Mercedes A class...Any experiences/ thoughts.

I need to replace the wife's 02 plate yaris as its just not working out any more with the baby, its just not big enough. Its been a great car for her and she's had it from new so will be a sad day
I've been looking at A class mercedes,slightly older than the yaris, somewhere around a 99- 2001 with probably around 70.000 miles. Not sure on fuel type yet, although a diesel would be better.
I have found a whole list of really clean looking 1's on autotrader, and we are ready to go looking.
So does anyone own/ or have owned 1, or have a friend/ family member/neighbour/guy down pub/work with any stories

OK. Believe every story you ever heard about these being easy to turn over. The only thing Mercedes about these cars is the Tristar.
They are truly shite!

Where do I start? Stuff that goes wrong.
Springs break. Rear axle trailing arms wear out, once a year or so.
Steering column - subject to a recall. Sloppily done. Can lead to a bill in the region of half a bag. Wheel bearings.

I never owned one, (I just worked for a parts specialist and sold lots of bits for them.) you would not get me parting with my money for one of these.

IMHO the best Merc A Class you could by would be a Yaris Verso.

Hope this helps.

luv'n'stuff

John

(The proud owner of a VW Passat TDi and a Volvo V70 D5)

I sugested one of those, but she said they are ugly despite the fact her ickle yaris has never had anything go wrong.
She had a point though.

I never thought I'd hear myself saying this but Nissan Notes are really good.

My outlaws have had one for about 12 months and once you're in it (and can't see the outside!) it's great. SWMBO is thinking of getting one when she replaces her Focus.

As for the A Class. I've only ever heard bad things about them.

Yebbut!

's a Yaris wi' more space, innit!

(Good job I don't sell cars for a living - I'd be shite at it!)

Please! Get a Corolla, Get a 5 door Yaris. Anything but don't waste your dosh on a badge. This car was so bad it nearly caused Merc to go bankrupt.

J
ps Don't let your Yaris go too cheap. My b-i-l got nearly what he paid for his 03 plate Yaris when he traded for a Corolla.

Just had a look at a Nissan note, they are too pricey for us
What about a focus, how good/bad are they I know they have been around for a while now, but i know nothing about them usually
steer clear of ford.

The original Focus is fantastic. I really can't give the thing enough praise. Personally if I was in the market for a family car, that's what I'd buy. The boss has had two of them and she is now on one of the new ones (which is shit in comparison! )

Looks like it might be a focus then

Team Lard has it...used to work for Mercedes, firstly I had to drive the A-Classes regularly and they are a horrible drive- uncomfortable seats, crashy through bumps, slow and truely rubbish at going around corners.

All that annoyed me from a driving company vehicles perspective, but from an owners perspective they are a nightmare. The worst bit is the trailing arms problem mentioned before. BIG money every time that needs doing.

Oh yeah, and just to round it off, the interior of the first gen one looks like it came from Fisher-Price, not Mercedes.

If you want a Merc, buy a W124 E-Class... otherwise get the Focus!

VW Golf or Bora, Quality cars with a good solid feel to them