I owned several original A Class, and part of the problem is parts prices. The cost of replacement bits for a largely worthless banger appear to remain astronomical if said banger is a Mercedes, with the result that it often just isn't worth any attempt to keep the thing on the road. Add to that of course the fact that the A Class in particular was designed never to be fettled by the hand of anybody but your friendly local Merc dealer, which means that some garages won't touch the things as repairs can be enormously time consuming and a massive ballache (engine upside down etc). Plus, as SLO76 says, nil rustproofing and inevitably rotten arches etc.

A shame really, the A Class was a superb concept, just executed clumsily and by the wrong manufacturer (it would have sat so much better in a VW catalogue!).

Edited by 520i on 04/03/2018 at 22:25