Used Mercedes-Benz CLA cars for sale

Used Mercedes-Benz CLA pros and cons

Is a used Mercedes-Benz CLA a good car?

It might have four doors, but the Mercedes CLA is still officially a coupe. Underneath, it uses the same engines and bits and pieces as the A-Class hatchback and saloon, and all three cars are basically the same from the front seats forward. The CLA is a rival to the likes of the Audi A3 Saloon and the BMW 2 Series Gran Coupe. 

The CLA is a handsome car, looking very much like the bigger, grander, more expensive CLS especially from the side. The roofline is lower than that of the A-Class Saloon and the door glass is frameless to give it more of a coupe-like feel, which is a nice touch. 

Inside, the dashboard is shared with the A-Class too, but that’s fine as you get Mercedes’ impressive MBUX all-digital interior, which looks as if someone has stretched an iPad out across the dash. 
The screens — one for instruments and one for infotainment — are pretty easy and straightforward to use, and it really helps that Mercedes kept proper physical buttons for the air conditioning. The gear selector for automatic versions is up on the steering column, which helps to free up some useful storage space in the cabin, while there are other nice touches such as ambient lighting and air vents that look like jet turbine engines. 

There’s serious tech too, including augmented reality sat-nav, which takes a live feed of the road in front of you from the safety system’s forward-facing camera, and overlays big direction arrows, pointing at the junction you need to take. That’s seriously handy if you’re driving off somewhere unfamiliar. 

In the front, the CLA’s cabin is very comfortable, and you sit low on (standard) leather seats, which are supportive and squashy in just the right places. Overall, quality levels are good, even if you will spot a few cheapskate plastics around the place, especially on the column stalks. 

The back seats are less impressive, as headroom is tight (even if legroom is OK), and you’ll find slightly more practical room in the back of the A-Class hatchback, or the roomier by far B-Class MPV if you really need space for those in the back. 

At 460 litres, the CLA’s boot is actually pretty big for a car of this size, but it’s quite shallow, and the boot lid doesn’t really open quite far enough, so getting anything big in there can be a struggle. It’s easier if you go for the relatively practical CLA Shooting Brake estate, but again the boot opening isn’t the biggest. 

The CLA might not be the most practical thing around, but it is good to drive, not least because the rear suspension is of a more sophisticated and expensive design than what you get in the humbler A-Class. It’s a front-wheel drive car, the CLA, so it’s not quite so well balanced as the bigger C-Class nor E-Class, but not bad at all. 

Engine options are a 1.3-litre turbo petrol — shared with Renault(!) — and a 2.0-litre diesel, and there’s a CLA 230e plug-in hybrid too, which gets a reasonable 30 mile electric range and which provides decent long-haul economy too. 

If you need more thrills than that, there are the sporty CLA 35 and CLA 45 AMG models which get four-wheel drive and 306hp (for the 35) or a massive 421hp (for the 45). 

The CLA also gets some high-end driver assistance systems which can make longer motorway journeys less tiring, but it’s worth remembering that these are also fitted to the more affordable A-Class, if value is your priority. 

That said, the CLA is well worth considering as it has all of the tech, and the frugality, of the A-Class, but with much more style and a sharper driving experience. 

What to look for when buying a used Mercedes-Benz CLA

The CLA has been recalled for problems with the air conditioning, faulty gearboxes, radar software, airbag mis-mounting, and turbocharger oil leaks, so make sure that all of those have been carried out. If you’re buying a CLA 250e, make sure it comes with a battery health check. 

Brakes and electrics are the most common problem areas. The CLA didn’t feature in the most recent Driver Power Top 50 Cars To Own list, but the mechanically-similar A-Class did, and it finished in 31st place, with a poor mark for reliability and quality. Mercedes could only finish in 25th place out of 32 brands in the overall customer satisfaction survey, with 26% of owners reporting problems with their car, and a very poor mark for quality and reliability. 

Mercedes-Benz CLA FAQs