Mercedes-Benz A 180 Problems

A broken valve spring is not something that would be caused by the fuel. Most likely the spring was faulty, perhaps there was in inclusion in the material it was made from, or there could have been some other manufacturing problem. Use either 95 or 98-octane fuel.

Your first port of call should be to Mercedes to register a claim for updating your car. It would help if you had the promise in writing, otherwise who is to say who said and promised what. If you feel strongly about it perhaps you could get other affected owners together and contact Mercedes as a group.

Mercedes-Benz Australia spokesman David McCarthy says: "The issue has been, first, a coolant leak from the thermostat therefore displaying the low coolant level light on a slope. After this repair was completed the customer has started to watch his temperature gauge and found the operation different to what he has possibly experienced on other vehicles. The design of the cooling system has located the temperature sensor in an area where the coolant temperature does fluctuate as the thermostat operates. Stop-start operation can also influence this temperature variance because if the engine is not running no heat is generated. This is normal on the A-Class and has been documented from Germany for our dealers."

Your choices both get The Tick, but the Benz A250 might be too sporty for a retirement car and the A3 is an upscale Volkswagen Golf. A good mate has just bought an Accord Euro and, even though it goes out of production soon, he loves it. You should test-drive all three.