RE: Mercedes A45 AMG: Review
Discussion
Schnellmann said:
SonicHedgeHog said:
nicfaz said:
On nav, please educate me because I honestly don't understand. Why would I blow £2k on Merc nav when I already have tomtom on my iPhone? As I understand it, tomtom with traffic and iq routes can still claim to be the best nav in terms of real world performance. And I don't find it much hassle to plonk the phone in a holder on the dash/windscreen and pop the charger in. Why why why? You'd normally have to be seriously rich to contemplate blowing £2k on something, but otherwise rational people on 5-figure salaries do this. I just don't get it.
If you're buying a ten grand supermini then you've got a point. However, if you're buying a £40k, top of the range Merc then you really don't want a crappy iPhone bracket attached to your dashboard, sucker marks on your windscreen or cables dangling everywhere. I can think of few ways to make your expensive car look cheap than a naff aftermarket sat nav.And for those Pistonheaders whose sole mission in life is to get maximum badge for their buck, having integrated sat nav makes sense from a resale perspective. You won't get all your money back, but you will get some and more importantly the car will be more desirable to dealers and private buyers.
pilchardthecat said:
Well I am the sort of person, and I am looking at both.
In which case you don't need 4 seats, a boot and everyday usability. My guess is you're coming for the other direction - you're looking for a used 911 or something similar and this Merc has appeared on the scene and you're having a look. My bet is there is very little chance of you buying the Merc because its not really the car you're looking for. Is that a reasonable guess?Edited to add, if you're doing 60 miles every day to work on top of all your other driving that would be quite a lot of miles to put on a 911 turbo. I think I'd take a close look at the value of high mileage examples and whether you're likely to need to replace some expensive components. So such worry with the Merc of course.
Edited by SonicHedgeHog on Tuesday 9th July 22:26
SonicHedgeHog said:
rudecherub said:
But a good head unit costs around a quarter of that £2k and will give sat nav, blue tooth, play dvd's etc and no wire, or suckers or holders
In a regular used hatchback you may have a point, but in a brand new £40k Merc I think not.rudecherub said:
TBH I don't get it, this kind of tech is obsolete in 6-18 months, a traditional din unit is upgradable any time, but I can see why manufacturers want to sell you their more expensive kit.
Because you don't buy a £40k Merc with a nice integrated dashboard and then rip out the stereo, bung in a £500 aftermarket unit and fill in the gaps with an adaptor plate. On a ten grand, used Ford Focus its fine, on a top of the range Merc it is not.Durzel said:
I agree, and I personally wouldn't spend £37k (£40k+ when optioned sensibly) on this car
Just as well Mercedes aren't courting the owners of 10yo hot hatches then...When will you people understand? Someone needs to buy cars new at RRP(-ish) for you to fantasise about comparing one to a new car price 3-10 years down the line!
loudlashadjuster said:
Just as well Mercedes aren't courting the owners of 10yo hot hatches then...
When will you people understand? Someone needs to buy cars new at RRP(-ish) for you to fantasise about comparing one to a new car price 3-10 years down the line!
Whoa there sport! Before you get too carried away with the profiling I said I wouldn't consider spending that sort of money on this car, mainly because it doesn't float my boat, not that I wouldn't consider spending (or couldn't afford to spend) that sort of money period. When will you people understand? Someone needs to buy cars new at RRP(-ish) for you to fantasise about comparing one to a new car price 3-10 years down the line!
I even made the same point as you regards people having to buy the new cars to end up being available on the used market.
Surprised the review turned out so positive, was afraid this AMG was just meant to impress on the Autobahn. Glückwunsch AMG and looking forward to the video 
.
Price in the UK seems almost reasonable for what you get IMO. Just been to the German configurator. The base car + only the thermo thingy automatic climate, heated cloth seats, basic radio, bluetooth and Becker portable nav system => 54k € so around 46k GBP. Leasing four years translates to a charge of 80 cents / km (based on 15k km /year). Nein danke...
.Price in the UK seems almost reasonable for what you get IMO. Just been to the German configurator. The base car + only the thermo thingy automatic climate, heated cloth seats, basic radio, bluetooth and Becker portable nav system => 54k € so around 46k GBP. Leasing four years translates to a charge of 80 cents / km (based on 15k km /year). Nein danke...
SonicHedgeHog said:
Because you don't buy a £40k Merc with a nice integrated dashboard and then rip out the stereo, bung in a £500 aftermarket unit and fill in the gaps with an adaptor plate.
That is exactly what I'm doing to my AMG Merc. The dashboard is indeed nicely integrated, but the COMAND head unit is prehistoric in it's functionality and the audio equipment is not up to scratch at all.I'd say this sounds like a Mitsubishi Evo with a classier interior and more subtle looks, and that sounds like an appealing combination.
In 2007 a bog spec Lancer saloon would set you back £9,999 where as an Evolution IX FQ-360 was £35,539. The A comes in at £20,370 in it's most basic spec, so by this logic £37,845 for the A45 sounds pretty reasonable.
In 2007 a bog spec Lancer saloon would set you back £9,999 where as an Evolution IX FQ-360 was £35,539. The A comes in at £20,370 in it's most basic spec, so by this logic £37,845 for the A45 sounds pretty reasonable.
SonicHedgeHog said:
New vs used is only relevant if you you're not bothered about having a new car. Some people on this site refuse point blank to even consider a new car. Others take great delight in speccing and owning a brand new car that is the latest model with all the latest features. Throwing used alternatives into a discussion about new cars is predictable, tedious and unhelpful.
...because its a valid discussion about the Merc A45 AMG and inevitably people will as there are on this thread making these sorts of comparisons . It is evidently a genuine alternative for some - it is after all a forum where discussion and viewpoint are welcomed and not shot down simply because other's perfectly valid input is not agreed with ..SonicHedgeHog said:
Is your car brand new?
Not brand new, no, I should have read back further. If it were a brand new MB I might still upgrade it the head unit though. The MB kit is dated by years before it hits the showroom. Quite possibly I'd buy a different car, it's very disappointing spending £40k on a car and realising it's secondary source of entertainment is poor. MB, Porsche and BMW are all guilty of this IMO.EdM said:
...because its a valid discussion about the Merc A45 AMG and inevitably people will as there are on this thread making these sorts of comparisons . It is evidently a genuine alternative for some - it is after all a forum where discussion and viewpoint are welcomed and not shot down simply because other's perfectly valid input is not agreed with ..
No, the same old s
t about "new cars are too expensive and look at what you can get 2nd hand instead" is not helpful, since that applies to every single new car on sale. But if no-one fronted up and bought the cars new, there wouldn't be the cheap used cars you like to use in such comparisons.So it's not a valid discussion. But it comes up in every single thread about a new car!
braddo said:
EdM said:
...because its a valid discussion about the Merc A45 AMG and inevitably people will as there are on this thread making these sorts of comparisons . It is evidently a genuine alternative for some - it is after all a forum where discussion and viewpoint are welcomed and not shot down simply because other's perfectly valid input is not agreed with ..
No, the same old st about "new cars are too expensive and look at what you can get 2nd hand instead" is not helpful, since that applies to every single new car on sale. But if no-one fronted up and bought the cars new, there wouldn't be the cheap used cars you like to use in such comparisons.So it's not a valid discussion. But it comes up in every single thread about a new car!
– but is it really worth £37,845? Not if you’re making the usual PH comparisons with used M3s and the like. But the world doesn’t always work like that. Factor in a decent finance deal (ducks) or people who just want something discreet, effing fast and untouched by another’s bottom and it doesn’t look too pricey to me.
Guess there's always going to be opposing views from different camps on this..
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