Time to replace the B200 with a GLC 350e

[MikeT]

(This first post  is split off from the "Time for a new family car" thread of 2007 and modified & updated a bit)

 

I have been wondering how far we could drive the Mercedes-Benz B200 if It were to remain our main touring car and winter car for the coming decade. I could retire with a full pension next year but I have now decided to work through the last bit of 2027, so three more years. This means three more years of commuting 3 days a week and also that if the B 200 is driven 15-18K km for each of those years, it would be at 400,000 km when I retire. Although it's been a very good car overall, it will need the suspension to be replaced sometime - especially the shock absorbers and bushings, which are the originals. The cloth upholstery is in good condition but the driver's seat bolster is beginning to get the tiniest of wear holes and in 3 years it'll be gaping. The engine doesn't burn oil between 15,000 km changes, but I did shred a belt about 8 months ago which made me think the car would be done for as it overheated. So far so good.... 

 

After the near car death experience, we kept an eye out for possible replacements. Toyota RAV4 Prime is ugly as sin but practical and economical but the interior is hyper nasty with hard plastic door panels and no leather seats available at any cost.... Then I thought maybe the Crown Signia would be good, despite not being a plug in hybrid, but it's about 60 grand which is a lot for a Toyota that is not a PHEV and I didn't like the low EV only range or the CVT automatic.

 

Anyway, in October when I was paying the M-B dealer for the extensive refit done to Snowball the white Canada 1, my wife was in the showroom and saw a car in a nice light green metallic and when I had paid the bill, I went over to her. She was yakking with a salesman about the car. Funny guy: he said the typical Mercedes is painted in one of the German Rainbow colours: Black, white and grey. Anyway I said "yeah it's nice but I don't want a car that gets worse fuel consumption than our B200" (7.4 L/100 km). The car in the showroom was a GLC 300, a 250 HP mild hybrid model that averages in the mid-8 range, officially. The salesman said that a new model - GLC 350e - that is a PHEV (plug-in hybrid electric vehicle) will be arriving in the showroom in December and its official fuel consumption on the test cycle with a full battery is 3.7 L/100 km. smart diesel territory. The official range in EV mode according to EPA protocols is 87 km, but the identical model in Europe is rated 118-131 km in their official tests. So more than the actual range of the first smart EV, plus a 208 HP 4 cylinder light pressure turbo and 49L of fuel to extend highway trips painlessly. Sounded pretty good.

 

The GLC is the SUV version of the C Class, which my wife likes due to ease of entry and visibility. Yes, it's a SUV, but it's also a large hatchback, and has a really nice interior. The PHEV has a 2 litre turbo plus an electric motor for 313 total HP and 406 lbs-ft of torque. 9 speed automatic. 0-100 km/h in 6.7 seconds officially, though actual road tests are showing them to be a bit quicker, 5.9 seconds 0-60 MPH in this test: https://www.caranddriver.com/mercedes-benz/glc-class-hybrid

 

I think it is inoffensively or even decently styled, especially in the base trim without all the AMG body kit stuff. The car costs more than the Crown Signia but not that much more, about $5000 MSRP difference. It's $64,950 here whereas in the USA the same model but missing the standard heated steering wheel that we get in Canada is $84,950 CAD once you convert the USD to CAD. Massively cheaper here.....The interior is fantastically nice, and although they didn't have a hybrid yet, we test drove the regular mild hybrid version and it was VERY nice despite having 19 inch wheels and missing the self-levelling rear air suspension of the PHEV. It's 4MATIC 4WD with about 70% standard torque split to the rear, with limited slip central differential. 

 

 

 

A YouTube vlogger did a real word test of its EV only range in LA - it did 64 miles with full charge and showed 7 miles left when the trip was over. So up to 71 miles (114 km) in that case. We could drive to Victoria in EV mode and drive back in hybrid mode, probably averaging under 3 L/100 km of premium for the total drive, better than the smart. My commute would be purely EV.

 

We will be visiting Europe sometime next year but European delivery is no longer an option for Mercedes-Benz.

 

We'll likely place a factory order for one in the colour seen above in February, or possibly a touch sooner. The spec cars here all have option packages we don't want (including sunroof) and so that's the way to go for us.

• Green metallic paint
• Beige Macchiato Leather
• Cooled front seats (heating is standard)
• Heated rear seats
• 60 kW fast (DC) charger
• Navigation system
• Brown Ash Wood trim
• Piano black centre console
• Distronic cruise control (automatic braking etc)

 

It'll be nice to have a new car again. The current Mercedes-Benz B200 has been good overall for the past 17+ years so it owes us not much. We will see who wants to buy it when the time comes, and it would have about 360,000 km at that time.

Edited November 11, 2024 by MikeT

[MikeT]

Now we're thinking of adding a sunroof, despite my first inclinations. The roof is glass and there are 67% fewer seals than the louvered one on the B-Class we bought in 2007. It would brighten up the interior and if it leaks in the car's old age, clear wrap will do what it did to our B-Class....keep a leaky roof dry.

 

I was checking out some sites in Europe that have done detailed fuel consumption tests on this 2+ tonne 4WD vehicle. It seems from this test that between the high 6.x and high 7.x L/100 km is possible even with a depleted battery on a road trip. Around here the main issue will be burning enough fuel in the 49 litre tank so it doesn't go stale. About 75% of our local driving will be in EV mode alone, I think.

 

Spritmonitor has a few dozen of the newest model X254 - called GLC 300e in Europe - in their records and the average among all of them is ~4.6 L/100 km of fuel, which on the face of it is rather smart cdi-like, but of course doesn't account for the electricity costs.  I checked the rate of electricity usage in EV mode and considering the cost of power here in BC, charging at home, the cost per km is about 1/4 the cost of fuel at say 7.5 L/100 km.  Therefore, fuel cost-wise, the car should be cheaper to run than our smart is when driving locally.

 

When we drive it cross-country, we should be able to get more or less the same fuel economy as the current B200 5 speed, which we use for longer trips now. And we do plan to do that, clean out to Newfoundland, sometime in the next 3 years.

 

 

 

[MikeT]

Order for the GLC 350e is underway. deposit to be paid on Boxing Day.

 

All options shown in first post other than cooled seats, which is only available in the vinyl (Artico) upholstery. We want leather seats a LOT more than seat cooling.

 

The Nanaimo dealer has only a few allocations because they're kind of small, and the next build slot just opened up for February/March production date. It should arrive here by April or May, which is perfect.

 

So far, the B200 is holding up admirably. I hope to sell it for a few grand once the new car arrives.

[MikeT]

Paid the deposit yesterday, indications now are seat cooling is available with leather, so we will begetting that!

[smartzuuk]

The B200 should go to a good home where a manual is needed and desired!  Just call me "Distronic".....