You want red flags? This car’s got them. For starters, any Canadian-market car newer than 25 years old should require a letter of compliance for American importation. Mercedes is a little bit tight with supplying these letters and won’t supply one for an A-Class hatchback, as the bodystyle hasn’t been homologated for U.S. sale. Then, there’s the registration in Montana despite residing in Dallas. No tax avoidance here, officer. Finally, the car has a hit on its Carfax. Minor front end damage reportedly occurred in 2021, and I’m wondering if that has something to do with the A45 grille. Hmm.
Slight dodginess aside, the Mercedes-AMG A35 hatchback is a vehicle worth experiencing because it is so damn good. While it isn’t a manic sideways hooligan machine, if you find the CLA45 a bit laggy and expensive, the A35 should tick all the right boxes.
Minimal turbo lag gives way to a tractable powerband and a soundtrack of hilarious blow-off valve noises. When I drove the AMG A35, I found the seven-speed DCT to be snappy and confident, and the whole powertrain to be just fun. What’s more, the rest of the car matches up with this. Well-weighted steering and quick-acting all-wheel-drive offer front-end confidence, while brake bite is firm yet progressive. It’s definitely not as stimulating as the full-bore 45-series AMG models, but it shows more soul than a Volkswagen Golf R.
Plus, the A35 is better value than an American Golf R. The Merc starts at $55,597.13 Canadian including freight, PDI, and various fees, and you get virtually no features at all for that price. Add metallic paint, the AMG Driver’s Package with 19-inch wheels for its adaptive dampers, the Burmester stereo (a steal at $400 Canadian), and the Premium Package for Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, keyless-go and blind-spot monitoring, and you’re looking at a bill of $62,987.13 Canadian. That’s around $47,029 in real dollars, just $394 more than a DSG-equipped Golf R.
This particular Mercedes-AMG A35 isn’t quite stock, rocking an A45 grille, an Eventuri intake, and an Armytrix catless downpipe. Believe it or not, the wing and canards came on the car from the factory as part of the AMG Aerodynamics Package. How unusually antisocial. The rest of the spec is quite good, with Denim Blue paint gleaming and grippy Alcantara seat inserts on deck. While I’d like to see AMG’s optional performance seats on this particular A35, we can’t always get what we want.
If you’re willing to risk it for the biscuit, you can find this oddball being auctioned off on The MB Market. Mind you, I wouldn’t expect this exact Mercedes-AMG A35 to be stellar value. With a full week of bidding to go, a current high bid of $27,500, and incredible exclusivity until the model turns 25, I have a feeling that daring collectors will be all over this thing. (Photo credits: The MB Market)
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Ford Troller manual diesel off-roader. Evolution FQ series 440bhp 2.0. Suzuki Samurai newer models. S10 High Country 2.8 diesel. Ford Ka/Fiesta TCDi manual diesels. VW AWD Jetta MK4 Manual TDI. Renault Alpine CarbonFiber tub. Honda Kei sports cars. Suzuki Swift Turbo. VW XL1 360mpg prototypes. Audi A3 manual TDIs. Mazda Skyactive Diesels (we got 1 year auto only)
This countries automotive choices suck.
Not surprising they get pissy about bringing a Candian car to the US, since MB is the one that lobbied for that stupid 25-year shit in the first place 🙁
If we just honored the international UNECE standards, this whole thing would be moot. For example, Mexico accepts both US and UNECE standards.
That said, you might be able to just drive it across the border and register it in the US in your state when you buy it. The feds probably don’t care all that much and might just make you pay a fine and back taxes and shit. They might care more about high-dollar sports cars and exotics, Skylines, where the taxes and duties alone are thousands or more.
You can remote mail to get titles for vehicles that are otherwise untitleable.
The Vehicle Permit is required to transfer the vehicle, it has the VIN, make, model and color of the vehicle, contains the Name and Address of the Owner and has a section that requires Signature for Ownership for transfer. IANAL but it sure looks like a title to me, it is not just a plate document and has legal precedence over a bill of sale.
https://thembmarket.com/2020-mercedes-amg-a35-hatchback
The seller provides the VIN to run a Carfax on it: https://thembmarket.com/uploads/listings/amge63swagon/a35amg/listing-pics/amga35-116.jpeg
It should show up on the Carfax that it was imported legally, just like the Orlando that Autopian featured last year.
There is even an emissions label on the car too: https://thembmarket.com/uploads/listings/amge63swagon/a35amg/listing-pics/amga35-120.jpeg
It’s infinitely more likely to be bought by a naive AMG stan who is going to get badly burned when they go try to register the damned thing. Especially now that the proverbial cat is out of the bag. BMV workers read automotive websites, too.
I predict that this will be going back to Canada on the cheap soon, after setting fire to another automotive optimist’s wallet.
Hell, if you live in the SW US, buy it, register it in Mexico, and drive it at will. Although anyone with a skin tone darker than Irishman-on-a-tropical-holiday may want to avoid this suggestion due to risk of INS/Border Patrol harassment.
The seller’s comments confirm it was imported legally.
Hint: it was brought over legally 🙂
Correct me if I’m wrong-but aren’t both the 35 and 45 series cars full AMGs? When I’ve read about them on Mercedes’ official pages the 35s are described as having the same one builder, one engine approach that AMGs have always had. This is obviously more appealing than going with an M Performance line BMW or an S series Audi, IMHO.
The GLB 35 is definitely on my radar for a few years from now, as the wife will be all over how spacious it is. See dear? I’m being responsible. Anyway, I’d do unspeakable things for an AMG A class hatch but absolutely not this one. This has been ridden hard, put away wet, and has been involved in some dodgy schemes. It’ll be nothing but a headache unless your plan is to stash it away for 25 years.
Common sense dictates that phenomenally highly boosted engines such as the A35 will not have the same reliability as the many lower boost options available on the market (in Australia at least). That’s before the value equation is taken into account. Mercedes are expensive every day.
It’s a shockingly useful vehicle. I know enthusiasts bemoan the fact that hot crossovers are a thing but not all of us can make a manual coupe work. Stuff like the GLB35, X3M40i, SQ5, etc. are mighty appealing to enthusiasts that need more space.
It is a much better looking car, and if it were sold in the U.S. for Golf R money, it’d be tempting. This one, I don’t feel like lighting my money on fire when it gets seized or I can’t register it.
Don’t forget, folks. The rules are what they are so that the manufacturers can manipulate the grey market. Not for safety, emissions, protection of local jobs, or any “good” reason.
In the American market, everything you listed is standard in the R, not add-ons. That’s the nice thing about shopping for an R, your only options are color and transmission, no packages or accessorizing to worry about. This makes it rather unique actually, I can’t think of another model from any other manufacturer that doesn’t have dozens of upgrades, packages, and trim levels to choose from. Just a single, top-tier package. There are certainly other reasons to go for an A35 over an R, but value proposition? Not seeing it.
I love the A-Class hatch, but wouldn’t touch this one with a ten-foot pole.
Is there any proof or anything that the A35 in this article was stolen?
