2012.09.08 Cheap With Cheapsauce

So, a strange thing happened: there was a car thing, and I didn't immediately write about it here.

Admittedly, there has a been a lot going on lately. And even I have to say that having a daughter born is somewhat more important than a new car. (Which reminds me, I owe a whole bunch of cute baby girl pictures to the grandparents.)

Anyway, what happened was that we found a way to save money by getting a brand new Mercedes. As crazy as that sounds, it's actually a by-product of the insanely high resale value of Subaru wagons in Portland right now, and the ridiculously good lease deal that Daimler gives its employees. For zero money down, and less money per month than our old car loan (and, indeed, less than for even a cheap Kia), we got a 2012 Mercedes C250W.

Firstly I should point out that there is pretty much nothing in the way of options on this thing. But, frankly, the base equipment on this bottom-rung C-class is still pretty nice. Excellent build quality, nice handling, a 150 kW (200 HP) turbo-charged in-line 4-cylinder that gets 21 MPG city and 31 MPG highway, and bluetooth stereo. Also: light-sensing headlights, rain-sensing wipers, and tire pressure sensors - probably because it's cheaper to not bother making those systems optional.

And it's an automatic. [SPIT]

Mercedes Benz doesn't sell anything in North America that isn't automatic. Even the SLS AMG, though that halo car does get to have a dual-clutch box instead of a torque converter. Our C250W has the usual 7-speed automatic, which seems to work OK - assuming you're a soulless cretin who hates driving. It does have a manu-matic mode, but with 7 speeds and no way to avoid the shift lag it's seems like mostly a way to taunt people who might crave to row their own gear. Considering that it's designated purpose is as a commuter and kid-hauler, I suppose I can get over it. Besides, the car it's replacing in our fleet was automatic too (though, with a more row-friendly system).

Almost a month has gone by since we got it, and I've developed a few impressions so far.

First: we've only used one tank of gas so far. Closing in on 400 miles (if you'll pardon the American units), most of which were navigated with my Heavy Foot™. So I'm pretty impressed with that.

Second: S looks great in it. My wife has very simple automotive tastes, and tends towards frugality and practicality. But I really do like how the classiness of the car just seems to suit her.

Third: while quite nimble and sufficiently potent, this is a fairly hoon-resistant car. Because it's actually really hard to compensate simultaneously for both torque-converter lag and turbo lag. The stability control can be turned off without too much difficulty, but the traction control has defied me so far. Plus the E-brake is a foot pedal with an under-dash release, and I suspect that it's electrically actuated and would have to be approved by some black-box nannies before engaging. I suppose it's all for the best, but I'm still eagerly awaiting the rainy two-thirds of the year.

Fourth: a name is not forthcoming for the car. Simon wanted to call it Cargllk (or something - he also named his fish Cargy, and his stuffed animal Cargek). I proposed Otto von Bismarck, but nobody thought that was funny. We've mostly just called it "the Mercedes".

Maybe it's best not to get too attached to it. After all, we get to replace it in 7-11 months with a new one, depending on how many miles we can inflict on it.