Well lets see.  They are made by Mercedes therefore expensive, poor reliability and dealer dependent as no aftermarket parts are made for them.  They are rear wheel drive which is great in the snow (sarcasm) and use 3 bolt wheels (do you know of any other modern car that has this?).  It's rear engine so that must be joy to work on by mechanics and some are even diesel which limits which mechanics will even touch it. They have garbage automatic transmissions that is well documented and they depreciate like crazy.  Other then that they are great! lol!  So many better choices like a Nissan Micra, Toyota Yaris etc.....  This is someone going on a fixed income.  Don't be a jerk and recommend this car to them.  That's just plain mean.