When car-shopping recently, I had a list of must-haves and I’m happy to say that the baby Merc – the Mercedes A-Class I chose, has them all and more…
A small, but stylish mom's taxi
I wanted a mom’s taxi that was also compact and easy to park, as well as light on fuel, with lots of boot space, and all the safety features for transporting precious children. A pretty tall order you might think, but not for Mercedes.
Like driving an economical SUV
I took the A-Class for a test drive, and was so impressed I knew I had to have it. The raised seating and huge front windscreen gives great visibility as well as the feeling of safety associated with bigger SUVs and 4X4s. But it can fit into the tiniest parking spaces (at 3606mm it’s not much longer than a Polo) and the 7,7 litres per 100kms fuel consumption (mine’s an automatic; it’s even less for the manual models) means that a tank of petrol lasts me a month.
Lots of useful features
The drive is as smooth as the C-Class my husband used to own, but with the zippiness he didn’t have. And for me, it’s the little extras that sell a car – cup holders in the right places, a rear wiper for rainy days, an off button for the front passenger airbag (so rear-facing baby seats can be strapped to the seat), and manual windows in the back so little fingers can’t fiddle with buttons. There are electric windows in front, as well as electric mirrors, great sound from the Mercedes CD player and an awesome wraparound, cockpit-like dash.
Multi-purpose and flexible boot space
I would call this a crossover car as the split rear seat configuration and removable parcel cover means that the boot can hold both two week’s supply of groceries and a little girl’s bicycle, on a shopping trip on the way back from the beach. I would also call it safe, luxurious, funky and fun!
Even Emily, my five year-old daughter, who has a great time car-shopping with a mom who changes her car more often than her wardrobe, has told me that “We are never selling this car” - she wants it when she’s 18!
