She likes the car but is put off by the requirement for premium fuel. Clearly there is a cost differential between premium and regular. Does anyone regret buying the B Class and having to buy $$ gas?
As a relatively new Mercedes owner, I like the idea of my wife driving a B Class (safety / durability / etc.) but I don't want to push her to get one if she ends up regretting it over the long term.
The safety, utility and fun-to-drive factor easily outweigh and fuel price differential.
If you average 10 litres/ 100 Km ( Turbo) and if you drive 20,000 km / year and if the price difference is 10 cents / litre then it will only cost $ 200 / year or $ 16.66/ monthly for premium gas.
I only drive about 10,000 km per year so this is a non issue for me. Also, I gas up at Husky which offers BCAA rewards points and has mid grade for the price of regular and contains 10% ethanol - so no need for gas line anti-freeze
( certainly not in Vancouver!). I use 92 octane.
FWIW, my wife loves the B.
I thought I read somewhere here that ethanol isn't good for Benz.. from BeeClass or Mike? I used to gas at Husky also. Now I gas at Chevron with Techron. Its 92 Octane is usually 5 cents more than Husky's 92.
I don't know about ethanol, but I too use Chevron 92. It's one point higher than the other premiums, and locally at least, is 8 cents more per L than regular.
Back in the seventies and eighties, Chevron made a nice pink leaded premium gas, which I used then too.
If we want to talk about overpriced fuel, how about diesel?!? Locally, it costs more than Chevron 92.
She likes the car but is put off by the requirement for premium fuel. Clearly there is a cost differential between premium and regular. Does anyone regret buying the B Class and having to buy $$ gas?
As a relatively new Mercedes owner, I like the idea of my wife driving a B Class (safety / durability / etc.) but I don't want to push her to get one if she ends up regretting it over the long term.
Get the B 100%. The car gets very good mileage. If the cost of premium fuel is an issue then maybe you are looking for a cheaper car, not cheaper fuel because most "premium cars" need "premium" fuel regardless of make. What is your wife driving now? Also, the B is in a class all it's own so a direct competitor doesn't exist in it's price range. So, the whole thing becomes a bit moot.
Cheaper alternatives that offer a modicum of fun
Nissan Rogue
Subaru Impreza
Absolute Best Bargain Of The Last 20 Years And Best Kept Secret Choice (Canada only)
VW City Golf - get it loaded for well under 20K (VW dealers are desperate too, as their sales are off)
Yup, it's old tech and not the latest design but this is a proven German car that's assembled in Brazil that will go 200K in a heartbeat.
I would get this car in a second if budget were my priority. I want one just for the fun of it because it is so cheap starting at half the B200!
The engine is a derivative of my old 87 Jetta 1.8 that did 150K on 5K oil changes and was perfect when I sold it eons ago.
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2008 Mercedes B200, premium, CVT
2009 Audi A4 Avant, 2.0t, tip, quattro
Formerly
2007 X3 Premium, steptronic
2005 X3 Premium, 6 speed man
2004 BMW 320i, steptronic
2003 Mini Cooper, 5 speed man
2000 323i, 5 speed man
She likes the car but is put off by the requirement for premium fuel. Clearly there is a cost differential between premium and regular. Does anyone regret buying the B Class and having to buy $$ gas?
As a relatively new Mercedes owner, I like the idea of my wife driving a B Class (safety / durability / etc.) but I don't want to push her to get one if she ends up regretting it over the long term.
Hi rpringle,
If you're used to driving an R class; then make sure you're both comfortable in driving a smaller B class.
Take a good long test drive.
Most on this forum are very satisfied with their B's but it won't feel like an R class on the road.
Cheers, Derek
Thanks for everyon'es feedback and comments. Good insights, many of which I have passed on to my wife.
First off, my wife pays her own way...our finances aren't mingled on things like cars so she makes the call on her car. I recently got my R-Class - my first Mercedes (and loving it) - and she is thinking about moving up to a "nice car".
She drives a lot of clicks - 30K+ per year - on a long Toronto commute (Oakville to Markham) so fuel efficiency is important to her. As is reliability and cost of operating. But because she spends a lot of time in the car, she wants to move into something with some quality, class and comfort. She also needs room (our two daughters play hockey, as both of us do as well) so the space in the B is another factor for her.
She has been driving a Focus for the past five years and the car has delivered excellent fuel economy and has been reasonable durable but the quality is not top notch.
I like the idea of the B for its safety as well.
VW? Maybe - but she drove a New Beetle for a few years and the build quality on that sucked. Fun car, fun to drive. But a pain to run. And from what I read, VW hasn't improved a whole lot in QC.
The B will certainly be much roomier than the Focus, so no worries there. 2 hockey bags fit and the sticks go through the ski pass-through - do it every weekend. You won't get all four bags in, especially adult size. Take the R for out of town tournaments.
My personal opinion is that with German cars like VW and MB you are paying for style and substance, but reliability is hit and miss. If reliability is the most important thing to her, maybe she should look at Asian brands. That said, I have had good luck with German cars (owned at least 1 since 2000 - no serious issues).
I think you will find the fuel economy is decent - if that is key, maybe you want to check out the new VW diesel Jetta wagon that is coming later out this year? If you don't want to wait, the B is a good bet.
Thanks for everyon'es feedback and comments. Good insights, many of which I have passed on to my wife.
First off, my wife pays her own way...our finances aren't mingled on things like cars so she makes the call on her car. I recently got my R-Class - my first Mercedes (and loving it) - and she is thinking about moving up to a "nice car".
She drives a lot of clicks - 30K+ per year - on a long Toronto commute (Oakville to Markham) so fuel efficiency is important to her. As is reliability and cost of operating. But because she spends a lot of time in the car, she wants to move into something with some quality, class and comfort. She also needs room (our two daughters play hockey, as both of us do as well) so the space in the B is another factor for her.
She has been driving a Focus for the past five years and the car has delivered excellent fuel economy and has been reasonable durable but the quality is not top notch.
I like the idea of the B for its safety as well.
VW? Maybe - but she drove a New Beetle for a few years and the build quality on that sucked. Fun car, fun to drive. But a pain to run. And from what I read, VW hasn't improved a whole lot in QC.
I'll keep passing on your collective wisdom!
It depends on priority. What does she want most?
On the one hand the B offers a German car experience of robust road going prowess from expensive engineering and top notch safety, versatility, room, fun, character, style and economy car fuel economy but from premium gas.
On the other hand a Japanese car can offer a long running service, expected reliability (but not a guarantee of it) and low cost to operate for high mileage users, as well as good fuel economy. A Honda Civic is the best choice except for space in this capacity. But, at the cost of build material quality, nifty extra features, and a high quality ownership experience. I find all Japanese cars have a very cheap feel. Also they look and feel like Rubbermaid. But the value is there long term if that is the top priority.
Otherwise I would go Subaru Impreza for cost, space, AWD, and a rep for going forever.
Doing 30K in a B can be iffy for resale and cost to run after the 3rd or 4th year. Tough call there as no one has that kind of mileage yet (or do they?? anyone got 90K plus??) on the gas versions to know what could be costly for the long term.
Personally I am leasing mine so can decide that later. But my lease is 18K a year not 30K.
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