Bought used a170 and a complete gearbox failure next day

[Howard]

No wish to seem like a sm***t a**e but I nearly bought a similar car for our daughter when she returned from South America. Looked on Honest John Website - Daily Telegraph motoring - and it said DO NOT GO NEAR these cars if I remember correctly. Hope you get the problem sorted soonest.

Yeah , i read that too...

Then we bought one .... just a question of doing your homework before you even go out looking , and then buying sensibly.

I have to say , i love ours .

Most of the A class knockers are people who have never owned one ( i was the same before i did ) and armchair experts who quote from 'Honest John'

Personally i wouldn't even bother getting quotes to get it fixed , you are entitled to your money back , or for the dealer to repair it. Get them on it , do it via legal means from the outset as it's clear he doesn't want to play ball.

 

[grober]

The problem with the early A class is that its a compromised design. Originally it was intended to have an electric drive component hence the sandwich floor to house batteries. The double floor has the additional benefit for safety of course but makes the shell more expensive to manufacture and to keep the price competitive savings had to made elsewhere. The carefully developed suspension design was rejected overnight following the infamous Elk test leading to a very un- Mercedes ride quality and suspension components which fail on a regular basis- rear suspension, strut spring perches and antiroll bar links come to mind. Cost savings were also apparent in the trim quality and electronics----- the combination of ECU and MAF being a master stroke meaning owners had to replace an expensive unit due to the failure of a cheap component part. However some owners have been lucky and Mercedes have tried hard to improve the car over its life to the extent of extending its wheel base and fitting improved quality components and getting rid of troublesome ones like the semi automatic clutch. You will often hear the early Mercedes A class described as a "miracle of packaging" which indeed it is. However the down side is that this means its very difficult to work on the powertrain without dropping the engine and gear box to gain access. This means high labour costs for replacement of fairly routine engine and transmission ancilliaries as well as major components.
On the plus side lots of folks love their safety, sporty handling and their amazing utilization of internal space with removable seats etc.
I think the message is on balance its a good little car just don't expect little car running /repair costs especially as they get older.

 

[Mike Walker]

Yeah , i read that too...

Then we bought one .... just a question of doing your homework before you even go out looking , and then buying sensibly.

I have to say , i love ours .

Most of the A class knockers are people who have never owned one ( i was the same before i did ) and armchair experts who quote from 'Honest John'

Personally i wouldn't even bother getting quotes to get it fixed , you are entitled to your money back , or for the dealer to repair it. Get them on it , do it via legal means from the outset as it's clear he doesn't want to play ball.

lol - thats me 'armchair experts who quote from 'Honest John'. And there was me being sympathetic.

Must be getting sensitive in my old age.

 

[jaymanek]

Nothing wrong with A classes, perfectly good cars as long as the MAF doesnt fail and you dont need to do any engine work!

I like them.

 

[gunning]

Like I said it was a fantastic car and worked like a dream! But I just want them to bring out the a3 and 1 series rival so it appeals to younger men such as myself

 

[nadeem]

Hi just wanted to add a note in buying one, my dad bought one 6 months ago A160 manual 2001, no issues with gearbox but just the usual age related suspension and rattles. But people do say stay away from semi and automatic boxes, especially in older cars unless it comes with parts warranty...

 

[gunning]

very useful point to make, do steer clear of the semi auto they are a waste of space and if they go wrong it is a write off

 

[A210AMG]

Loved ours had it over 4 years and in the time only spotted one other.

Hope you get it sorted with the garage, as other I wouldn't waste your time getting quotes etc, you will never be happy with the car if it let you down on day one of ownership.

 

[murray motors]

bring it back be firm

 

[Howard]

very useful point to make, do steer clear of the semi auto they are a waste of space and if they go wrong it is a write off

There is a comparatively easy fix to this apparently , i am looking into it , but it appears that a fair amount of the semi auto failures can be fixed for under a fiver with about an hours work ...

 

[Smarties]

There is a comparatively easy fix to this apparently , i am looking into it , but it appears that a fair amount of the semi auto failures can be fixed for under a fiver with about an hours work ...

Interesting, Please share your findings with us when you know

 

[Howard]

Well , i'll tell you what i know ....

Apparently , it is the brushes in the electric motor ( the semi auto is a manual gearbox , but with no clutch )

These wear out ( just like the brushes in your washing machine and mean the motor won't change the gears )

I'm not sure how it all works , but the brushes are cheap , but i'm not sure where to order them from at the moment.

 

[nadeem]

Well , i'll tell you what i know ....

Apparently , it is the brushes in the electric motor ( the semi auto is a manual gearbox , but with no clutch )

These wear out ( just like the brushes in your washing machine and mean the motor won't change the gears )

I'm not sure how it all works , but the brushes are cheap , but i'm not sure where to order them from at the moment.

Could a Bosch authorised dealer source the parts?

 

[Howard]

I don't know , i must admit i haven't looked into it too deeply ...

 

[jonnyboy]

Try speaking to Dash (d124) - isn't he in that line of work?

 

[Howard]

Well , you need 'c116 brushes' .... where from though ?

 

[timskemp]

As an ex A170 with the dreaded Auto box owner, I had no issues with the gearbox, but did have all the other regular rattles, and injector seal failure.

Brushes - you got a picture or dimensions?