how much does owning a Mercedes A Class do?

daveyjp

Depends which A class the OP is talking about. I would avoid autos.

The A class W169 and B class W245 are to all intents and purposes the same car. The W245 came top of the Which survey of second hand vehicles this year based on number of breakdowns and cost of repairs. The A class wasn't far behind.

Our household has one of each, my wife swapped her awful i20 for a W169 based on the owner experience of having a W245, which has been the most reliable car we have owned

My B has done almost 45,000 miles and feels as fresh today as when I picked it up with 3,000 on the clock. It had a single warranty claim for a failed reversing light switch. Wife's A has done 12,000 and no issues whatsoever.

B has just had the last of the two original tyres replaced, brakes were fully replaced at about 36,000, £250 for pads and disks all round at an independent, tyres are sensible sizes so only £80 fitted for Michelin OEM Mercedes fit at a local fitter, wiper blades were dealer supplied via ebay and similar price as third party providers.

By shopping around we can get dealer servicing for about £170 for a minor, nearer to £300 for a major. Dealer servicing does include 12 months breakdown cover, so the marginal extra cost of the dealer service over an independent is worth it.

teffers

use wrote: »

which one diesel should I go for:

Fiat Punto 2007
VW Polo 2004
Mazda 2 2008

Out of those three... I'd choose the Mazda 2 2008.

I have a petrol 58 plate Mazda 2 and even though I'm not massively impressed with it, I would still go that over the other two.

OddballJamie

Skoda Fabia? Similar to the Polo but a newer one can be had for same money.

aileth

We had a 2001 A Class and it was a NIGHTMARE. The starter motor went on ours, and after ringing around about 10 garages only one would touch it with a bargepole as it needed a full engine drop due to how it was laid out, £600 later...

Then the alternator failed, it scraped by its MOT with about 20 advisories, all of which would cost more than the car value to repair.

We actually got a 57 Mazda 2 sport to replace it, and it is infinitely better. If I see anyone driving around in an old boxy A-class now, I feel terribly sorry for their wallets!

rev_henry

The old A class is the only car I have ever seen on Honest John's website that says in no uncertain terms 'Do not buy one of these'.

daveyjp

The W168 was indeed a dog of a car not helped by the disaster which was the elk test failure.

MysteryMe

Have you considered a Toyota 1.4 diesel Yaris, first one I had was still going after 220,000 miles and my current one 136,000 and counting.

use

MysteryMe wrote: »

Have you considered a Toyota 1.4 diesel Yaris, first one I had was still going after 220,000 miles and my current one 136,000 and counting.

I want it automatic

and Yaris are MMT

which many people say it's bad!

StrongWork

If you want cheap and reliable, go Japanese.

Unfortunately, autos don't often suit smaller engined cars but I suspect with the new generation of auto boxes they are more tolerable.

anotherbaldrick

I once bought new one of those Mecedes A class, with auto (vario) transmission. An absolute pig of a car, got rid of it before it was a year old . Ride was so bad it made us car sick, no other car has ever done that in 40 years motoring. 8K on the clock and it was already making strange noises.