Merc A class any good?

[the devil made me do it]

I'm considering buying a used A class and was wondering whether they are any good or not? They do seem good value price wise, but I know that's not everything. Any advice/opinions would be welcome :)

[MX5huggy]

Not a proper merc buy a Yaris insted!

[the devil made me do it]

Not a proper merc buy a Yaris insted!

Not bothered about it not being a "proper" merc.

[kitchpoo]

Watch the full auto gear selectors - not a cheap fix.

Had a 170CDi for 1000 miles and found on 1 occasion it became unbalanced and the ESP was slow to kick in.

[vikingaero]

If it's the old A-Class then avoid like Syphilis!

My dad had one and it was really really bad. He bought it new and suffered countless problems with it. Judging by other owners experiences a lot of faults were common to all cars.

Major problems:

(1) Automatic gearbox will eventually fail and run in "F" fault mode. You are left driving it in 2nd gear as limp home mode. Normally the valve body burns out. Merc dealers won't replace it but quote for a new gearbox @ c.£5k. An automatic specialist replaced ours for £1,600.

(2) Rear springs aren't pigtailed and will snap usually out of warranty which is also an MOT failure. Merc ran a goodwill fix for a long time but I think they've stopped this.

(3) Starter motor will fail. On normal cars you can whack the starter with a broom to get you going. On the A-Class with it's canted engine it's a subframe/engine out exercise. I think it cost my dad around £600-700 at a Merc main dealer.

(4) ECU's and electrics are pi$$ poor and dodgy. We spent over £1k on replacing various ECUs and air mass meters.

(5) Ride is awful on Avantgarde models with sports suspension. Bearable in the Classic and Elegance models.

(6) Plastics are really bad. Drivers seat height handle loves to break off and we had a collection of plastic parts from the interior of the car (couldn't work out where they came from or what they covered) and some underbody trays parts that love to fall off. In the end we just ripped them off.

I really want to like the A-Class. The concept and space and seating is fab especially on the LWB models. But the car is a real stinker reliability wise. It costs a hell of a lot to maintain because 99% of indies have no access to Merc codes and computers and therefore you often have to pay main dealer rates.......... £150-£200 per hour.

[the devil made me do it]

If it's the old A-Class then avoid like Syphilis!

My dad had one and it was really really bad. He bought it new and suffered countless problems with it. Judging by other owners experiences a lot of faults were common to all cars.

Major problems:

(1) Automatic gearbox will eventually fail and run in "F" fault mode. You are left driving it in 2nd gear as limp home mode. Normally the valve body burns out. Merc dealers won't replace it but quote for a new gearbox @ c.£5k. An automatic specialist replaced ours for £1,600.

(2) Rear springs aren't pigtailed and will snap usually out of warranty which is also an MOT failure. Merc ran a goodwill fix for a long time but I think they've stopped this.

(3) Starter motor will fail. On normal cars you can whack the starter with a broom to get you going. On the A-Class with it's canted engine it's a subframe/engine out exercise. I think it cost my dad around £600-700 at a Merc main dealer.

(4) ECU's and electrics are pi$$ poor and dodgy. We spent over £1k on replacing various ECUs and air mass meters.

(5) Ride is awful on Avantgarde models with sports suspension. Bearable in the Classic and Elegance models.

(6) Plastics are really bad. Drivers seat height handle loves to break off and we had a collection of plastic parts from the interior of the car (couldn't work out where they came from or what they covered) and some underbody trays parts that love to fall off. In the end we just ripped them off.

I really want to like the A-Class. The concept and space and seating is fab especially on the LWB models. But the car is a real stinker reliability wise. It costs a hell of a lot to maintain because 99% of indies have no access to Merc codes and computers and therefore you often have to pay main dealer rates.......... £150-£200 per hour.

What reg do the old ones end?

[kitchpoo]

98 - 04 were the first series - though there was a revison in 2001.

Also remembered - watch out for ex easycar rentals.

[the devil made me do it]

So, a 2001 up over would be ok? But avoid below that age?

[vikingaero]

So, a 2001 up over would be ok? But avoid below that age?

2001+ was a cosmetic facelift of the older version. It was still the same car with a new dashboard and light and I would seriously avoid them.

The current A class is "acceptable".

[goldspanners]

It costs a hell of a lot to maintain because 99% of indies have no access to Merc codes and computers and therefore you often have to pay main dealer rates.......... £150-£200 per hour.

this should be your main worry op, regardless of it being new or old shape, you will inevitable need to visit a dealer at some point, its not a nice experience going to a merc dealer.
find something cheaper to run and more reliable like the yaris as has been already mentioned.

[mr_accountant]

here are a few reviews, should be enough to change your mind!

http://www.carsurvey.org/reviews/mercedes-benz/a-class/

[the devil made me do it]

Mind changed. Now looking at a Mazda 3. Are they any good?

[vikingaero]

Mind changed. Now looking at a Mazda 3. Are they any good?

Much better than an A-Class!

5 door hatch or 4 door saloon?

My BIL has a 4 door 2 litre Sport and it's very nice. Looks good and very well equipped with Xenons etc. Only downer is the rear doors are on the small side to get childseats or lardy passengers in/out.

[ihatecharges]

We have a Merc A class and have had numerous problems with it, its an 06 new shape and had it from new. In summary its rubbish and we are completing a voluntary termination this week as it is out of warranty now and had a warranty repair costing £750 excluding VAT 3 weeks before it ran out. Also suspension springs snapped after 10 months of ownership having done 7000 miles, this issue was on the old shape A class too so clearly they have done nothing about it.

Avoid Avoid Avoid!!!