B200 1.6 156 SE Executive 5dr Medium MPV

Mercedes badge but Renault interior quality and Renault engine

Gutted. Thought I'd replace my 2005 Mercedes B-Class which I really like with a newer B Class model. In fact I sold the older car to the wife, so I still get to drive it occasionally...
Overall, I am happy with my newer Mercedes, because on a philosophical angle it gets me from A-B, and sometimes B-A.
I knew when I bought it that the newer A Class were equipped with a Renault engine but did not realise that this also applied to the B Class, and maybe the C Class too.
So on some level I feel cheated. I also think that the interior feel of the car is well below the quality, solid precision interior that a buyer will expect from a car that cost a little more. If I had wanted a Renault I would have got one.
Certain components do not look as gif they were designed by Mercedes, such as the rear wind screen wiper which sticks out at the back of the car. Normally Mercedes design in technically advanced and minimalistic, whereas this looks relatively clumsy and cheap. Perhaps I'm an old snob I don't know. Not so much of the 'old'!.
The new model also does not have the higher driving position of the old model - but it was primarily that which I wanted from my newer car. The lesson to be learned here is that of testing a car first because, rather stupidly, bought online via a Mercedes franchise several Hundred miles away - I had not physically driven the car, or a similar one.
The newer model is nothing like an upgraded, updated version of the older model. Nothing like the same driving experience.
But it does still offer a generous boot space which suits my beautiful Tervuren Belgian Shepherd, the saving grace.

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