The wife is looking at a Mercedes A class

[toddy]

Since the wife has gotten her new job, she is now thinking of getting a car to drive to work.

It will be about 70-80 miles a day

There is a nice looking A class Mercedes close to me for not much. 2005 reg with about 70k on the clock. Auto 1.6l petrol

Anyone had any experience with one. And know what problems to look out for?

 

[Mikey D]

I used to have a 1.3 petrol 1999 vintage pretty trouble free . I had to change the drive belt idlers/tensioner pulleys , pig of a job mostly did it by feel as I didn't fancy dropping the front subframe as recommended .
It's very tight round the engine as it's partly underneath the floor .
Decent enough car tho mine was a manual box . Not the most economical car tho

 

[dobbslc]

Check for rust......

 

[slim_boy_fat]

Since the wife has gotten her new job, she is now thinking of getting a car to drive to work.

It will be about 70-80 miles a day

There is a nice looking A class Mercedes close to me for not much. 2005 reg with about 70k on the clock. Auto 1.6l petrol

Anyone had any experience with one. And know what problems to look out for?

Not read the review, and it looks like it got a 'facelift' from 2005 until 2012 so you'd need to check which you're interested in, but this'll give you an Honest appraisal

https://classics.honestjohn.co.uk/reviews/mercedes-benz/a-class/

Good luck & keep us updated.

 

[thinfourth]

I saw a workshop manual

To change the sparkplugs

Step 1

Remove front bumper

 

[slim_boy_fat]

I saw a workshop manual

To change the sparkplugs

Step 1

Remove front bumper

Seems so many of the German and afaik Japanese Exec marques employ such means of accessing simple stuff, e.g Audi A4 removed entire front to change cambelt, BMW remove entire front light unit to replace bulb [I've proved the latter CAN be done with the unit in situ, but you DO need very thin hands or a very well trained small child ]

 

[Migmac]

Seems so many of the German and afaik Japanese Exec marques employ such means of accessing simple stuff, e.g Audi A4 removed entire front to change cambelt, BMW remove entire front light unit to replace bulb [I've proved the latter CAN be done with the unit in situ, but you DO need very thin hands or a very well trained small child ]

Sons Golf apparently needed new bulbs, he wanted blue ones, it was easier to take the headlight units out than squeeze your hand in to swap the bulbs over. Crazy, what should be a 5 min job was over an hour

 

[GW8IZR]

A class.. What seems to be a fairly common issue is the MAF is integrated with the ECU, they use a hot film sensor which seems quite fragile. The grill that protects the MAF is made of plastic that degrades over time and bits of it flake off, the bits then break the film air flow sensor.

Of course as its integrated with the ecu replacement isn't straightforward.

You can change the film sensor from another ecu but then the map and trim is often miles off. It's possible to put a 10 turn trim pot in there to get the thing running something like but of course that's not a real fix.

HTH

 

[slim_boy_fat]

A class.. What seems to be a fairly common issue is the MAF is integrated with the ECU, they use a hot film sensor which seems quite fragile. The grill that protects the MAF is made of plastic that degrades over time and bits of it flake off, the bits then break the film air flow sensor.

Of course as its integrated with the ecu replacement isn't straightforward.

You can change the film sensor from another ecu but then the map and trim is often miles off. It's possible to put a 10 turn trim pot in there to get the thing running something like but of course that's not a real fix.

HTH

Would this be worth a try, given the MAF location on the Merc? I tried something similar of the MAF in my last BMW 528i and it seemed to help with smooth running, but that may have been really good marketing.....aka the placebo effect

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Archoil-AR2810-Sensor-Cleaner-Aerosol/dp/B00HCGJF74

 

[GW8IZR]

When the failure occurs with this sensor there isn't anything left to clean, the tiny film gets ingested by the engine.. gone forever.

You can de solder the carrier from the pcb and re fit a replacement one but getting the right one (or re trimming ) is the trick.

 

[Barking Mat]

Not read all the thread, but if I understand most problems, involve engine out. Gearboxes are weak. Howevever colleague bought one new, never had any probs.....

 

[slim_boy_fat]

It's all down to unitary construction. Vehicles are effectively build of modules which are 'buried' under the bodywork - ease [and therefore cost effectiveness] of construction, not repair or servicing, are dictated [read.....demanded ] by the Accountants.

 

[vwmark]

I had a 2000 cdti 5 years ago. Fantastic on fuel but... broke all 4 coil springs, wheel bearing, sensors etc. Constantly working on it and it had just passed 100k. Did find it easy to work on.