Rear radius arms failed - replaced free and outside warranty!
Front roll bars needed replacing at 45000.
Front disks needed replacing at 45000.
Air-con temp control failed at 40000.
Boot door trim never fitted properly.
I have owned three Mercedes before this A-Class; a 190 and two 300TE's. All of them fantastic. However the A-Class may be a classic in the making with its design, but it certainly does not have Mercedes build quality of the others. I reckon past 1993-6 Mercedes are now the same quality as 'the rest'.
The ride is way too harsh. OK on motorways, but country lanes and the general poor condition of UK A-roads leaves one's fillings loose.
The seats are too hard, and given the hard ride, a numb bum is quick to gain in around 40 miles.
The car gets through tires very quickly. Expect 5-10000 less miles compared other same class of car.
Very good in snow and ice.
Superb flexibility. Is a van with rear seats out.
Looks amazing, but avoid our black paint - scratches too easily.
I cannot disagree with this review in stronger possible terms.
The ride of my A-Class is superb, I have not noticed any excessive degradation in tyres, but the one thing it does not do well is snow and ice.
The ASR and ABS in the snow and ice, certainly on the semi-automatic gearbox version makes it impossible to drive, unless you use reverse!!
The model I am referring to is the A190 CDI with manual transmission. The combination with ASR and ABS made this ideal in snow and ice. An automatic I imagine would not have the same characteristics unless locked into a gear.
I avoided driving our semi automatic A Class in the snow, prefering to take the far superior in every department ford mondeo. How ever one day I thought what the hell this could be interesting. How wrong I was. The traction control cut in and it couldn't have been easier. Probably the only time this car has ever impressed me, it nearly drove itself!
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A-Classes have a wonderful handling and drive-ability. These are very high quality cars made to be used very much. I have noticed that they suffer more of not using them than for using them.
The engines are very dependable and durable. I know someone who has already put 600,000kms on his 1999 A-160 with no major problems.
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