Is COMAND worth the money?

[Merc Owner 2B]

I'm currently negotiating a PCP with an MB dealer for an E350 Sport Coupe. COMand basically adds about £60 a month to each of the 36 monthly payments.
I've never seen the system before, is it worth the extra? I'm already going to be paying £455 a month for the car.

What about the NAV 50, is the nav feature good enough?

Would value your opinions...............Thanks.

 

[Baron_Samedi]

From a creature comfort point of view I would say surely yes, but I am biased because I retrofitted a system.

But... in your position I would find it difficult to justify that additional amount for the additional features Comand offers.

 

[horsesuitedfool]

i'm currently negotiating a pcp with an mb dealer for an e350 sport coupe. Comand basically adds about £60 a month to each of the 36 monthly payments.
I've never seen the system before, is it worth the extra? I'm already going to be paying £455 a month for the car.

What about the nav 50, is the nav feature good enough?

Would value your opinions...............thanks.

yes!

 

[flango]

Nope complete waste of money and is an archaic system that is definitely not worth £60 month in extra payments, save the cash and buy a Tom Tom or Garmin for the sat nav application.

 

[Peteee]

Command never worth it go Smart Nav
We have command but dont use it overpriced like most merc stuff imho

 

[horsesuitedfool]

Nope complete waste of money and is an archaic system that is definitely not worth £60 month in extra payments, save the cash and buy a Tom Tom or Garmin for the sat nav application.

Horses for courses, go and test it out before deciding.....I can think of nothing worse than a nice new benz with basic cd player and tacky nav unit from Garmin swinging around on the windscreen!! However some people think its a waste of money and love the garmins stuck to the windscreen so check and decide for yourself....!!

 

[Baron_Samedi]

+1 ^ for the "rob me" factor of mounting satnav in your field of vision.

But lets not escape the fact that Comand is not just nav, its phone integration is great, the audio quality (to my ears) is superb and the whole thing integrates with the instrument cluster

 

[Merc Owner 2B]

Thanks for all your comments so far. Still haven't decided but you are all helping me along! Thanks again.

Please keep them coming, have to decide before tomorrow

 

[horsesuitedfool]

+1 ^ for the "rob me" factor of mounting satnav in your field of vision.

But lets not escape the fact that Comand is not just nav, its phone integration is great, the audio quality (to my ears) is superb and the whole thing integrates with the instrument cluster

Indeed, i agree.... Also, when i have a premium brand car i like the fruits of the premium brand car, like comand, parktronic etc. If i had a brand new E350 Coupe i would feel a little disappointed with a nav unit suckered to the windscreen that would be equally at home in a £100 talbot sunbeam...... All depends what is important to you and everyone is different so i would go get a full demo and the stealership if i were you before deciding....

 

[Baron_Samedi]

Wise points horsesuitedfool, but meet me outside to discuss your derision of my Talbot Sunbeam

 

[flango]

Horses for courses, go and test it out before deciding.....I can think of nothing worse than a nice new benz with basic cd player and tacky nav unit from Garmin swinging around on the windscreen!! However some people think its a waste of money and love the garmins stuck to the windscreen so check and decide for yourself....!!

Have tested it plenty of times on a C class estate before I bought the Volvo and on an E Class saloon I had whilst working in Germany last year. It's just an overpriced peice of kit thats years behind it's competitors, you can't even compare it to BMW's i Drive apps or even Ford's integrated solution both are miles in front of Command.

As regards Garmin you simply mount it on a Brodit mount and hard wire it so it even looks OEM, would never dream of putting anything on the windscreen in line of vision or that could become a projectile in a crash. If you don't want to mount it like I have in the CLK then you can do what I do in the Volvo use a beanbag mount on the dash and then lock everything in the glovebox or boot safe when not in use

 

[horsesuitedfool]

Thanks for all your comments so far. Still haven't decided but you are all helping me along! Thanks again.

Please keep them coming, have to decide before tomorrow

IMO, and this is just my opinon! I would much rather pay an extra £515 and be totally thrilled with the car than pay £455 and still feel slightly disappointed......

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

I have COMAND in one car and not in the other.

It's not the greatest sat-nav device but it's good enough, and does more than just sat-nav, it's also your CD player, MP3 player, TV (if specified), etc. I also like the fact that it's fully integrated and looks pretty.

Do I think it's worth £60 per month? No.

You'll be paying the full cost of that option over the three years you'll use the car. The reality is that part of the cost will actually be retained in the value of the car. People (and traders) do pay more for cars with COMAND when it comes to the second hand market.

Given that you asked the question, probably means it's not right for you.

 

[Merc Owner 2B]

Wise points horsesuitedfool, but meet me outside to discuss your derision of my Talbot Sunbeam

LMAO! You must both be as old as me (50) to remember them! Cracking little hatchbacks

 

[flango]

LMAO! You must both be as old as me (50) to remember them! Cracking little hatchbacks

Was a great Rally car too both in the Sunbeam Ti and the Lotus Sunbeam, Sh*t of a shovel comes to mind

 

[horsesuitedfool]

Have tested it plenty of times on a C class estate before I bought the Volvo and on an E Class saloon I had whilst working in Germany last year. It's just an overpriced peice of kit thats years behind it's competitors, you can't even compare it to BMW's i Drive apps or even Ford's integrated solution both are miles in front of Command.

As regards Garmin you simply mount it on a Brodit mount and hard wire it so it even looks OEM, would never dream of putting anything on the windscreen in line of vision or that could become a projectile in a crash. If you don't want to mount it like I have in the CLK then you can do what I do in the Volvo use a beanbag mount on the dash and then lock everything in the glovebox or boot safe when not in use

I didnt mean for you to test it, i meant the OP! I assumed you would have tested it already!! I know what you mean about the system, i had a 5 series until recently with i drive which is pretty good but to be honest i dont think it does any more than comand does.....Maybe the parking sensors with visuals on screen etc are nice but it doesnt do much else. My comand allows me to read and reply to texts on screen which my BMW never seemed to do...

 

[Merc Owner 2B]

IMO, and this is just my opinon! I would much rather pay an extra £515 and be totally thrilled with the car than pay £455 and still feel slightly disappointed......

A fair point and one that's niggling at me. Thanks

 

[BTB 500]

For £500 (total) I would have COMAND. For £1k ... possibly. For over £2k, forget it.

 

[horsesuitedfool]

LMAO! You must both be as old as me (50) to remember them! Cracking little hatchbacks

Haha, no im only just wrong side of twenties but my mate had one as first car so i have fond memories of that little hatchback!!

 

[wemorgan]

£60/month or £2160 over 36 months.

Worth is subjective, so there's no absolute answer.

To me, on a 36 month PCP I would not choose Comand. As suggested, I’d buy a nice portable sat-nav for £200-400. But if I was buying the car new to keep for many years it more likely I would buy Comand.

The PCP price indicates that they are writting-off the value of Comand over the 3 years. But clearly that is not the case on the s/h market. So they stand to make more money from customers this way. Easy money if you can get it.