2014 Mercedes-Benz CLA250 Long-Term Road Test - Wrap-Up

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2014 Mercedes-Benz CLA250 Long-Term Road Test - Wrap-Up

Our long-term test of the 2014 Mercedes-Benz CLA250 is complete after one year and 19,751 miles.

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redskinsdmv

In short, don't be suckered into buying this minimalist car with quirks to be ironed out.

Debunker

On the highway the other day, I overtook what turned out to be a CLA, and before I recognized it for what it was, I thought that that was a pretty ugly rear-end. From the side, it looks better, but there's just too much going on visually for such a relatively small package. I don't think the looks are going to age well. Audi is very much better in this regard. As for the hard ride, for lots of prospective buyers, the suburban roads between home, the country club, and Nordstrom's are probably pretty smooth.

cotak

Of course the Audi's going to age better, it's a jelly bean and that candy hasn't changed design in years. Audi have taken a page from the Porsche book of auto design where the cars look the same year after year. Some would say that's fine, why fix something that's not broken.

I on other hand thinks the well Porsche don't look that great except for their higher end models like the 918, where they do try different things. And the same goes for Audi some of their high end super car or near super car models are great. Otherwise it's that jelly bean again and again and again.

I think Mercs are looking pretty sharp now a days. Sure they are taking some risks but shapes of cars and design evolves. All 3 German lux auto makers used to have boxy cars and none of them still do that. So what's wrong with the new Mercs? Nothing that I can see in terms of design.

chol92594

The three Germans simply have different takes on design. MB has radically changed their design language in recent years (Just look at a last-gen E-class, for example), more so IMO than BMW and Audi. Some of their new models are better-received than others and some are simply polarizing at first. I remember how ugly I thought the new E-Class looked, but now that it's been around, I've warmed up to it (think E60 5 Series).

Audi's designs may not be as daring, but they're a little more timeless and age better. A 10 year old A4, A6, etc. still looks relatively modern today. Their design may not be as extravagant or flashy as what MB is making, but clearly there are plenty of people that are alright with the more subdued design language that Audi employs. For example, my grandma owns an 07 A4 cabrio and still finds people coming up to her (who obviously don't know much about cars) thinking that it's a pretty new model. I've always thought that Audis age a little better than their German peers, but at the end of the day, design is subjective and it all comes down to the preferences of the buyer.

What I find more relevant is that MB managed to screw up the ride of the CLA as much as they did. As the A3 has shown, it's possible to make a compact, entry level luxury sedan with a FWD architecture that rides and handles as you would expect a German luxury car to. Giving the CLA the sport suspension as stock (it's optional in Euro markets) for the US market was a big mistake. Even though it handles well, I think a small decrease in handling prowess would be an acceptable trade-off if the stock suspension on Euro models provide a more comfortable ride.

mercedesfan

@chol92594,

Actually, a lot of people are going to find that the A3 doesn't ride like you expect a luxury car to. It's still a pretty firm riding car. In fact, it rides like most Audis, which is to say there is an underlying harshness to the way it deals with pavement imperfections. However, the CLA rides so terribly (and the 2er from BMW isn't all that much better) that the A3 seems like a full-fledged luxury car in comparison. If you compare the A3 directly against more honest luxury sport sedans like the 3-series you realize that it really isn't all that special.

barryhuber

Resale value = shocking. The appeal of this car continues to confound.

skyguy62

I always felt that Mercedes were designed to look like a box that cars were shipped in. Wealthy white haired men sat straight up proudly in "black" ones and their trophy wives zipped to tennis matches in "white" ones. At 70, I jumped from my jeep to a "Northern lights violet", ok purple, CLA 250 and have enjoyed driving for the first time since my 1964 1/2 Mustang fastback! Everything in between was transportation, way to go MB.

meteor10

A class is much better car to my mind. it is more harmonic