Used car buying guide: Mercedes-Benz A-Class (W168)

A facelift in 2001 brought restyled bumpers and a 94bhp 1.7-litre diesel engine. Also at this time, a long-wheelbase version arrived. A year later, the A210 Evolution landed with a 138bhp 2.1-litre petrol engine. (This is rare today, although we did find a 95,000-miler that sold recently for £1500.) At the same time, Classic SE trim joined the range, adding air-con – a feature that Avantgarde trim now also enjoyed at the expense of that sliding roof.

From the off, every trim got electric windows, while Elegance added alloy wheels and Avantgarde leather seats. Of course, all this detail is useless if the A-Class you’re looking at is a bag of nails – which, to be frank, it most likely is. London-based A-Class specialist Nersess Der Nersessian says that it was never the car’s fault, rather technicians without the training or the tools to maintain an A-Class properly. “The first thing you should do when considering buying an A-Class is to find a good mechanic who understands them,” he says. We’ll second that.

An expert’s view - Nersess Der Nersessian, Forrera: “When the A-Class first came out, everybody wanted one, but a couple of years later, I began hearing stories of many of them being scrapped. I wondered why, so I started working on them. I soon realised that it wasn’t the cars at fault but the people working on them. Owners love the A-Class. It’s roomy, practical and, above all, easy to get in and out of. I have a bad back and so do many of my older customers, so we find the A-Class a dream.”

Buyer beware…

Engine: Check old invoices, if they still exist, for work done, paying attention to small but vital jobs such as spark plug, fuel filter and pollen filter changes. A rubbing sound at tickover might signal that the timing chain is about to snap. On diesels, check the glow plugs aren’t seized and impossible to remove.

Electrics: A low-mileage car might have had to be jump-started several times during its life when its battery was flat. Unfortunately, this can cripple the various ECUs, especially the one for the automatic gearbox (where fitted), so check there are no electrical issues.

Transmission: On an automatic, check for first-gear selection problems. Typically, drivers don’t allow the gearbox oil to warm up and consequently the high oil pressure breaks some of the parts. The letter F being displayed on the dashboard means the automatic gearbox is shot.

Steering, suspension: Perform a three-point turn while listening for strange noises from the steering pump. The A-Class is heavy, so check the condition of the rear springs. They often break but are cheap to replace. Ditto the front suspension, except the whole assembly (shock absorber, spring and top mount) will need to be changed.

Body: Corrosion is especially common around the leading side of the rear wheel arches.

Interior: Check the seats slide, fold and can be removed. Make sure the air-con blows cold, although expect the system not to have been serviced for years. Glowing brake and ESP warning lights are easy to fix and not necessarily an indication of actual system failure.