Mercedes A-Class review - Reliability and Safety
Mercedes has below average brand satisfaction ratings, but servicing and warranty deals are competitive
All versions of the A-Class come loaded with safety kit: an active bonnet, forward collision warning, autonomous emergency braking, auto headlights, and a glut of airbags are standard throughout the range. Also included is ‘Mercedes me connect’; an in-built system which not only keeps the driver within easy contact of approved breakdown services, but is also able to contact the emergency services in the event of a serious accident.
Its overall safety rating for the Mercedes A-Class is yet to be assessed by Euro NCAP, but the old A-Class scored very highly. It’s safe to say that the new model – more tech-laden than ever – will do even better.
It’s too early to say how the A-Class fares in the reliability stakes, but Mercedes finished a disappointing 26th out of 30 manufacturers in the 2019 Driver Power satisfaction survey. Audi finished ten places higher in 16th and BMW were one ahead in 25th.
The previous generation model finished in the bottom half of the overall rankings. The 56th place finish was enough to put it six places higher than the BMW 1 Series, but the Audi A3 managed a more respectable 46th place.
Warranty
As with other models in the Mercedes range, the A-Class comes with a three-year, unlimited mileage warranty. That’s a match for BMW’s standard warranty, and better than Audi’s which is capped at 60,000 miles over the three year period. Mercedes also provides 30 years’ corrosion protection from the inside out, and 30 years of breakdown cover.
Servicing
The standard service interval for the Mercedes A-Class is set to once a year or every 15,500 miles – whichever comes first. Various service plans allow buyers to spread the cost of maintenance over monthly payments. A typical plan costs 28 per month, granting the owner one annual service over either two, three or four years.
