Too bad there won’t be a successor
The current Mercedes A-class has been on the market for more than four years now. AutoWeek did an endurance test in the first year with an A180 and an A200, the German colleagues from AutoBild picked up an A220 d a year later, a diesel. And with that, they drove on for a little while longer. It has now been completely disassembled at 100,000 kilometers in order to be able to judge the quality in the longer term.
This was noticed after taking the A220d apart:
Exhaust gas cleaning system
The exhaust gas cleaning system still works perfectly even after the endurance test. However, the heat shields already show cracks that are fairly advanced. However, we did not observe any clattering noises.
chairs
There is hardly any wear on the seats; the upholstery and the cushions still make a good impression. However, the wiring harness in the driver’s seat needed to be replaced.
Gear box
The gearbox shifts shock-free until the last moment and usually without any quirks. After the marathon there are hardly any signs of wear visible. The gears, bearings and clutches are all still in neat condition.
Air conditioning
Up to the moment of disassembly, the air conditioning has done an excellent job. However, almost 200 grams of refrigerant had leaked out. This was the result of a porous connection in a pipe.
shafts
At the axles, all wishbones, bearings and bushings are still in perfect condition. After disassembly, we observe surface corrosion on the rear axle carrier.
Engine block
The engine block is made of aluminum, the cylinders have a Nanoslide layer and – just like the entire underside of the car – do not show any special features.
The block of the Mercedes-Benz A-class is checked for wear.
This is what the AutoBild editors think of the A220d
An eventful life is apparently the standard with the A-class. This applies to the entire model series, which started in 1997 as a high-legged compact MPV-like and immediately fell during the moose test as a result of balance problems. The A is now a lot lower and more modern, making the model a success for Mercedes-Benz. Nevertheless, the model series will stop when the current W177 comes out in 2025. That is a shame, AutoBild can conclude after the 102,507 endurance test kilometers they have covered with their Jupiter-red A220 d.
AutoBild’s Mercedes-Benz A-class visiting the Netherlands.
But back to the beginning. After the first ride with the new addition in October 2019, a colleague remarked: “Forget the VW Golf GTD, the 220 d is better.” In the following two and a half years hardly anyone contradicts this. With impressive ease, the two-liter shakes 190 hp and 400 Nm of torque from its four cylinders, accelerating the smallest model of the brand to 100 km/h in about seven seconds. Also on the autobahn he is not inferior to his big brothers, because speeds above 200 km/h are no challenge for him.
Nice and economical
Despite all these dynamics, the A-class with self-igniter is not a booze barge. On the contrary, over the total distance, the 220 d, even though they often drove at high speed on the highway and regularly had to drive a lot to arrive on time for appointments, noted a consumption of 6.3 liters per 100 km, or 1 at 15.9 (a value that is achievable with an A200 petrol in the Netherlands, AW). He often stayed discreetly in the background, also thanks to the eight-speed automatic transmission with double clutch. During the few relaxed rides in between, consumption sometimes fluctuated around 1 in 20, which should allow a range of more than a thousand kilometers to be achieved without any problems. The German also did not take a lot of AdBlue. Consumption was just over a liter per 100 km, so they didn’t have to top up the generously sized AdBlue tank (23.8 litres) too often. The prices of the stuff varied widely, from €1 to €5 per litre.
Opinions were unequivocal about the travel qualities and comfort of the Benz: a ten with a pencil. Agree, the A-class is not a space miracle, but not too large families can handle it just fine. Some editors even felt that the pleasantly firm cushions of the furniture and the delicately responsive chassis approached the level of the C-Class. That’s quite a claim, but the fact is that long journeys are not a punishment in this car. The ‘neat finish with some glitter and glamour’, as we read in the logbook, lends a hand, as does the ‘effective LED lighting’.
Close to the ground
Yes, many people could get used to the A. “What a wonderful car. Compact, handy and well-arranged”, says a female colleague. She thinks it is not only a wonderful travel car, but also a sporty city flash. In an urban environment it is noticeable that the A is somewhat low to the ground. Literally, because because the car only has a limited ground clearance, it can sometimes come into contact with the ground at exits from parking garages and at serious thresholds. For that reason, the AutoBild team has taken it very easy in such situations since the first unwanted encounter with the asphalt. Then there remains the problem that you have to drop down quite a bit to end up in the A-class, which is not a party for tall people with a weaker back.
Sometimes there is another problem, as the colleagues at AutoBild conclude from the log. “At some high curbs, co-drivers have trouble opening the door, I’ve never experienced that before,” comments a colleague. On the other hand, there is much praise for the MBUX infotainment system. It has an understandable voice assistance, sharp displays and a well-functioning navigation system. You can safely rely on the A-class multimedia services. The fact that Apple CarPlay still works with a cable and that the touchpad keeps causing error messages is annoying, but they can live with that. For more annoyance are the assistance systems, which several times go overboard in caution. Old road markings and pedestrians cornering (but on the sidewalk) were sometimes reason enough for the electronic guardian angels to intervene. That could be better.
Recognizable use of an endurance tester, also at AutoWeek they often drive with a photographer or cameraman in the luggage compartment to photograph or film cars while driving.
Yet at AutoBild they have only one wish after completing the endurance test: can’t he stay? Unfortunately. Like every car that takes part in the 100,000 km endurance test, they have also completely disassembled the Mercedes in collaboration with the experts at Dekra. It is immediately noticeable that the interior still looks quite fresh; there are few signs of wear. However, chafing spots on the mat on the driver’s side and light folds in the upholstery of the front seats are noticeable, but otherwise the compact Mercedes is still top fit.
That image is preserved during the rest of the disassembly process. They see a light chafing spot on a mudguard, a small rust spot on the underside and a leak in an air conditioning pipe, from which about 170 grams of refrigerant leaked during the endurance test. So this Mercedes was not flawless, but it is all not serious. They are more the witnesses of an eventful car life.
AutoWeek experiences with the A180 and A200
Things like little ground clearance and meddling assistance systems also struck us in the endurance test with the Mercedes A180 and A200. In addition, the petrol versions also performed exemplary, especially the low consumption made an impression. You can see the retrospective in this video.
Only a generation before? Recently we published this buying guide of the older generation Mercedes A-class.
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– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl