Can anyone tell me about the Mercedes A Class?

[WaitingForGodKnows]

Have seen one for £4495, T reg (1999), 1.4 engine, 65000 miles on clock.

Have one small person to ferry around. Need something safe and reliable. Know bugger-all about cars but quite fancy it. Any thoughts appreciated!

No-one? Really?

Ah well. I shall foolishly take it for a test drive anyway, without the MN go-ahead

Sorry, WFGK if you asked about c class I would of said forget it, sluggish and hopeless in snow conditions and things keep dropping off it ( that was a new one). Good luck with your test drive though.

Hi we're going to get rid of ours soon (DH'S CAR)

It's very good in terms of fuel economy, the suspension is very firm though. although it's roomy inside considering it's such a dinky car and the driving position is high up which is nce apart from that I can't really rave about it.

I think you should be able to get a T reg for cheaper than that considering the new shape is out etc.

Rented one once only for a weekend or a week, don't remember, and really didn't like it. Not usually at all fussy, and whenever rent a car, always find them perfectly normal to drive, but what i didn't like about the A class was the steering. It felt very unstable to steer. Don't know if that makes sense. On the motorway i felt like I had to be super-careful with the steering or the car felt a bit like it was going to topple over! I hated it, and was really unrelaxed. It MAY have simply been the one I was driving. I can't believe that Mercedes would bring out a model that handled so badly so maybe it was just a bad experience with one particular hire car.

ps we bought a Ford Ka 2 years ago, and love it. Yes, they're small - 3 door, but they're cheap, and drive like a dream. Poor boot space though.

Honestly ?

The older style A class (the one you are looking at) is AWFUL. They are nice inside etc but they are VERY expensive for what they are (you are paying for that 3 pointed star). The handling is APPALLING, because they are tall and skinny they feel like you are going to topple over if you corner in a gear higher than 2nd (and even then they are wobbly). Horrid, horrid, horrid.

The handling is/was so bad that they had to make the new shape lower to the ground and less boxy.

ADadOnMN - that's the handling, because it is a tall skinny car on skinny tyres it feels like it's going to blow over.

NdeP - must have been an old one then. That's exactly how it felt. As I said I'm really not fussy, any other modernish car always feels like it handles fine, and after 5 minutes you feel like you've been driving it for ages. And I'm even happy driving large vans etc, I like driving anything. But with the A Class, I was tense on every journey and hated it.

I wouldn't trust one either.

Buy a Clio - they are particularly safe in the NCAP (?) tests. My DS rolled mine over and ended up in a field (never lend your car to an 18 year old) and came out of it with not a bruise. It rolled because he drove stupidly - the car is very stable.
Much cheaper than Mercedes and you can get a more recent model and pay much less for servicing/parts.

Don't bother with one. I test drove an A class a couple of weeks ago and didn't like it a jot! Steering was an issue and there was something not quite right about how it felt on the road. Could have been me, I guess. Besides, it doesn't get a terribly high rating on the 2nd hand charts as well as repairs being extortionate - especially with an aging T reg. Think twice and there are MUCH better cars on the road.

Bit like driving a breeze block, I always get one when my car is in for service. I hated it and until I threatened to have a picnic in thei showroom with all my minded children they now make sure that the MD's wifes 7 seater is available!

The new long wheelbase is ssupposed to be better.

I borrowed my SiL's one when we were 'in between' cars once, and HATED it!! It handled terribly and had no oomph, would never buy one.