Diesel Temptation

Success!  The point of this blog, in part, is to keep me from buying a new car every time I feel the urge.  I am happy to report that I made an important step towards breaking my car trade-in habit recently:

I test drove a car I REALLY liked... and I did not buy it.


How does this blog help?  It gives me somewhere else to channel the energy that I typically dedicate to the research, calculation, negotiation, and appropriation of a new vehicle.  So, instead of enjoying all the aspects of this vehicle that I like by buying it, I'll write about it here instead.

The vehicle in question is the newest SUV in Mercedes' fleet:  The GLK250.

What a fantastic vehicle.

Not only is it the only Benz SUV that's built in Germany (as opposed to Alabama), it's the only one that isn't thirsty like a plane crash survivor that just crawled out of the desert.  How not thirsty is it?  Try 33 MPG on the highway.  All thanks to the great little power plant that gives this vehicle its name:  a 2.1 liter diesel four-cylinder that kicks out 369 ft-lbs of torque.

Granted, the name is a little off:  Mercedes no longer exactly matches models to engine size--otherwise this would be the GLK210--but it distinguishes this two-point-something four cylinder from the three-point-something six cylinder in the GLK350.

I test drove the GLK when it first came out a few years ago and didn't buy it then either... but not because of any self-control.  I just didn't like it.  The test-drive was a disappointment.  The steering was twitchy, the power did not impress, and the gas mileage was poor.  Beyond these things, the interior of that first GLK wasn't all that great.  Not horrible--just not what you'd expect from Mercedes.

TOTALLY DIFFERENT STORY NOW.  Mercedes did a significant refresh in 2013 for the GLK, and it is a much, much better vehicle now.  Virtually every shortcoming (power, efficiency, handling) has been remedied, and the interior is beautiful.

Soooo nice.  Not overly expensive, either:  I could have brought home the one I wanted for less than $45K.  But, thanks to this blog, I'll just write about it and stick with my current ride.  If I DID bring one home, I would have picked blue: