Mercedes completely redesigned their luxury midsize E-Class sedan for 2017, and now that they’ve been out for a while, we couldn’t help wondering if they are as great as was anticipated. U.S.News and World Report ranked it #1 in its class after the big car shows last year. (The convertible model ranked #2 in the luxury convertibles category.)
2017 Model Features
Some of the highlights were what we’d all expect Mercedes-Benz to excel at: nice interior, comfortable seats, quiet, smooth ride, safety, and performance. In fact, the only criticisms noted by U.S. News was the small trunk and not-so-hot gas mileage.
On the impressive-tech front, the E-Class has some great new additions. While it is far from being a self-driving car, and the driver’s hands have to be on the wheel, there are safety features available that let the car change lanes, steer itself, and stay within the speed limit. Of course, the infotainment center is impressive too, with a 12.3-inch screen, voice recognition, satellite navigation and both Apple and Android compatibility – and that part all comes standard.
When it comes to used models, there’s really no difference in price between the base and better-equipped models, though the higher-end features do increase the value of the car overall.
A fully-loaded used model with 10,000 miles can be found for about $56,000 (the original sticker price would have been over $67,000).
Tracking Down Reviews
Professional reviews are written as early as possible because, as with all news reporting, the goal is to be the first one to get the word out. Professional car sites attend car shows and immediately review what they’ve seen, typically based on what was presented at the show, not on actually driving the cars.
New car models can become available any time in the previous year, and 2017 Mercedes-Benz E-Class have been available for nearly a year now, since the summer of 2016. Sites like Edmunds.com have large numbers of reviews for most used cars, but this model is too new to have accumulated any feedback on the site. There are other sites where owners have posted some reviews. Some parrot the U.S. News review so closely as to be suspicious (or did they use it for crib notes?) There are others, though, where owners take the opportunity to share their real-life experiences.
What Owners Have to Say
Actual owners’ reviews are still difficult to come by online. One site had three reviewers, all of whom were very positive. When asked to rate the car on eight different qualities, they all gave at least four stars for everything, and 84% of the ratings were five out of five.
The owners’ comments included that the car had excellent acceleration and road-hugging ability on curves. One owner who has the luxury version says “the front of the vehicle looks like a piece of jewelry.” We hope he has one of our license plate holders to keep that effect from being marred by a plastic frame, especially one that has a dealer’s ad on it since we think that’s just too cheap and commercial looking for a luxury vehicle—even if it is a Mercedes dealer.
Only one dissatisfied customer wrote an online review that we found. He said the car had been in the shop four times, including trips for transmission, back-up camera, climate control and HD radio. He’d had so much trouble that he asked the dealership to take the car back and was refused.
We certainly hope his problems got resolved because, overall, the 2017 Mercedes-Benz E-Class redesign seems to have been great work.
Every detail is considered in the redesign of luxury class cars like the Mercedes E-class, and the sleek exterior appearance was no accident. Don’t wreck that smooth visual line with a cheap license plate frame!