2003 Mercedes-Benz A-Class A160 Elegance from UK and Ireland - Comments

The handbrake accidentally released, whilst the car was parked on a hill, with my 4 year old son in the car. The resulting collisions removed 2 side doors. I suspect that the handbrake was incorrectly adjusted when the car was delivered to us.

The car seems to make so much sense on paper. It is smaller than a VW Polo, yet more spacious than a Mondeo. However I feel that it is let down by very poor handling and ride. I am not a speed king, but it feels more like driving a truck than a car. The long wheelbase version which we have is extremely spacious though, and the built in child seats are excellent.

Really not fair to blame the car for a mysterious handbrake release while your 4 year old was left unattended in the vehicle!

It's old advice, but good. NEVER rely solely on the handbrake, but always leave the car in gear too (1st or reverse). On hills point the front wheels towards the kerb as well. Nuff said!

Yes, but if you have a Mercedes than you don't expect a handbrake to fail do you, as they are famed for their supposed legendary first class, first rate, top quality build/reliability. hmmm. They look nice though

Funny, I've been working on mercedes benz for 13 years and I have NEVER heard of a handbrake 'failing'in such a situation before. Maybe it was the four year old automatic release system!

Hahahaha, 4 year old automatic release system! Very funny, a car mechanic with a sense of humour.

My transport Manager hired me an A class for a trip to Bristol from Birmingham, thinking it was top of the range!

How wrong can you be?

The car was the most unstable vehicle I have ever had the misfortune to drive. I currently have a c180 on short term loan and that drives like a bus!

Its surprising with the name Mercedes and aura that surrounds them, how bad they actually are.

Good engine pity about the rest of the car. My A-Class rattles, groans and stinks of petrol from an intermittent fault, the fault has never been traced.

The A Class is a brilliant car - on paper and in the showroom. Compact outside and marvellously roomy inside, even in the standard, short wheelbase form. Furthermore, the seats may be removed to convert it into a moving van.

However, the kudos it has statically soon desert it on the move. The performance is stolid, except for the A190, the steering so wooden that it barely feels connected to anything, requiring manual centering to be done on almost any turn, the ride lumpy and never smoothing out and the noise on acceleration unbearable.

Cap this off with cheap interior trim that falls apart too readily and you wonder how the heck can M-B charge the prices they do for this little runt, with some buying it willingly for the "allure" of a three-pointed star.

Thankfully, the second generation model is far removed from this.

I have had my LWB "A" 160 elegance for 5 days and covered about 400 miles. It has all of the toys like full leather heated seats electric sunroof etc. It is just under 3 years old and covered 19000 miles It has 16" AMG wheels. I am very pleased so far. Sticks to the road like glue, no pitch and role. Yes the ride is a bit rough on poor roads The tyres roar a bit. It seems well made and still looks and feels like new.

Peter A|

My mum has a A-class and she loves the way it looks. Especially the design of the windows down either side. It looks great, but unfortunately she says that it is hard to park and steer, even though it's the size of a garden pea. Driving it is like driving a go-kart apparently!

I have owned mercs for years now having for some time evaded the enforced company car when I started my own company. At first I found the ride bumpy compared to the Ford Scorpio I was replacing. But within months I began to really appreciate the ride comfort and the turning cirlce is superb compared to cars half its size including a Fiesta compared to my current C Class. I am not sure about the A Class, but all the other mercs I have owned have had very high mileage yet my bills have been very minimal. Hope this helps others look more seriously at this mark.