Faults:

Normal service, oil changes every time the Assyst system indicates it.

In 22 years of ownership, I have only changed normal wear and tear parts for such an amount of kilometers and years, as the following (this has been the cheapest to maintain car I've ever had):

1. Shock absorbers, twice.

2. Brake discs, once.

3. Thermostat, once.

4. Headlights, once.

5. Inner socket assembly, inside bellows. Once.

6. Electric direction pump, twice.

And that's about it.

General Comments:

This is a great car. Not only what one expects of Mercedes, I've had several before, and at the same time as this one, but a very good Mercedes. It has very good, nimble handling, it goes at full speed and accelerates perfectly, after 370,000kms. It feels always safe.

It is very dependable and durable, as much as my E420, which I still own. I have never been left stranded by this car, never in 22 years... (!) It still feels solid, robust. It is very well made. And I have never pampered it, quite the opposite. It is a car easy to fall in love with. Habitability is also a strong point.

Faults:

None. Normal servicing at scheduled intervals and that's it.

General Comments:

Very dependable, reliable car. It works perfectly. I change oil every 7000kms, with synthetic oil and that's it. I don't use it much, but every time I need it -even if it has been sitting for long periods of time- I just start it always at the first attempt and it is ready to go anywhere.

It is a very pleasant car to drive. The semi-automatic transmission is very nice in heavy traffic as it is in fast roads. I have run this car as much as 185kms/hr -more or less- quite often and it is and feels stable, very predictable, confident. The engine gives its power very well, you can really use all the capacities of that machine.

The seats are quite hard, so long trips 3 hours or so, might be a little tiresome.

It has every safety system you can ask for.

Good car, excellent car.

Faults:

Left side stop lights where changed once in this 5 year period.

The first tires P3000 had very bad quality, they got to insecure levels in just 30,000kms, the car had just run out of warranty, but I complained and Pirelli put 1/3, Mercedes payed for another third and I payed one third of the bill of a new set of P6000, which endured more than 70,000kms. I have just change tires, I bought ContiExtremeContact and are going very well.

Right side headlight was changed recently.

Because of a hard shock on a very bad condition road (an enormous pothole), the shock left an underneath protector a little loose and also there was the necessity of changing the rubbers in the engine supports, not "the engine supports", just the rubber pieces, which by the intensity of the hit I though of it as normal.

General Comments:

As I live in Mexico, this car is made in Brazil, with all the Germany made pieces. So there are some differences with the German ones: the ones sold here have engine protectors underneath, which are great for some bad roads. The engine is very peppy, it's got a very good amount of power. The handling is excellent, which one wouldn't guess with such a tall design. Very good suspension, hard, but very good, it is hard because it helps the handling.

The maximal speed is very good and you feel it safe. I have even taken some very hard curves (Mexico has a lot of them) at speeds I wouldn't ever take in a Jetta or a Golf (which have too supple suspensions). The reliability is what you can expect of a very good marque, and security is the expected from Mercedes (ABS, BAS, ASR, ESP). The dealership attention is very good also (but of course that can change between countries). Everything functions properly, it is a solid car, and you can rely on it. Because of our very good experience with the two A-160 we have (one is semiautomatic -and also a very good one- and the other is manual), I am thinking of buying another Mercedes, hopefully a C230 Kompressor this time.