Gone

[Mike-Carter]

Because of all the damned trouble with the A Class I got rid of it.
The idea of the engine being knocked down under the false floor is good, but, this causes serious expense, starter motor & clutchfor example. Relay problems with starter motor just ****ed me off so it went. Should I live to be 1000 years old I will NEVER buy another Mercedes.
They certainly ain't like they used to be. The last good Merc was the 190.
I had a C class 1999 240 Elegance years ago I renamed it the RUST class, you could actually stand next to it and watch it rust, was it a Lancia in drag? I've now got a 2017 Suzuki Swift, and guess what?
It actually starts and runs and I have total confidence in it.

 

[John Laidlaw]

Oh dear Mike sorry to hear... there are loads of good Mercs still, shame you experienced the real bad one

 

[umblecumbuz]

Looking back over the years, I've come to the conclusion that - having had many Mercs and other brands - the early Mercs were rust buckets but well-built otherwise and with excellent mechanicals, but later Mercs were troublesome. They were far more niggly than other (mostly far eastern) cars that I've owned. I have two far Eastern cars now. Both are given the minimum attention and necessary maintenance, and are thoroughly reliable. Just get in and drive - never a hiccup.

When I run a scan on my Merc, it usually comes up with a few faults - thankfully minor - but whenever i do the same exercise on my other vehicles there is always the reassuring message 'No faults found'.

The pendulum has swung, and I'm sure that Mercs are bought now, not for their superior build quality, because it's not there any more, but for the cachet of the three-pointed star.

 

[Dean Fletcher]

Because of all the damned trouble with the A Class I got rid of it.
The idea of the engine being knocked down under the false floor is good, but, this causes serious expense, starter motor & clutchfor example. Relay problems with starter motor just ****ed me off so it went. Should I live to be 1000 years old I will NEVER buy another Mercedes.
They certainly ain't like they used to be. The last good Merc was the 190.
I had a C class 1999 240 Elegance years ago I renamed it the RUST class, you could actually stand next to it and watch it rust, was it a Lancia in drag? I've now got a 2017 Suzuki Swift, and guess what?
It actually starts and runs and I have total confidence in it.

I believe this can be the same with any car. My friend once had an Audi A3 had it for 2 years then all of a sudden clutch, turbo and gear box went. He spend 2.5k on it and at the time it was probably worth 5k.

 

[Mike-Carter]

Oh dear Mike sorry to hear... there are loads of good Mercs still, shame you experienced the real bad one

Not just me I'm afraid. A relative in London has a 2010 Mercedes C Class estate, that's troublesome.
They have slipped way down in my estimation, a Reliant Robin is more reliable.
If I ever won a Mercedes as a prize I'd ask to swap it for the booby prize.

 

[Mike-Carter]

Looking back over the years, I've come to the conclusion that - having had many Mercs and other brands - the early Mercs were rust buckets but well-built otherwise and with excellent mechanicals, but later Mercs were troublesome. They were far more niggly than other (mostly far eastern) cars that I've owned. I have two far Eastern cars now. Both are given the minimum attention and necessary maintenance, and are thoroughly reliable. Just get in and drive - never a hiccup.

When I run a scan on my Merc, it usually comes up with a few faults - thankfully minor - but whenever i do the same exercise on my other vehicles there is always the reassuring message 'No faults found'.

The pendulum has swung, and I'm sure that Mercs are bought now, not for their superior build quality, because it's not there any more, but for the cachet of the three-pointed star.

I know what you mean, my daughter-in-law had a Kia, 6 years never serviced apart from an occasional oil change and never any problem apart from a broken key and punctured tyres.

 

[Mike-Carter]

I believe this can be the same with any car. My friend once had an Audi A3 had it for 2 years then all of a sudden clutch, turbo and gear box went. He spend 2.5k on it and at the time it was probably worth 5k.

Typically Teutonic expense.

 

[AnthonyUK]

If you want reliability then buy a Toyota. Nothing really comes close.
That being said, my 203 has been nothing but reliable if cosmetically a little rough around the edges externally.

 

[bembo449]

there is no such thing as a completely reliable car brand , you either get a good one or you don't , ive had 17 alfa romeo over the years and only one gave me any trouble

 

[malcolm E53 AMG]

Winding the clock back to the 80s and 90s Mercedes only mass produced 2 models the 190 series (W201) and the E class series (W124) and as stated above the mechanicals were bullet proof but they did suffer from body rot to some degree. So, historically there was no ‘mini series‘ until the A class came along and this proved problematic from initial design regarding both handling and maintainability due to a totally new platform. Perhaps MB would have been better to have just copied the best compact car available at the time but that’s not the German way they always attempt to engineer something better which failed in this case.

 

[bembo449]

I agree Malcolm , prestige brands didn't really do small cars back then as I guess they didn't see the need to ?

 

[Craiglxviii]

Typically Teutonic expense.

On the other hand, our X Trail T30 2.2DCI suffered from failed low and high pressure fuel pumps, faulty fuel sender, dodgy alternator and was beyond economic repair from day 1.

Ironically I worked for the guy who had been Chief Engineer for the X Trail. “Ah yes”, he said, “we know problems with this car”.

It happens to every. Single. Make & model.

 

[sl500amgsport]

I thought the A class was really a Renault disguised with a 3 pointed badge as far as mechanicals are concerned ?

Mercedes SL500 R231

 

[Craiglxviii]

I thought the A class was really a Renault disguised with a 3 pointed badge as far as mechanicals are concerned ?

Mercedes SL500 R231

No, only powertrain and some running gear.

 

[Naraic]

I thought the A class was really a Renault disguised with a 3 pointed badge as far as mechanicals are concerned ?

Mercedes SL500 R231

The OP has got rid of the original A Class. The one with the engine under the floor and was scared of elks.

 

[Craiglxviii]

The OP has got rid of the original A Class. The one with the engine under the floor and was scared of elks.

The moose test is a really horrid thing to be fair..!

 

[00slk]

I have had many many different makes and models since my first car purchased in 1975 and ranged from Mini's to Bentleys and out of all the makes the best ever car was the 2002 Renault Laguna 1.8 Automatic, I did over 90,000 mls in that car and the only time it let me down was one morning when I got into the car I heard a bong noise and the n/s front coil spring broke. Yes it had services, 2 cambelts, tyres, brake discs and pads, ball joints and suspension bushes, it was the everyday, dump, family and tow car. It was so good that I bought another one and so far proving just as good as the first Laguna, so why then is this the most or one of the most unloved, unreliable, hated cars about?? I bought it for my son who drove his car through a flooded closed road and hydroliced his engine bending the internals but turned eye brows up at an old mans car with poor reliability issues, so I kept the Laguna for myself
In 2004 we went and bought an 2000 Alfa 156 V6 and was told by everyone, you fool, that is the worse car you can buy, it'll be in the dealers every week being fixed, 35,000mls later we sold it with very little issues having cropped up in our ownership. Brake disc's and pads change, services, brake light failure due to chaffed wires under the battery box, front ball joints and CV replacement, so not really the worse car to buy, however I can assure you the worse car out there to buy is a Ford Escort TD 1994, what an unreliable shocker they are, had that for 6 months and broke down at least every 4-5 weeks and the AA said that we come close for the most call outs for the same car. The most high maintenance car we had was the Jaguar X-Type, we tried to get away with fitting cheap Ford Mondeo parts, but alas Ford Mondeo parts are not the same dimensions, found that out numerous times and at my much expense, they might look the same but once you get our your measuring tool and start measuring up the Sport Preminim parts they are different, believe me Had a Mondeo too, it was a brilliant reliable car, I couldn't break it, that's why I bought the X-Type, people said it was only a Mondeo in a party frock......They were right,, only it was a super mini skirt and a great improvement on the Mondeo, that's if you can improve the Mondeo (Fact 23% of Mondeo parts are used in the X-Type)
Another of the top reliable makes seem to have been the American cars I've had
Mind you the 280SE, 450SEL, 450SE, 350SL, SLK320 and the SLK350 we currently own have all been the best and most reliable Mercedes were have owned

 

[keefysher]

I had a co Laguna, when they first came out. As it was a co car all I asked for when it came time to change was blue with front fog lights, steering wheel, 4 wheels and an engine. So it was blue with front fog lights.

It was at a time when things were tight so the monthly lease figure was reduced considerably from the previous one, can't remember but it was white with front fog lights. As it was a cheap Renault it had lots of standard items that were optional on other 'better, higher monthly fee cars'. Electric sunroof, mirrors, windows all round, CD stacker, mud flaps etc.

It was supremely comfortable, loads of boot room, roof rack load, went well.

I did 80k miles in under a year when it blew up.

The finance director accused me of deliberately wrecking it to retain my status of car in the hierarchy. Tw4t. That was an FD who drew up the car policy of 60k over 3 years across the board. I was averaging 70k per year and each year the penalties to change my car were horrendous, but rules were rules

 

[LostKiwi]

I've had a few unreliable cars.
Citroen BX.
Fiat Punto.
Mini Van.
Mercedes R230.
Smart Roadster.
Defender.
Range rover.

I've had a few reliable cars.
Saab 900 SE Turbo.*
Audi S3.*
Audi A8.*
Two Mercedes C240 (w202).
Mercedes E240 (s210).
Mazda Xedos 2.0 V6
Mazda 323F GT
Toyota Land Cruiser Colorado*

In general none has been worse or better than any others. The exceptions being the ones marked * being worse than any in the unreliable list!

The most reliable of the lot both come from the unreliable list - the Fiat Punto and the Citroen BX. They were easily on a par with the other top two most reliable - the two Mazdas.

 

[peterws1957]

I have had many many different makes and models since my first car purchased in 1975 and ranged from Mini's to Bentleys and out of all the makes the best ever car was the 2002 Renault Laguna 1.8 Automatic, I did over 90,000 mls in that car and the only time it let me down was one morning when I got into the car I heard a bong noise and the n/s front coil spring broke. Yes it had services, 2 cambelts, tyres, brake discs and pads, ball joints and suspension bushes, it was the everyday, dump, family and tow car. It was so good that I bought another one and so far proving just as good as the first Laguna, so why then is this the most or one of the most unloved, unreliable, hated cars about?? I bought it for my son who drove his car through a flooded closed road and hydroliced his engine bending the internals but turned eye brows up at an old mans car with poor reliability issues, so I kept the Laguna for myself
In 2004 we went and bought an 2000 Alfa 156 V6 and was told by everyone, you fool, that is the worse car you can buy, it'll be in the dealers every week being fixed, 35,000mls later we sold it with very little issues having cropped up in our ownership. Brake disc's and pads change, services, brake light failure due to chaffed wires under the battery box, front ball joints and CV replacement, so not really the worse car to buy, however I can assure you the worse car out there to buy is a Ford Escort TD 1994, what an unreliable shocker they are, had that for 6 months and broke down at least every 4-5 weeks and the AA said that we come close for the most call outs for the same car. The most high maintenance car we had was the Jaguar X-Type, we tried to get away with fitting cheap Ford Mondeo parts, but alas Ford Mondeo parts are not the same dimensions, found that out numerous times and at my much expense, they might look the same but once you get our your measuring tool and start measuring up the Sport Preminim parts they are different, believe me Had a Mondeo too, it was a brilliant reliable car, I couldn't break it, that's why I bought the X-Type, people said it was only a Mondeo in a party frock......They were right,, only it was a super mini skirt and a great improvement on the Mondeo, that's if you can improve the Mondeo (Fact 23% of Mondeo parts are used in the X-Type)
Another of the top reliable makes seem to have been the American cars I've had
Mind you the 280SE, 450SEL, 450SE, 350SL, SLK320 and the SLK350 we currently own have all been the best and most reliable Mercedes were have owned

Funny that my most reliable car was a 2001 Laguna estate. Did 150000 miles in it in 2 1/2 years, then the power steering failed and the company got rid of it. Comfortable and could cope with any conditions. My 57 Chevy convertible comes a very close second.