My wife is running a May 2000 A140 Auto Avantgarde which we bought new here in Ireland. We are fast learning to hate this car due to build quality problems. Steering, front suspension, gearbox, fuel tank: the list goes on. Anyone out there care to swap notes??

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'66 W100 600 SWB
'05 W463 G55K AMG
'91 W126 500SEL
'93 W463 300GDL
'84 W460 280GES
'83 W460 300GDL
'66 W111 220SEb Coupe
'58 W121 190
'58 W180 220S
Have previously owned '99 SL600, '99 ML320, '79 450SLC, '79 450SEL 6.9 x 2, '68 600, '91 190E 1.8, '90 190E 2.0, '85 190, '90 500SL, '92 500SEL, '97 E300Turbodiesel, '91 300D, '72 280S, '82 300D, '81 300SD, '85 230E, '56 220a and I'm sure I'm forgetting some.

Took the car for an expensive engineers survey today with the AA (equivalent of US AAA). I will have the written report tommorow but verbally the engineer confirmed that there are many problems. I reckon that the steering problems could be specific to Right Hand Drive versions, judging by the very unusual layout pointed out to me today. Anyone in the RHD world care to comment?

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'66 W100 600 SWB
'05 W463 G55K AMG
'91 W126 500SEL
'93 W463 300GDL
'84 W460 280GES
'83 W460 300GDL
'66 W111 220SEb Coupe
'58 W121 190
'58 W180 220S
Have previously owned '99 SL600, '99 ML320, '79 450SLC, '79 450SEL 6.9 x 2, '68 600, '91 190E 1.8, '90 190E 2.0, '85 190, '90 500SL, '92 500SEL, '97 E300Turbodiesel, '91 300D, '72 280S, '82 300D, '81 300SD, '85 230E, '56 220a and I'm sure I'm forgetting some.

If anyone is interested, I forwarded my engineers report to the supplying dealer, who pointed out that the car was outside warranty. So I sent the report to the distributor and hey presto. Courtesy car for a week. They are going to replace the entire gearbox (cheaper in man-hours than replacing "the two offending computers"), they will replace the steering box and power steering pump, service the car, valet it, for nothing. It's going in next week, and going for sale the week after that....

Wow....does the UK have anything like the U.S. lemon law?

I think this car would qualify as a lemon, and be eligible for buyback.

-Sam

Eddie,

I'm not sure if you know, but the A Class is not available in the US. That is not to imply that we think that the only members of Mercedesshop are in the US. We have enjoyed the membership and comments from a number of people from the UK. Also, as Benz enthusiasts we enjoy the discussion regarding the Benz models that we cannot get in the US.

I have rented an A Class in Europe a couple of times and find it a delightful car to drive. Also, being a carnut, I have found a few fellow car nuts among the people I work with in Europe. All the opinions and comments I've heard from them regarding the A Class is that it is a good car. They also told me about the debacle surrounding the rollover test in Sweden. So, I am surprised and disappointed to hear about all your trouble with the car.

Thank you for sharing your reports and findings, it is very interesting reading. Keep them coming, there may be something we can help you with.

Best of luck,

Re. A class RHD steering. The British A class is based on the European left hand drive model. Instead of a new steering rack, the rack is the LHD one with a bizarre steering column reaching across the car to the opposite side. Hence dodgy and numb handling and odd steering faults.

Hope this helps.