Any experience of the CLA250e?

[400SE Dave]

Hi All

My company car is coming up for change and have been looking at the CLA250e as a possible option. Anyone have any experience of them or the latest gen CLA in general?

How does the car handle, how is the transition from EV to petrol power, is the gearbox still a bit laggy as in older mercs? Is it comfortable for longer journeys? Any common faults/issues to be aware of?

Thanks, David

[Ron240]

I have the current CLA. I havent pushed it so cant comment on handling, but it is very comfortable and relaxing on longer journeys.
I don't know about common issues but mine has had a wind whistling type noise which occurs around 50mph and was diagnosed as a misaligned bonnet. This cured it for a while but has recently returned.
Only other small thing that bothers me is the doors not shutting correctly unless you use more force than what I have previously been used to. Maybe this has something to do with the frameless design, but I will get used to it.
Overall though it is a very smart looking car and I am very pleased with it.

[400SE Dave]

Ron240 said:

I have the current CLA. I havent pushed it so cant comment on handling, but it is very comfortable and relaxing on longer journeys.
I don't know about common issues but mine has had a wind whistling type noise which occurs around 50mph and was diagnosed as a misaligned bonnet. This cured it for a while but has recently returned.
Only other small thing that bothers me is the doors not shutting correctly unless you use more force than what I have previously been used to. Maybe this has something to do with the frameless design, but I will get used to it.
Overall though it is a very smart looking car and I am very pleased with it.

Thanks for the comments, appreciate the reply

[PrancingHorses]

They look fab and with the premium package it has pretty much everything you could want. Considering getting one for my daughter. 45 miles around town on electric only is enough to pretty much use this as an electric only car. Sounds promising but struggling to get a test drive as they are so rare.

[Ron240]

PrancingHorses said:

Considering getting one for my daughter.

Now that's a very lucky daughter to have a new CLA bought for her.
I have the Premium Plus which adds multibeam led and panoramic roof. Both are desirable but as you say Premium trim provides everything you need.
I also specified the no cost option red/black leather which looks great and brightens up the interior.
The new shape CLA is extremely rare on the roads and dealer stock....I've had mine since June and have only seen 1 other on the road.
I didnt bother with a test drive(even if it had been possible) and I am very happy with it.

[400SE Dave]

PrancingHorses said:

They look fab and with the premium package it has pretty much everything you could want. Considering getting one for my daughter. 45 miles around town on electric only is enough to pretty much use this as an electric only car. Sounds promising but struggling to get a test drive as they are so rare.

That might be next bit of fun although I had a walk around the local MB dealer carpark last night and the have a new white one so unless it already is for an order I hope to get a test drive. Think that concerns me is the 1.3l petrol engine as I currently have a 330e.

Lets see

[Ron240]

400SE Dave said:

I had a walk around the local MB dealer carpark last night and the have a new white one so unless it already is for an order I hope to get a test drive. Think that concerns me is the 1.3l petrol engine as I currently have a 330e.

You were very lucky to find a 250e in stock, and even luckier if its not already sold.
I wouldn't worry about the engine size because the trend with these hybrids is to allow a smaller petrol engine to be fitted, although your 330e with a 2 litre is an exception. I know where your coming from on this though, because for the standard models I completely dismissed the 1.3 litre engine and went straight to the 2 litre.
The 250e combined output is 260 hp which puts it approximately 30 hp down on your 330e, but the CLA is a much more stylish car IMO.
The 250e has 36 hp more than my 250, but it is slightly behind on the 0-62mph sprint with 6.6 and 6.3 seconds respectively. This will most likely be due to the 250e having to contend with an additional 190kg of weight.
Just for the record my 250 does not feel that quick on the road.

[400SE Dave]

Booked a test drive for Sunday and it is the CLA250e

Thanks for a good overview Ron, not expecting a sports car but just like something that can pick its feet up whilst keeping the tax bill down

[Ron240]

I'll be interested to hear your initial impressions after your test drive Dave.
By the way mine is white too.

[raspy]

400SE Dave said:

That might be next bit of fun although I had a walk around the local MB dealer carpark last night and the have a new white one so unless it already is for an order I hope to get a test drive. Think that concerns me is the 1.3l petrol engine as I currently have a 330e.

Lets see

Look beyond engine capacity or bhp. In the real world, torque from the electric motor will play a big difference in how good the car is to drive.

The CLA250e has more combined torque than the latest BMW 330e, despite having a "1.3 petrol engine"

[Ron240]

raspy said:

Look beyond engine capacity or bhp. In the real world, torque from the electric motor will play a big difference in how good the car is to drive.
The CLA250e has more combined torque than the latest BMW 330e, despite having a "1.3 petrol engine"

I agree with this.
The 330e has 420 Nm while the 250e has 450 Nm.
Not a great deal more but should be less auto gear changing required in the 250e but ultimately slower on the road compared with the 330e, albeit not by a huge margin.

[400SE Dave]

Had the test drive today and I walked away quite impressed. Much more shove in pure elec mode and plenty when running using both. You can it gets a little wheezey at the top end but that is not what I want the car for.

It was an AMG Premium spec, not sure if that has any stiffer set up than standard but you could still feel it was a bit softer than my m-sport set up now, no bad thing and not meant as a criticism. Quite a lot of road noise I thought but apart from that I thought it a good overall package.

Latest interior is a big improvement on the last a-class I drove.

As this would be my company car I await the numbers to see how it stacks up but would be happy to go for one

[anonymous-user]

As a company car, they sneak over 40 miles range and are in the lowest emissions band, so the BIK is about 35 quid for a basic rate taxpayer and 70 quid a month for a higher rate tax payer.

We removed Mercedes from our car lists a few years ago, as they didn't have any PHEV options, or I'd have ordered one myself. Step down from a 5 series, but over 300 quid a month BIK saving.

[Ron240]

400SE Dave said:

It was an AMG Premium spec, not sure if that has any stiffer set up than standard but you could still feel it was a bit softer than my m-sport set up now, no bad thing and not meant as a criticism.

Below the 35 and 45 cars all CLA are identical under the skin....including wheels and tyres, it is only engine power and trim spec that sets them apart.
There are 3 trim specs but the 250e only has the upper 2 - Premium and Premium Plus.

Thanks for the quick review...sounds like you enjoyed the experience. To be honest I would quite like to try one myself just for the curiosity factor to see how it feels compared to my 250.