2001 Mercedes-Benz A-Class Elegance 1.4 petrol

Summary:

Will never touch one again

Faults:

I got this A Class a year ago in 2008. I bought it for £3500 from my old boss.

At first I thought this was a good little safe reliable car (how wrong can one be). It started with the electric powered engine sound, I thought it was the gear box, then came the metal grinding noise when I first started the engine. So I put it into my local garage who told me the engine needed a full strip down and rebuild.

The small bairn is away, and also a con rod needs replacing and the timing chain tensioner is needing to be replaced. The garage told me it £48 a hour for 12 hours to strip the engine, then parts costs, and another 12 hours at £48 to put back together.

I've been made redundant and can't afford this, now I'm left with a car worth scrap. Can I take any action against the car manufacturer? The car is not fit for purpose. I've been ripped off.

General Comments:

I should have stuck with my 1997 Pug 205 GTi 1.9. It had 127000 miles on the clock and never gave me any hassle, just years of pleasure.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 7th March, 2009

11th Mar 2009, 12:51

How do you expect to take action against the car manufacturer for a car from 2001 which you bought used from your old boss? Maybe if you had bought it from a Mercedes dealer, I suppose. At any rate, if you read the other reviews of A-Class on this site, you'll soon realize how unreliable the older A-Class models were. It seems 06/07/08 ones are much improved. Maybe you could sell off the car as parts on eBay or to a local garage to get some money back?

15th Mar 2009, 22:05

Be careful, because I have the notion that mechanical service for these cars in the UK is way below the average quality - I don't know why. It is very surprising the case of the UK towards this fine Mercedes model, it is from the UK that these cars are receiving bad reviews; so, I would get a very good mechanic, expert in Mercedes and ask for his advice. I have a very large experience with these cars, with very high mileages (more than double the one you have), and without any problems, just normal servicing at scheduled mileages.

Best wishes, and I hope you will be able to solve this problem.

3rd Apr 2010, 03:39

I have had my 2002 1.4 Elegance A-Class for 3 years, and it's been the best car I have ever had. The seats come out in seconds, (I had a clear-out in my garden). My boys have plenty of room in the back. Car seats are easy to use because of the height of the car. 200 mile trip easy, good on fuel. Service under 200 pounds. 30,000 miles, still going well.

12th Apr 2010, 02:19

Mine is already 210,000kms, 11 years, and going very strong. Not a single problem, just normal service.

Cheers.

2001 Mercedes-Benz A-Class Avantgarde 1.6 ACS

Summary:

Nice car, but overpriced and costly to service /maintain

Faults:

Anti roll bars needed replacement twice due to wear.

Seat adjustment knob broke.

Rear shelf support bracket broke.

General Comments:

A very nice concept, but some design weaknesses that should have been put right by Mercedes.

Mercedes servicing costs are way too high.

I enjoyed my A class, but not the worry of something serious going wrong. The ACS system worked fine, but I began to ask myself what might be the cost if it were to fail?

The alarm had a habit of going off for reasons such as hailstones or a stiff breeze!

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 18th August, 2006

2001 Mercedes-Benz A-Class 190 Avant Garde LWB 1.9 petrol

Summary:

So close to being a top small car, but..

Faults:

It has had the usual faults:

Drivers seat collapsed and although repaired is not perfect.

Spring pans both sides on front.

Anti roll bar mounts following the front 'knock'

Oh those rusty wheel nuts!! We are on our third set and Merc still can't get them right.

General Comments:

Must say we get excellent economy at around 38 to the gallon, country and town.

Dealer has been good on fixing faults under warranty; but they must be as fed up as we are seeing Merc's quality go down the pan... say no more.

The 190 is very quick even in auto format and an excellent run around, but we find the ride too much on the hard side for really long runs so we use our Lexus.

The LWB is much less choppy than the SWB, and has bags of room. So overall its fine, but it could have been absolutely outstanding if the quality control had been higher.

Purchase price and servicing are not cheap, but then if you want a Merc you have to pay for it and not grumble!

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 14th November, 2005