Should You Buy A Mercedes A-Class? (Test Drive & Review W177)

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Today, I’m in this 2020 Mercedes A-Class, and today I’m going to try and answer the question ‘Should you buy it?’ … Let’s see what it’s like…

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[Music] all right guys how’s it going welcome back well today I’m in this 2020 Mercedes a class and as always I’m going to try and work out whether or not you should buy one let’s get started the last few Mercedes a classes I’ve filmed with have landed me in hot water I once said of the first model it was only bought by high synth bouquet types who simply wanted a Mercedes on the drive that didn’t go down too well then later I remember saying that the second generation was only bought by Lady Golf Club captains with bad hips that didn’t go down well either then there was the third generation that newer shape which came out in 2012 I recall saying that it was only bought by pts and muas and those young chaps who spend too much time Garden in their attic and that comment definitely didn’t go down well but today with this fourth generation I shall try and be a little bit more PC this model then is the fourth generation it’s known as a w177 model and it was released in 2018 and you can still buy one today it’s still the current Mercedes a class model it’s available as a fiveo hatchback like this one or as a saloon interestingly this was the first Mercedes AC class ever sold in North America although it was only sold as a saloon there not this hatch firstly then let’s talk about the styling now I think it’s a case of evolution not Revolution all they’ve done really is continue the theme from the third generation but they have improved it everything’s a little bit sharper and Tighter it features Mercedes new predator face which I think looks cool in fact the whole car in in general looks cool I should apologize in advance for the overuse of the word cool because it’s a word that I’m going to use a lot in this review it’s a cool car this it’s stylish and modern it’s just a neat design overall I think it’s very much suited to City types I particularly like the rear lights they’re much sleeker than the previous model I thought they were too chunky and clumsy on that third generation but on this they do look a whole lot better in 2023 they facelifted this fourth generation again just made some subtle changes if you up for an AMG line model like this the car just looks a whole lot sportier you get nicer diamond cut Wheels you get little sporty details such as the rear spoiler in a contrasting color and those fins on the reare bumper the whole thing just looks more youthful in my opinion it’s worth paying the premium for the AMG line model it just gives a car more presence moving inside then I suppose the best word to describe this car would be you know what’s coming don’t you and I did warn you it’s cool it’s a cool interior this it’s nice and modern it’s quite minimalistic I love the dash design it’s much cleaner than the previous model I also like how the air vents are smaller on this model everything’s just neater and tidier we’ve also got loads of safety features to stop you from having a crash you get two screens here so basically that’s the infotainment sensor there and this is your gauge cluster now this one’s got the larger screen which is an optional extra many just have a smaller screen which looks a bit a bit na not only does the bigger screen look better but it’s also easier to use and you can control it two ways it’s touchcreen or if you don’t want to deal with fingerprints all the screen you can control it with this little touch pad down here in typical Mercedes fashion I like how they put the volume control down here which is nice and easy to operate you’ve also got a little pad here to rest your hand it’s quite intuitive it is quite easy to use or like I say if you’re not bothered about fingerprints you can just tap away Best of Both Worlds you might be wondering what that little beep is constantly it’s a speed limit warning you can turn that off so don’t panic but well I’m taking it as a bit of a a pat on the back really every time I go over the speed limit you a little beep I think the quality of the display is excellent I love this gauge cluster here because you can change that you get four different settings so you can sort of customize it and I quite like that the quality of the rear camera is very good everything’s just really crisp and sharp I’m quite impressed you get a nice Center armrest here with plenty of storage you get two cup holders up front and some more storage here for your keys or your wallet or your phone you get a decent Siz glove box and decent sized door bins it’s all very practical and very easy to live with by the way if you’re thinking about buying a used Mercedes a class before you do you need to do a thorough vehicle history check now I always use and recommend a company called carvertical they’re really easy to use all you do is go to car vertical. comom type in the reg or the VIN number and way you go it isn’t that expensive and it’s a really thorough check so it checks database in 35 different countries it isn’t just a UK thing and it checks hundreds of millions of cars if you’d like to do one of these checks for yourself and I urge you to do so before you hand over any cash for a used car or motorbike you can save yourself 20% off each and every check that you do if you use my promo code high peak that’s high peak all one word or alternatively click the link below in the video description it’ll just prevent you buying a complete lemon so it’ll tell you whether the vehicle has been stolen written off had a mileage roll back or has outstanding Finance on it the good thing with the a class is that it comes with a decent level of Kit as standard let me show you this feature actually so if you’re stationary in drive if you just press the brake pedal a little bit firmly then it goes into hold and then you can take your foot off the brake and it will just hold you there I think it’s a really handy feature that I know VW and Audi’s have it but that’s a separate button here I quite like the fact that it’s just on the brake pedal and then to release it all you need to do is take all the gas and you’re away as standard though with this car you get things like cruise control and a keyless ignition I also love the design of the steering wheel now I remember a few years ago I did a review with a same sort of era as their C-Class Coupe and I was pulling my hair out because I just couldn’t get to grips with this whole touchcreen pad thing on the steering wheel but the thing you got to remember is the left hand side of the steering wheel controls the infotainment screen and the right hand side here controls the gauge cluster and really as long as you remember that you can’t go wrong and it is quite easy to use so I apologize for that review a few years ago I think it was an operator error I’m a bit of a technophobe AR once you get used to it it is quite straightforward and it is quick to respond one other thing to mention is the seats are quite sporty they’re quite quite buckety and they’re actually quite comfortable even though they don’t look it they’re a little bit on the firm side but they are quite supportive another thing to mention is the sound system I think it sounds quite good this which is handy because you’ll need to drown out all the creeks and rattles from this interior and that really is my biggest issue with this car as I’ve been driving along in silence during this video you can hear loads of creeks and rattles the whole interior looks really good it looks really cool but as you start to poke and prod around it does feel a little bit little bit cheap and flimsy this climate control panel for example makes a little Annoying rattle it’s almost like it needs tighten up and yes all right the a class is the entry-level Mercedes but still it’s a Mercedes and I just think these creeks and rattles are completely unacceptable it was much the same story in my MGT to be fair the screen here would rattle so I’d have to sort of pack something behind it a playing card or something you really shouldn’t have to should you and not only that it makes you worry that if there was some annoying creeks and rattles with the interior where else have they cut corners and cut costs still when you drown it out with a bit of Stevie Wonder it isn’t the end of the world in terms of interior space then it’s actually quite good quite surprised by it there’s plenty of room up front plenty of head room plenty of leg room plenty of Elbow Room and there’s enough space for two adults to sit comfortably in the back as well I think overall although the bmw1 series feels more solid and well built this does feel roomier visibility up front’s very good the a pillars are nice and thin you get decent sized door mirrors that’s all pretty good but looking behind you the passenger your seat does obstruct your view a little bit as does the rear pillar and the rear window is quite shallow so it’s not great so you will be reliant on your reverse camera moving back further still to the boots then it offers a surprising amount of space 370 L to be precise and the seats fall flat as well and a 60/40 setup so you can carry quite a decent amount of stuff in this anyway enough talk about the interior let’s take a look under the Bonnet this particular model is the A180 CDI and the engine well it’s not German at all it’s a bit of a fraud it’s actually French or French Japanese It’s A Renault Nissan engine it’s the exact same 1.5 DCI engine that you’d find in a cashy or a Juke or a Rena Cleo now all right that doesn’t sound great cuz I have had my issues with these engines with the injectors and the turbos and the dpfs and the EGR and all that sorts of stuff but to be fair that’s true of any modern diesel engine on the bright side though thinking pragmatically they are a mass-produced engine so parts are readily available for example if the turbo blows which can happen Mercedes will want 2 and half grand for a new one but you don’t need to go to Mercedes you can get an aftermarket one for about 350 so I wouldn’t be too put off by the fact this is a Renault engine they’re not a bad engine to be honest and I mean look at the Alternatives you got an Audi A3 with a 1.6 TDI that’s no better is it or a BMW 118 with a 2 L turbo diesel they’re not great either so the fact that this Mercedes uses a Renault engine isn’t as bad as you might think what’s impressed me actually with this car is the amount of sound ending they must have used cuz you can’t really tell that you’re in a diesel all right there’s still a little audible noise there you can tell that you’re not in a little petrol but it doesn’t sound like I’m driving a A Renault Kango van so I think Mercedes deserves some credit for that it is quite refined in here apart from the rattles obviously in terms of performance this little diesel produces 115 brake horsepower which again isn’t going to win any awards but it’s not bad either it never feels quick don’t get me wrong but it feels nippier than you’d expect and I think that’s down to its gearbox now you could buy this with a manual which I would advise against to be honest or an automatic now the automatic is a seven-speed dual clutch gearbox and it’s pretty good the way they’ve set it up it just feels very eager it feels very responsive it never feels like you’re in a lethargic sluggish diesel it feels quite pey it creeps nicely around town when you’re in traffic and when you want to get a move on the gear changes are instant so it’s not a bad gearbox really but you do need to service them every 40,000 Mi the official not to 60 time in this is 10 seconds which sounds terrible doesn’t it but it feels a bit quicker than that and it’s top speed in case you’re wondering in case you sat at home playing a game of top trumps is 126 mph so it’s just one of those cars that’s perfectly adequate I think the biggest selling point of this diesel engine though is the fuel economy so in terms of miles per gallon this will do high 30s around town and high 50s on a run the road tax is cheap too so it just makes this car a very cheap car to keep on the road if you don’t F to the diesel which is understandable there’s another Renault engine on offer and that comes in the form of a 1.3 l turbocharged 4- cylinder before you turn your nose up that’s not a bad option either I should point out that it’s front-wheel drive this car so it isn’t a classic driver’s car but with 115 brake horsepower diesel engine doesn’t really matter in the real world it feels perfectly sporty enough you sit down nice and low there’s no body roll and it just looks and feels sporty the steering’s nicely weighted you get these paddles behind the steering wheel as well so you can hustle this thing along I think it handles nicely I mean for a car this type anyway Once Upon a Time the BMW 1 series was rear wheeel drive so that always set the Benchmark in terms of you know a driver’s car in this category of car but that’s no longer the case they’re all front-wheel drive now so doesn’t really make any difference all the cars in this class are very similar one more thing to mention though if you considering buying one the ride is a little bit on the firm side it’s a little bit crashy that’s probably down to the bigger Wheels you get on the AMG line but you do feel all the bumps on the bright side though there’s not an awful lot of road noise it’s it’s all right something else that’s clever is that it comes with a load of technology to keep you and your passengers safe so for example you’ve got Lane keep assist emergency brakin adaptive cruise control youve got the speed one in here as soon as you exceed the speed limit so they’ve crammed an awful lot into quite a small package on top of that it scored top marks at Euro endcap so far I think I honestly prefer this over the bmw1 series it’s just a bit more me it just seems to have a lot more on offer I mean the Audi A3 would be another good option but the Interiors are a little bit Bland aren’t they bit clinical so things to look out for then if you’re up for this 1.5 L diesel then they have a timing belt which needs to be replaced and when you’re changing the belt you need to replace the water pump as well now if you go to a local mechanic a Backstreet garage that’s going to cost you around £450 imagine if you take it to Mercedes it’ be quite a lot more than that if you opt for the automatic which I’d recommend the gearbox needs service in every 40,000 Mi now that’s going to cost you £360 a Mercedes or if you go to a specialist garage probably £1 less than that but it does need doing don’t leave it till it gets to 60 or 880,000 Mi because you be in for an ey watering Bill used prices here in the UK starts at around £ 12,000 but that’s only going to get you a sport model with higher mileage for an AMG line executive model like this with 40,000 Mi on the clock expect to spend between 17 and 18 overall then I think it’s a pretty good pretty sensible car for somebody who wants something stylish and nice but doesn’t want to pay through the nose for it it makes sense if you want something quicker then they also do an A3 5 AMG or an A45 AMG but I’ll cover those in a separate review the A45 AMG in particular is perfect If you’re sort of halfway up the ladder on a county Lin’s drug operation done it again hav I’ve offended somebody probably right thank you once again for watching make sure you give the video a thumbs up if you enjoyed it make sure you subscribe if you haven’t done already you can follow me on Facebook Instagram Twitter I’ll leave the link below and yeah cheers guys see you next time [Music]