Honda Jazz, Mercedes A class, Toyota Yaris?

jeannieblue

hewhoisnotintheknow wrote: »

the merc will be pretty awful german crap that they turn out these days

test drive the other two!

Open the champagne - we agree!

Fancy anything else now that we are on a roll??

space_rider

jeannieblue wrote: »

Thank goodness for your post!

I'd vote Yaris first, Jazz second and would torch the A class ..

Why would you torch the A class. I`m on my 2nd one and I love it.

jeannieblue

space_rider wrote: »

Why would you torch the A class. I`m on my 2nd one and I love it.

Sorry, didn't mean to offend. They can be troublesome.

blue_haddock

I noticed the other day that my local merc dealer has a sign in the window saying they are doing the A-Class on nil advance on motability.

space_rider

jeannieblue wrote: »

Sorry, didn't mean to offend. They can be troublesome.

You didn`t offend at all! I like the look of the Jazz but I need 5 seats and a big enough boot for a disabled childs push chair.

So far so good with the A classes that I`ve had and the service from those at my local dealer is really good. They pick the car up when it`s due for service and return it washed and vacuumed inside.

JPSC

"I need some advice. I am looking for a new car as I was in a crash and messed up my neck and back pretty badly. For my needs it has to be high as it hurts to get down too low, and an auto as I find it hard to change gears."

I had a 2003 Jazz from new until last December and over the last two years it became almost unbearably painful to sit in the front seats, though worse in the passenger seat than the driver seat. I now have sciatica, though I will never know whether it was caused by making regular long journeys in the Jazz (about 8 hours each way every 6 weeks) or whether the car just made it worse.

Though the car itself is reasonably high, the front seats are not very high off the floor, from memory the passenger seat is about 26cm, the driver seat about 29 cm when fully raised. I was advised to try to find a car which allowed me to sit with my feet flat on the floor with my thighs horizontal (similar to the seating position on a dining chair).

It was hard to find a car with both front seats high, but the best all came from the VW group - VW Touran, VW Golf Plus (not the standard Golf), Skoda Fabia and Skoda Roomster. In each case you have to be careful to choose the right version to get both front seats adjustable. I now have a Skoda Roomster, which has excellent headroom for me (6' 1") with the seat in its highest position (about 38cm). I am pleased to say that the sciatica is now slowly improving.

The Jazz was an excellent car in most other ways, though the early ones have rather hard rear suspension and are prone to a water leak fault at the top of the tailgate after about 2-3 years. Check that this has been fixed before buying.

Also try out the Nissan Note, which is high, though I found the seats unsuitable for me.

JPSC

space_rider wrote: »

You didn`t offend at all! I like the look of the Jazz but I need 5 seats and a big enough boot for a disabled childs push chair.

Sorry, didnt see this until had finished my earlier reply. My mothers wheelchair fits in the Roomster very easily.

space_rider

The problem with the disabled childs pushchair is that it`s an umbrella one which is much longer than the average childs pushchair.

Easily folded to 46” x 9 3/4” x 8 ¼” (117 cm x 25 cm x 21 cm)

fatbelly

blue_haddock wrote: »

I noticed the other day that my local merc dealer has a sign in the window saying they are doing the A-Class on nil advance on motability.

You might get some pms asking for more details on that because it's an excellent deal - showing as £500 advance payment on the motability site!

J400uk

jeannieblue wrote: »

Sorry, didn't mean to offend. They can be troublesome.

People who go arround slagging of the A-Class need to be exactly clear which A-Class they are referring to.

The pre-2005 car was a complete disaster and came bottom in most consumer surveys, but the post-2005 car is pretty good, and comes in the top 15 in most consumer surveys. They also fall into different market segmeants, with the older car more of a supermini MPV and the new shape model more of small premium hatch.

Sorry for going into all that detail it just irritates me when people blindly say all A-Class' are crap without knowing the facts.

Just to illustrate, this is the 'W168' model to avoid at all costs:


And this is the huegly improved newer 'W169' model well worth a look if it falls into your budget:


Do not confuse the two, all they share is the name