1998 Mercedes-Benz A-Class Reviews from UK and Ireland

All electrical, sunroof problems, electrical brake problems.

Fuel leaking.

Noisy rattly engine. electric windows won't roll up. MOT failures and many more expensive problems.

This car has been in our family since new, and while it is economical and fairly peppy, it has had many electrical issues. Also the fuel lines leaked.

MB cannot make cars without a bunch of electrical headaches. Japanese cars have mastered the art of electronics.

Upon collection of the new £18,500 car there were 26 faults and the dealer (no longer a mercedes dealer) did not appear capable of sorting them out. So I was forced to use the good offices of a national newspaper motoring correspondent to obtain a means of faxing the head of Mercedes in Germany to attempt to put things right. Frankly with hindsight I should have returned the car as unsuitable!Since then I have suffered a catalog of electrical faults and the sun roof rattles badly, and the alarm has a mind of its own. It goes off without warning and you have to stop the car to reset it before resuming your journey. Now to add insult to injury the ECU unit has gone wrong and you have to submit copies of passport, driving license and registration document before Germany will send the £300 unit to their own dealer.

Apart from these problems and the poor service from three different Mercedes dealerships, the car performs well on French auto routes, but is very difficult to park. and bits continue to drop off the under-tray.

Torsion bar links failed.

Driver seat collapsed.

Very good car to drive with excellent road-holding.

Ride is firm, but not unduly so.

High driving position adds to driver visibility in traffic.

Excellent brakes.

Leather seats comfortable (after initial repair to driver's seat) and passengers comment favourably on comfort and room in rear.

One week in to ownership and the rear suspension needed rebuilding to stop knocking as indeed it did again after 6 months.

A month in and the steering mechanism needed rebuilding to stop wandering and knocking. The main dealer required three attempts to center the steering wheel.

It’s been back to Mercedes to cure a shifting driver’s seat countless times and had two new seat frames fitted.

I got the car back from a minor (should have been a major one) service (£180 for oil, filter & plugs 1.5hrs at £70p/hr in rural N Wales!) with a new splutter fault, which required another trip to the dealer and a new engine management chip.

Cabin rattles and squeaks too numerous to list.

This car spent a total of over 6 weeks at the dealership being repaired in a 9 month period.

Expect 35mpg.

Good acceleration.

Excellent handling, but ride is harsh and requires your full attention, highly susceptible to cross winds.

Tyres wear quickly and are low profile and expensive.

Extremely poor dealership/customer relations resulting in p/ex for a Ford and a £2000 loss on a £10000 used car in 9 months.

My advice to potential buyers - don't buy a baby Benz, they're a pain made worse by arrogant and indifferent dealership customer relations for those not spending enough.

I started to notice a cracking noise from the rear end about 2-3 months after buying the car and assumed it was the spare wheel working loose as the noise only happened on corners or over bumps. After 8 months of hearing this intermittent noise I decided to get a mechanics opinion. An idependent mechanic immediately pointed out it was the rear radius arms on both wheels. The wheels were effectively loose and could be moved about 1/2 inch overall. He recommended both radius arms be replaced and stated that every A-class he has seen has this problem. I took it to a MB dealer since being an approved used MB its warranty was still in effect. I asked for the radius arms to be replaced. MB only replaced the wheel bearings, this has stopped the noise, but only time will tell.

Another problem is the way the car accelerates. Being a clutchless system there is a lag when moderate to hard accelerating. On pressing the accelerator pedal the revs shoot up to about 4500, the car doesn't accelerate until about 1-2 seconds later when the drive system engages and the revs drop. This can be quite annoying when wanting to overtake another vehicle quickly. The MB dealer says it is "normal" for this clutchless system.

Overall I believe this was a good buy as I do a lot of miles and hate using clutches in traffic jams. So far, on long motorway driving, I get 60 mpg and about town 47 at the worst. Cheap to insure and tax, comfortable ride, unless on a poor road surface then the wide front tires will dictate which direction you go. Good power steering, very solid and controllable. Tyres don't have much grip in the wet, but they can be changed. Handling is good for the type of car it is (i.e. its no sports car).

Compared to a Renault Clio that I rented prior to buying this, the A-class is far better for long distance driving and more comfortable, and a second hand A-class is cheaper than a new Clio. New A-classes are not worth the money, only buy used, only depreciation will create value for money.