4000 Miles are on the clock, perhaps sooner than we had expected. A few longer runs and using the car in preference to the Audi.
Fuel consumption (average) is now over 38mpg.
Down to London I can get 50mpg.. coming home it is not as high as that, late 40's.. not sure if that is just my heavier foot wanting to get home.. or it is really downhill to London and uphill back.
Sunday 11 October 2009
Monday 31 August 2009
2000 Miles
Well we have now gone past 2000 miles.
So far so good.
Fuel consumption is gradually rising to around 36mpg. I am not sure how much of this is due to more miles on the engine... or more fuel economic miles.. longer runs, motorway miles.
I do like the car, and given a choice of driving my Audi A4 or the Mercedes, I will choose the Merc. The only thing which perhaps needs some getting used to is the sports seats - which are a touch hard. So for a long trip, it can be a touch uncomfortable - but you don't ache when you get out.
Wheels need some detail work each time the car is cleaned. There are a lot of surfaces and difficult to get the sponge into. However they do look good when cleaned up.
So far so good.
Fuel consumption is gradually rising to around 36mpg. I am not sure how much of this is due to more miles on the engine... or more fuel economic miles.. longer runs, motorway miles.
I do like the car, and given a choice of driving my Audi A4 or the Mercedes, I will choose the Merc. The only thing which perhaps needs some getting used to is the sports seats - which are a touch hard. So for a long trip, it can be a touch uncomfortable - but you don't ache when you get out.
Wheels need some detail work each time the car is cleaned. There are a lot of surfaces and difficult to get the sponge into. However they do look good when cleaned up.
Saturday 25 July 2009
New windscreen - further books from Mercedes
In the past week we have had a big wallet from Mercedes, full of blurb and a questionaire. They seem to be trying to get some image !
Other news, stone chip right in the centre of the windscreen - had it checked out and needs a new screen. Unlucky with these.. my wife has now had 2 new screens in 6months - and I had one on a BMW a couple of years ago. Previously 20 years.. nothing.
Other news, stone chip right in the centre of the windscreen - had it checked out and needs a new screen. Unlucky with these.. my wife has now had 2 new screens in 6months - and I had one on a BMW a couple of years ago. Previously 20 years.. nothing.
Sunday 12 July 2009
500 Miles
We have smoothly passed the 500 mile mark. We are still getting used to it, but so far, no major issues.
A few strange things crop up that you don't expect. For example we both noticed something strange with the auto rain detector. When you clean the screen.. the water comes up in an almost foam bath spray.. which is fine. However the windscreen wipers constanly flick the last drops of water between each other..directly over the rain detector sensor.. so they never shut down.. 10,15 wipes and still they are going. So eventually you need to switch the windscreen wiper off to shut them down. A bit of a silly mistake, particularly since the wipers look very un-conventional when they wipe.. what was the point if they don't work that well ? Why not use a regular - simple design. Perhaps I will need to see how it works on a real rainy day.
Fuel consumption isn't brilliant, though we didn't expect it to be for the moment. Low 30's as it's mostly running around the local roads. We will have to see how it is after a few thousand miles and then on longer motorway runs. However I don't think it will ever catch the Audi, so that will always be the car of choice when we are looking at fuel consumption for longer journeys.
The car still is quite eye catching in this model and colour. Several people have commented on the colour type and wanted to know what it was, they were choosing a Merc also.
A few strange things crop up that you don't expect. For example we both noticed something strange with the auto rain detector. When you clean the screen.. the water comes up in an almost foam bath spray.. which is fine. However the windscreen wipers constanly flick the last drops of water between each other..directly over the rain detector sensor.. so they never shut down.. 10,15 wipes and still they are going. So eventually you need to switch the windscreen wiper off to shut them down. A bit of a silly mistake, particularly since the wipers look very un-conventional when they wipe.. what was the point if they don't work that well ? Why not use a regular - simple design. Perhaps I will need to see how it works on a real rainy day.
Fuel consumption isn't brilliant, though we didn't expect it to be for the moment. Low 30's as it's mostly running around the local roads. We will have to see how it is after a few thousand miles and then on longer motorway runs. However I don't think it will ever catch the Audi, so that will always be the car of choice when we are looking at fuel consumption for longer journeys.
The car still is quite eye catching in this model and colour. Several people have commented on the colour type and wanted to know what it was, they were choosing a Merc also.
Thursday 25 June 2009
First 100 miles
First 100 miles have past, un-eventful in a good way.
The suspension is certainly firm and you are worried about speed bumps.
Rear parking sensors - never realised you had to look in the mirror, as they are placed at the back of the car. So in order to see where you are with the sensors you need to look around. I was thinking it would be more based on sound with a visual backup. It is the other way around, the sound is quite brief. Perhaps that is based on feedback from customers, but it is very different to how most cars work.
I noticed a discrepancy between the brochure and the actual car. The brochure says the Sport model has uprated brakes front and rear. On the actual car, only the front are uprated.. with cross drilled discs and mercedes badge calipers.
The suspension is certainly firm and you are worried about speed bumps.
Rear parking sensors - never realised you had to look in the mirror, as they are placed at the back of the car. So in order to see where you are with the sensors you need to look around. I was thinking it would be more based on sound with a visual backup. It is the other way around, the sound is quite brief. Perhaps that is based on feedback from customers, but it is very different to how most cars work.
I noticed a discrepancy between the brochure and the actual car. The brochure says the Sport model has uprated brakes front and rear. On the actual car, only the front are uprated.. with cross drilled discs and mercedes badge calipers.
Monday 22 June 2009
Car Delivered
The car turned up from the dealer - and they efficiently showed us how it worked - all the normal stuff. (No flowers though ! when I was at the dealer last time, I noticed a basket of flowers had been placed in a car to be delivered.. so I expected the same, shame particularly since the car was for my wife)
I asked a few questions (where was the boot cover we had asked for.. missing).. and the representative was very helpful.
A couple of things I hadn't picked up on were.. no dipstick ! so you can't check the oil. Just rely on the sensors...
The tyres have low pressure sensors.. so again, no need to check - and then the more amazing thing, 30 year breakdown cover (as long as you maintain the car according to mercedes schedule)
It took a bit of time to work out the radio programming and also the blue tooth phone system.. which is a bit of strange system. It doesn't seem to have the same functionality as the blue tooth we have in the other car (Audi A4) or the navigation system.. which can basically do everything. This blue tooth only can give the numbers.. not the phone books. Similarly, the ipod connection will be limited. At least there is a 12v connector in the glovebox so that you can connect everything up in one place.
I asked a few questions (where was the boot cover we had asked for.. missing).. and the representative was very helpful.
A couple of things I hadn't picked up on were.. no dipstick ! so you can't check the oil. Just rely on the sensors...
The tyres have low pressure sensors.. so again, no need to check - and then the more amazing thing, 30 year breakdown cover (as long as you maintain the car according to mercedes schedule)
It took a bit of time to work out the radio programming and also the blue tooth phone system.. which is a bit of strange system. It doesn't seem to have the same functionality as the blue tooth we have in the other car (Audi A4) or the navigation system.. which can basically do everything. This blue tooth only can give the numbers.. not the phone books. Similarly, the ipod connection will be limited. At least there is a 12v connector in the glovebox so that you can connect everything up in one place.
Sunday 21 June 2009
New Car Coming
After looking on the market for a car to replace my wife's Ford Focus, we finally plumped for a Mercedes Benz C Class saloon, C200 CDI.
The ideal car is of course never available and you always need to make a compromise within the budget you are working with. We were looking for a very safe, reliable 4-5 seater with a decent sized boot - and that would be a suitable replacement car for my company use when my wife needed my estate. So it would have to good on a motorway and not look too out of place on the school run or long haul run down to London.
We also had an eye on the value meter.. what cars were out in the market at a decent price, hold their value well and don't cost a bomb to tax and insure. We had considered Audi, though have already got one A4 meant the A3 was probably the right choice. However, we have had an A3 before, and even though we liked it.. it didn't feel particularly special for the price and would need to spend a bit on the options list which you never recover on resale. Additionally the Sport version had very large oversized wheels which looked a bit too blingy.
Additionally the Audi dealer isn't my favourite place to be.. very snobby. Though this time the salesperson was quite pleasant and helpful. On the way back home, I stopped off at Mercedes Benz. It hadn't been at the top of the list because the B Class is a bit of a funny car.. it seems like a stretched A Class rather than being a car in it's own right.
Having had an A Class before, I had thought Mercedes did a decent vehicle in terms of innovation, safety and economy. However this was 10 years ago, a lot has changed since then and I have heard there were quality issues with Mercedes.
The showroom had plenty of C Class examples, which in the Sport guise, looked very good. So having checked the costs which seemed reasonable considering the size of the car - I booked a 24 hour test drive of the 180 Kompressor version. This was meant to be the BlueEfficiency model within the range -though clearly non of the C Class currently is that good on Efficiency.
The test drive worked out well, but I wasn't massively impressed with the engine. With an auto box the car could shuffle along quite well, but it seemed to have to change gear more often than I would expect - as if there was something lacking in the low down torque department. I therefore asked to drive an C200 CDI, the lower powered diesel version of the same car - a Sport Auto. This was a bit noiser - as expected - but did have the lower down torque which I was looking for. Apparently the fuel consumption will be better.
So since we had to choose a car that was already imported into the UK, we checked what was available. Luckily the perfect vehicle was in the system, in the silver we wanted (several versions) - with factory fitted parking sensors. I didn't need or want any other options as the car is well equipped with Bluetooth etc.
Within a few days the car was already at the dealership - and delivery is planned for tomorrow. I was a bit suprised with Mercedes asking if we wanted the 60minute or the 90minute handover. I was thinking about - 5minutes.. chuck me the keys version.
Overall the experience with the dealership was very good, not a pushy sale.. very helpful. The only point it was a bit uncomfortable was when I was paying. This required me to listen to all the blurb on the other things they were trying to sell, the GAP insurance and the seat/paint protection. Both of course massively overpriced compared to what you can get elsewhere. The GAP insurance was particularly something which was on the edge of being a sharp practice. Since the car was valued above £25,000 - the GAP premium for 3 years was a staggering £750+... however with the special discount it was reduced to £550. This compares to approx £120 that is possible online. Since the GAP insurance was badged by Mercedes Benz, they were trying to give it some "premium" effect - which for insurance doesn't really apply.
The ideal car is of course never available and you always need to make a compromise within the budget you are working with. We were looking for a very safe, reliable 4-5 seater with a decent sized boot - and that would be a suitable replacement car for my company use when my wife needed my estate. So it would have to good on a motorway and not look too out of place on the school run or long haul run down to London.
We also had an eye on the value meter.. what cars were out in the market at a decent price, hold their value well and don't cost a bomb to tax and insure. We had considered Audi, though have already got one A4 meant the A3 was probably the right choice. However, we have had an A3 before, and even though we liked it.. it didn't feel particularly special for the price and would need to spend a bit on the options list which you never recover on resale. Additionally the Sport version had very large oversized wheels which looked a bit too blingy.
Additionally the Audi dealer isn't my favourite place to be.. very snobby. Though this time the salesperson was quite pleasant and helpful. On the way back home, I stopped off at Mercedes Benz. It hadn't been at the top of the list because the B Class is a bit of a funny car.. it seems like a stretched A Class rather than being a car in it's own right.
Having had an A Class before, I had thought Mercedes did a decent vehicle in terms of innovation, safety and economy. However this was 10 years ago, a lot has changed since then and I have heard there were quality issues with Mercedes.
The showroom had plenty of C Class examples, which in the Sport guise, looked very good. So having checked the costs which seemed reasonable considering the size of the car - I booked a 24 hour test drive of the 180 Kompressor version. This was meant to be the BlueEfficiency model within the range -though clearly non of the C Class currently is that good on Efficiency.
The test drive worked out well, but I wasn't massively impressed with the engine. With an auto box the car could shuffle along quite well, but it seemed to have to change gear more often than I would expect - as if there was something lacking in the low down torque department. I therefore asked to drive an C200 CDI, the lower powered diesel version of the same car - a Sport Auto. This was a bit noiser - as expected - but did have the lower down torque which I was looking for. Apparently the fuel consumption will be better.
So since we had to choose a car that was already imported into the UK, we checked what was available. Luckily the perfect vehicle was in the system, in the silver we wanted (several versions) - with factory fitted parking sensors. I didn't need or want any other options as the car is well equipped with Bluetooth etc.
Within a few days the car was already at the dealership - and delivery is planned for tomorrow. I was a bit suprised with Mercedes asking if we wanted the 60minute or the 90minute handover. I was thinking about - 5minutes.. chuck me the keys version.
Overall the experience with the dealership was very good, not a pushy sale.. very helpful. The only point it was a bit uncomfortable was when I was paying. This required me to listen to all the blurb on the other things they were trying to sell, the GAP insurance and the seat/paint protection. Both of course massively overpriced compared to what you can get elsewhere. The GAP insurance was particularly something which was on the edge of being a sharp practice. Since the car was valued above £25,000 - the GAP premium for 3 years was a staggering £750+... however with the special discount it was reduced to £550. This compares to approx £120 that is possible online. Since the GAP insurance was badged by Mercedes Benz, they were trying to give it some "premium" effect - which for insurance doesn't really apply.
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