Mercedes CLA (2013-2019) review - Reliability and Safety

The CLA shares its underpinnings with the Mercedes A-Class, and as the premium compact hatch has been on sale in the UK since the end of 2011, any teething troubles with common components should have been ironed out by now.

Even though the CLA didn't appear in our 2018 Driver Power results, Mercedes did, with the German marque finishing a lowly 20th out of 26 manufacturers.

Standard safety kit on the CLA includes seven airbags and Isofix child seat mountings. Plus, when the car senses an impact, the active bonnet rises 65mm to protect pedestrians from the hard components underneath. All versions also feature Attention Assist, which detects signs of the driver becoming drowsy at the wheel and wakes you up with an alarm and a dashboard message.

Optional extras include lane-keeping assistance with blind spot warnings, and you can also add extra rear side airbags for around £400.

All of this safety tech helped the CLA achieve a five-star rating when it underwent its Euro NCAP crash test back in 2013. The car was awarded scores of 91 per cent for adult occupant safety and 75 per cent for child safety. It scored 74 per cent for pedestrian protection, and 81 per cent for its safety assistance systems.

Warranty

While the three-year warranty Mercedes provides with the CLA is pretty much the bare minimum these days, the good news is that there’s no mileage cap on the package. BMW offers a similar deal, but Audi and Lexus limit their three-year warranties to 60,000 miles. Extended cover options are available on the CLA.

Servicing

You can get fixed-price servicing deals across the Mercedes range, and they start from about £24 per month for two years’ cover. Three and five-year maintenance packages are also available, at higher monthly rates.