Hello, newbie looking at a W169 A-Class for my first car!

[YoungMercFan]

Hey all. Looking to get a W169 A-Class for my first car in the not too distant future so thought I'd join up to this forum to get more information. Mostly wanted to soak up the knowledge, enjoy the banter, and ask a few questions.

Everything I've read suggests the W169 is a very reliable little car, but my dad's been a cabbie his whole life and keeps telling me a Merc will cost too much to maintain. In particular he said the timing belt and clutch will have to be replaced at some point on any car but he told me in the A-Class specifically the engine is mounted sideways so it has to be pulled out for any repairs meaning the mechanic will charge an arm and a leg... any truth to this or what? I'm sceptical of that claim to say the least. Is he maybe thinking of the W168?

If there's anything else you think I should know about this car feel free to tell me.

Looking forward to getting stuck in

 

[YoungMercFan]

Doing a bit of searching on this forum I'm getting the impression my dad ain't wrong about the engine needing to be pulled out for various repair work on the W169. Then again the prices I'm seeing for those repairs even from the official Merc dealers don't sound too rough to me especially if they don't need to be done too frequently. Big reason I'm into this A-Class is the reliability record.

Better a car that needs infrequent but more expensive repairs than a car that's cheaper to repair but goes wrong all the bloody time. My dad had a Passat like that. Sure a VW ain't a Merc so parts are cheaper but it was going wrong constantly so ended up costing a fortune to maintain anyway.

Would be interested to hear the general consensus from this forum on how reliable the W169 is in any case. Like I said I don't mind tricky repair jobs too much if they're infrequent.