Build quality.

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.

Stvcat74

New Member
Joined
Nov 13, 2020
Messages
14
Location
Newcastle upon Tyne
Car
AMG A35
Newbie, so this is my first message, are all AMG a35’s badly built or is it just mine, I had a 1977 Datsun that was better built, Mercedes interior rattles from everywhere, a pillars, b pillars, doors and tailgate and now the engine management light is on, been in twice to dealer for rattles and they can never hear them, last time they had the car for 5 days, and I asked what trim panels they removed and then refitted and was told none, so failed to fix, now rattles worse than ever and now hearing new noises, my car was built in Finland, and if I’m honest the only good thing to come from there is the sauna.
 
Welcome. Sorry to hear about your problems with the car. MB cars are generally well built, both my previous W203 and current W204 had no rattles, but sadly it seems that some cars do hopelessly suffer from them, as other members here posted in the past. Someone else may be able to advise.
 
Welcome. Sorry to hear about your problems with the car. MB cars are generally well built, both my previous W203 and current W204 had no rattles, but sadly it seems that some cars do hopelessly suffer from them, as other members here posted in the past. Someone else may be able to advise.
It’s actually my 4th Mercedes, having had 2 c class coupe’s and an e class coupe, and all of them had faults, mainly dreadful brakes and all of them suffered from windscreen wiper judder, drove me absolutely mad, the only other car I’ve had as bad as this a35 was a Renault Megane renaultsport 225, an awful car, spent more time with the dealer than with me, Mercedes claims to be “the best or nothing“ so it’s time for them to prove it, they are happy to take your money, but don’t want to know when you’re back for faults to be fixed under warranty.
 
It’s actually my 4th Mercedes, having had 2 c class coupe’s and an e class coupe, and all of them had faults, mainly dreadful brakes and all of them suffered from windscreen wiper judder, drove me absolutely mad, the only other car I’ve had as bad as this a35 was a Renault Megane renaultsport 225, an awful car, spent more time with the dealer than with me, Mercedes claims to be “the best or nothing“ so it’s time for them to prove it, they are happy to take your money, but don’t want to know when you’re back for faults to be fixed under warranty.

I sympathise regarding the Renault, had a Scenic II for 5 years, no end of problems.

But how did you end-up buying four Mercs, if they gave you so much grief?
 
Got to get a good one at some point, I know that some people put up with rattles in cars but it bugs the hell out of me, Mercedes need to go back 40 years when the quality of their cars was absolutely everything, over the past 33 years I’ve had close to 30 cars.
 
Our W205 C63 interior rattles like a bag of tins. Our W212 350 is silent
Our W212 E63 was silent

Having experienced a lot of them, I will say that the latest Mercedes cars are not as well made in some cases.
 
Mercedes need to go back 40 years when the quality of their cars was absolutely everything, .
Unfortunately if they did that then most of us wouldn’t be able to afford their cars.

If you’ve had four bad cars out of four Mercedes then I think If I were you then I would call it a day

Having owned close to 30 cars you’ll be well placed to know which have the least rattles and the best window wipers.

That’s a lot of experience and you’re spending a lot of money, so trust your experience rather than marketing slogans.

Good luck getting the A35 sorted 👍🏻
 
I have a 1960 190 (W121) and 05 CLK. Post WW2 to late 1980s MB build quality was better than most other manufacturers. Now everybody else has caught up and MB stood still. The build quality of the 190 is far better than my CLK. I damaged the L/H sill, long story, the panel beater complained it very difficult to fix compared to modern car, thick metal.
MY first MB was in 1961 was a W121 in east and central Africa. It was a very expensive class act and the best riding car I had on dirt roads.
 
I wouldn’t say I get many rattles on mine. However I have had to take the car back to Mercedes to replace a broken window switch and faded black trim. In addition to this neither seatbelt retracts by itself and the headlights have got condensation which I need to get sorted. This is on a 2 year old car!!
Doesn’t bother me now as it’s all covered under warranty, but does make me think what to do going beyond that.
 
I find that most modern cars rattle, due to the sheer amount of plastic or plastic backed trim pieces littering the full interior.

Any performance type car will also suffer worse due to harder suspension/damping.

Then how they have been treated in life will further affect things.
 
I expect the a class is the budget model and hence built to that standard. I believe that it's made in Eastern Europe. I've never owned one but I've had a couple of first generation (R170) SLK's and the interior quality is ghastly.
 
I find that most modern cars rattle, due to the sheer amount of plastic or plastic backed trim pieces littering the full interior.

Any performance type car will also suffer worse due to harder suspension/damping.

Then how they have been treated in life will further affect things.
The solution is actually simple, engineer it better! MB claim to spend a million euros a day on research, all they need is to use felt tape on the plastic edges to mini the chance of rattles, they line the glove box with felt, and use the best sound deadening material available, I wouldn’t be surprised to find that the “A” in a class stands for abysmal.
 
I have a 1960 190 (W121) and 05 CLK. Post WW2 to late 1980s MB build quality was better than most other manufacturers. Now everybody else has caught up and MB stood still. The build quality of the 190 is far better than my CLK. I damaged the L/H sill, long story, the panel beater complained it very difficult to fix compared to modern car, thick metal.
MY first MB was in 1961 was a W121 in east and central Africa. It was a very expensive class act and the best riding car I had on dirt roads.

^^THIS

Tbh if you want build quality and a New car, i think Lexus or Similar something Jap. Mb and the likes tbh are woeful and trust me i am a die hard MB enthusiast, The Glory days of the 80's and earlier are well gone and probably never be revisited.
 
I expect the a class is the budget model and hence built to that standard. I believe that it's made in Eastern Europe. I've never owned one but I've had a couple of first generation (R170) SLK's and the interior quality is ghastly.
You’re right, some are made in Hungary and some are made in Finland and they are also made in Germany, and the build quality is absolutely crap, no matter where they are made, dealer had my A35 for nearly a month to fix interior rattles, I’ve had the car back for the past 5 weeks and the rattles are still there, I’m so sick of this car, it’s almost undriveable , I am going to give them one more chance to fix the faults or I will demand that the car is replaced for a different model and at no cost to myself, for a prestige manufacturer, their products are shockingly bad.
 
Got to get a good one at some point, I know that some people put up with rattles in cars but it bugs the hell out of me, Mercedes need to go back 40 years when the quality of their cars was absolutely everything, over the past 33 years I’ve had close to 30 cars.

40 Years ago they weren't making Cheap/Affordable A-Classes. you cant old Mercedes quality on their entry level cars.

.
 
^^THIS

Tbh if you want build quality and a New car, i think Lexus or Similar something Jap. Mb and the likes tbh are woeful and trust me i am a die hard MB enthusiast, The Glory days of the 80's and earlier are well gone and probably never be revisited.

I agree with this. My parents have had about 5 Lexus now. Currently on a 2013 IS300h and a 2016 RX450h. They are honestly built like a tank, all of them. From fitting a few dashcams in them everything is so tight and padded so well.

My Merc W204 coupe was OK, only had the one rattle in the sunroof which Merc attempted to fix, and did for a year but then it came back. My latest Jag XE was the worst for rattles, it had them from everywhere so had to strip everything including door panels to find them
 
My A35 is back at the dealer again, went in last Wednesday for tyres and an engine management fault and I told them to find all the rattles in it and cure them once and for all, they offered me another A class as a courtesy car, which I refused and I demanded a C class, got a C class saloon and the build quality on it is fantastic, no rattles whatsoever, will see what mine’s like when I get it back and if it’s still rattling I will contact dealer to see about a swap for a different model, and at no or very little cost to myself, and then they could sell the A35 to someone else who would think that it was great, I must just be extremely fussy and strive for perfection.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom