- Joined
- Nov 6, 2007
- Messages
- 13,639
- Location
- North Oxfordshire
- Car
- His - Denim Blue A220 AMG Line Premium / Hers - Obsidian Black R172 SLK55
Well, sort of.
After just over 5 years of driving E63 Biturbos my ownership comes to an end today due to a change in lifestyle.
It's long been a life plan that neither my wife nor I would be working by the time we're 60 and today also marks the last day on the hamster wheel for us both
No more commuting for either of us means we don't need (not that we ever needed) two looney tunes cars and after due consideration we decided my E63 goes and her SLK55 stays. So what's my next car?
I considered getting a cheap shed, but ultimately decided that I fancied something that we'd be happy to rely upon and that's a nice place to be in, most likely a mid-size premium hatch. Although I'm more than happy to drive a diesel, in the current political climate I wanted a petrol engine but I wasn't looking for a performance car as we have the SLK55 for that (oh, and my bike too
). As I'm not fond of the "domestic appliance" cars from Toyota and others and no fan of the 1-Series either, I've been looking mostly at mid-spec VAG products including the Octavia, Golf, A3 and SEAT Leon. So after much research and a few viewings, I've ended up with...
(drum roll)
A month-old W177 A220 AMG Line Premium
Took it out for a drive yesterday and was very impressed. It's streets ahead of the W176 which I've had previously as courtesy cars and had ruled out for being pretty uninspiring in all but A45 guise. Exterior-wise I think it looks pretty sharp, but it's in the interior and technology that it stands head and shoulders above the competition - and pretty much all of the MB range above it too. While some of the materials are clearly much cheaper than those used higher up in the Mercedes range, the general feeling of the car is of a proper baby-Benz at last, and I collect it today. I'll add more thoughts after a while living with it
After just over 5 years of driving E63 Biturbos my ownership comes to an end today due to a change in lifestyle.
It's long been a life plan that neither my wife nor I would be working by the time we're 60 and today also marks the last day on the hamster wheel for us both
No more commuting for either of us means we don't need (not that we ever needed) two looney tunes cars and after due consideration we decided my E63 goes and her SLK55 stays. So what's my next car?
I considered getting a cheap shed, but ultimately decided that I fancied something that we'd be happy to rely upon and that's a nice place to be in, most likely a mid-size premium hatch. Although I'm more than happy to drive a diesel, in the current political climate I wanted a petrol engine but I wasn't looking for a performance car as we have the SLK55 for that (oh, and my bike too
). As I'm not fond of the "domestic appliance" cars from Toyota and others and no fan of the 1-Series either, I've been looking mostly at mid-spec VAG products including the Octavia, Golf, A3 and SEAT Leon. So after much research and a few viewings, I've ended up with...(drum roll)
A month-old W177 A220 AMG Line Premium
Took it out for a drive yesterday and was very impressed. It's streets ahead of the W176 which I've had previously as courtesy cars and had ruled out for being pretty uninspiring in all but A45 guise. Exterior-wise I think it looks pretty sharp, but it's in the interior and technology that it stands head and shoulders above the competition - and pretty much all of the MB range above it too. While some of the materials are clearly much cheaper than those used higher up in the Mercedes range, the general feeling of the car is of a proper baby-Benz at last, and I collect it today. I'll add more thoughts after a while living with it
As I had no idea what the latest A Class looked like, I checked it out. So different from the original A, great technology and very spacious. Enjoy.
How long can a motorcycle trip go on for?
