A class/CLA 180 Not what it seems

[Sheepshanks]

neil1jnr said:

Where I live, most people aspire to or buy German because they perceive them to be better in everyway.

The engine in the CLA180 is from Renault. Same with the small diesels in other Mercedes models.

[neil1jnr]

Or they have a toy that does less than 20mpg when you drive it properly and so want something thats well built, a good drive and cheap to run?
[/quote]

Disagree. If they are saving money for a weekend car you wouldn't be buying a Mercedes, if you required a new cheap car you could tick the boxes with a car costing nearly half the A180 or just buy a cheap old runaround.

[neil1jnr]

Sheepshanks said:

neil1jnr said:

Where I live, most people aspire to or buy German because they perceive them to be better in everyway.

The engine in the CLA180 is from Renault.

Really? Thanks for the ammo to take to my friend (not that I personally find anything wrong with Renault's capability to produce engines, but because it will really wind him up).

[Buzz Lightyear]

neil1jnr said:

Sheepshanks said:

neil1jnr said:

Where I live, most people aspire to or buy German because they perceive them to be better in everyway.

The engine in the CLA180 is from Renault.

Really? Thanks for the ammo to take to my friend (not that I personally find anything wrong with Renault's capability to produce engines, but because it will really wind him up).

I can't imagine it's the case with a CLA, but worth trying to look as it will wind him up more.

But on a Mercedes's new Citan van which shares a lot of Renault stuff, in particular the engine; when you open bonnet of the Citan you will be able to see Renault logo's on certain parts of the engine and pipes.

[braddo]

neil1jnr said:

Or they have a toy that does less than 20mpg when you drive it properly and so want something thats well built, a good drive and cheap to run?

Disagree. If they are saving money for a weekend car you wouldn't be buying a Mercedes, if you required a new cheap car you could tick the boxes with a car costing nearly half the A180 or just buy a cheap old runaround.

Why would you assume they are saving for the weekend car? Some people want a new, premium car but don't care about outright performance. That might be because they have a £5k or £50k toy in the garage, it really doesn't matter.

Someone mentioned this A180 does 0-60 in a bit over 9 seconds. That is perfectly adquate for the vast majority of motorists. You are looking at this with petrolhead tunnel vision.

[Debaser]

PH can be hilarious sometimes.

[ArsE92]

Holy crud. What a ste thread.

[neil1jnr]

braddo said:

neil1jnr said:

Or they have a toy that does less than 20mpg when you drive it properly and so want something thats well built, a good drive and cheap to run?

(ORIGINAL POSTER)

Disagree. If they are saving money for a weekend car you wouldn't be buying a Mercedes, if you required a new cheap car you could tick the boxes with a car costing nearly half the A180 or just buy a cheap old runaround.

(MY POST)

Why would you assume they are saving for the weekend car? Some people want a new, premium car but don't care about outright performance. That might be because they have a £5k or £50k toy in the garage, it really doesn't matter.

Someone mentioned this A180 does 0-60 in a bit over 9 seconds. That is perfectly adquate for the vast majority of motorists. You are looking at this with petrolhead tunnel vision.

(YOUR QUOTE)

Of course I am looking at it through petrolhead tunnel vision, that's my way of thinking. Seriously, if you have £20K, unless badge is the most important factor, there are so much other cars worth having as new over the under-powered Merc.

My original post wasn't about who would buy them, I was just genuinely shocked that Mercedes sell a 1.6L turbo car, where it is badged as a A180/CLA 180, when logically A160 would be more fitting, and is called a 'sport' when there is nothing sporty about it. The reason I checked up on the car was becuase I was told it would be quicker than mine.

I had assumed it was in the region of 180-200bhp, just shocking it's 122bhp and they charge what they do for it. If it had 200bhp I could understand but the rest of the car can't be THAT much better than say a Focus ST with 250bhp for similar money (MY POST)

EDIT: The quotes are all messed up, makes it hard to understand who said what, added brackets at end of each persons post.

Edited by neil1jnr on Monday 15th September 13:25

[900T-R]

neil1jnr said:

Styling is the eye of the beholder but IMO, why pay thousands more for the Merc, when a Focus Zetec S has arguably a better chassis, better engine etc, I think it is crazy how people pay soo much extra just to have that badge and a slightly nicer interior.

Have you sat in each? I did.

Ford still thinks people with enough money to buy a new car will be, like, 17, and want their interiors to look like a ghettoblaster.

Also the Focus now feels a bit big and ponderous while the A-Class reminds me of my MINI Coopers, if you can live with the harsh ride it's actually a sharp and agile steer. You won't notice the difference between Ford's 150 bhp and Mercedes' 122, either - if anything, the merc feels more eager and the engine's smoother, too.

Another point is that at least on the EU market where the mainstream brands aren't being discounted by that much, the Mercedes works out to be pretty much the same price spec for spec, and the premium brand cars in addition to being better and more tastefully finished, tend to hold their value better.

To be honest, after comparing prices and options of the Mercedes, Volvo, Audi A3 with those of Fords, Renaults and Citroëns I'm left to wonder what mugs still buy the latter these days...

[NotAnotherTrader]

95% of all new cars are leased not bought with cash so for most people spending £180-£200 a month the thought is do I want a Ford Focus or do I want a Merc A/CLA they work on a trade off between budget and the vehicles economy and rarely on performance, if they want a fast car the pay £50 a month more and get the 250 or 250 cdi.

To a person leasing a car over a 2/3 year term a ford, Renault, citroen cost the same as or close enough to a premium brand. So why not go for the "premium"?

[BugLebowski]

Worst "my ford is faster than a slow merc" thread ever......

[moffat]

NotAnotherTrader said:

95% of all new cars are leased not bought with cash so for most people spending £180-£200 a month the thought is do I want a Ford Focus or do I want a Merc A/CLA they work on a trade off between budget and the vehicles economy and rarely on performance, if they want a fast car the pay £50 a month more and get the 250 or 250 cdi.

To a person leasing a car over a 2/3 year term a ford, Renault, citroen cost the same as or close enough to a premium brand. So why not go for the "premium"?

Finally someone who gets it.

First of all since the vast majority of new cars are bought on finance or leased the cost of buying a car also depends on other factors such as depreciation, CO2 etc.

For a fleet purchase for company cars MB's, Audi's, BMW's tend to have such good residuals it will make them similarly prices or cheaper than the non-premium brand.

I totally get why someone who doesn't car about performance but wants no VED and 60mpg+ on a car that has strong residuals (A180 CDI).

I would also argue that most of the premium brands have nicer interiors too.

Long gone are the days where Ford, Vauxhall etc offered competitively priced alternatives. Just look at the sales figures and ask a few fleet buyers why they prefer to buy a BMW 3 series over a Vauxhall Insignia.

[kambites]

True, but the "premium" brands only have better residuals because the second-hand market (which consists mostly of cash buyers?) values them higher.

[Old ford]

the cars may well be faster than yours - HP means very little - its all in the gearing and how they get there...

Ive driven the CLA and compared to a Toyota, ford and Vauxhall it beats them all hands down in the sense its a nicer car to drive, rides better, no squeaks rattles, air noise, anything really - you don't even hear the wipers moving, at all... you cant compare it to the others for build quality - it feels a really solid build.

fwiw I think the CLA is nicer than most other cars on the road just now - its not a boring euro box made by one company but bagded up by 3 different companies as a different car.

Edited by Old ford on Monday 15th September 16:55

Edited by Old ford on Monday 15th September 17:00

[neil1jnr]

Wow, I didn't know base spec German cars with French engines had such fans.

Pistonheads, where 'badge', 'premium', 'interiors' and 'holding value' matters.
Come on guys, you don't have to defend it to the hilt, I just find the marketing of these car's and their defenders quite amusing. I know it brings in £££ but come on, 122bhp, you can even have an A/CLA 180 'AMG sport'!

I love proper German metal too but not this sort of tripe from Mercedes, I guess I am a mug for not driving German.

Edited by neil1jnr on Tuesday 16th September 00:17

[StottyEvo]

It is a sheep in wolfs clothing, especially with the AMG kit.

[900T-R]

Sheepshanks said:

The engine in the CLA180 is from Renault. Same with the small diesels in other Mercedes models.

Nope, that's the 180 cdi (Renault 1.5 dci), we were dicussing the petrol A180 which has a proper Mercedes engine

[xRIEx]

neil1jnr said:

Wow, I didn't know base spec German cars with French engines had such fans.

Pistonheads, where 'badge', 'premium', 'interiors' and 'holding value' matters.
Come on guys, you don't have to defend it to the hilt, I just find the marketing of these car's and their defenders quite amusing. I know it brings in £££ but come on, 122bhp, you can even have an A/CLA 180 'AMG sport'!

I love proper German metal too but not this sort of tripe from Mercedes, I guess I am a mug for not driving German.

Edited by neil1jnr on Tuesday 16th September 00:17

It's not a case of defending it, it's a case of questioning why you feel the need to attack it. It's not a particularly PH sort of car, the vast majority of drivers are not petrolheads, it has its place in the market.

[StescoG66]

Nope -it's a Renault engine in the CLA180
mrs had one for a weekend trial -albeit in 220 guise. It was utter utter ste. Spent the weekend parked up after the first drive

[clonmult]

StescoG66 said:

Nope -it's a Renault engine in the CLA180
mrs had one for a weekend trial -albeit in 220 guise. It was utter utter ste. Spent the weekend parked up after the first drive

From browsing the renault range, they don't appear to offer that engine in any of their cars - at least they don't offer anything with a 1595cc, 120bhp (it is not 122bhp - you're all being generous) engine.