1999 Mercedes-Benz A-Class Classic from UK and Ireland - Comments

Alarm and central locking failed 3 weeks after delivery; AA unable to resolve thre problem, dealership initially unwilling to help although eventually made a goodwill payment.

Fuel gauge failed, replaced but not reliable.

O/S rear door paint oxidised and starting to bubble. Lacquer in general appears dull.

Driver's seat moving on its frame.

Uneven tread wear on the front tyres and very light steering/slow speed understeer. 3 attempts by the main dealer to remedy before Kwikfit traced it to a suspension geometry fault.

Overheated after a coolant leak, dealer had the car for 3 weeks then returned it with a noticeable 3" scratch on the front bumper and a stain on the interior. Still awaiting a response from the dealer.

Bonnet release catch not working.

Occasionally stalls approaching junctions.

Seriously wondering what I have bought into. I thought this car would represent a reliable investment given it was sourced from an approved Mercedes dealer. I have so far raised my concerns at the number of problems I have experienced, both in person and in writing, but the only offer has been an alternative car plus a significant cash difference.

I no longer have any faith in either the fealer or the car itself. Has spoilt two planned weekends away when only option has been a long ride back to the dealership with the AA.

Majority of parts have so far been covered under the warranty, but repairs seem slow. Dreading the expiry of the warranty and have already asked for an extension, but both the dealership and Mercedes are totally uninterested.

The experience of ownership has been one of complete disappointment, frustration and expense.

It's no consolation that the courtesy cars have been everything mine isn't. I still love the car, but don't know much more of this relationship I can take!

The Mercedes A-class in my opinion is a model designed specifically for a price market, and doesn't have the same quality as any "proper" Mercedes. It's a cheap car designed to go vs the Golf, but I'd take the Golf anytime.

People never seem to understand that buying cheap Mercedes and BMWs is just asking for trouble. These companies are not in the business of making good "cheap" cars, they're not even that cheap either. Instead of an A class you could have gotten something better from Japanese or other European manufacturers, with the A class you are simply paying for the badge and very little else.

My wife bought an A class "elegance" new in 2000 and it is clearly the twin of the one in this review. We have had almost every problem listed in this review (though in addition, our reversing lights have now stopped working)!!

I can't argue, my 1999 V reg CDI has had 3 sets of anti roll bar links, a steering column both rear suspension trailing arms (one nearly fell off!) and a brake cylinder all in less than 3yrs all of the above caused the first MoT to be failed and it cost me over £1140 to get it through. Before you buy one of these ask an A Class owner they all experience the same problems.

Geoff

Romford.

I have an A-160 Avantgarde Auto... I just want to share my problems with you guys...

1) 4 steering columns (two went in a space of 2 weeks!)

2) a cat was required after just 14k miles

3) an airbag sensor required (£250 in fitting)

4) constant noises from steering... Dealer doesn't know what to do!

5) Alarm problems

6) Overall a nice car to look at... but not nice to drive/own.

I spent 22k on my one... as it has all the options in the UK Dealer book.

Skc.

2nd April 2003.

I love my A160 Classic automatic. It is so economical and a joy to drive, up there above the traffic. BUT the warranty has expired and I am not confident enough to "go it alone". I have had major ongoing trouble with the gears. Last year my Merc dealership had the car for EIGHT weeks straight getting advice from interstate and Germany re the transmission. The gears have never been smooth and, even now, despite being assured that there is nothing wrong, the car still behaves erratically - never when it is in the workshop, of course! I'm not prepared to take the risk of having to foot the bill for a new computerised part. If Mercedes would offer an extended warranty I would consider a new one, but no, so back to Toyota.

Vee.

I have a A140 Elegance with an ACS Gear system, I tell you what this car has given me nothing but trouble:

- My Fuel guage is not working correctly

- My Steering is making a noise and Mercedes

say that there is nothing worng with it, but

it needs a new stearing column.

- My Right front wheel makes a noise every time I brake

I've have new brake pads and disks fitted

to both front wheels

- since Mercedes fitted new brake Pads to the back

the hand brake works, but it feels very loose on the hand.

- I've just paid Mercedes to change my clutch plate which

they recommended that I do because my ACS systems

was hassling to go into second gear - now that I have

that done it's been a little better, but now and again

the gears grind.

Regards

Pedro.

A Class 170CDI Automatic. Good car for three years, but now has the notorious steering column failure at 49000 miles. Cost to repair quoted by Merc dealer as over £700!!! I believe this failure is connected with the right-hand drive layout, where the steering column has to have a universal joint which fails, causing erratic steering response.

I am insisting that this is a warranty repair because of design or manufacture defect. Has anyone else had the same problem, please?

We bought a brand-new A160 Elegance Auto in March 1999. A high-spec model with leather seats, costing £20,000. Unfortunately we only got a one-year warranty - and seven years later, at just 37,000 miles, we've spent nearly £4,000 on servicing and repairs. This is despite the fact that this was a second car, leading an easy life. For what it's worth, here is our litany of woe:

1. The automatic transmission failed three times, once at 70mph in the fast lane of a dual carriageway - narrowly avoided a serious accident there; another time when it was being tested by a mechanic, and the front wheels locked causing the car to skid. The gearbox, including torque converter, was replaced under warranty.

2. A gearbox mounting bolt failed after just 18 months (£150 repair bill, later refunded after I wrote to the MD of Daimler-Chrysler UK)

3. Steering column needed to be replaced at 18,000 miles.

4. Anti roll bar link rods failed at 24,000 miles.

5. Rear suspension packed up at 35,000 miles.

6. Electronic control unit failed at 37,000 miles causing intermittent failures (e.g., car left stranded in the middle of the road whilst attempting to turn right) - and the car failed its MOT because of high exhaust emissions. Cost nearly £900 to fix.

7. Having spent some £24,000 on this car, in terms of purchase price and servicing/repairs, and despite the car having covered only 37,000 miles, the Mercedes garage offered us a paltry trade-in of just £3000.

My wife drives a A140 classic, year 2002.

I also find very uneven tyre wear on the offside front, tyres need replacement every year for MOT (12000 miles/year!)

The car just developed a steering column knock at 32000 miles, needs replacement at £700 adn MB will not pay for anything.

We are unhappy with the poor reliability of the car, my wife is disappointed that given the price, a Benz will not proove better than lesser car makers.

I am amazed with so many complaints about this car. I have rented two of them -an A-170cdi, and a A-140 large- and I own other two, both are from 1999 and I have never had a single problem. I have one A-160 Elegance with 60,000kms and AKS system and it is as good as new, and another one -a A-160 Classic Plus- with 160,000kms which is also in perfect running conditions. It works as well as first day. I haven't changed on any of them anything, but light bulbs and brake discs at 100,000kms, which I consider as normal -I had to changed my BMW's 325i F1 SMG 2005 model the disks at 25,000kms. I find the A Class to be extremely reliable, durable, well built and trouble free, the same I cannot say about the BMW I have also since new. Also, I might add that my A-160 with 160,000kms has seen some abuse -something my other two cars have not-, because it is used by several drivers, my son, my wife and me, and we never pampered it, we have even forgot once to do the service at the required time.

Cheers and best wishes to you all with you're a-Class Mercedes.

What a dreadful experience owning a Mercedes has been! Had an A-Class 190 Elegance with full options since new in 2002. Only got 50k on the clock and driven by my mother in law in local roads of Herts. Despite being looked after with Merc FSH the auto gearbox recently "disintegrated" (quote from dealer). Merc carried out an investigation and decided that - owing to the age of the car and the fact that it's out of warranty- they will reduce the £6000 repair bill by a paltry £1000! They told me I had simply been "unlucky" with my purchase! To add insult to injury Mercedes have offered to PX my car with a new Merc .... but then they valued my car at £300!! If anyone has any useful suggestions they'd be much appreciated!

We have a W reg Merc A Class Elegance and I must say if we had read reviews before we bought the car 4 years ago, we would probably have bought a Toyota instead! Just as the car came out of warranty our automatic gear box went entirely. We had to pay £4000 to have it replaced. Mercedes Benz customer service was non-existent. After much stress and wrangling they finally agreed to knock 50% off the cost of the part. Since then we seem to have had endless tyre changes and shocks replaced. We are now facing a large bill for the steering column and the power steering pump has also failed. Seriously now considering cutting our losses and buying a Toyota! H&R.

Oh my goodness gracious me! I bought a Mercedes A Class 99T 80000miles on the 9th of Feb 2008 for £2900 with 1 year warranty.

I wish I had seen this page before buying. I bought it because I have a Toyota Corolla 1998 with a slipping clutch that will cost £350 for a new one. I thought it was a waste spending on an old car so decided to put Toyota up for sale and bought an A class.

Fortunately, I didn't receive any offers high enough for baby Toyota so kept selling. Two weeks to the date after buying Merc, semi auto clutch failed. Towed by RAC to warranty place who took it back to MErc. Cost £1167 for a new semi auto clutch of which warranty company paid £500, dealer paid half of the rest - leaving me with some £350 to pay - all the while along, I drove the reliable 'old' Toyota!

Got car back and works fine but it also has funny noise coming from steering wheel (possibly column) also the alarm doesn't work. If you lock the doors and remain in car, no matter how much you rock the car from inside or out, it remains silent - the worst that happens is indicators come on - no horn sound..! In fact, horn simply doesn't work without ignition started...!?

Terrible car. We are selling it. Will be happy to pick up even £2500 for it, repair Toyota and save the rest in an ISA. If you are thinking about buying one...Don't BUY ONE.

Unless its got some crazy lenghtened warranty that covers EVERYTHING because you just don't know what will go wrong with this rubbish car. The only good thing is it looks nice and ladies seem to love it... apart from that... trust me get something else..!

I don't know what you people in Great Britain do with yor cars, or if the cars sold to you by Mercedes there are different that the ones we get here in South America, but my A-Class (built in Brazil) has already 80.000 km and it runs like the first day.