Our Fleet Test Drive: Mercedes E-class - 2nd Report
Date:
22 February 2010
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Author:
Stone wall
Replacing what could well be my favourite car on sale, and its direct rival, the Jaguar XF, was always going to be difficult for the Mercedes E-class. However, I've settled into life with it and I'm feeling good about it.
Living with the big saloon is completely different from the XF in a number of ways, but I feel the E-class will be a slow burner, impressing more the longer I have it, whereas the Jaguar provided instant theatre and allure the moment you stepped inside.
I'm glad I received a proper handover (see the first report at www.businesscar.co.uk/ourfleet for more) because the E-class has lots of clever touches to make life simpler. I'd never before realised, for example, that you can retune straight to the radio station you want by simply hitting the * key and typing in the frequency, rather than scrolling across all the stations the car has picked up. It's really handy for programming presets.
The car made several journeys to the south coast over Christmas, which were followed by an early January trip from London to Torquay, courtesy of an unglamorous FA Cup third round draw. Luckily the Mercedes was more impressive than the match, and carried us safely back from Devon in comfort.
Mercedes E250 CDI Avantgarde | Mileage | 3103 | Claimed combined consumption | 53.3mpg | Our average consumption | 36.4mpg | P11D price | £32,545 | Model price range | £27,570-£73,855 | C02 (tax) | 142g/km (19%) | BIK?@?20/40% per month | £103/£206 | Why we’re running it | To see if E-class can take on Jag and BMW | Positive | Long-range ability and comfort | Negative | Hope that economy improves with miles |
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