Best Value Motoring

So you’re a young mother of two, you are looking for the perfect car. You drive mostly in the city and you also want a high driving position to give you better visibility. You don’t want to drive an SUV or MPV either because you’re fashion conscious or you find them just too long. To top it off, you’ll need something with a large boot for the prams and shopping so a hatch wouldn’t do. Oh, and it has to be safe so the little ones are well protected in case the worst happens.

You may not have thought about it before, but the Mercedes B-Class suits the above requirements to a tee. The height of the B-Class is similar to Nissan’s latest crossover SUV Dualis, so you do get the high driving position with the associated view. However, the B-Class is actually only slightly longer than a Volkswagen Golf at 4.27m while having a wheelbase of nearly 2.8m. That’s 7cm longer than the Golf and it’s actually longer than Mercedes’ own C-Class. So what does this all mean? Well, what the figures translate to is a Golf sized car that rides almost as high as a compact SUV, with leg room rivalling an E-Class. And if you choose the diesel like this B180 CDi, you even get 6.2l/100km economy which is similar to the diesel Golf!

If you are prepared to throw the notion of what a tradition Mercedes should be aside, you will be rewarded with a very versatile car in the B-Class. The boot is huge considering its relatively small exterior dimensions and with the rear seats folded, you’ll be amazed what it would swallow. The interior fit and finish is now back to the standards that Mercedes was once known for. It’s not ostentatious but it does feel like a quality car with none of the nasty cost cutting effects of the late nineties.

New, you would have to pay over $50,000 to get into the B-Class, but now after 3 years, it’s a more reasonable $32,000. It’s still a lot of money for such a ‘small’ car, but for its blend of versatility and manoeuvrable size, the B-Class has no current rival. There is no reason to suspect the B-Class to be anything but reliable as there’re no complicated electronics to fail. Sure you don’t get a sporty drive, but that’s not what the B-Class is about. What Mercedes has done is created a big but small, high but not too high, efficient and competent car that drivers don’t even know they want till they live with one.

Pros: Large interior space where it counts, economical
Cons: Dowdy van like image

Via Carsales