CLA

[tiv]

Hi there, 

so wanted a few first hand opinions regarding the CLA 2017 or 2018/19 or a C200 from this era

my parents are considering one thereby I have the most rookie questions to start with, as most of the burden is going to be mine to bear.

1. How are the maintenance costs? We’ve used Mercs abroad but never here so.....

2. Is it worth importing from the agents or a UK import or a JDM import? I know if it’s a black import there is a hefty premium to be paid from the agents

3. Does the new luxury tax or any luxury tax come into play with them?

4. How is the performance? Never had a cla, nor driven on. Comfort is obvious

5. How bad is the depreciation? It’s again obvious mercs don’t hold massive values for long in SL, but how bad will it be?

 

would be nice to hear some real stories before I go to the agents and get in to their theatricals 

[mcs627]

Keep away from the CLA. C200 is Fab. UK models are better specced. 

[kush]

Get it through the agents they give 5 year warranty , and a service package i believe, you will need the warranty and the agent servicing as the car is full of electronics which will need regular updates.

Rear head room will be a issue for taller passengers if sunroof is specified, A Class saloon, and A class Hatch has little bit more.

Car is new to SL and the 1.33 L is not tested in local conditions, 7 speed Dual clutch is a concern if the car will spend most of the time in heavy traffic.

C class will be replaced in 2021/22 and will be out dated soon

Don't expect high resale as they are selling like Allions/ Premios there will be plenty used around, of cause all will depend on the tax structure at the time.

 

 

 

 

[tiv]

  On 7/22/2019 at 3:16 AM, mcs627 said:

Keep away from the CLA. C200 is Fab. UK models are better specced. 

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Any reason?

[kush]

Some of the safety features like autonomous brakes, lane keeping assist are not offered in SL as they claim that they are not configured to local driving conditions.

 

[mcs627]

  On 7/22/2019 at 4:27 AM, tiv said:

Any reason?

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Drive both and decide for yourself. Tryout the rear seats also. Do some research on the country of manufacture.

Edited July 22, 2019 by mcs627

[tiv]

Is D*MO the only place that can handle repairs on a newer merc? Also reliability?

[Gummybr]

  On 7/22/2019 at 2:53 AM, tiv said:

Hi there, 

so wanted a few first hand opinions regarding the CLA 2017 or 2018/19 or a C200 from this era

my parents are considering one thereby I have the most rookie questions to start with, as most of the burden is going to be mine to bear.

1. How are the maintenance costs? We’ve used Mercs abroad but never here so.....

2. Is it worth importing from the agents or a UK import or a JDM import? I know if it’s a black import there is a hefty premium to be paid from the agents

3. Does the new luxury tax or any luxury tax come into play with them?

4. How is the performance? Never had a cla, nor driven on. Comfort is obvious

5. How bad is the depreciation? It’s again obvious mercs don’t hold massive values for long in SL, but how bad will it be?

 

would be nice to hear some real stories before I go to the agents and get in to their theatricals 

Expand  

I will answer this in general.

1. Servicing is every 10,000kms or 12 months or whichever comes first. Service will cost approx RS. 43,500/-. Other spares won't be very expensive but will be like 1.5times what you pay at TL or UML

2. Upto you to decide, as someone said you will miss out on warranty if bought from outside D*MO. You may register the car with agent but that won't get you the full warranty. 

3. As for now luxury tax still not applicable.

4. CLA will have 163hp and it quite nippy for a 1.3l. you won't get the same comfort of a C class on the CLA as it's more of a sports type. Many people who bought the older model CLA's complained of bad ground clearance and bad ride over our pothole infected roads.

5. Mercs hold the best second hand value in terms of the European segment. But CLA won't hold a higher market value like the C Class as it's not a car for everyone. All depends on the market conditions but expect to lose around 2mil in another 4 years.

 

Answering your final question, agents will have expertise and tools to handle the newer models more than the outside parties when it comes to repairs. So in case you decide to buy from outside get the car registered with agents for all software updates, warranty help etc.

 

Cheers.

[Gummybr]

  On 7/22/2019 at 7:47 AM, kush said:

Some of the safety features like autonomous brakes, lane keeping assist are not offered in SL as they claim that they are not configured to local driving conditions.

 

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There is a reason why they are not offered by brand new agents. Speak to UML, TL, A*W, Stafford. Manufacturer doesn't offer to the Sri Lankan market.  Only cars coming from other markets will have them.

TRC has to give approvals to bring them down legally as they rely on radars.

[kush]

The software algorithms play hell on SL roads.

I have the Toyota full suite (safety sense 2.0). It brakes very hard especially when it detects any vehicle approaching from the side roads at cross junctions. You either has to keep this in mid when approaching cross junctions or switch it off every time you start the car for fear of a rear ending.

Other than that it is not that intrusive with only beeps every time you don't keep to the lane or do not keep enough space in front for the motor bikes to creep through (at which point it starts to beep)

In the high way car will practically drive it self, keeping the distance with the vehicle flow and the lane.

Personally I don't find it that useful or fully trust the system on Colombo traffic and most probably will be an annoyance one the novelty fades away.

[tiv]

  On 7/23/2019 at 2:10 AM, kush said:

The software algorithms play hell on SL roads.

I have the Toyota full suite (safety sense 2.0). It brakes very hard especially when it detects any vehicle approaching from the side roads at cross junctions. You either has to keep this in mid when approaching cross junctions or switch it off every time you start the car for fear of a rear ending.

Other than that it is not that intrusive with only beeps every time you don't keep to the lane or do not keep enough space in front for the motor bikes to creep through (at which point it starts to beep)

In the high way car will practically drive it self, keeping the distance with the vehicle flow and the lane.

Personally I don't find it that useful or fully trust the system on Colombo traffic and most probably will be an annoyance one the novelty fades away.

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I am from kandy, making it worse, 

I just got down a Vitz with the same safety pack

I could manually drop down the sensitivity using the display and google translator and now its not much of an issue, but the Suzuki one is uncontrollable and brakes haphazardly all the time, 

The radar options are the least of my concerns whilst buying a merc as I have no idea of how the maintenance goes and the reliability in this country, used only land rovers and japs and one Volvo which caught fire 

[hrm]

  On 7/23/2019 at 4:08 AM, tiv said:

I am from kandy, making it worse, 

I just got down a Vitz with the same safety pack

I could manually drop down the sensitivity using the display and google translator and now its not much of an issue, but the Suzuki one is uncontrollable and brakes haphazardly all the time, 

The radar options are the least of my concerns whilst buying a merc as I have no idea of how the maintenance goes and the reliability in this country, used only land rovers and japs and one Volvo which caught fire 

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My brother is getting a Vitz 2019 with safety edition 3 through Toyota Lanka with manufacturer warranty. Toyota Lanka would disable the safety brake while keeping other safety features intact before delivering.

[tiv]

  On 7/24/2019 at 5:30 AM, hrm said:

My brother is getting a Vitz 2019 with safety edition 3 through Toyota Lanka with manufacturer warranty. Toyota Lanka would disable the safety brake while keeping other safety features intact before delivering.

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While they charge almost 5 mil for a car that can be bought for 4.4mil or less 

[tiv]

  On 7/22/2019 at 5:20 PM, Gummybr said:

I will answer this in general.

1. Servicing is every 10,000kms or 12 months or whichever comes first. Service will cost approx RS. 43,500/-. Other spares won't be very expensive but will be like 1.5times what you pay at TL or UML

2. Upto you to decide, as someone said you will miss out on warranty if bought from outside D*MO. You may register the car with agent but that won't get you the full warranty. 

3. As for now luxury tax still not applicable.

4. CLA will have 163hp and it quite nippy for a 1.3l. you won't get the same comfort of a C class on the CLA as it's more of a sports type. Many people who bought the older model CLA's complained of bad ground clearance and bad ride over our pothole infected roads.

5. Mercs hold the best second hand value in terms of the European segment. But CLA won't hold a higher market value like the C Class as it's not a car for everyone. All depends on the market conditions but expect to lose around 2mil in another 4 years.

 

Answering your final question, agents will have expertise and tools to handle the newer models more than the outside parties when it comes to repairs. So in case you decide to buy from outside get the car registered with agents for all software updates, warranty help etc.

 

Cheers.

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Well I had to put a lot of effort to approach the so called agent, no proper response in regard to the model I seek, no replies to the mails, and the multiple msgs left to the hotline asking for sales personnel 

[mcs627]

  On 7/24/2019 at 7:33 AM, tiv said:

Well I had to put a lot of effort to approach the so called agent, no proper response in regard to the model I seek, no replies to the mails, and the multiple msgs left to the hotline asking for sales personnel 

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Yes demand for c200 is high. They probably encounter a lot of time wasters. A direct visit to the showroom  is the way to go.

[hrm]

  On 7/24/2019 at 7:31 AM, tiv said:

While they charge almost 5 mil for a car that can be bought for 4.4mil or less 

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Yeah. Given the hassle of finding and importing a genuine one just told them to forget the resale and buy something that at least has a recall support.

[tiv]

  On 7/24/2019 at 8:18 AM, hrm said:

Yeah. Given the hassle of finding and importing a genuine one just told them to forget the resale and buy something that at least has a recall support.

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Oh yea I went through both aspects, bought a lemon, returned the lemon got a good one, wrecked the good one, had to find another good one

[iRage]

  On 7/24/2019 at 7:31 AM, tiv said:

While they charge almost 5 mil for a car that can be bought for 4.4mil or less 

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DO you know where they source the car from ? When they did it nearly 10 years ago they got there cars from Toyota Used car lots in Japan. Those are trade-ins which the Toyota dealer keeps and try to sell it on their own lot in Japan..so they are all road legal. Also, in Japan all used cars sold within Japan has to be sold with a 1 year no questions asked warranty (which is why privateers do not sell cars that often in Japan). So the Toyota U-Car lots have decent vehicles and issues are fixed.

If Toyota Lanka still brings their used cars from Toyota U-Car...then I would say buying it at a premium actually might be a better investment (for most) than buying only lord knows what from a grey importer in SL. Only other safer option is to direct buy a vehicle at an auction...

[Gummybr]

  On 7/24/2019 at 7:33 AM, tiv said:

Well I had to put a lot of effort to approach the so called agent, no proper response in regard to the model I seek, no replies to the mails, and the multiple msgs left to the hotline asking for sales personnel 

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PM me your details will help you out.

[tiv]

  On 7/25/2019 at 2:05 PM, Gummybr said:

PM me your details will help you out.

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Thank you 

[tiv]

So after much market research, I come with more questions, 

seems agent price is near 13mil in almost loaded spec

and black imports range from 10.1 mil mid range upwards , so looking at deprecation, I guess we are looking at everything going near the black market price or worse?

as we will be letting go of something very reliable and something that will hold value for a while, depreciation is a major concern

D*MO has a very attractive warranty and free service plan, and I like the security and peace of mind of the whole transaction. 

yet the black imports mostly come with a service plan at merc stop, prices again almost 30 to 40k per run, break in period a few early services as well. Opinions?

Fortunately or unfortunately the car has grown on me!