One Year with the CLS Shooting Brake

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Merc220cls

Active Member
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Joined
Feb 14, 2018
Messages
628
Location
Ayrshire
Car
220 CLS Shooting Brake & 350 SL
I can't believe its a year tomorrow 23rd November since we picked up our CLS Shooting Brake.
Its a real beauty in Obsidian Black with Ivory leather trim and had only covered 932 miles when we picked her up.
It's the boss's car actually, well it keeps her happy as the other five cars (at present) are mine. To make things special I had arranged a lovely bouquet of flowers for the missus which she thought were from MB in Giffnock where we purchased the car. On top of this surprise it was nice the way MB Giffnock presented the car on delivery as it had been placed in the showroom with a black cover over it so the missus got the "big reveal"
Its probably slightly unfair to compare it with our previous car but I'm going to anyway. Our previous car was a 2010 MY Jaguar XF 3.0 D Premium Luxury which we had purchased just short of three years earlier and had only done 25165 miles. It was really nice to drive and certainly had some presence about it, I had always wanted a Jaguar and this was our first one. However the XF was not without its' faults mostly electrical gremlins, well we've heard all this before about Jaguar but it was the poor dealer support being robbed for unnecessary fitment of suspension parts then the fight against Jaguar regarding door corrosion. Jaguar did eventually cover the costs but sadly I was involved in a non fault accident just weeks later and the XF was written off.
Now back to the Mercedes, we had previously looked at Mercedes, Audi and Volvo as future replacements to the XF but it was when I spotted a CLS Estate or Shooting Brake on the M6 one day it got my attention. After a discussion with the boss who liked the style of the car we called in at MB Giffnock to view a 14 plate model with around 30k but finished up purchasing this 17 plate 220 AMG Design model.
I tow a caravan so we require sufficient power to pull our Coachman ViP along and I have to say dropping from the 3.0 6 cylinder XF to the 2.1 4 cylinder CLS the difference is barely noticeable. The missus has commented that she finds the CLS more stable then the XF, well as she always sits in the passengers seat I will accept that.
With the XF there was no water temperature gauge so you were relying on a warning light which if required may have been too late but with the CLS not only do you have a water temperature gauge you also have an oil temperature gauge which you can select on the central tablet display.
The space in the back is more than ample for all our caravanning needs even though some comment on the lower capacity over the E Class Estate due to the Coupe styling speaking of which I rather like.
We've now covered almost 9,000 miles with the car and it has been almost faultless, I say almost faultless as the alarm did go off on its' own one day so had to be replaced and prior to that the power supply to the heating console did not function on two occasions. This was rectified by MB Service in Giffnock.
I would like to say I was satisfied with MB Service but sadly on our very first service visit our car was not ready at the appointed time and the waiting area was Baltic cold due to a heating breakdown then on top of that MB Service spilt Ad Blue all over the inside of the boot trim and missed the fact that I had a nail in my rear tyre despite me notifying them of the low pressure on that tyre.
So Mercedes service didn't get off to a good start with me but my local MB Service in Ayr so far have been fine.
Driving the car, well we both just love it even with the lower power than the XF, it still gets off its mark when required and fuel consumption is very good for a car of this size giving us a regular mid 30's mpg on local runs with well over 40mpg on longer runs, when towing our caravan we get around 28 - 30 mpg which I am pleased with. Driving at night the lights are the best I've ever experienced with a car and on other safety related items things like the attention assist really work as on a long run towing I was alerted luckily when I was just 20 miles from my destination. On the comfort side while it's fine on shorter journeys personally I find after two hours I start to get uncomfortable but I said that about the XF as well. My now 17 year old Rover 75 has far more comfortable front seating as what I say you sit in the seat of the Rover whereas you sit on the seat with the Merc, anyway after two hours you should really have a rest.

Niggles, yes there are some like the memory seat selection you have to hold the button all the time until the seat is at your selected position unlike both the XF and my 75 one touch on the button suffices.
The so called Eco setting or stop start I will never get used to and simply don't believe it saves on the environment, more so it just wastes energy not to mention the life of the starter motor. I know it can be de selected but you have to do this every trip. I find with the CLS even when carrying out a simple three point turn the start stop cuts out the second you come to a rest between manoeuvres, Oh I wish I could disconnect it completely. Another thing is getting used to the auto shift being on the right hand side with the wipers on the left. Maybe its an age thing but I keep placing the car in neutral instead of flicking the wipers.
On the plus side and they far outweigh the minus items small items like the cool box inside the passengers glove box keeps those chocolates from melting on a long trip and the mood lighting at night.
The ease of using the infotainment system, oh and not forgetting the self park which I've only used twice and that was to demonstrate its use. I love the finish of the trim, even inside the boot are which is far superior to any of my other cars. The way the rear seats fold down on there own after releasing the catch, its those simple items which matter.
I hope my post has not been too boring and to anyone thinking about purchasing an estate or Shooting Brake which Mercedes like to use I can most certainly recommend the 220 CLS
 
Nice write up thanks. Pictures would enhance especially with that colour/interior combination.
 
Great write up there, but you needed pics!

Always get first class service from MB Ayr, thats our local dealer, not that we have ever purchased a car from them as they don't seem interested in getting their pencil sharp.

Bought the missis GLE from Giffnock and they were good to deal with and like you the car was well presented for her. Other cars have come from Carlisle, Huddersfiled and Brighton!
 
Thanks for that, yes I do need to post some photos but I don’t know if I can still use my Photobucket file.
I tried to post a photo the other night but the file was too large.
I don’t know what it is with local companies, they just seem to want to rip you off all the time, especially with Jaguar. I won’t go into that for now, just let’s say I won’t be crossing any of their showroom doors soon.
It was quite funny actually on the day we called into Giffnock in a 17 year old Rover 75 to look at a CLS, we were “introduced” to the junior salesman Gary. There were three others standing but it was, I hope anyway Gary that got the credit for the sale of the ex demo CLS.
I used to work in the trade years back with Appleyard and never thought I would finish up in a Merc but I’m seriously impressed with the finish.
I know they went through a really bad patch with quality control and even rust, my son worked in several local body shops so had plenty of experience on them.
Sadly it’s not the car itself but the guys that are supposed to be the support that are the let down. I’m still waiting on the promises I got from the service dept at Giffnock which is why I won’t return, anyway Ayr is far closer to me.
 

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