Been to Cycle & Carriage the week the new A-class was launched for a test drive since I wanted to look for a new car, thinking of disposing off the C3 and MX-5, for a more reliable monster. The new A comes with all attracting technological advanced safety feature, looks good, and the three-pointed star give an impressive status when compare to the French and Japanese beasts.
The worst experience is with the sales at CnC, with no one approaching me even after almost 30 minutes in the showroom. Finally I had to approach the few chatting at the receptionist area to arrange for the test drive. However, I do appreciate there is no hard pressing sales talk, but the salesgirl spoke almost nothing during the session, not even introducing what's good in the car.
Flipping the steering column mounted gear stalk came slightly unfamiliar, removing the sport-feel of having the traditional stick-shift style, though this car comes with a set of pedal shift. The 1.6 litres unit is slow, yet comfortable and quiet. ECO start stop never kick-in, where the sales didn't know how to explain this. The collision prevention assist warning keep coming on while driving along the federal highway which is annoying and distracting.
The meter cluster is my favourite southward pointing analog unit. But the pop-up entertainment display in the middle looks like an after-thought. It's ugly and non-integrated. Mercedes exercises too much cost saving to bring all this over from the CLA.
For almost RM200k, this could be a Golf beater, but the dealer must employ better-trained sales. Mercedes still lack on the warranty (4-year-only) when compare to its competitor. Seriously thinking about it...I still have the V40, DS4, DS3, MINI on my shopping list!
