I want an A-class

[banterer]

I had been told by MB salesmen that MB was going to be bringing in the A class into this country a couple of years back. Then at the last moment, they decided against it.

I am tired of waiting, all they keep on doing is introducing cars with larger and larger engines.

Does anyone have any first hand experience on importing a car from Mexico into SoCal?

I want to know all the ins and outs before spending 20k and finding out that I need to spend another 10k, 4 months and have no warranty coverage.

Thanks,
Jorge

[shrimpton]

Why you would be interested in a Merc. - (especially a Merc. -)! that has no local dealer/parts support?. A models are all over the place where I live (New Zealand) but I think MBUSA have made a good decision not to go with them, for IMHO, they are drop dead ugly. Do you have a particular reason for wanting this model?

[chazola]

I drove one of these recently and it was definately nothing special. You'd be better off with a toyota, or better still, a real Merc

[pentoman]

There's a lot of A-class hating from the US on this site

But in Europe we are used to Mercedes badged trucks, buses, taxis and 2.0 manual E200's with winding windows so there's nothing wrong with an A-class.

It's a very safe, practical car with removable rear seats and all that sort of thing. The new one is apparently much better built and drives (and in particular rides) much better than the original. So you buy it for all that, not because it's some sort of Ford Escort-alike economy el-cheapo mobile. Over here where space is limited it's a good car also giving you the higher driving position of an SUV, but I can see how in spacious America, if you want practicality and space you simply buy a Crown Victoria, E-class wagon or M-class.


The original A-class suffered from the '90s poor quality and didn't ride or drive very well, though. And the engine's 'under' the front so it's not easy to work on.

good luck

Russell

[banterer]

I want one because I want more room than a car, good mileage and the quality of a Merc.

I don't need or want an SUV because I [just like 95% of their current owners] would not be using it off road nor hauling a boat up a vertical hill. Therefore, why should I pay for the horrible gas mileage you would have to suffer due to the ridiculously low gear ratios they use?

Bottom line is that I want a high quality, high mpg vehicle that has roominess. I also think they're cute. I would buy an electric RAV4 but since the gov. here has sort of dropped that initiative both Ford and Toyota discontinued the production of their electric vehicles.

BTW, I do own a real one I have a CLK320 and an LS430 UL.