A PLUS? (some text hidden) SECTIONED_new_mercedescla_2019

By Jonathan Crouch

Introductionword count: 96

The CLA courted a different, younger breed of Mercedes buyer with more credibility in this second generation form. As before, this compact front-driven stylised model offered a choice of either a four-door Coupe or an alternative Shooting Brake estate but with this MK2 model, there was a cabin that was really distinctively designed, just like the exterior. And full of smart connectivity. Even if you've never thought of yourself as the sort of person who might drive a Mercedes, there's just a chance you might like this one. Let's check it out as a used buy.

Modelsword count: 15

5dr Saloon / Shooting Brake estate (CLA 180/CLA 200/CLA 220/CLA 250/CLA220d/CLA 35 AMG/CLA 45 AMG)

Historyword count: 537

What kind of Mercedes would suit a buyer with a younger outlook? A customer needing a sensible but uber-stylish compact car tinselled with technology and fashionable appeal, yet for sale at an accessible price. Perhaps that means this one, the second generation CLA, which like its predecessor was available in four-door Coupe form or as a so-called 'Shooting Brake' estate. The idea here was to bring a fashionable feel to the Stuttgart brand's growing family of smaller models. And in doing so, significantly lower the average age of the typical Mercedes buyer. The MK1 CLA did just that - and much more. In Europe, more than half of those who bought the original model, launched in 2013, had never purchased from the brand before and 75% of them went on to subsequently buy another Merc. Glance at these dream demographics, then appreciate that this was the very first compact front-driven Mercedes model to be launched in the US and you begin to understand why company insiders described the introduction of the original 'C117'-series version of this car as the marque's most significant model launch in the last two decades. Hence the significance of this second generation 'C118'-series model, introduced in the Spring of 2019, the initial four-door Coupe quickly followed by the Shooting Brake estate we mentioned, then rapid Mercedes-AMG 35 and 45 4MATIC high performance models. There are still those who would wonder whether this is a 'real' Mercedes, perhaps because it's front-driven, or possibly because volume versions share engines and transmissions with Renault. Ever since the very first 'baby Benz', the '190' W210 model of 1982, the Stuttgart brand has been used to this kind of carping and tends to produce cars that rise above it to eventually become very much accepted in its line-up - as was quickly the case with the CLA. Interestingly, these sorts of questions never seemed to be directed at the other small front-driven Mercedes models from this period that shared this one's MFA2 platform and much of its engineering - primarily the fourth generation A-Class hatch, the third generation B-Class MPV and SUVs like the second generation GLA and the GLB. Probably this was because the CLA had more up-market aspirations than its compact showroom stablemates, its intention (as before) to more affordably deliver to buyers the 'four-door coupe' and 'swept-back sporting estate' template the brand had done well with in the previous couple of decades in larger market segments with various versions of its luxury CLS series models. With the MK2 CLA, the technology was borrowed from those larger segments too, as you'll discover if you take a look at this car's interior technology and experience its semi-autonomous driving tech. Plus this 'C118'-series model was usefully longer, wider and more spacious than its predecessor. Given that a more practical rear-driven C-Class from this period can be had for much the same money though, the reason you'd buy one will still have much to do with the way this car looks. It remains a rather trendy trinket. But is there more to the appeal of this Mercedes than that? This MK2 CLA was lightly facelifted in 2023, then sold until the introduction of an all-new MK3 model in mid-2025.

What You Getword count: 548

By any measure, this is a distinctive car. It always was. Whether this MK2 CLA was the 'modern design icon' Mercedes thought it was - well, that's another question. In this guise and in its alternative Shooting Brake form, this second generation 'C118'-series model was certainly a sleeker, more sophisticated thing than its predecessor. You'd certainly be less likely to pigeonhole this car as any sort of saloon, this MK2 model no longer called upon to play that role since by 2019 Mercedes had launched a separate sedan body style into the fourth generation A-Class line-up. That freed Designer Gorden Wagener and his team up to be a little more expressive with the second generation CLA, hence the lengthier, slightly lower roofline, the long stretched bonnet and the compact glasshouse, all of it delivering a more elegant silhouette. In its own way, this cabin is as distinctive as the exterior silhouette, with unique interior architecture shaped by the avant-garde design of the dashboard. Some features are of course familiar from other large Mercedes models from this period - primarily the distinctive widescreen cockpit layout with its twin virtual displays, which can be activated by the provided 'Hey Mercedes' voice-activated functionality. You sit a little lower than you would in other compact Mercedes models, on black faux-leather-stitched sports seats with integrated head restraints which position you lower in front of a race-style flat-bottomed nappa leather-trimmed steering wheel. And you're surrounded by premium touches; a glossy piano black-coated centre console that flows up into the dash; and intricately fashioned door cards filleted with aluminium and double-stitched hide panels. Luxury downsizers will love it all. As for back seat accommodation, well any car that describes itself as a 'four-door coupe' clearly isn't going to have this as a top priority. Fashion is the keynote here - which is why you're provided with lovely frameless doors, just like a pricey CLS model in the next class up. Negotiate around the plunging roofline and get yourself inside though and it is a little surprising to find that despite this car being 9mm longer than a W205 generation Mercedes C-Class saloon, it offers significantly less space for rearward passengers. We can carry on carping about this kind of stuff as other commentators do, but it's pretty irrelevant because if you really cared about rear seat space, you'd be spending the same kind of money on either an A-Class sedan or that C-Class Saloon instead. The boot is accessed on the four-door model either by clicking on the key fob or by pressing in the top part of the brand badge. Given the length increase - this second generation CLA has a rear overhang stretching beyond a metre long - you might hope for a bit more space than was offered by the MK1 model but for some reason, boot capacity actually fell in this MK2 design to 460-litres, 10-litres less than before. Still that's 5-litres more than you get most C-Class Saloons of this period and 40-litres more than you'd get in a four-door A-Class. If this isn't enough and you really want a CLA, there's the option of switching to the Shooting Brake estate variant, which offers 505-litres of capacity with all the seats in place - that was 10-litres more than before.

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