October is halfway through, and so is the month we're spending with the 2014 Mercedes-Benz CLA 250, just as it goes on sale in the U.S. The $36,320 CLA 250 in our driveway has racked up nearly 2000 miles so far, as we try to figure out what it does best--and today, whether its initial quality measures up.
Mercedes has a keen interest in making sure the CLA conveys the impression and the reality of quality. You don't create the car to throw away that legacy, and you don't win over a new generation of buyers by overselling and underdelivering.
Quality may take different outlines to first-time Benz buyers raised on imported hatchbacks, but the basics still are the same, no matter what the base price is. It's still the fit and finish off the line, the degree to which a car meets its promises to the buyer, and down the road, it's the way the car endures a daily beating, in appearance and performance.
Read Article