I'm not quite sure about that. I personally think anyone who buys a CLA is blind. Not only is there better value out there but there are better cars in objective terms for the same or lesser price. Cars that do the exact same thing.

I think that's different than (to use another debate on the forum) the difference between a KIA Stinger and a S5 Sportback. In this sense there's more than the badge. The S5 is objectively better - the only thing at play is the value proposition, which is quite a valid and important argument. This is more of an enthusiast argument. People who know cars.

I really think that for the most part people who don't know cars are the ones buying CLA 250s.

Well badge wh0res are a much larger clas s than just CLA buyers. And they aren't the ones who choose an S5 over a Stinger because the former is objectively better. Their choice is informed by entirely different criteria. They exist as a group whether you wish to acknowledge them or not and whether you wish to include them in the subset of enthusiasts or not. They are for  sure enthusiastic about their cars.  But they are not enthusiastic about the objective merit of a vehicle independent of its badge.

[OliverD]

It seems like the upcoming CLA will put things right, it should be much nicer inside and out, as per the newly presented A Class.

Perhaps, but has pricing been announced?

The car hasn't even been announced.

It doesn't need to be. You know it's coming. There are spyshots of it here and there.

Oh I know, but I think it's odd to ask if pricing has been announced if the car hasn't even been announced.

[Hannibalsmith]

I wonder if there is such a thing as "reverse-badge-whore' ?

[Fobroader]

I wonder if there is such a thing as "reverse-badge-whore' ?

Someone that drives a Mitsubishi Mirage 

[Weels]

rich guys driving around in beaters?

[johngenx]

rich guys driving around in beaters?

That happens.  While not a beater, a friend I met through MBCA and PCA has a really nice stable of cars including an old 300SEL 6.3 and a 993 C4S, but his daily driver is an about-15-yr old Tahoe.  He has no need to "be seen" in something expensive and he just likes his old Tahoe.

Even though they're quite wealthy, when his daughter finished high school, she was THRILLED that her parents bought her a 2008-ish used Civic.  She expected nothing of the sort.  Doing parenting right.

[Niklasky]

I have Chinese kids in my neighborhood who drive around in a Porsche Cayenne Turbo S and a Land Rover Discovery. They are students.

[Noto]

My neighbours with the 440i GT, TTRS, GLK350, ML350, and C63S AMG moved out at year-end.  Best. Moment. EVER!  I may or may not have danced in the street as the UHaul pulled away.

[Sir Osis of Liver]

rich guys driving around in beaters?

That happens.  While not a beater, a friend I met through MBCA and PCA has a really nice stable of cars including an old 300SEL 6.3 and a 993 C4S, but his daily driver is an about-15-yr old Tahoe.  He has no need to "be seen" in something expensive and he just likes his old Tahoe.

Even though they're quite wealthy, when his daughter finished high school, she was THRILLED that her parents bought her a 2008-ish used Civic.  She expected nothing of the sort.  Doing parenting right.

I noticed this kind of thing in Saint John. Really wealthy families with really down to earth cars, and houses.

A distant relative retired as a VP at the Bank of Nova Scotia. He was also a very adept investor in his own right. He was worth millions, but you'd never know it. Lived in a townhouse, and by the time I met him had sold his old car and just taxi'd it everywhere.
His son was at least as good with money. Retired at 40 lived in a rather humble apartment and drove a Dodge Aries or 600.