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2013 Mercedes-Benz B200 CDI: owner review - Drive

€ 35.99

(240)

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Beschreibung

As an admited geek who cares more about gigahertz than horsepower, I've wanted a car with adaptive cruise control for a long time, well before I could afford one. ACC with stop and go down to 0 km/h is a great technology with an active radar - allowing easy driving for long commutes and increased safety when glancing at screens in stop-start traffic as most drivers tend to do these days. With the search filters on carsales my nice to haves were leather seats, bluetooth, adaptive cruise, dual zone climate, brake hold and premium sound but ACC was always the dealbreaker. The wikipedia entry on ACC was my bible, trying to find an older car which had ACC to 0 km/h (stop-and-go) and not the used partial cruise where it conks out and disengages at 30km/h. Mainly I was looking at used Golfs, but the newest Golf 7.5 Highline with Sound & Vision pack and Driver Assist was out of my price range without a big car loan. In my search, I also test drove the i30 SR Premium, the Honda Civic VTi-LX, and the Subaru Impreza with Eyesight. I even considered the minefield which would be a well-used Audi with lots of km. For a while I was fascinated with the Skoda brand, seeing older Skoda Superbs which seem like great value for money. I nearly grabbed a Golf wagon in Tasmania to bring back to melbourne, and considered an Octavia but on further research found the ACC disengages at traffic lights because it is missing an automatic parking brake. The final car that very well nearly tempted me is the Holden Astra RS-V, has the tech including Android auto, won euro car of the year, initially had good pricing, but then when I was looking, I couldn't find a good price on one with an extended warranty. After years of research, I finally discovered the magic words - "Distronic Plus". You see, ACC has a lot of funny names and I always thought Mercedes was out of my price range. It was only a few days after discovering the magic words, I saw a B200 with all the extra packs and new I had found the car of my dreams. An old guy had listed a 2013 B200 CDI (diesel) with only 41,000km (that's 7000km a year folks), always serviced at the dealership and with all the trimmings - Comand Pack (12 speaker Harmon Kardon, DAB+, DSP), Driving Assistance Pack (Distronic Plus, Blind Spot Sensors, LDW), Exclusive Pack (Leather Electric, Heated seats with memory), Vision Package (Bi-Xenons, Sunroof). On top of all that, you had your standard equipment - the feeling of driving a 3 pointer, well built ANCAP 5 star rating, reversing camera with moving guidelines, front and rear parking sensors, auto self-parking, GPS Nav, dual zone climate and also brake hold, a feature I also wanted - which works a bit different in Mercedes, you have to push the brake hard once after stopping. Essentially it had everything I could ask for, except for Android Auto, ventilated seats, push button / remote start and keyless entry. This car is very fuel efficient and economical, being a diesel engine. At this time, I had just moved into a new apartment with my girlfriend that very same weekend on the Friday - we had boxes everywhere. I told her I booked a flight to Sydney tomorrow, so I grabbed a bank cheque, on Saturday flew to Sydney and stayed overnight in a crappy AirBnB. The next morning, I took a bus to a very fancy retirement village in Lane Cove, overlooking Sydney Harbour. This place was deluxe! Turns out, the car has lived its entire life in the bowels of this place, in an underground car park. The car was in mint condition - the owner was already retired when he bought it new for $65,000, it had done barely any kms. I bought it on the spot, didn't even bother getting a RWC, and drove straight through western Sydney and onto the Hume as I had to be at work on Monday morning. My cost? $19,000 plus ORC. Put simply, I think I am driving the best car per dollar on the road. Having owned this car for 9 months and recently having the first service (B service) done by a euro specialist in Hawthorn, I've found that there were a few issues - the Inlet filter was fouled and due to be replaced and same with ignition plugs, both due 2017 - so seems Mercedes dealership service in Sydney dropped the ball there. Other than that, the battery is a bit low and needs replacing in six months. I am not a gambler but I did roll the dice on a used European car and I won this time, as long as I go for a 50km drive every 2 weeks because it's a diesel and needs to be driven. Straight after the service I loaned it to my girlfriend for a girl's weekend away - our friend won a prize for a stay at a Canberra hotel, so it worked out a bit longer travel time but much cheaper to drive so I leant them my car - they enjoyed the amenities like the premium sound but couldn't figure out how to use cruise control for the entire 1300km round trip - even her friend the analytical one (she's my accountant!) Cabin Space and Comfort - As you can see from the photos, I slotted in a 55" OLED TV one time, with no problems. At the moment, I am working in Docklands and instead of paying for parking, I park in Port Melbourne and keep a hybrid road bike (full-size) in the boot by twisting the handlebars around. I don't even have to remove the front wheel, I just slide my bike in and out, and commute the last 2km by bike which is fun. As I am normally driving alone, it has plenty of space and of course a Mercedes cabin is a great place to be. My first time owning all of leather, heated and electric seats, dual zone climate, and all features are well appreciated by everyone. I just hit the big four zero so getting in and out of this car is a breeze with the higher entry point (in America this model had a limited run as an electric with a battery pack across the bottom) and the higher driving position is better than a sedan, but not quite at SUV level. When I drive past GLAs they don't seem to be sitting much higher than me, maybe two inches. Performance and Economy & Ride & Handling - I've had no problems with the DSG, or feel much turbo lag. Actually since the service, I feel the car has improved in it's handling and performance. What I think happened is that the car has some sort of driving memory for how you drive and this was stored as to prefer the driving style of a 71 year old retiree puttering around the hills and traffic of Sydney. There is some threads and videos about how to reset it. Maybe when they serviced my car recently they also reset those settings. It's handling a lot better this week although maybe it's my imagination. My biggest complaint before was the handling and suspension, it is a bit harder than I would like with the run flat tires (no spare), as I do zip around town and take on speed bumps - getting off the mark isn't great either as I like to take my chances when I find them in traffic. I knew going in this would not be a performance car, but it is a 1.8L turbo diesel with 100kW @ 4400 rpm and 300Nm Torque @ 1600-3000rpm so I do rely on the torque and enjoy doing so. That's more torque than the new i30 petrol model and the Golf 7.5. My Mercedes does 0-100km/h in 8.4 seconds, vs 6.87 for i30 SR, 7.7 for a Skoda Superb 140TDI, 9.3 for a VW Polo and 10.1 for the Subaru Impreza. Technology and Connectivity - As stated earlier, this car came loaded with the packs and that is what really mattered, it's hard to find a used B200 with these four packs, all of which I have something I wanted. At the end of the day, I'm not missing Android Auto that much, not enough to replace the stock head unit with a risky overseas model, although there are some nice 10.1" options, the resolution and touch is still not the best. If there is an aftermarket option with wireless Android I might take the plunge, however for now I have a wireless magnetic adapter and enjoy having two screens, my phone screen mounted with 3M tape below the vents, as tit is hard to find a vent mount for Mercedes. The major self driving features which this car is missing is Traffic Jam Assist, which is a low speed mode available in new Audi, VW anmd Skoda models. There is also lane centering, a newer version of LKAS which of which the best example is in the new Ford Focus 2019. I was surprised how useful and enjoyable the blind spot assist system in the side mirrors is, and how few cars costing double or triple what I paid still don't have that feature. Brake hold is just as good as I thought it would be and I am glad I have that. Automatic Wipers and Lights are great, and I'm even using the auto-park assist frequently and it does save time and energy. Retractable mirrors when you lock the car is a cool feature but mostly so I can tell if the car is locked. Daytime running lights look awesome - I'm missing LED headlights but no big loss, same with electric tailgate and KESSY - nice to have but not essential. I can't finish without mentioning the premium sound with the 12 Harmon Kardon speakers and DSP. It's just fantastic, for car audio. I've had pretty crappy audio setups at home, but after getting the car, I upgraded to a proper receiver and high quality speakers at home and only now can I notice the HK in the car is a little inferior to that. But in general, the quality of the sound with the DAB+ radio which we Iisten to frequently, or streaming bluetooth, is highly praised by all passengers. Can't go back to non-premium sound, that's for sure. The Honda Civic I test drove had a crappy sub-woofer in the boot, the i30 sound is not much better. You need sound and vision pack to get decent sound in a Golf. Only the Skodas I was considering had decent (Canton) system. Price and Features and Summary - At around $21k including the cost for the car initially, ORC like stamp duty, and the first B service, the car has now done 53,000km, with 12k of those being mine. Being a diesel Mercedes, it has a long life ahead of it. Fuel efficiency is awesome - I completely love the car and don't regret my decision at all. To get all the features I wanted, including premium sound, for this price was always my dream. I think it'scrazy that this car is not more highly praised in the used car market, or the head to head hatchback articles on CarAdvice, because they are always comparing new vs new - however with depreciation, the B200 circa 2013 with the option packs is now available around the 20k mark and if any of what I have reviewed appeals to you in any way, I wish you luck in finding a deal similar to mine.