| A-class 2001-2004 problem
Dear all,
I though about buying A160 2002 automatic - 100000 km - recently untill I read the following article in telegraph.co.uk - see below.
Can any of you share your experience?
thanks.
I bought an 03-reg Mercedes A-class 1.4 automatic in 2005. It had 26,000 miles on the clock and has since reached 60,000. At the beginning of this month the car suffered a catastrophic transmission failure while I was driving along the A303, towards Devon. It now sits in Mercedes Exeter. I am advised that repairs will cost about £5,000, which is probably more than the car is worth. Should this sort of incident occur to a so?called prestige car after a relatively short life? Is there any chance of Mercedes making a substantial contribution? Should I just ditch the car or pay for repairs? What alternative automatic car would you recommend for about £7,000?
C.W., Exeter
I'm afraid this is the sort of thing I keep warning readers about. If you have an original A-class, my advice is to sell it before this or something similarly expensive happens. These cars were built by a manufacturer with an excellent reputation, but accountants got hold of the company, went for volume, ditched the quality and continued to sell on the marque's prestige. A 1998-2004 A-class is the worst small car you can buy, but the newer one is much better. There's no easy way out of your problem because most of the cost is extracting and refitting the engine and transmission. Mercedes might offer some help towards the costs, otherwise you'll never buy one again. It's worth asking. The best small auto is the old-model Toyota Yaris 1.3 four-speed. The best current option is the Hyundai i10, but that costs £8,200. | 
