I have A 170cdi (2000) model car . the suspension is very poor and lot of rattling noise is in the car the service is very poor and the merck delaer takes five months to get the parts availability . the car is not reliable and iam facing a lot of service problem for the car the car runs less and is in the garage more. i would never buy a another A class.
i purchased an A Class 1.7 LWB new in 2001...51 Reg. And my experience is to do with knocking from the front end.. It has covered 24,000 miles from New and has has the Anti-roll Bar links! replaced 3 times....under Warranty plus yesterday 20th October 2003 it had the Complete steering colummn assy, replaced.The A Class in my opinion is an excellent vehicle but has been let down by these quite major faults...It appears from the above i am not alone!!!!!..The service from .M.Benz has been excellent....but i will not be buying another.
Very eye-catching, great visibility, sitting up with the Range Rover and Taxi drivers. Good in traffic, easy to park, will carry four people and their stuff with complete aplomb, even cruising at 80 on the motorway. The diesels are stupidly fast - I've chased one at 160-180kph in germany and it was still pulling away.
BUT! There are several problems. The ride is harder than anything else on the planet - so hard that the steering tends to shake loose (clonk-clonk as you turn the wheel) and aero panels held on to the underside with clips can come loose and scrape along the road. If you're on glass-smooth tarmac all the time you'll be fine, but real british roads are a different matter! Our A160 also tended to eat alternator bearings because the mechanics persistently mis- adjusted them; in the end, though, the ride and the amount of aggro from jealous White Van Men got just too much and we chopped it in.
A head turner of a car! Great for people like me who have trouble parking as it is shorter than the Ford Ka, yet very spacious inside.
The back seats can be concertinered forward against the front seats in a matter of seconds, for very large storage space to transport furniture etc, and both back seats and front passenger seat can be easily removed to turn it into a temporary van.
Support from Mercedes is superb. Nothing is too much trouble.
Bad points - visibility can be poor with the two large side bars either side of the window.
Stereo controls are in bad position so need to take eyes off road to change channel etc.
Very economical though - 50+ miles per gallon.
Owned for 1 year.
Preloved Visitor
Reviewed January 2004.
Performance
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A Class 140. With 18,000 miles on the clock and just outside the warrenty period, the Rear axle trailing arm bushes were so worn the car was not safe to drive. MB replaced these ( after some debate !) Having just reached 25,000 miles ( and 4yrs) the Front roll bar links now need replacing! I get the impression this is not uncommon.The key question is, should I reasonably expect MB to do this work free of charge or will I have to brace my self for a hefty bill ? The car drives like it has covered 125,000 miles!
Owned for 4 years.
Preloved Visitor
Reviewed November 2003.
Performance
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My 1.4 LWB Auto is only 1 year old, ever since the weather has been getting cold I have found that it won't go into gear first thing in the morning. When I put it into R or D it doesn't move and suddenly shoots back, but it's ok once it's warmed up. I have taken it to Mercedes main dealers and they say that the car is fine, but how can it be i'm really angry with them its still under 1 year warranty as i bought it 3 months ago, I will continue taking it back to them until the problem is fixed or i will demand a new car as its replacement. I love my car as its very comfortable and I am very dissapointed with such a big and well known company for not being able to sold my problem. Other than that Its excellent for parking, roomy and nice to look at too.
Owned for 3 months.
Preloved Visitor
Reviewed July 2003.
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My 1.4 car started clonking on going over irregularities in the road (small ones even)at about 20,000 miles, and it has got worse and worse. I got the car assuming that it would be very solid and reliable. It is late 2001 car, so you'd think they'd have sorted it by then. Also, there is the most awful screeching from the front wheels as I drive along. I drive very gently and use the brakes very lightly.I am retired, in my early sixties, and bought the Merc for its supposed quality: to say I'm disappointed is a grave understatement.
Owned for 2 years.
Preloved Visitor
Reviewed January 2003.
Performance
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I HAVE NOTICED A SUDDEN AND DRAMATIC INCREASE IN FUEL CONSUMPTION IN THE COLD WEATHER- DESPITE NO CHANGE IN DRIVING, CONSUMPTION HAS RISEN FROM MID 30'S TO 26 MPG ...I AM TOLD THAT THIS IS A COMMON A CLASS PROBLEM- HAS ANYONE ELSE EXPEREINCED SIMILAR?
Owned for 1 year.
Preloved Visitor
Reviewed December 2002.
Performance
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Excellent car, Although early cars pre 1999/2000 had problems. My second 2001 is brilliant, economical and roomy for size. Seats 4 comfortably. Excellent resale value. Long Wheel base model waste of time in my view. loses parking advantage. Very reliable. Dont go for classic or 1.4 engine.
Owned for 4 years.
Preloved Visitor
Reviewed December 2002.
Performance
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Having owned my 170CDI from new and clocked almost 50,000 miles up I can give a fair account of it's qualities. Efforts to rid the brand of the "Elk Test stigma" left this car as one of the all time hardest rides on the planet.A young horse will probably be more comfortable whilst riding around town. The anti roll bar drop links get hammered and require replacement every 10k. There are well known issues with the rear suspension trailing arms "allegedly" this has resulted in some incidents where the rear wheel has detached itself from the vehicle. My own where detected during service and the vehicle was taken off the road by the dealer until fixed (10 Days). It recently cost me over £1200 for a service and MOT at a MB Dealership. MOT failed due to excessive wear in steering column, both rear trailing arms "dangerous", and a leaking rear brake cylinder. MB even after the service the ride and handling where worse than ever, a worrying vibration and noise from the drive train combined with another re-ocurrance of the anti roll bar bushes to me back to the dealers. MB have serious problems here in the UK with aftersales service whilst they restructure the dealerships this has led to a 10 week wait for a service appointment. I loved this little car when I bought it however after 3 years and 50,000 miles the only real outstanding benifit if the fuel economy it never changes 50-55 mpg day in day out. I can't afford to loose any more money on this fashion statement, it's up for renewal and I will be replacing it with a Toyota Corrolla Verso Diesel. I suggest any one considering an A Class consider the alternatives.
the diesel version is very lively and economical, this can't outweigh very poor handling and very little rear passenger room.
Owned for 3 months.
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