A Class - Pleasantly Surprised

[ShoeQueen]

I am rather happy with my little A200 CDI

 

[PanzerMcGrory]

But Don, you clearly do not appreciate the extent to which we wait anxiously out here for your every next pontification ...............

Yes could just see myself as il Papa from Glasgow with my national socialist view of the world instead of that Cardinal Ratzinger.... oh thats right the main mans bought the T-shirt

 

[hawk20]

It`s not snobbish, yes MB have tried to build a small quality comfortable car with some innovative features such as the sandwich floor construction for safety and in many respects it is very good. Unfortunately along the way they also built in some flaws which detract from the package, some in the conversion from left to right hand drive , some in not vectoring in the lousy state of the British minor roads. The result is a car which does not satisfy the discerning driver and has some hefty costs in store for the long term owner. There are better packages available elsewhere.
In the current market I got a depreciation of £9,000 in selling when only 2years old (bought new at discount) I tried all ways and that was the best available and it takes in a hefty discount on the car I was buying.

I think there is a big snobbish element who think Mercedes should just make large saloons and sports cars. But saloons are now only 13% of total sales and MB would not survive if they did not diversify.

if you buy new and sell two years old you will lose a bundle on any car, any make, any model, in general. My brother's 5 year old A class still has a part ex value of over £5k and has lost under £2k per year from the new normally discounted price.

There are no other cars the length of an A class offering such a high safety rating and so much legroom front and rear. It is as roomy as an E class.

And the B class has the legroom of an S class and the boot is as big too.

 

[Splatt]

I think there is a big snobbish element who think Mercedes should just make large saloons and sports cars. But saloons are now only 13% of total sales and MB would not survive if they did not diversify.

if you buy new and sell two years old you will lose a bundle on any car, any make, any model, in general. My brother's 5 year old A class still has a part ex value of over £5k and has lost under £2k per year from the new normally discounted price.

There are no other cars the length of an A class offering such a high safety rating and so much legroom front and rear. It is as roomy as an E class.

Hawk . WE already owned a C class Avantgarde which is great and we wanted a smaller car for running around in. We were at first delighted with the A class overall package and thought it would serve us well for 4 or so years. However the bad ride with its rock and roll on side roads ,thumping heavily on potholed roads caused my wife such physical distress that I had to bite the bullet and get shot of it, far earlier than I wanted and take a financial loss as a result. Where is the snobbery in that ? At the time I chucked in the towel the car had done 24K and was making distinct knocking noises from the steering, some worrying noises from the Vario at low speed and the front discs were totally grooved and due for replacement although I always drive lightly and coast to stop without hard braking.
I do not recommend buying the A class

 

[ShoeQueen]

I have done 62000 miles in my w169 A class, bought from new and loaded with extras and never had a problem with her. Only replaced the brake pads once, regular scheduled service has never coughed up any problems

 

[Alex M Grieve]

if you buy new and sell two years old you will lose a bundle on any car, any make, any model, in general.

I entirely agree on this score. From your signature block you seem to have traded cars of this age recently. What is your secret for avoiding excessive losses in depreciation?

 

[PeterCLK]

Like others we had a 180 cdi (auto) as a loan car.
It drove like a dog and the inside was poor.

My wife who is definitely not a snob of any kind decided it was worse than her polo for twice the price.

Recently drove my son's Ford Focus - miles better than the A class.

Let's face it, Mercedes have years of expreience in the mid and large car sector.

They can not compete with the Focus's and Golf's of this world and should stick to what they are best at.

 

[ShoeQueen]

Hmmm ... I have driven my boyfriends Focus ST500 ... the turning circle is absolutely terrible, the ESP doesnt like it when you change just 2 tyres, as its throws the traction control out... and you feel as if the back of the car is going in the opposite direction! The interior is squashed and not as roomy as my A200 ... there are many arguements but it all boils down to personal taste essentially

 

[Alex M Grieve]

Hmmm ... I have driven my boyfriends Focus ST500 ... the turning circle is absolutely terrible, the ESP doesn't like it when you change just 2 tyres, as its throws the traction control out... and you feel as if the back of the car is going in the opposite direction! The interior is squashed and not as roomy as my A200 ... there are many arguments but it all boils down to personal taste essentially

But in this case your personal taste is founded on some hard objective evidence.

 

[ShoeQueen]

But in this case your personal taste is founded on some hard objective evidence.

this time

ps. the boyfriend is looking to bin the Focus and enter the world of the 3 Pointed Star

 

[hawk20]

I entirely agree on this score. From your signature block you seem to have traded cars of this age recently. What is your secret for avoiding excessive losses in depreciation?

I don't have one. But PCP's are the best way of getting assured levels of depreciation (if the APR the GFV and the discount are good). My present car was bought nearly new (6k miles) for a massive slug off list so should be pretty good. So was the S.

Minimising depreciation without PCP's seems nearly always to involve buying second-hand and keeping for a good while. But you have to watch model changes too.

 

[hawk20]

Hawk . WE already owned a C class Avantgarde which is great and we wanted a smaller car for running around in. We were at first delighted with the A class overall package and thought it would serve us well for 4 or so years. However the bad ride with its rock and roll on side roads ,thumping heavily on potholed roads caused my wife such physical distress that I had to bite the bullet and get shot of it, far earlier than I wanted and take a financial loss as a result. Where is the snobbery in that ? At the time I chucked in the towel the car had done 24K and was making distinct knocking noises from the steering, some worrying noises from the Vario at low speed and the front discs were totally grooved and due for replacement although I always drive lightly and coast to stop without hard braking.
I do not recommend buying the A class

At no point have I suggested you are being snobbish about the A class. I'm just agreeing with an earlier poster that some do have a problem with MB doing smaller front wheel drive cars.

Your experience is so divorced from mine (15k miles in an A class). and from my brothers and from my eldest daughters that I can hardly recognise it. None of us have Sport suspension or silly big wheels to ruin the ride. Yes it is firm but not in the Audi league of firmness or some BMW I've driven. And the adaptive damping minimises roll on corners brilliantly.

As for brakes, my brother (see earlier link) has done four years and 36k miles and his pads ar not even half worn yet. And his tyres lasted till 30k miles.

The other A class owners on this link and others seem to have good experiences too.

 

[hawk20]

A class- Costs over 4 Years
http://forums.mercedesclub.org.uk/showthread.php?t=48220

Here’s what J.D Power said: -

Rating 81.1%
Overall ranking 28th=
”The A-Class ran a very close second to the Corolla Verso. It seems Mercedes has got its act together on the reliability front and, like the Toyota, it performed extremely well in this area.

Interior build quality proved to be the A-Class's major strength - owners reported no nasty niggles, rattles or glitches. Heating and ventilation systems, the stereo and the seats also got the thumbs-up, and the engine and transmission proved to be strong.

The A-Class scored highest for exterior styling. On the downside, owners felt costs of service and repair were too steep.”

 

[ShoeQueen]

I have no niggles about my car bar the servicing costs, but if you shop around and are willing to travel there are savings to be made.

My car is due a B Service in 2000 miles and these are the 2 quotes I got -

MB Dartford quoted B Service @ £489.42 inc VAT, dust and fuel filter
MB Warrington quoted B Service @ £308 inc VAT, dust and fuel filter

 

[hawk20]

I have no niggles about my car bar the servicing costs, but if you shop around and are willing to travel there are savings to be made.

My car is due a B Service in 2000 miles and these are the 2 quotes I got -

MB Dartford quoted B Service @ £489.42 inc VAT, dust and fuel filter
MB Warrington quoted B Service @ £308 inc VAT, dust and fuel filter

Have you rewally done enough miles for the fuel filter. IIRC it is not chnaged till some mega miles have been done.

An A service at Southampton is about £200 and B service about £320 IIRC. They have fixed price servicing. Less for older cars.

 

[ShoeQueen]

Have you rewally done enough miles for the fuel filter. IIRC it is not chnaged till some mega miles have been done.



Hi Hawk

I have done 62000+ ... both the dealers said a fuel and dust filter and I checked the ESS sheet and that also states a fuel filter ...

 

[Alex M Grieve]

I have done 62000+ ... both the dealers said a fuel and dust filter and I checked the ESS sheet and that also states a fuel filter ...

No flies on you! I think you should be giving advice, rather than seeking it!

 

[ShoeQueen]

:Oops: shucks

 

[Splatt]

this time

ps. the boyfriend is looking to bin the Focus and enter the world of the 3 Pointed Star

Tell him to go for the Golf , vastly better in every department and my 1.4 TSI petrol was yesterday showing 58 mpg on the trip computer.

 

[Splatt]

At no point have I suggested you are being snobbish about the A class. I'm just agreeing with an earlier poster that some do have a problem with MB doing smaller front wheel drive cars.

Your experience is so divorced from mine (15k miles in an A class). and from my brothers and from my eldest daughters that I can hardly recognise it. None of us have Sport suspension or silly big wheels to ruin the ride. Yes it is firm but not in the Audi league of firmness or some BMW I've driven. And the adaptive damping minimises roll on corners brilliantly.

As for brakes, my brother (see earlier link) has done four years and 36k miles and his pads ar not even half worn yet. And his tyres lasted till 30k miles.

The other A class owners on this link and others seem to have good experiences too.

Neither did we have silly big wheels . We bought the Elegance for the benefit of sensible rubber and a pliant ride, the A class failed to deliver.
Regarding the brake discs, take a look at Honest Johns site, you will see he also reports many owners having to have new discs at just this mileage the brake pads were fine good for another 20K