I think you should take a look at the golf tdi.
They start around $25k I believe and interior is decent. Plus you weren't gonna win any races in the B class anyway so at least save some gas with the diesel. Also it's still german if that's your thing.

classic car forum advice lol, that and 99% of the posts are bashing the old car, wouldn't doubt some similarities but come on...

don't be afriad to own a Benz, if you can do oil change yourself, you can save a lot already. Throughout the 7 years of owning a C230 1.8L supercharged Benz, zero mechanical problem. Did all my own oil change after the first 4 years after warranty expired. Mercedes are solid cars when you don't drive the sh!t out of it. You can take my words for it and this is coming from a real owner.

^if religiously maintained that is... My dad's 06 mercs R350 has had its fair share of problems. During the winter of 08, much of the wood accents around the doors cracked, the suspension had major problems, and halo bulbs would not last longer than 3 mounths. In 2011 and 2012 the trunk hydraulics failed, tranny started to slip, and panoramic roof was stuck. By now, it has amassed more than 10K in maintenance, all being serviced by Mercedes Benz. Though I might add, the first gen R-Class was problematic and older mercs classes such as the C class, S class, or E class might fair better..
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although i don't have an experiences with b250, here are my 2 cents regards to b200. it is a steaming pile of crap. it was nothing but trouble for my in laws. the window motor broke so they went to fix it through the warranty. less than a day, it broke again, and apparently it was a faulty wire. fixed it again. shortly after, it got busted again and they returned the car. this was all after they had to bring it in for a service. it was called Service Package A. it cost $500 + tax.

There are some things that aren't excusable simply due to poor maintenance, my mom's w203 was dealer serviced for everything and followed the maintenance schedule religiously, but shit like spark plug wires within the first year of ownership is unacceptable, the spring that holds the trunk up should not go at <50,000 km or ever really :/ having to change your lightbulbs biannually is not an uncommon occurrence with mercedes either. sunroofs and airmatic suspension should be avoided with a 10 foot pole

I usually don't put as much stock in listening to other people when it comes to how cars drive, since everyone will have different preferences and i always want to drive it for myself first.

anyways, my gf was given a B200 as a courtesy car and as soon as she came home told me the car was a piece of crap. She's not a "car person" so I didn't believe her, but I drove it yesterday. YEP, the car is a POS.

I'm not sure how many B200s they sold, but reading from everyone else's posts about the B200 and my own driving experience with it, I have no idea how they sold more than 3 or 4 before people will notice how crappy it is. My old 88 Civic drives better than it. Everything from the seating position, mirrors, head rests and the uninspiring ride was wrong in the B200. Can't speak about maintenance issues, but it doesn't seem all that positive from this thread.

I know it's not the B250, but you have to wonder about how the B200 was allowed to be sold in the first place.

Because it has a Mercedes logo.

B-class? :lawl:

why not a subaru impreza wrx? has awd. and lots of cargo room for hatchback. and FAST

I have driven the new B250 quite extensively and it is a night and day difference from the old B200. The driving dynamics are nothing like the old 245 chassis.

The B200 was built and designed in the daimler-benz era so they didn't age or drive very well, but not much they made in the time did either. The cvt trans was horrible but i don't think i drove any cvt that did drive nice. It not like it was unreliable it just didn't drive nice. It has a high center of gravity and couldn't put the power down very well especially if you had a turbo. The B200 turbo with 6sp actually pretty fast and drove and handled alot better

The B250 is all new, 2L turbo 200hp 260lb/tq 7sp DCT and gets 10l/100km with stop/start technology. The engines for fat midrange torque, the 7spd DCT shifts really fast and rev matches on the downshift. Suspension has been greatly improved compared to the previous generation. I think its a pretty good value when you consider the old non turbo B200 cost $29, turbo B200 $33 where as now you get the turbo 7sp DCT for under $30k.

I think the direct comparative is the 4dr GTI. They both 4dr hatchbacks, both start at $29k, both have 200hp but B250s got 50ft/lb more torque, both have dual clutch tranny but B250 has 7spd. I think cost of ownership would be more or less the same.

I would argue that the B250 is the fastest in this segment except for mazda speed 3.

I agree the B250 is very different from the old one and is not a bad choice.

The Golf is about to be replaced by a new model next year.