Spent a few days and 600km worth of finest European roads in a new C Class Merc this week. Incredibly refined below 60mph, a real high class piece of work but once over that speed it lost its refinement and honestly my 150tdi Octy cruises at 70+ mph better.

also when lufthansa went on strike and my US colleagues needed transporting to an alternative airport the weirdly shaped boot was full with only 2 suitcases. A matter of form over function. The Octy swallows significantly more and is much better shaped.

all in all a nice car to look at and sit in but compared to the C180 my Elegance is better......maybe have to try an XF next time!

Edited 27 April, 201610 yr by Sheldon.Cooper

And not forgetting the Merc design team have lost the plot lately, the exteriors are not good, looking half melted!

The estate version would have better suited your requirements.

I like the c class w205. The estate was my choice, but woeful dealers made me give up in the end. Shame because everytime I see one I think, that could be me.

Disagree the w205 is in a totally different league for refinement over the octavia.

(Just noticed the c180 bit that's not the best engine in it, not driven that one so I can't comment)

Edited 27 April, 201610 yr by M12MKD

And not forgetting the Merc design team have lost the plot lately, the exteriors are not good, looking half melted!

Lol... I do agree with that. The way you put it, the next time I see one of the new Mercs it will likely remind me of the disappointment of opening the breakmaker in the morning only to discover something went wrong and my loaf didn't rise properly as expected. Anyone that has a breadmaker at home will know what I mean [emoji6]

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C180 is the cheap end of the Merc garage. You want a 220 CDI

Aren't some of the engines from their partnership with Renault?

 

Renault engine in a Merc................aaargh!

When considering for Octy, I had a very good option on Jag XF 2.2., used but from official retailer, with warranty and jut 22 or 28kkm on it. The reason I decided to go with Skoda was mainly the engine - I hated the sound/feeling of 2.2D there. Other point was space but that in both cases was enough. My feelings got even colder though after I found out that this diesel was coming form PSA; I was just after dumping an almost new Peugeot 508 (I hated it enough to sell it after just 6 months) and I certainly wanted to have nothing from PSA in my next car

In term of refinement, C class is in a different league, even with the W204 model (I have one in the garage). Just look at the size of the door hinges...

When considering for Octy, I had a very good option on Jag XF 2.2., used but from official retailer, with warranty and jut 22 or 28kkm on it. The reason I decided to go with Skoda was mainly the engine - I hated the sound/feeling of 2.2D there. Other point was space but that in both cases was enough. My feelings got even colder though after I found out that this diesel was coming form PSA; I was just after dumping an almost new Peugeot 508 (I hated it enough to sell it after just 6 months) and I certainly wanted to have nothing from PSA in my next car

 

Yep that 2.2d is a Ford/PSA unit used in PSA cars and Jag/Land Rovers.

Aren't some of the engines from their partnership with Renault?

 

Renault engine in a Merc................aaargh!

 

Yep the 1.5 and 1.6 diesels are Renault/Dacia diesels:

 

http://www.autoevolution.com/news/dear-mercedes-please-stop-using-renault-engines-62508.html

Yep that 2.2d is a Ford/PSA unit used in PSA cars and Jag/Land Rovers.

 

Sounds like misalliance to me :evil:

Yep that 2.2d is a Ford/PSA unit used in PSA cars and Jag/Land Rovers.

 

now replaced by an in-house Ingenium unit...

About 2 months ago I traded in my 8 month old  C250 MB Estate for an Octavia Mk.3 SEL Estate. I originally bought the MB as a replacement for two VW Passats and very quickly became extremely disappointed with the Merc. It was very fast, comfortable and well made but I was put off by the terrible road noise, the extremely poor and illogical switch gear, the lack of visibility and the very different handling compared to VW's, and Skodas. The instrumentation is poor with very small dials and confusing icons and I never really made sense of the 'infotainment' system. The stop/start system seemed to have a mind of its own and even a MB salesman admitted that they didn't really understand how it worked.

Also, I was eventually put off by the 'juke box' chrome finish of the interior plus acres of shiny black panels. It didn't really help when my wife thought that the car was one of the ugliest she'd ever seen. However the two really off putting and counter intuitive things were the drive selector on the fascia and the pseudo touchpad for phone etc. access. I spent hours sitting in the car trying to understand how things worked. Someone said to me 'You'll eventually get used to how MB does things'. In the end I decided I didn't want to! 

I realise that most of the above is a matter of personal taste but it was a relief to get back into an Octavia where everything is, clear, logical and sensible.

Back in 2013 I was looking for a used petrol & auto W204 (generation before current). Rare, but not unknown, there were a few within my budget of £19k.

 

My local dealer had one, right colour, etc, and I phoned ahead to go and see it. All the sales guy had to do was give me the keys for 10 minutes and he'd have got his asking price. Said he needed to go out for an hour, something important to do at home, could I call back then? A bit inconvenient for me, but I said OK. He went to the pub next door for a very friendly liquid lunch with the young woman on the dealer reception desk. Didn't see me sitting in a quiet corner with an orange juice. But he saw me when I said goodbye on the way out. I also enjoyed the feedback survey that came by email a week later.

The best in the new Mercedes is certainly their Renault engines.

Money allowing

Merc or octavia?

I really dislike the A and C classes, xLA / xLC
To my taste, the new Mercedes are showy, pretentious, devoid of class and distinction.

I vote Octavia. And if I want more power, I go for an XE or an XF.

Must say that I don't like at all new merc design and only latest engine should be now aligned to the competition (BMW, Jag)

My mates c class amg is nice enough though. Nice to sit in, handles well, goes well

Drove an A class today, 200 miles city & motorway. Rear vision poor, speed/rev dials too far apart & too low, left side of speedo was partially obscured by steering wheel or my hand, digits hard to read when lit. Who's idea was it to put all major stick controls on one. Went to put wipers on and indicated. Light to say cruise is on/off can't be seen on stalk which it's self can't be seen. Heater controls too low to read safely. Stop start failed a couple of times. The list goes on. I was glad to return to my Vrs.

My beef with the design? Why FFS do they have to have an iPad-alike stuck in the middle of the dash? Can't they design a dash that incorporates a big screen? Others do. Just looks very much an afterthought. IMHO.

Drove an A class today, 200 miles city & motorway. Rear vision poor, speed/rev dials too far apart & too low, left side of speedo was partially obscured by steering wheel or my hand, digits hard to read when lit. Who's idea was it to put all major stick controls on one. Went to put wipers on and indicated. Light to say cruise is on/off can't be seen on stalk which it's self can't be seen. Heater controls too low to read safely. Stop start failed a couple of times. The list goes on. I was glad to return to my Vrs.

 

Yes, but apart from that, did you enjoy the car?

My beef with the design? Why FFS do they have to have an iPad-alike stuck in the middle of the dash? Can't they design a dash that incorporates a big screen? Others do. Just looks very much an afterthought. IMHO.

The idea is that the screen is more at eye level so you don't have to glance as far away from the road. It's a common complaint on forums. I'm yet to see anybody come up with a better solution. Unless you want the whole dash at the same height?

The idea is that the screen is more at eye level so you don't have to glance as far away from the road. It's a common complaint on forums. I'm yet to see anybody come up with a better solution. Unless you want the whole dash at the same height?

I think the problem is that a large part of the dashboard real estate is taken up or blocked by the steering wheel.

The steering wheel made sense when there was no mechanical assistance but these days with virtual fly-by-wire I am surprised that no one has tried a joystick arrangement, either like the traditional aviation between the legs type, or even the pc game type.

Personally I'd like the former type, with a red button on top that makes a 'dagga dagga' sound when you press it.