Used 2014 Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class Consumer Reviews
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Great Second Car, beware if you daily
Jake, 04/12/2022
2014 Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class CLA45 AMG 4dr Sedan AWD (2.0L 4cyl Turbo 7AM)
6 of 6 people found this review helpful
This car is incredibly interesting, and great if you want the cheaper AMG with the more updated styling. However, this car is very niche and definitely test it out and read a LOT of reviews before you decide to go ahead and buy. This car is really, really bad if you do a lot of driving and go on long trips. The sports seats - both the standard and upgraded seats, are really a big compromise when it comes to long drives. After about 45 minutes, my back seriously started to hurt and it became very uncomfortable. The MPG is actually pretty good, and you can get 26-30 on highway driving, which is pretty decent. But really not a road trip car. The back seats are mediocre. It'll be snug for people 5'5 - 5'6. It's basically emergency seats at that point. Also, if you're above 6'3, DO NOT BUY THIS CAR! You will not fit in the drivers seat, the seats will hug you and your hair will brush the ceiling of the car. Seriously. If you're tall, get in the car before you decide to buy. Tech is mediocre, and outdated, and interior is relatively bland. There's some nice smooth finishes depending on what package is on the car, but is full of buttons from the previous generation. This really isn't a tech focused car at all. The car is good for bad elements like rain or snow because AWD 4MATIC, but it's not something you can feel as safe and secure in like Subaru AWD or Audi Quattro. It can still be driven in these conditions, just keep careful. Reliability is mediocre. Things like oil changes require special tools and a process that is not normal for any other car. Because it's an AMG, you should be buying it knowing that any repairs or maintenance are gonna be pretty expensive. If you plan on buying any of these used, make sure there's a solid maintenance history and checkups, or you're gonna be going into debt if you buy a car like this. It's not a problem-every-week kinda car, but you should know when maintenance or a problem shows up, it'll be at least a few hundred dollars to fix it. The price is definitely a selling point for this car, as it's a pretty affordable AMG, but maintenance and repairs will blindside those who scraped the money together. However, this car is a blast to drive. The pops and bangs on downshifts are great, and it's personally the best 4 cylinder when it comes to sound. It feels zippy, and it can handle itself on the track or on twisty backroad runs. It feels secure, and it's a car you can really trust when you start to push it. It is 100% an AMG car with the way it drives in spirited ways, and one could almost forgive all its shortcomings when you really drive it around. Overall, this has been an awesome car to own for a couple years. It was an absolute blast to drive it around, and the acceleration and performance truly put a smile on my face. It's the sort of car where you look forward to driving it to work or the store. But is it fit to be a daily? No. This car would go excellently with something like a Prius that you can drive on long trips and not have back pains. This is 100% not a daily driver because of its lack of tech and VERY uncomfortable seating.
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Fun, beautiful, unreliable, overpriced car
coder, 03/31/2017
updated 10/05/2021
2014 Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class CLA250 4dr Sedan (2.0L 4cyl Turbo 7AM)
17 of 20 people found this review helpful
The 2014 Cla-250 is beautiful, great road handling, effective brakes. Lots of low end torque, surprisingly great hwy mileage. I get 35-42 MPG depending on how I drive. The interior and controls are well laid out. The car is fun to drive and behaves in an intuitive way. E.g.: if you open the door while the transmission is not in "park" the car will warn you and put the shifter in "park". Rather nice Harmann Kardon stereo (but no flac or hi-res content support), useless factory Gps (some off-brand German "Becker"). Small, (non touch operated) awkward looking display, no backup camera. Overall, the car interior is not nearly as nice as a higher end Benz model e.g. a c300. Dislikes: 1) Incessant premature front rotor wear and warping. I had mine replaced 2x under warranty because of pulsating brake pedal. The 3rd time they wanted a ton of money, I swapped it out myself to Brembo rotors and ceramic pads, Total out of pocket for parts: $250, then again and again... Over 100K miles on the car, and rotors are a definite trouble spot. I found this the most annoying problem with the car. I get only 10 to 20K miles out of a set of rotors, and I have to replace them because of excessive brake pedal pulsation. More of a problem in the front. It was manageable because I did the brake work myself, but if I had to take it the dealer, this alone woudl have been a budget buster. 2) Water pump failure, engine overheat. Covered under warranty. I have a strange rattle ever since the water pump was replaced. Sounds like they failed to put some engine mount bolt back, but refuse to deal with it. " What ? We cant hear nuthing". 3) Radar sensor failures (multiple) (Covered under warranty) 4) Speaker failure (Bose,rear left) Covered under warranty, but seriously? 5) Run flat tire sidewall bubble. Not covered under warranty, Swapped out the tires to non-run flats. 6) Recent bizarre window behavior: the one-touch window up feature stopped working. I have to hold the button to make the window go all the way up. Once it does, it rolls down about 1/4" all by itself. I have to make it go up again, and then it stays up. Oh btw, it was doing this for a couple of days, and now it is working again as it is supposed to: one touch take it all the way up, no roll down. 7) Strange auto-transmission behavior: every now and then I experience jerky shifting at low speeds. It does this a few times, then it works fine for months. 8) Soft paint, and OEM glass. Within the past year (exactly 1 year apart) I had to replace my windshield 2x. First time a small pebble caused a palm size spiderweb crack. Replaced w genuine MB branded windshield. A year later I was replacing a wiper blade and the arm slipped out of my hands and hit the windshield, causing a huge 12 inch crack. The autoglass place installed Pilkington glass this time which seems to be holding up. Exterior paint scratches super easy. 9) Annoying sqeaks and rattles, e.g.: the cup holder insert makes a sort of squeegee-ish noise. 10) The warranty is meh, and non-warranty dealer service is robbery-expensive. 11) The car likes high-octane fuel and runs noticeably worse with "regular" gasoline. Parts are on the expensive side. E.g.: a new (AGM) battery is $300. I finally killed the car, hit a tree head on. The car was totaled but I walked away from it, so the crash safety features are apparently good. Frontal collision at 40mph, and the front airbag did not deploy, it should have. Overall impression: For the money you spend, you buy a lot more car and less trouble, if you went with different Luxury brand, e.g. a Genesys. Lexus, or Infinity. I see no rational reason to get one of these, if you care about saving money at all... You pay a premium up front, and you pay a premium on maintenance. The clever marketing promises you will be perceived as more successful, and envied by everybody because you are driving a Benz. In reality you will likely not bask in the warm glow of the admiration of your peers, more likely you will see negative feelings from your fellow motorists. If you are well-off enough to not care about the poor price/value proposition and high maintenance cost, go for it, but then you may consider one of the higher end Benz models. like the C class. The "entry level Benz" concept does not make much sense to me. I did not replace my CLA with another Benz, although in 2020 the new A class seems like a better built car. The MB dealers seem to assume you are either rich, or want to appear rich, and you are willing top pay for that appearance. I ended up getting a Hyundai Kona Limited EV (Fully electric) , which is not nearly as much fun to drive but, so far trouble free (and mostly maintenance free).
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2014 Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class for sale near you
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The AMG working people can afford
abndoc73, 07/06/2014
2014 Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class CLA45 AMG 4dr Sedan AWD (2.0L 4cyl Turbo 7AM)
9 of 10 people found this review helpful
This car is great to drive and brings a smile to my face every time I start it up. Yes, the ride is firm and with 355 hp you need to feel that. But, driving on the autobahn at 140mph you have no issues taking turns.
Awesome
pothmer, 06/17/2014
2014 Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class CLA45 AMG 4dr Sedan AWD (2.0L 4cyl Turbo 7AM)
11 of 13 people found this review helpful
Happiness is AMG. Love this car. Never had an AMG before, so can't compare it to other AMG's. Had a BMW M3 (sweet car) and this is better. (RWD super cars are undriveable in snow. Unless you get high-performance snow tires--then they are tanks...except that one time when you hit throttle on a wintry turn, rear wheels slide out, plant themselves into a curb and the axle breaks). But Mercedes has 4matic (which is a technical term 4magic; or "hand of God" if you don't believe in magic). The CLA45 has 4matic, 4 doors, 355hp and 332 lb ft. Torque.
Fantastic Car
0815, 05/07/2014
2014 Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class CLA250 4MATIC 4dr Sedan AWD (2.0L 4cyl Turbo 7AM)
7 of 8 people found this review helpful
Just got the CLA a couple of weeks ago - sticker price of 42K for the 4matic, premium package, multimedia package, driver assist, moon roof, light package, ..., jupiter red. Lots of features for that price. Car feels very luxurious and is fantastic to drive. Very fast and smooth, feels very secure to drive. Just love everything about it. Also is the first car where when I park it, I often get comments like "wow, awesome care". Definitely a head turner Definitely not a family care (or for people over 6 ft) - but still big enough to pickup the kids from time to time from school - for other family events we still have an SUV. Trunk in the CLA is surprisingly big and gas milage is great