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
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.....
The previous rental drivers must've been potential Tory party leaders... class A users...
I'll get my coat...
I’ve not used an off button for a radio in a car for years. Just the up or down volume on the steering wheel and selecting the input.
Just for a bit of balance, I was driving a BMW 1 series convertible today. It rattled, squeaked and was quite a cheap interior for a ‘posh’ car.
I drove a Model 3 this week and the interior was like my 1999 Renault Megane, but without the quality.
The a class like the c class is built in South Africa using some of the poorest electronics I’ve ever seen.
That may account for the A-Class that came in several weeks ago, and ended up sat in our arrivals area until a bloke came with a small transporter to haul it away: the battery died, somewhat surprisingly, I think the day after it arrived, a jump pack was put on it and it started, but it was stuck in Park, and nothing we tried could get it to move.
Our tame tech bloke sat in it for quite a number of hours over a few days with his magic box plugged in, and a laptop trying to find some way to get the gearbox to function, but nothing worked.
I think it was sold as it was, just to get the bloody thing out of the way!
It seems astonishing that a flat battery can cause a car to disable itself to the point that it’s impossible to move it.
I'm way out of the loop with cars (my own is a twelve year old Alfa 159!) but that dashboard looks awfully chintzy. I suspect that the current generation of Mercs won't age well.
I'm also completely bewildered by the multitude of performance "editions", that mostly seem to be driven by complete throbbers.
Sat in an A35 AMG at the dealer the other week and it was okay. Had been driving round in a 2019 E220. Compared to my 2011 E I loved the 9" screen, smaller steering wheel and parking camera/sensors but the climate controls were too small and awkward.
Would like to have a go of the new A45 with it's 415hp 2 litre twin turbo but my heart is set on a 2018 E63s 4matic estate as my last ever IC engined car.
So how do you turn it off/down - i can see the volume control on the steering wheel but surely theres a need for the passenger to be able to control the audio as well (or do Merc assume any passenger is always on a meter?). How *do* you adjust volume or turn radio on/off if you’re not in the driving seat?
That Dash really is horribly bling - designed for Chinese market i guess. they’ve moved on from just the analogue clock....
I’ve always been impressed by the interior of Merc’s when ive ben in them but the general interior standard of the lower end manufacturers has com ea long way. Briefly sat in a Dacia Sandero with leather seats - it did a pretty good job of feeling high end
It's a touch screen. I suspect if you tap 'radio' you get all sorts of contextual controls, one of which is 'turn off'.
I've driven a few of them through Zipcar including brand new ones and agree with the OP to a large extent. With Zipcar you pay more per hour for a Mercedes A-class than a Golf and a Hyundai i30 which seems the wrong way round.
My list of crap things:
- The seating position is awful to get right.
- The dash layout is fine but not very intuitive.
- I HATE THE HANDBRAKE.
- It took me about 4 Youtube videos to find the bonnet lever inside.
- One I drove had a dodgy tyre pressure sensor which kept telling me my tyre was flat and sounding an audible warning.
- Reverse gear is awkward to get to.
- Not much space inside for it's size.
- Boot is small and awkwardly shaped.
- Very hard to get out of FM radio; no DAB.
- Kids didn't like the smell.
Other than that it drives pretty well.
Would. Not. Buy.
plyphon
Member
It’s a touch screen. I suspect if you tap ‘radio’ you get all sorts of contextual controls, one of which is ‘turn off’.
You would think wouldn't you. Prior Mercedes experience tells me it's unlikely to be that simple
Would like to have a go of the new A45 with it’s 415hp 2 litre twin turbo
If you can get it started 🤯
My mate has one, it’s failed 4 times in n the recent rain to start. The drivers and passenger foot wells have filled with water and the boot lock mechanism has failed leaving the boot opening whilst driving.
He’s been back to Merc (P’mth) and they’ve refused to take it back but “fix” the issues.
Its 3mths old.
I had a GLC rental a few weeks back, and as others have said the engine (diesel 2.2) and gearbox were surprisingly good (i have a 520d), however the consol layout was/is horrendously complicated, it also bugged my colleague and i that the windsreen was weirdly small for the size of the car.
Anyway the radio is selected either by a small button next to the weird aircon button, but the volume has to be done on the steering wheel , but the buttons next to the volume only do what's in the drivers consol, unless you use the other side of the buttons and they can change some bits on the centre consol. Then try and engage the cruise control and wonder why the car slows down - ah yes, the same stalk for speed limiter which depending on how hard you pull it says if its cruising or limiting. And then you can wonder why people are getting pissed with you when you try to clean the windscreen with the stalk that's clearly got windscreen controls on it- it's because you a re flashing them, do where's the the screen wash - oh year it's a friggin button
stupid stupid stupid UI...
did i say engine and gearbox were ok though?
The C has a volume control on the centre console as well, does the A not have this?
The three stalks on the left, gear on the right is bloody stupid. I always seem to end up flashing lights at people when trying to remember how to wash the windscreen.
I had a GLA for 12 months last year and thought it was reasonably well built but by god it was noisy inside, felt like a citroen AX inside.
in the last month my missus has just bought a new E Class Cabriolet with the Premium Plus pack which has the full LCD display like the new A Class and it's got to be one of the best systems i've seen. It's got so many features and useful stuff it beggars belief, not to mention 360 degree camera which triggers when you get near a kerb so you can see your wheels and don't dent them.
I've just taken delivery of a new Audi A4 Black Edition which feels quite old in comparison, dials and buttons control a really clunky system that is constantly asking you to OK stuff, can't handle two phones at once cos I didn't specify the £2k tech pack, feels ancient in comparison.
The new A class just doesn't even look like a Merc now, they've gone into Blandville big time...
Mick, did you get your cars from Ling?
Two Merc’s here. An e class (2018) and a SLC 2016. Both have been trouble free and seem very well built although hard to compare to a A class since it’s a while since I’ve driven one. Our mercs have volume controls on the steering wheel and big volume control on dash (SLC) or on centre console (E class).
I would say that it’s not uncommon to take 2hrs for a new car hand over where all the cars systems are explained. Hence walking out to a hire car can be quite an experience if it’s not a model / manufacturer that you have previous experience of.
I had a new E220D from Hertz while my Volvo V70 was in for crash repair.
Good - power from a 2 litre diesel, handling relative to my Volvo, build quality seemed good but some cheap plastics evident. Eight speed auto was good.
Poor - Interface bad, in two weeks couldn't use the sound system properly, but did find my way into sub menus to put most other things right. For example, to turn off the utterly pointless interior ambient lighting. Seats were not comfortable.
On balance, I was happy to get my Volvo back, which is less than I would have expected from a Mercedes.
I would say that it’s not uncommon to take 2hrs for a new car hand over where all the cars systems are explained. Hence walking out to a hire car can be quite an experience if it’s not a model / manufacturer that you have previous experience of.
Welcome to what I’ve been doing for the last three years - I’m expected to get into whatever turns up and drive it, and some cars have mods for disabled drivers, which can be challenging! For two years I would be dropped off, be shown a car, inspect it, then drive it away, with at most thirty minutes to do a condition check and make sure it worked, then drive a couple of hundred miles back from Corn, or back through London. I could be picking up a 3.5 ton commercial, an ambulance, a Maserati Ghibli, a Smart fourtwo, Audi Q7..., usually two or three different cars a day.
I had nobody to show me where anything was, just had to sus it out on the hoof, which can be a bit of a challenge at times, although I’ve had to go back into a dealership a couple of times to ask how the hell you get pertinent info up on a Honda Civic, or just how you open the rear hatch on a Ford Ecosport, neither of which are particularly intuitive.
Now I’m moving twenty to thirty or more cars a day, of all different makes and models, and I’m still getting caught out by silly little things; Ford not being consistent in how they have the wiper controls being one - the right hand stalk can either operate the front or rear wiper, with the end switch doing the opposite, and it’s never clear which one it’ll be. Why the hell they can’t have it the same across the entire range is beyond me. Always interesting, especially when something new turns up, like a Golf R, or the Alfa Stelvio. Abart 595’s are a lot of fun, when one turns up. 😁
Oh for the simplicity of my old Landy, which had standard BL dashboard and controls and the ventilation was done by opening the flaps.
The dashboard of my car:
Everything is extremely easy to work. I like old cars. This has the best interior light and vent controls I have ever come across.
Not one to be rude, but that looks like a right old mess and so outdated.
Funny how we get so used to seeing new designs..
Bring back 80’s dashboards !!
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Yeah, that Saab looks horrible. I count 54 separate buttons, not including the indicator stalks and anything extra on them.
In contrast to the OP, I hired a BMW X5 from thrifty recently, which I appreciate is a completely different class to an A-class. Was expecting a 25d SE but was pleasantly surprised to be given the keys to an M-Sport 40d. As a tool for covering 1000 miles quickly and comfortably I couldn't fault it. I wouldn't want to own it and have to pay for things like the £400 rear tyres though!
How intuitive were the controls of the BMW?
globalti
Member
How intuitive were the controls of the BMW?
my experience is iDrive is brilliantly intuitive, but then i've been in a 5 series in one style or other for 8 years. Dash layout is simple, with the need to know buttons and stalks in all of the right places and not too many of them. My only gripe is the fog switches are too close to the steering column so you can't easily see them..
All those buttons and lights remind me of the Audi A5 I had as a hire car recently. I thought technology had made all that shit unnecessary.
I would say that it’s not uncommon to take 2hrs for a new car hand over where all the cars systems are explained. Hence walking out to a hire car can be quite an experience if it’s not a model / manufacturer that you have previous experience of.
I would say it's a major issue if a car's controls are that unintuitive. You might get that as the first owner from a main dealer, but do second drivers? do second or third owners?
There used to be a common 'physical' language for car controls, that had developed over decades and was pretty much common across all. That' Saab is basically the same as our VW Caddy. I can scan it and see how everything is going to work immediately. I could probably operate it in the dark by touch/feel immediately.
The MIB navigation thing in our new VW isn't a bad compromise - it's still got a physical volume control, but it lacks a physical play/pause button or mute, so what I used to be able to do without taking my eyes off the road is now distracting.
All this 'innovation' in interfaces is not good for road safety.
The thing about that SAAB dashboard/control buttons setup is that it is extremely intuitive. It all just works, and I can do anything I want without thinking about it - even first time, while driving.
Not one to be rude, but that looks like a right old mess and so outdated.
Funny how we get so used to seeing new designs..
It might be outdated but only in a good way , having to go operate any menu/touch screen system whilst driving is distracting - similar to texting on a mobile phone.
Note there are actually very few "options" on that Saab - each button does only one thing and though its a high button count a great deal of it is audio related.
We are getting there with some interfaces - the right mixture of buttons for functions needed whilst driving and menu based for , there have been some horrors on the way , and they continue sadly.
The motor industry is going to fall off a cliff. It's already teetering on the brink with over-capacity and car showrooms are jam-packed with unsold cars while the roads are packed to capacity. I'd have thought it would pay every manufacturer to develop a compact, cheap, simple vehicle that could easily be upgraded to autonomous when that comes - smart motorways will be the first autonomous roads and platooning is already possible with existing radar-controlled cars.
I wouldn't be surprised in VW's Up! is already halfway there.
How intuitive were the controls of the BMW?
Really good. I'd not spent any real time in another 'modern' car (mine is a 2005 Focus, the Mrs has a Fiat 500) and it took me no time at all to figure out how to connect my phone to the bluetooth to stream music, set the wipers to auto, turn on the cruise control, set the climate control, open the sunroof etc.
Bring back 80’s dashboards !!
