2019 A Class - Cracking Lease deals or otherwise

[Noel1983]

A thread for us to chat through tips/tricks etc relating to the 2019 A Class that a bunch of us have coming from the various great lease deals around recently.

Mine's a A180D AMG Line in Mountain grey that arrives Fri 26th April

Already checked with local dealer and they've said that Mercedes Connect Me app can be enabled with proof of lease, carplay can be enabled for £267 (too pricey to be worthwhile given its a one year lease for me)

[Noel1983]

NSS89 said:

Nice to know re the Mercedes Me app as I know that was causing a bit of anger/frustration amongst us leasers.

Apple CarPlay is worth it only if you will make use of it everyday. I've seen loads of listings on eBay which offer it for around £99 but it seems to be for the gens previous to ours - hopefully they will be able to do the new gen soon and at that price it would be much more appealing.

Has anyone rang around and enquired about the first service cost?

The me app was related to my carplay request but they seemed alright about it, who knows maybe it'll just work lol

Ref service, I'm waiting to buy a pair of trousers with more pockets so I can get £300 worth of cake and biscuits out of them when I go!!

[Noel1983]

page3 said:

Re. servicing - I was quoted £350, £475, £350 (all these including loan car of £50) so ended up just getting the 3 year service plan. Don't save much but just simpler. Considered juggling for two services but doesn't quite work for me on my mileage.

Edited by page3 on Tuesday 23 April 16:16

Just checking on the mercedes southwest site and looks like £282 in Exeter for my A service

[Noel1983]

page3 said:

My A180 AMG-Line lease arrived beginning March.

I've bought the CarPlay upgrade and it works well. Wouldn't be without Audible, Apple Books and Apple Maps.

Was that at £267? Did you get it as a factory fit option or post delivery?

[Noel1983]

Nice!!

Yes v5 stays with them

Out of interest what’s the reason for people blurring number plate when they post? Just curious
Cheers

[Noel1983]

figtree said:

Cheers, thought so.

Plate cloning.

Cheers, have you tried the mercedes app yet? Interested to know if that works ok or if we have to go into the dealer to get activated with proof of lease.

[Noel1983]

figtree said:

With these 12 month deals we've got it'll only be about 6 months till we have to start looking again

Wonder if there'll be an extension option???

Do we ever stop looking?!?! I’m now firmly on the hunt for something for the wife when her Tucson goes back in February.

All being well I’ll be getting a Model 3 as my next one! Actually buying it! Crazy times!!

[Noel1983]

figtree said:

Wow, big bucks aren't they?

Depends what price they release them at, currently in Europe the premium long range models are around £50k. However because it's an electric no emissions vehicle buying through my company (I'm an IT contractor) saves me 19% corporation tax so that wipes a big chunk off it straight away.

Then the depreciation should be very very strong on them and the fuel savings and the man maths and even the real maths adds up really well!

[Noel1983]

figtree said:

Can't beat man maths! My boss has a Model X, it's a bit nice

Now THAT is a big chunk of change!!

Way I'm thinking is that 2x7 inch screens in our A classes, well that adds up to 14 inches so that's some way on the way to the big tesla screen lol

[Noel1983]

Just arrived on a transporter, 20 miles on the clock. Initial impression is very good. Have to work now so a few hours before I can play properly.
Chuffed!

[Noel1983]

longblackcoat said:

Our CEO has an X, and I've driven it a fair few times. Other than the powertrain (which is deeply impressive) the rest of the car leaves me cold. I hate the touchscreen controls - unintuitive and takes longer than needed to make some reasonably basic adjustments - and find the cabin really austere.

Then there's the actual quality. It feels shockingly cheap inside, which for a £100k+ car is utterly unacceptable - I'd go so far as to say it it feels no nicer than the Hyundai Ioniq I was driving earlier this week. It's been reasonably unreliable, too; the CEO's needed a new drive motor which I'd imagine is far from cheap, plus a fair number of other items. Yes, it's warrantied, yes a courtesy car is provided each time, but it would be suicidally expensive to run one out of warranty as you absolutely have to go back to Tesla.

Ignoring the gimmicks of the Falcon Doors and the first-adopter coolness, and putting aside the genuinely brilliant drivetrain, it's a rubbish £100k car. The steering's horrible, the brakes are worse, and it's just not what I'd call luxurious. The forthcoming Mercedes EQC will, I suspect, completely slaughter it.

Interesting, I've not driven an X but i've driven and been in a bunch of Model S' and have been impressed with the quality.

The Model 3 I sat in in the states last Summer was good too. Like you say it needs to impress for £100k.

[Noel1983]

Couple of updates

Impressed at it having more than half a tank of fuel at delivery. Damn sure won’t have that when I give it back

Just in the process of activating Mercedes me connect....three calls to mercedes later here’s the steps

Pair phone via Bluetooth
Register in the Mercedes me app
Use a computer to go to mercedes.me and login and accept all terms and conditions

Sit in the car
Press the me phone button in the ceiling,
Accept the prompt on the screen to transfer vehicle data

It will connect the call to the me call centre.

They’ll activate stuff for you

Then depending how far you got on the computer earlier on go back to a completed (Mercedes have just told me it MUST be windows) they don’t support Mac (wtf?!) and go to mercedes.me
Login, click to activate all the services then through to verify your identity and click start video chat

Give up because it still didn’t work...!!!

I’ll try again in the morning! Looks promising though the list of services it can do is pretty big! Not sure if it needs a SIM card in the car or not, more instruction book reading required

[Noel1983]

junglieD said:

For those of you on a 12-month lease (very jealous of that deal you secured) - why would you bother having it serviced? surely handing it back 2-weeks early is much more logical? Or if you do service it then you'll be wanting to extend for 6-9 months surely? Otherwise enjoy the car - I'm seeing lots more on the road now and I'm not surprised, they're very good.

Cheers for the info, agree you’re right the end result won’t be riveting especially once I see the price of the ‘apps’ etc but need to sort it lol

Re early hand back my understanding is it isn’t reduced cost for early handback.

Also all the current deals are for pre reg cars registered in March so would be handing back six weeks early. Guess it’s all down to when they were prepped and activated. I’ll check when I pop into the dealers!

[Noel1983]

Dan123collins said:

I FTK and had my order confirmed on a A250 AMG line premium with Perth Mercedes today, I want it for October when my lease Cupra is due back so not fussed about a speedy delivery.

I had a long think about the Apple car play option - costs £500 and I would only have bought it for using google maps in the car ( not bothered by Spotify or texts etc ). but the MBUX sat Nav looks like one of the best built in systems and had live traffic apparently, anyone care to comment on the built in sat nav ? Have I messed up and should have stumped up the extra ?

Car play can be enabled for £267 at the dealer post delivery so if you want it definitely better than £500!

I’ll report back on nav, my hesitation is whether to trust it vs Waze and google maps that have saved me spending hours In traffic on a number of occasions so will probably keep them on as backups for long journeys

[Noel1983]

In the dealer now as couldn’t get the identify check bit to work

On the upside the cake and drink selection is reasonable!

[Noel1983]

Very helpful friendly chap in Exeter service department has verified me put me to trust level 3 and in a short while the world should be great!
Am prepared to be underwhelmed lol

[Noel1983]

page3 said:

Not seen any other red ones on the road, so here goes - after a wash with GYEON Q2M Bathe+ followed by Q2M Wet Coat. Seriously impressed, considering I'm used to having to polish/wax.

Lovely colour!!!

[Noel1983]

Where in the app is it showing you the date of service? Any chance of a screen shot as I can’t see it in mine?

Cheers

[Noel1983]

tanti007 said:

Morning.

Long time lurker

Looking to get either the A-Class or the CLA Coupe for myself.

Was wondering how much does it cost to service a Mercedes if i dont opt for the Maintenance option through the dealer. ?

Annual service, first one is £282 down here in a devon then I think they get more expensive from there!

[Noel1983]

250Mb map update came down and installed without a hitch this morning using the cars data connection (put my phone onto flight mode to prove it wasn't using mine!!).

Also started using the Hey Mercedes functionality and actually works well. Pleasantly surprised!