I own a 2018 45 and purchased it Feb of 2019 with 5200 miles purchased in Manhattan my son and I drove it home to Minnesota made it to Milwaukee 1st day avg 81mph and got 31.5mpg I have been anything but nice to it I am now on my 13th set of tires and just put on 3rd set of pad and rotors I have never had a check engine light come on service is expensive it is expected with MB it is my 10th MB and by far the most enjoyable to drive the one I have has factory matte paint only downside is matte paint it requires all sorts of special care and products wash by hand only new microfiber cloths every wash 50ml matte wax $400 oh FYI if u have to paint any portion of car dose not work you have to paint entire car it has just about every option msrp $72,897 I think only missing option was giant spoiler I have an upgraded ecu and a handful of performance parts This car will eat most sports cars for breakfast if your hard on it gas mileage is not so good however if u run in comfort mode you can get 400 miles on a 14gallon tank If you like to have fun and go fast Says the car it's very unassuming you don't get noticed = no tickets the car seems to get faster the harder u drive mechanically I have tested this car to max for 60000 miles and it passed with flying colors I'm actually going to try and break the transcontinental record in it next fall at 130mph it gets 21mpg in comfort mode I buy cars every couple yrs I managed car dealerships for 20+ years driven and owned too many to remember this car impressed me every time I drive it I hit an object in road thru alignment off car knew so it disengaged traction system and sensors to avoid further damage to vehicle got alignment reset it self this is a hand built car from Germany A person who handcrafts it signs underneath the hood even It's basically a supercar and a hatchback bodySays benefits is notorious for underrating cars There is not much on the road that will touch it especially if you know how to drive

I’ve barely owned this car for three tanks of gas. Very happy with choice. It has great performance, on the road, and in style/looks. But I also enjoy the stealth quality (I didn’t get the aero package). I was able to get 32mpg on a long highway trip, despite this engine designed to output 375hp. Overall impressive versatility when comparing to other AWD hot hatches. I like to compare it to a Subaru WRX, which I feel is chunkier in shifting/drive and can’t get anywhere near that kind of good gas mileage. I appreciate the Mercs slightly higher ground clearance and hope to get some winter wheels for snow sports in the years to come. Cons might be the technology interface, but with Apple CarPlay it makes it entirely tolerable and useful, despite not having a touch screen in this model year(2018). Figured out the menu system in a couple of afternoons. We’ll see how I feel in a year. I use the car for a daily driver and have kids car seats in the back. We may go for some easy camping trips with a roof box on top, and I hope to also get some track days. Again, love the versatility.

I am writing this having just turned in a 2016 GLA45 off lease. I write it because it is useful to have history for people considering buying a new one and it is the same gen and guts as the new ones. I has about 22,000 miles on it at turn in. Here are the postives. 1. Style and luxury. I had red cut leather and the styling was always a wow for anyone who rode in it. I like the brushed aluminum, leather dash and red highlights on vents. Nice sporty touch. The air foil on the back stated you had an AMG serious sports car. Good sound system w HK 2. Utility. I put cross bars on top, carried kayaks and occasional pickups from Home Depot while being able to do a local track day. Virtually no sports cars can do that.With winter tires it was fine in the snow. For Colorado this is essential. Performance. Apart from stalling, superb. 32.6 mpg on road trip to Fl and 9mpg on track, lol. That’s amazing with a 375hp engine. I bought this car for the amazing engineering and unique abilities. The minuses: 1. Had a problem randomly stalling after fill ups. It rarely ever did it twice in a row. Dealt with it for all three years, two new purge valves and never solved. 2. Non defeatable stop-start. These are universal now and I can turn it off in my Mini and my company Malibu had better programming. The programming was terrible even rookie in the 2016. It would essentially stall and start when you had to sort of creep out for a turn or something similar. You need to turn it off every time you restart the car. Maybe this is improved in newer cars. 2. Super expensive services. $750 for A service and $1250 for B service on even years. As I was turning it in the service light came on and they will charge you half the cost at lease end. BMW-Mini are free so no worries. It cost me a grand to hand them back the keys and no credits for low mileage and clear mask I put on, etc. It was worth far more than residual value but no slack. 3. Mirrors. You don’t need blind spot electronics if you adjust your side mirrors out but it will not work in this model. The mirrors are too far inside the housing so you need the extra electronics. 4. Dials. The engine setting dial is about 3in from same exact size dial for computer screen. I often grabbed the engine dial accidentally when trying to use computer screen. Fortunately, nothing extreme happens when you change engine settings while driving. Touch screen would solve this or different feeling dial. Overall, great utility, sporty with luxury but high cost of ownership and I never really liked or trusted my dealership or even Mercedes. I will not be back. I am basically neutral on recommending this car to anyone else.