thinking of buying an Aclass

[iainiow]

Hi,

Im totally new on the Mercedes scenes - I have been a Vauxhall man for my entire life!!

My wife and I are expecting our first born in 3 months and are looking between now and then to replace our trusty but small Vauxhall Corsa with something a bit bigger.

Being a vauxhall man, i jumped to thinking Astras/Vectras. My wife has always been keen on the A Class & peronsally im impressed having seen first hand one take a heavy frontal impact with very good results.

I would be thinking about something (probably diesel) maybe between 02 and 05 registered. i do roughly 12k miles per year, split 60/35/5 between country/town/motorway miles.

Can anyone offer me some advice on what to look for, what to avoid and any nigling problems that affect the A-Class. Also, in terms of running costs and repairs would i be looking at a whole lot more than I currently pay with my petrol 1.4 16v Corsa Sxi??

Thanks in anticipation!!

[cooldog]

Yes,running costs are high and if you purchase an automatic you need an extended warranty.My gearbox only lasted for 77000 Kms and MB were not interested in looking at a after warranty concession.In fact the dealership (Mercedes Benz themselves) sent it out to a gearbox shop with whom I was left to negotiate.
I have been a MB person for over 30 years and in the last 6 years my wife and I have had two bad gearbox experiences (the A class and a C240) both on new cars.We currently own the aforementioned two and a M Class and we will be looking around when the time comes to replace any of them.

[ollyonlin]

Hi, My wife has one to ferry the kids about. The built in child seats in the back that pop up are great. Try and get those.
Its a great little car. We have the semi-auto version and i'd say try and avoid that if possible and stick with a manual, they have some many issues.
Good luck with the family.

[EN4CER]

This brilliant site is the answers to all of your questions.

Take your time and read it in detail.

Albert Rowe, Lofty's homepage Index of information on W168 Mercedes-Benz 'A' class A160/2002 .

Enjoy.


I bought an A140 Avantgarde 3 weeks ago and totally love it. I was going to take the convertible back into work tomorrow, but been missing the Klasses