Would I have bought something else if it was available? Actually…yes. If the GLC 350d (V6 diesel) was available at that time, that’s what I would have bought instead. I don’t drive my car hard and rarely push it to the redline, so having torque lower down the rev range is far more useful for me.
But do I regret my purchase? Not really – my family’s history with Mercedeses is long enough for me to know the typical quirks and workarounds to get around them (yet another not-so-subtle dig at the prehistoric COMAND infotainment). I’d say that every dollar I coughed up for it is well-spent – it has never let me down with its space, comfort, build quality, refinement, versatility and most importantly, its safety. If I could only pick one car to keep out of all my others, I’d pick this one (although my heart would ache at having to put a lot more kilometers into it). I could practically live out of this car in an RV park on long road trips, because I can easily fold down the back seats into a bed (placing a mattress pad over it) and still sit up in it without my head touching the roof. I can’t do that in my estate wagon.
Would I buy this car in Malaysia? Definitely not – because even with the CKD version, it’s overpriced given the spec available there.
Given the direction Mercedes is heading, their future does look promising – especially with the new MBUX infotainment system and all. They’ve finally wised up and completely revamped everything wrong with COMAND. Although it may not be as polished as iDrive, MBUX is nearly as good and it looks to be future-proofed, with support for OTA updates. I’m also very attracted by their new compact lineup, especially the GLB’s packaging, interior design and build quality. Their current compact lineup has designs and build quality that easily rival or outstrip previous-generation E classes. And if they are already doing such wonders to their MFA2 platform vehicles, I can only imagine how much better the next iteration of the GLC will get.