worthless A class

[ambrosearbor]

I bought an A class AUTOMATIC from a Mercedes dealer 4 years ago--less than one year old and now @37000 miles he has told me that it will take £5000 to replace the gearbox. I am stunned. This literally is one lady owner. Its obviously not worth paying £5000 for a car which is worth £5500 with a good gearbox so any advice?. Does anyone have experience of Sale of Goods Act--re quality/durability. Surely 37000 miles is ridiculous. I am not even sure if it is the gearbox--they say it is but the car drives for 9 miles or so then goes in to get you home mode--could this be something simple.
If I have to walk away with a £5000 loss, is there any value for scrappage?.I am really upset as this car was meant to last for at least 8 years and small repairs--under £1000 could have been managed but this is just devastating

 

[Geezer]

I think the Sale of Goods Act applies for items up to 6 years old but you would have to prove that the gearbox was faulty.

 

[Buggerlugs]

Don't just stick with the dealer quote, gather some recommendations then go and call some independent transmission and Merc specialists in your area, I'm sure you'll get a much more reasonable estimate, let us know what area you live in and I'm sure we can help to point you in the right direction.

 

[Satch]

I think your answer is here:

Mercedes Benz A-Class (1998 - 2005)

Good: Innovative sandwich floor putting occupants above many accidents.
Bad: Disastrous quality and hugely expensive problems at over 3 years old

"Automatic transmission failures requiring new transmissions at £5,000 + now common on A Class more than 4 years old, so cost of repair exceeds value of car. Do not attempt to run an A Class more than 3 years old other than on a good extended warranty"

Car review: Mercedes Benz A-Class (1998 - 2005)

 

[BTB 500]

Take it somewhere else to be checked over and get a second opinion/quote, but the A Class is an expensive car to work on because of the location of the engine / gearbox.

I doubt you have any legal rights though. I'd have thought 4 years ownership counts as fit for purpose when sold.

Presumably you didn't take out an extended warranty?

 

[EDZ649]

Quite a common problem on A classes. I would look to get a secondhand unit from a breaker with a guarantee and get an indie to fit it and then sell it on!

 

[Smiley]

or just ebay the car as is - you may be surprised how much someone will pay - and fix it themselves. Or take it to a car auction sold without warranty.

 

[tony2311]

there is a member here that list the cost for gearbox repair. it is around the £1000 mark, i gorgot who he is now but if you search you might find him here

 

[pmtx]

The key facts of the sale of goods act are available here :-

http://www.berr.gov.uk/whatwedo/consumers/fact-sheets/page38311.html

I think a reasonable person would expect a gearbox to last more than 5 years and 37,000 miles. Under the act, any damages would be rewarded due to an inherent fault in the gearbox, but reading the advice in this thread about buying an A-Class seems to suggest a well known inherent issue.

If it were me, I'd write a strongly worded letter to the business (MB Dealer) who sold you the car pointing out that you don't believe the car conformed to contract in terms of its durability and you believe it had an inherent fault in the gearbox when you bought it. State what you want them to do about it (i.e. repair at their cost) and give them a reasonable time scale to respond (say 14 days).

If I didn't receive a response or received a refusal, I would go to http://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk/ and start a small claims court action against the MB dealer for the cost of the repair. I would keep the claim at £5000 or less so that it can be allocated to the small claims court. There is a fee for starting a claim, which is based on the value of the claim. There is good information from the courts service about starting an action here :- http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/courtfinder/forms/ex301.pdf

In my experience of using this complaint route, very very few issues have ever made it to court. Usually a compromise can be found with the company involved, but a summons tends to focus their minds. You can withdraw a claim at any time, but you don't get a refund of the court fee so take this into account.

Hope this helps,

Andy

 

[A210AMG]

As I understand it these costs seem very high for an Automatic version?


Ours has been with us for 3 years now and costs very little to run (its a manual though)


Daft question but could / would a manual box be fitted?


If not then surely that can be done far cheaper? was that the price form Mercedes? their labour will be a huge chunk of that.

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

I'm sure it would be possible to fit a manual but the labour cost, and cost of the extra bits like linkages, pedal boxes, etc would sprial.

Probably cheaper to recon the autobox at a transmission specialist without the MB glass and mirrors.

 

[A210AMG]

I would think that a specialist could fit a recon box or recon yours and fit it around £1500 still a lot but £5000 is really writing the car off.

Doubt you would get much for the car in bits, I would guess better to sell as a none runner or needing work if you just want to get rid.

 

[jaymanek]

you wont get anywhere at all with a claim after 4 years... especially on a well known weakness.

Best bet is to get your box reconditioned.. total bill will be less than £1500...

If you can find a second hand box, you may save a little.. but then its a second hand box that mat just blow up.

 

[LTD]

Best bet is to get your box reconditioned.. total bill will be less than £1500...

+1

 

[BlackC55]

What Jay And BuggerLugs said. Get a re-con.

 

[panason1c]

Based on all the above, secondhand boxes for A class MB's must be as rare as rocking horse sh!t...............expect long queues at the breakers yards.

 

[rf065]

Based on all the above, secondhand boxes for A class MB's must be as rare as rocking horse sh!t...............expect long queues at the breakers yards.

Maybe an eye watering price too?

Russ

 

[panason1c]

Based on all the above, secondhand boxes for A class MB's must be as rare as rocking horse sh!t...............expect long queues at the breakers yards.

Afterthought............maybe the reason most of them are in the breakers is because of a clapped out g'box.. ...........if you do locate one from a breakers get a cast iron guarantee that the box is known to be good, better still, get them to fit it.................

 

[219]

Pardon my ignorance , but at less than 5 years old , isn't the car covered by Mobilo , or whatever ? Assuming of course that the owner has kept up servicing within the dealer network ?

 

[lynall]

My wifed a couple of the bmw mini with the cvt boxs and after some research it seems all of the minis range manual and auto up to 56 plate ish suffer from gearbox problems well known fault no help from dealers, very happy day when i convinced her to sell it before it went pop.



Lynall