A190 automatic?

[gaz_l]

Greetings, Citizens.

I'm looking for a car to be used both by myself for going to work and by Mrs. Gaz for the odd occasions she gets behind the wheel. She has expressed an interest in an A class, which seems to work for my purposes so long as it's got a reasonable amount of poke. A W168 A190 seems to fit the bill, compact enough for her, enough horsepower that I won't actually nod off whilst driving it.

I've seen a likely candidate for sale, which is an auto (no problems there). It's an '04 Avantgarde with leather and all the good stuff. The question is, will it have a proper auto gearbox with a torque converter; or a CVT or robotised manual?

Cheers,

Gaz

 

[jdrrco]

Greetings, Citizens.

I'm looking for a car to be used both by myself for going to work and by Mrs. Gaz for the odd occasions she gets behind the wheel. She has expressed an interest in an A class, which seems to work for my purposes so long as it's got a reasonable amount of poke. A W168 A190 seems to fit the bill, compact enough for her, enough horsepower that I won't actually nod off whilst driving it.

I've seen a likely candidate for sale, which is an auto (no problems there). It's an '04 Avantgarde with leather and all the good stuff. The question is, will it have a proper auto gearbox with a torque converter; or a CVT or robotised manual?

Cheers,

Gaz

i think all A-class autos are cvts, but happy to be corrected on that

have you driven one? i've had them a couple of times as courtesy cars and for me (only 5'10") the lhd-set wipers don't sweep high enough for me to be able to see out of the windscreen without bending my head to peer below them. at the end of a very wet day, i had quite a crick in my neck.

 

[Howard]

We've just bought an A class A190 , but a manual.

I was advised at all costs to avoid the autos and semi autos.

Ours goes well , 125 bhp , surprisingly fun to drive.

 

[gaz_l]

We've just bought an A class A190 , but a manual.

I was advised at all costs to avoid the autos and semi autos.

Ours goes well , 125 bhp , surprisingly fun to drive.

Thanks guys.

Howard, I liked the look of your A class (possibly the purple was a little OTT for my taste ), and 125 bhp seemed like enough; why were you warned off autos?

I don't really want a CVT.. I'm of the age where I still associate them with DAFs, although I'm sure they've got better over the years..

Cheers,

Gaz

 

[timskemp]

i think all A-class autos are cvts, but happy to be corrected on that

168 autos were proper autos - I had an A170CDI - was a good little car.

169 autos are CVT.

 

[Dryce]

I don't really want a CVT.. I'm of the age where I still associate them with DAFs, although I'm sure they've got better over the years..

A lot better. The main advantage of a CVT in a car such as an A or a Jazz is smoothness. They make excellent urban cars.

 

[Howard]

Apparently , the auto and semi auto A classes are just pretty much guaranteed to go wrong at some time , costing a lot of money.

I realise there will be exceptions to this rule before someone pipes up with ' i had one for half a million miles and nothing went wrong with it ' ....

Lots of Ebay ones have somewhere in the listing ' gearbox fault ' .

The manuals are bomb proof , ours is smooth , the gearbox action is light ( great for Angela , but i find it lacks feel ) but it goes in and out of gears positively.

If you are going for a A class , try and get it on a STAR first , as ECU failure ( the MAS and ECU are one unit ) is common , the MAS fails and over fuels the car creating flatspots , juddering and poor fuel consumption . Mercedes want £1500 for a new unit which is coded to your car so you can't get one from a breaker .

I've just had ours repaired ( i knew it was broken when we bought it ) for £220 and it has transformed the car. It was fine before , but is lovely now.

Definately try and get a manual though. The 190's come with 16 inch wheels whereas every other one ( other than the 210 ) come with 15's

 

[Smarties]

A168 series A Class Autos, are 5 speed Auto boxes....and very fragile. Buy the best you can find with low miles, full history, new MOT, and if possible a check over on a MB STAR system. Great cars overall, brilliant concept, just sometimes poorly executed.

 

[npuk]

The auto gearboxes on the W168 tend to need replacing before 50k miles. Is is best to go for a post facelift W168 and maybe worth seeing if you can find one one which has just had a gearbox change already if you want an auto.

If you can afford it the W169 is a much better car all round and the auto boxes in the W169 are fine.

 

[gaz_l]

Thanks for all the info. The car I was interested in is an '04 with 60K miles, full MBSH (but due one now). Shame to hear about the fragility of the auto boxes, think I'll give this one a miss. The search continues..

Cheers,

Gaz

 

[flango]

This is horses for courses, some of the auto's are fragile others seem to go forever you pays your money and takes your chance, but one thing for sure when the clutch needs changing on a manual you won't have any change from just over £1000, They are a nightmare, flywheel has to be machined too so factor this into your buying argument.

MB Dealers answer to auto gearbox problems is just to replace the box costing £££££'s when in reality they can be overhauled for much less and for much less than a clutch replacement. An overhaul of a 168 autobox can also include beefing it up so you don't get the same problems again

Just my 2p worth but nothing wrong with the auto if you buy the right one and if the car is a keeper the running/maintenance costs may actually work out lower. Also depends what mileage you are covering and if its urban or motorway

A lot of things to take into consideration, good luck in finding what you want

 

[Howard]

A grand ? at a dealer ?

Why does the flywheel need machining ? is this on every car ?

 

[timskemp]

When I had mine I had no gearbox problems - so maybe the exception. Early ones had neutral shift at idle which was removed in the software to give quicker stepoff and reduce wear and tear - also the gearbox is allegedly on the limit of its capacity in most of them (160/170/190) so any that have been chipped for more power are a bad idea.

I got rid of mine because I became in a position to afford a W211 E class and the A had a leaky injector that wouldn't come out...

 

[flango]

A grand ? at a dealer ?

Why does the flywheel need machining ? is this on every car ?

Last dealer price I saw for doing one was just short of £1200, but that was with new coupling, release bearing etc..the flywheel usually needs to be machined because people dont realise early enough the clutch is on the way out and by the time it lets out the familiar squeal the rivets have contacted and scoured the flywheel, hence the reason for the machining. This is also true on other cars with scoured flywheels, depends how early you spot the clutch failure, first sign of slippage swap it.

Theres 2 ways of doing it leave the engine in and support it and drop the subframe or if you want to inspect some of the other components starter etc, then its an engine out job.

When the chief designer at MB Bruno Sacco told his design team to "forget everything they had learnt so far" when designing the A Class, they did exactly that forgetting that someone would actually have to maintain the vehicle

 

[Bob T]

My Dealer may be dodgy

the auto gearbox in my W168 began to play up - very slow to engage a gear.
My dealer told it would cost Aussie $10,500 to overhaul.
Then a friend with an E Class told me that the dealer had quoted him 'Aussie $10,500' to repair or replace his SatNav. (I am not making this up) He bought a unit off internet from USA for $450.
Maybe this dealer quotes AUD10,500 for all repairs???

I am going to ask around.
Otherwise, my A Class is a great car. The newest style is "made for a different demographic" I was told at the motor show, so I will keep my oldie (now that it is a classic!!!).
My car has done 185,000 km and is a 2003 build.
Thanks for all the information on this thread.

 

[gaz_l]

Holy thread resurrection Batman!

Bob, the thread's over 2 years old now . I never did buy an A class.

Anyway, welcome aboard and good luck getting your car fixed..

Cheers,

Gaz

 

[forrera]

I always say the problem with merc a class is always a bad mechanic not a bad car. I repair a class w168 automatic gearboxes for living, and most of the time the damage is caused by lack of proper maintenance.