Brought to you by Nuffnang and Mercedes-Benz
Never in
eleventy billion years did a once young and semi sorta sassy twenty- year-old-
me ever imagine I would be about to say this out loud, but yo… I’m in love with a people mover van!
Nope, I didn’t trip on kid’s school bags and bang my head, nor
do I have some kind of post school holiday PTSD. I’m not even dosed up on mummy’s coping cordial right now, I am
being dead set fair dinkum when I tell you that I have fallen in love with a
flashy new Mercedes Benz Valente people mover.
OK before you
dismiss me as showing symptoms of pre menstrual, pre menopausal or pre midlife
crisis, let it be known I am none of the above. But to prove my sanity, let me
take you back a few weeks to when I was asked by Mercedes if I would like to
test drive one of their new models for the blog.
The email went
bing in my inbox and I quickly scanned the preview screen before seeing the
words Mercedes-Benz and then squealing at the top of my lungs to anyone nearby… (which, for the
record was only the two dogs and a neighbour who was kind enough to text me to
see if I was ok)
“I’m gonna drive a Mercedes. I’m gonna drive a Mercedes”.
Of course I
immediately launched into role play mode where I stare off into the distance
and picture myself doing whatever it is I’m going to be doing… in this case I was driving a flashy Mercedes through the Northern
Beaches, soundtrack playing on the radio (some kind of sexy R&B number),
long blonde hair blowing in the breeze (I have medium length multi colour balayage
hair but whatevs) and leaving lock jaws and green eyes in my wake as I slide
into pole position at school drop off.
You get the
picture right?
I mean this is a
Mercedes people. It’s HOT!
I did what any
self respecting bloggy wife would do - I rang my husband to brag.
“Guess what” I told him before he could even get his hello out.
“I have no idea Sonia, what?” he likes to humour me.
“I’mgonnatestdriveaMercedesImgonnabethecoolestofthecoolmumsinthewholeofthebeachesandeveryonesgonnaseemeandwannabemecauseImgonnabeinaMercedes” was my excited
response.
Did you get
that?
No either did
he.
Once I did
manage to slow down my speech a little and explain what all the fuss was about,
my husband was suitably impressed.
“Wow, that’s cool. So what model?” He enquired.
“I don’t know… a Mercedes model” I said.
“Ahh there’s quite a few Mercedes models Sonia” he calmly explained. “Which one is it?”
I quickly looked
back at the email and scanned through all the words…
Ummmm,,,Mercedes…Blogger…new Valente… test drive… Mercedes… sponsored post… You are going
to be so cool Sonia… (OK I may have added that last bit in myself)
“AHA” I declared triumphantly. ”A People Mover”
Cue the riotous
laughter on the other end of the line.
Alright, so
admittedly a family people mover doesn't quite fit the sexy image I had in my
head of me cruising the beaches in a Mercedes. But stay with me people - the
story doesn't end here.
So we arrived at
the dealer ship to pick up this car and I’m gonna have to be honest and tell you that the excitement levels had
waned just a wee bit since my first reaction, because ummm… people mover!
However, from
the moment we pulled into the car yard and spied the gorgeous metallic gold
voluptuous vehicle waiting there for us looking all shiny and big and shiny and
Mercedes like - I got this fluttery feeling somewhere under my ribcage and I
knew we were going to get one very well me and that fancy people mover.
This Mercedes-Benz Valente goddess we have in our possession
is sleek and she’s sexy… but in a Kim Kardashian booty pride
kind of way.
She has bells
and whistles and bells upon whistles and she practically drives herself whilst
you sit there feeling all totally safe and looking totally cool.
Different things
appeal to different people when it comes to cars right?
Well I have to
tell you that this powerful 8 seater family van has something to get everyone
swooning.
Let’s work the list.
Safety?
Check!
Mercedes-Benz is
notoriously meticulous when it comes to passenger safety in their vehicles and
whilst I’m not going to pretend that I know
all of the technical features and names and how they all work, I can
tell you that this beautiful van is packed full of safety features and then
some, with a 5 Star ANCAP safety rating.
There’s a full complement of airbags for the driver and all passengers. With
standard features including ABS Brakes,
a Reversing Camera with guidelines to direct you, Crosswind Assist and
Attention Assist Fatigue monitoring - all of which help to ensure you and your
precious people cargo are safe as well as the other drivers you are sharing the
road with.
Child Friendly?
Check!
There are built
in child restraints on all passenger seats, child locks on the automatic easy
access dual side doors, side steps for entry, rear reverse camera, flexible
seating configurations, cupholders, food holders, stowage nets and enough room
for kids to spread out so they don’t invade arm
territory or “hog all the air”.
Luxury,
practicality and Comfort?
Check, check and
check!
I’m not even kidding when I tell you that driving in this car is like
travelling first class. Actually I stole that description from my 14 year old.
There are eight
full-sized super comfy seats with the option of an additional seat - taking it
to nine. NINE seats!! AND with room leftover to fit everything your family
needs for a day out into the boot.
It has
adjustable arm rests, leg room that stretches on forever, iPod and Bluetooth,
leather steering wheel, cruise control, climate controlled air conditioning,
LED lighting, automatic dual sliding doors and that distinctive prestigious
logo smack bang on the front of the van that makes you feel very very special.
It drives like a
car rather than a van of its size and it has a unique Mercedes-Benz Adaptive
ESP system thingamajig that can detect the weight distribution of your
passengers and compensate accordingly in an emergency situation like an
accident.
That’s pretty space age kind of cool in my humble and completely non educated
car opinion.
OK, so let’s get down to the business end of this post and talk some numbers
yeah?!.
When I asked
about the price tag on this car I was ready to have some big figures thrown at
me and I was pretty sure I would be writing this gorgeous machine off as ‘out of our league’… Well I stand corrected because seeing as it’s priced from $64,982 driveway it is seriously nowhere near as
expensive as I was expecting a van of this calibre to be.
Look, I’m not usually one to get all in a fuss over cars… or at least I wasn’t until now, but this Mercedes-Benz Valente has done something to me you
guys.
I mean we spend
sooo much time driving our kids from here to there and back again, we deserve
to drive something nice, right?
Right!
So I’m SOLD!
Oh alright, so
theoretically ‘SOLD’ is not exactly true given the car is
only on loan to me until they remember to ask for it back, but the new
Mercedes-Benz Valente is officially now at the very top of my lust list.
This kids love
it.
The hubby loves
it.
The Grandparents
love it.
The dogs love
it.
I love ME in it.
Now if only I
can convince the guys at Mercedes that they really shouldn't take her away from
such a loving home.
One can dream
right?!
You can get all
the information on all the bells and whistles of the new Valente over at theMercedes-Benz website here and if you are in the market for a new family car, I HIGHLY recommend
you get yourself off to a Mercedes-Benz dealer and test drive one of these
gorgeous machines for yourself.
Right, so now
where do I hide this thing?
*Ahem* I have a
Mercedes on loan? Noooo. I have to give what back?
Are
you in the market for a new car? Ever driven a Mercedes?
