[Ken]

I've had my GLA 250 for about 3 months now, and I'm enjoying it immensely. I got the Cosmos Black with ash interior and the Sport package. I just found this forum, I've been on a Brit Forum for about a month. It had a lot of good information ...... especially if you lived in Europe. But it is good because they have already had a little more experience with the GLA than us "Yanks." A great bunch of guys. Glad to be here and exchange information and ideas with fellow American owners. My experience so far with the GLA has been very positive. If your in Atlanta and you see a GLA, and all you see in the wind shield are teeth, that will be me, I'm still smiling each time I drive it.

 

[alcatraz]

If your in Atlanta and you see a GLA, and all you see in the wind shield are teeth, that will be me, I'm still smiling each time I drive it.

LOL

Glad to have you on the forum and happy that you'll bring some good knowledge and experience as an owner.

Sounds like you like the GLA so far. Have you had any problems or complaints about it yet?

 

[Ken]

I still don't like not having a spare. But if I could adjust to that, there was no way that I was going to adjust to not having a jack. I sometimes go places where MB couldn't find me even if I could get a signal to call them. I'm old and I'm "old school," I need a certain amount of independence. I'm not an affluent housewife willing to wait for service to show up, I'm going to do something if I can. The new tech is so alien to me that MB provided me a service tech (who really knew his stuff) to go over the car and tell me what things were and how things worked. It helped a lot. My last new car was a Ford F-150 pickup, 17 years ago. Needless to say, a lot has changed. I'm an engineer by training, and I believe that this car is one incredible piece of engineering. When he explained how the 4matic worked, I was damned impressed that I actually owned a car that had it. I took the car on a 1200 mile trip to Pennsylvania about 6 weeks ago. Went through some West Virginia mountains and I couldn't believe how well the car sticks. It feels very safe and solid. Oh yeah, I put together a jack and inflation kit that fits in what should be the spare tire well, but has a radio instead. I'll post some pics of what I did later. Didn't cost much, but it gives me a million dollars worth of security.

 

[butterfield]

Welcome Ken, interested in your jack, would be cool if you could share in DIY style perhaps as I think that will be a solution to many peoples questions!!!!

 

[4-matic]

Welcome and congrats on getting a GLA!
What other vehicles were you looking into before deciding to go with the Mercedes?

 

[wramir01]

Welcome Ken!

I too don't like the idea of not having a spare so I am very interested in what you did, please share some pictures when you can.

 

[Ken]

Other cars and a Jack

I'll post my pics on the compressor and the jack within the next day or two. The other cars I was considering covered a large gamut. It goes from a new F-150 (2015) and of course all the GLA competitors, BMW X1, Lincoln MKC, Lexus NX, Infinity Q30, Acura RDX, Hyundai Sante Fe, Nissan Murano, Mazda CX5, Mustang GT 350 (looked at it, not serious). I won't buy GM, or Chrysler. Anyway, you can tell that I was honed in like a laser (lol). A couple of things led me to the GLA. I had to have descent mileage with good performance, and my wife pushed me to a premium brand. She was really wanting the Acura RDX, but I wasn't impressed with the mileage. The more I researched motors, I came to realize that the V8 is probably going to be history soon. The V6 is better but I think the power and mileage that is coming out of the turbo 4s will position this engine as a key power source in the future. I really considered waiting for the Lexus NX, but it is the first turbo for Lexus, and I believe that it will be more expensive than the GLA equally equipped. Also, Lexus doesn't deal much. I didn't want to wait for the Q30, but it is a sexy looking little thing. It might be tighter than the GLA though, and I'm ok with the GLA but I wouldn't want to be any tighter. The other thing I have discovered being new to MB, it is a really solid car. I believe I made the perfect choice.

 

[AMGz]

Welcome to the forum!