MERCEDES-BENZ A CLASS Hatchback 1998‑2004

Bought this car for a good price for a cheap town car and run-a-bout....it broke down within a couple of days, very common MB A Class faults - automatic gearbox went into limp home mode with fault symbol displayed on dashboard, would not go faster than 15mph with virtually no acceleration.

The auto gearboxes on these cars are amongst the most unreliable I've seen in a modern car, honestly. A colleague has a 2004 A140 auto, gearbox completely broke down. Before you consider buying one of these, just take a look at numerous forums and websites and they all lead to one conclusion - very unreliable car and expensive to repair, unfortunately I didn't look at these sites before purchasing. Auto gearbox ECU failure (very common) £1,300 to replace, engine ECU/Mass Airflow Sensor failure (also very common) £1,000 to replace. Auto gear selector module failure (very common) £300 to replace. If you don't know what the above items are they are the 'brains' of the car, very poorly made in the A Class and breakdown as early as 30,000 miles. When the auto gearbox ECU fails it can take the gearbox with it! £1,600 at least to replace! Just take a look at a very popular auction website - there are numerous A class MB for sale at very low prices, most with broken autogearboxes.

One leading review website states 'Mercedes should be very worried by this car' and I have to totally agree, they've badly let themselves down with the overall qaulity of this car.

Yes it's quirky looking and has some prestige but don't be fooled, this is not like any other Mercedes, keep well clear, especially fully automatics.

Although not owned for very long this is a fabulous little car. I have never owned a car which gives such a high return MPG £10 last for almost 100 Miles. SOOOOO fugal!. Easy to swing into those tight parking spots. Super manouverability. Great load space, as the rear seat move forward to give a little more room in the boot, or come right out to make a van. Great for taking the kids out in. I guess if you had to be picky, this is the SWB model, and so the leg space behind the front seats is limited, but just make sure the back seats have been adjusted back, and there enough room for most growing kids.

Never had any reliabilty issues, and even brake shoes are cheap and easy to change. Servicing costs are lower than most foreign cars.

The drive is great extremely responsive, can be turned on a half penny. due to straight back end, easy to know where you are in the manouvre, no obvious reason to strike what ever might be behind you. As with the front, great positioning to se the road ahead. Happy on a run as well as around the town, the latter making this the ideal car for round town. I'd most certainly recommend this type of car to anyone.

this little car has been used by my mam and dad and has never given them any problems at all.it is super reliable and has many many more giving years left.

great car. No major problems gone wrong in time i have owned the car,very pleased with how it has served me having a new baby up untill 2 years old.

Excellent little car - only lacking in rear leg room for adults and a large baby seat means passenger seat has to be moved right up.

Very reliable, nimble, easy to park and nice looking too.

I could not fault this car in anyway.

A pleasure to drive, and very cheap to run.

Brilliant size for smaller familes.

And just a good looking, smooth car all round.

Good points:

Very reliable. It's been through 3 services and 3 mots without any problems. The only reliability issue is that the sunroof no longer works, although I've only tried it twice since I bought it over 3 years ago.

It's incredibly practical. All the passenger seats come out making it into a van. I've had a King Size Four poster bed frame in it, no problem. A double fouton.

It's nice to drive, roomy and handles rather wel for such a tall car.

It's pretty cheap to run and not bad on fuel (mines a 1.4 petrol).

It feels well built and well made.

Bad points:

Bumps. The ride is very hard which I'm not a fan of and not great for London Roads.

The headroom in the back is a bit mean.

I love this car - bought from new from Mercedes Benz Edmonton but arranged by their Dartford Branch. It has been reliable and is as good as the day it was bought. It is relatively fuel efficient for a Mercedes, and again quite cheap to maintain for a Mercedes car. I love the car!

good point:

-I couldn't find any. maybe just a merc.

- one more thing, the boot is big.

Bad point:

- Engine oil leaking, really bad, common in old A class. I had to top it up 3 times a week.

- no really good for the fuel.

- feels like so heavy when you drive.

- I had a 'fight' with gearbox once, as it was like chuncky screaming ish and I had restart my car on the motorway and the nosiy finally gone.

overall, I couldn't trust my car. so goodbye A-class.

The A210 Evolution model was the top of the range for the first generation A Class and is a rare car. It was the nearest thing to a full-house AMG made for the A Class. It is a great performance mini-MPV. The Long Wheel Base model has loads of rear leg room and has made a really practical family car. It is sporty to drive, happy nipping about town or the motorway. It even has the unusual feature of being able to remove rear seats and turn small car into a small van!