Hired a 19-plate diesel auto for 24 hours in Glasgow and although the engine and transmission were excellent (you’d expect nothing less from Mercedes) the rest of the car was a shocker. The driver’s seat was plain weird and resisted all my efforts to get it into the right shape. The dashboard was shockingly blingy and vulgar and the LED screen and infotainment system a complete disaster of non-intuitive crap. Half way through the hire the horn started pipping when we locked it, the radio kept turning on and playing awful music and we couldn’t stop it, the voice control turned on the fan when I asked for wipers, the car clattered and rattled and creaked and most worrying of all, something kept grabbing the offside front wheel with a scraping sound of plastic and causing the car to hesitate and swerve. When I got down and pulled and pushed all the plastic trim and the under tray and air dam I couldn’t get anything to flap around or move. Oh and the front NS wheel had been kerbed so many times already in the car’s short life by European and American drivers that the steering wheel was about 10 degrees off centre clockwise, same as in my old Land Rover.

I’ve read somewhere that Mercedes are now considered inferior to VAG on quality and that car did nothing to disabuse me of the idea. Are they built in South Africa?

Its a renault engine.

Q:the engine and transmission were excellent

A:Its a renault engine.

Worth knowing.

I’ve got a two years old C Class estate, build quality and comfort in it are substantially better than in the VW Golf, Passat and Audi A4 I had previously in my opinion.

We did look at an A class for my wife when she changed cars earlier this year, it drove well. She decided against it as she was offered a killer deal on another car.

Could it be that you’ve just had one that’s been ragged?

Sounds like a knackered hire car more than the fact it’s a Mercedes.

the radio kept turning on and playing awful music and we couldn’t stop it

I refuse to believe the car suddenly became sentient and wouldn’t let you turn off the music. This is a ‘Problem in chair, not in computer’ scenario if I’ve ever seen one.

I wanted a Mercedes. During the test drive everytime I stopped at a junction a stranger would get in the back and ask me to take them to the airport.

considered inferior to VAG on quality and that car did nothing to disabuse me of the idea. Are they built in South Africa?

Interesting conclusion.

I’ll bite.

Why choose South Africa as somewhere a poor car might be built?

I refuse to believe the car suddenly became sentient and wouldn’t let you turn off the music. This is a ‘Problem in chair, not in computer’ scenario if I’ve ever seen one.

Having driven a recent C class and E class I could well believe that the option to turn off the radio is hidden in the most obscure menu you can imagine

Just the blingy front grill makes me want to bite my arm off. And it’s just a small hatchback, nothing special. I suspect people buy it for the badge, much like Armani or other tat. At least the old A class was a clever design, tiny car with plenty room inside.

Just for balance, i had a renault until recently, i hated it, but the engine (1.5dci K9K) never gave me a moments concern.

I’ve got a 2011 C Class estate and it is superb. I’ve driven 147k from new and think it is the best car I have owned (including lots of other brands) Just saying.

The A Class has always had a bad reputation, the newest model not so much.

But it always feels like the Merc R&D lays with the punter.

option to turn off the radio is hidden in the most obscure menu you can imagine

You might be overthinking it. Its usually a button you press or a nob you turn. Send us a photo of the dash and I think we can help you out.

the radio kept turning on and playing awful music

I have this problem in my other half’s car.

ba-dum, tsch

the Merc R&D lays with the punter.

in a biblical sense?

I’ve had 2 attempts at buying a Mercedes in the past 4 years. 1st was a C Class estate and the second time a GLC. Both times I’ve been thwarted by Arnold Clark incompetence. What’s that thing about repeating the same actions and expecting a different outcome 🙁

I went to the Merc dealer the other day to entertain the kids for 30 mins whilst waiting for the Mrs who was nearby. Looking at the clientele sat in and around the chairs negotiating deals put me off buying one… 😮

something kept grabbing the offside front wheel with a scraping sound of plastic and causing the car to hesitate and swerve.

The wife’s Focus does this too if you don’t indicate pulling out or in, it’s a safety feature to stop you crossing lanes

Say what now?

If you don’t use the indicators it pulls at the offside wheel?

Sounds very safe… or not.

A lady I worked with had a new A Class and the gear stick literally came off in her hand as she was parking!

But does it still roll if you swerve to avoid a moose?

A lady I worked with had a new A Class and the gear stick literally came off in her hand as she was parking!

😂

So many jokes…

Say what now?

If you don’t use the indicators it pulls at the offside wheel?

Not exactly, but you could easily think that when driving

https://owner.ford.com/support/how-tos/safety/driver-assist-technology/driving/how-to-use-lane-keeping-system.html

Alert only mode – Provides a steering wheel vibration when the system detects an unintended lane departure into the zones highlighted in the diagram above.

I work as a mechanic for a merc dealer although my overalls describe my role differently.
The a class like the c class is built in South Africa using some of the poorest electronics I’ve ever seen.
Very little sees Germany other than the s class.
They also rust beyond belief but not as bad as the old 204 chassis eclass.

This wasn’t a light vibration, it was a nasty sound of grinding plastic, which I could feel dragging the car back. It also happened a few times on bumpy Highland single-track roads but I couldn’t see anything hanging down or find anything loose.

The Focus isn’t that light either, it freaked me out the first few times!

Can’t see a radio button.

Oh yes another thing…. the speedo was in KPH and we could not work out how to set it to MPH.

It sounds like you had a knackered hire car. I’ve never been a fan of Mercs but my wife has had a C class cab for the last year and it’s a really rather nice thing. Comfortable, rides well, quiet, well put together, and the infotainment really isn’t too bad at all. Certainly better than the woeful Sync2 which she had in her old Kuga (which, incidentally, was a generally rubbish car by comparison) one of her colleagues has an a class and she’s really rather taken with it.

I can’t talk for the A class, but the C certainly feels just as nice inside as any modern BMW or VAG group car I’ve been in.

I thought Merc got a bad reputation for the early 2000’s cars having taken a decision to penny pinch but after a huge fall in sales the current cars were meant to be much better?

Never driven one but sat in something like the CLC or GLA a few years back when looking to change and was completely turned off by the vulgar central console with the three huge vents that looked like it was made of the same plastic used for matchbox car chassis in the 80’s.

Is that the photo of the console in starbug 1 ? **** me cars are wild these days

Oh yes another thing…. the speedo was in KPH and we could not work out how to set it to MPH.

There isn’t one. When we go fully into Europe and adopt the Euro and KPH speed laws and kilometre’s there’ll be no need for the ancient “1/8th huskidumphs and 16/15ths of What?” that the UK seems backward in keeping.

Anyway, I’ve owned 2 A Class’s. I’ve posted on here the issues I had, you should go search for it, it’ll make reading James Joyce’s Ulysses practically Janet and John.

🤡

The A class has the new dash, but on my wife’s C class you could change the units pretty easily. However the digital readout between the dials always reads in kph. But that’s kind of inconsequential, because it’s tiny and next to the massive dial that doesn’t.

One looks at that photo and I immediately knew how to turn off the radio….

However, that could be because I drive a German barge and I admit that it is not the obvious if you don’t know……

PS – Were you given one or two car ‘keys’. If you were given two that could easily be the reasons for some of the other ‘unexpected’ issues with the radio……

refuse to believe the car suddenly became sentient and wouldn’t let you turn off the music. This is a ‘Problem in chair, not in computer’ scenario if I’ve ever seen one.

Smug snarkery aside, if someone makes a genuine effort to turn the radio off and can’t intuitively get there in the end, it suggests to me that the design of the interface is poor.

If you need the manual out to find the ‘off’ function it’s probably not a good sign.

Yes, I’d very much agree.
However, reading the original post, and the one-exclamation-mark-away-from-clickbait-full-house headline, I’d suggest that the OP had very much made up their mind they weren’t going to like the car, and had decided to come here to seek affirmation and internet high 5s.

Mate had one for around a year. He was never off phone to recovery services/Mercedes. He got rid

A classrs used to just fall over Didn’t they?

I’ve got a C class something or other, horrible vehicle, underpowered (ok that’s the choice of engine) electronic parking brake is very unintuitive, the parking sensor system is terrible, why do I want to look at a row of lights in the headlining when I’m reversing, every other car gives you beeps. Changing wiper blades or even working out how to open the bonnet with the manual wasn’t easy. Sat nav won’t stay muted. It’s just an unpleasant car, can’t wait for the lease to end. Much preferred my Audi A5 even if the build quality was rubbish.

bentandbroken

Member
One looks at that photo and I immediately knew how to turn off the radio….

Oohhh he’s going to keep everyone guessing…..