That’s right.
Your friends laughed in the past at your pie-in-the-sky plans to posses a Mercedes someday. But you can take a ball-peen to that piggy bank of yours, because your day has finally arrived in the cramped backseat of a supreme German sedan.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
Ordering up a Mercedes is sort of like ordering from a salad bar. Maybe you’re content with the 2014 CLA250’s 2.0-liter 4-cylinder turbocharged engine as is… or maybe you don’t want to leave until all the majestic AMG dressings are dripping from your metaphorical Mercedes salad. If the latter is more your speed, you’ll probably be seeing between $45,000 and $60,000 – but you’ll also be seeing 208 horses transform into 355 horses, while the torque goes from 258 to 333 lb-ft.
Even if its standard status is enough for you, remember that there’s no escaping taxes – which will likely drive it up from a list price of under $30,000 to the mid $30,000 range.
But at either (comparatively) economical price, are you only paying for the name?
Jason Allan, a reviewer from Kelley Blue Book, didn’t seem to think so. Although Allan concedes the coupe-like sedan doesn’t have the roomiest interior, he’s quick to add that it doesn’t detract from the driving experience. In his review, he said, “we spent six hours in the car … and never felt cramped or confined in front. Most of the practical compromise affects the back seat and trunk.”
Another reviewer claims that “The 2014 CLA250 sports some fine tech from the Mercedes-Benz catalog and presents a stylish look, but its driving character is far from satisfying.”
Finally, a third reviewer compared it to (bear with me here) Hyundai and Kia. Before you throw rocks at the poor guy’s windshield, he was just trying to make the point that, regardless of name, real luxury is already affordable and Mercedes-Benz is just now beginning to offer that in what he describes as:
“A car priced, including options, a tad north of $36,000 – not inexpensive, but a heck of a lot better than the $47,000 BMW 328d (diesel) I drove a week earlier.”
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