Disillusioned 1998 A160 Elegance owner :(
 

Hi folks!

Just a quick hello as my dad and I are new to this forum. I have had to register on his behalf as he's not too into the technical stuff about joining forums so I have put my hand up to do it.

We have a 1998 A160 Elegance and bought it in 2004 for £6000 privately. It has done 80,000 miles... HOWEVERRRRRRRRRRrrrrr, we have had 'some' problems:

- Cable operated linkage (just a single spring) in the top of the gearbox meachanism resulting in inability to change gear~ Cost of repair in 2005 = £1500!!!!

- Air flow meter, part of the ECU ~ Cost of repair in 2007 = £600

- Clutch replacement ~ Cost of replacement this Christmas = £800

- Hydraulic pump to operate the clutch master cylinder ~ Cost of replacement = £700

- Light cluster on dash completely failed and not working ~ not been repaired

- Front left electric window not working ~ not been repaired

Basically we're just interested to find out if anyone else has had these peoblems, are they inherent to this A-Class, is it a good idea to cut our losses and go Japanese, what is the sale value for an average car of this age etc. It would be quite interesting to find out people's ideas on this as I'm sure we're not alone.

On the plus side of our A-Class is that it has a full light blue/grey leather interior that we have not seen anywhere else.

Anyway, we await your replies :)

Me.

ps, no photos yet I'm afraid, but I'll take some in the next few days when it arrives back from the garage, groan...

A Class dashboard failure
 

Hi,

Sorry to hear about your troubles.
I own a 1998 A160 from new and it is only starting to give trouble now with it's auto-clutch actuator. In my search for a solution I have discovered that the failure of the dashboard is common although mine has not failed.
If you live in Europe you can get your dashboard re-built through bba-reman http://www.bba-reman.com
With your window, if you mean that it has failed completely then that's another thing, however I have found that the one touch has gone out but returns soon after if you keep winding it up and down so it can re-detect the end stops. If it has failed completely I would check the switch first.
Good luck

Same year, model and mileage except mines an avant garde, and its my drivers window that's gone and rear passenger, also speed sensor on frnt o/s, sensor on brake, misfire through coil and rust, which I cant shake. On the upside its a lovely little car to drive (forward), and I put the faults in mine at least to neglect of previous owners, I think they used to use it for scrambling. So all in all I'm going to persevere. Good luck.

Can I ask, are those Mercedes Dealer prices for repairs, or independents?