What year did the A class stop being a dangerous roll over machine?

I'm sure someone will be along in a minute to reveal all, but I'm sure the launch of the A Class in this country was delayed while they fitted ESP and other gubbins to all A Classes so that they were much harder to roll when you deliberately tried.

Yes!

The Arosa? Drives like a slightly sharper Lupo, so, the ordinary models make stiring tea inspiring.

Otherwise I like them, but, meh I'd have to drive them.

Bear in mind that the Smart ForTwo has very recently been replaced, so, older machines are available.

As Doug says, the launch was delayed because of the roll over issue.

Tim Kemp knows a lot about the A-Class.

Personally, I like them, but for the money a Focus is a better all round bet.

Make sure she fits and is comfortable for the 100 mile trip.

Interesting funky little machine. Same as the 107 and Citroen C1. In my opinion the Citroen C1 looks is a little better *cough* and costs less to buy. Some reckon the Toyota will hold its value better...

Needs to be revved like a hot hatch, quite noisy, but fun in a small car way.

I had a new A-class on hire while in Spain on holiday this year. Horrid thing to drive. Too many things to mention really but a cab forward design should be easy to park etc and it wasn't. Serious flaw IMHO is the mirror positioning - they simply ain't in the field of view - too far back relative to the driver, and I'm quite tall. I've not driven all others in this sort of class but would go for a Focus or Golf - both of which are pleasant enough to drive and have a sensible boot for a shopping car. Interestingly all the others in my party liked it - I'd say just because of the badge - but then non of them were in the least bit keen on cars. One drove a Frontera, the other a Rover 200.

I did 60,000 miles in the one I had - X79 VSG. Had it for 3 years.

I like the fact that being a 1.4 allowed you to drive it as flat as you wanted without geting into any sort of trouble. I used to try and coax it into misbehaving and it really didn't. It felt no more likely to fall over than, err, a very stable thing. ESP light occasionally came on, but not very often.

Very flexible thing too. All the seats out except the drivers seat allowed loads of stuff to be carried. Very capable in that respect.

Mine did 40mpg all the time no matter how I drove it.

Downsides.

Likes new anti roll bar drop links. Likes new trailing arm bushes.

Interior build quality not as good as the Fabia. We drove the Fabia when it first came out and it felt noticeably better in the respect.

However.

On balance I would certainly have one again. The fact that it does loads of things well, takes up little space and has decent interior space at the same time all work for me.

An A140 Classic is fine - get one in black and the cheapskate black grille centre goes un noticed.

You've got me going again. It would be the very thing to replace SWMBOs Ibiza, which continues to be boringly reliable. 5 years and counting......

Have they fixed the dash on them yet? They were really cheap feeling plastics (as bad as on an American car) last time I had one as a hire car. I know hire cars get more abuse but it only had 5500Km on the clock and bits of the dash were broken.

A160 auto, lots around with toys and designo interiors etc. Avoid the panoramic sunroof (bitch to fix when it goes wrong).

Original W168 (pre 2005) is the "rollover" machine, that doesn't roll over - I drove one for a year and it never came close. Ride is terrible but it does the job. Suspension droplinks are a consumable item. Autos are good. Avoid the AKS semi-manual-semi-auto-clutchless-oh-lets-not-start-that-argument-again gearbox unless you're getting a main dealer warranty too.

W169 (new shape) is much better. Decent ride.

Probably for the interior space.

Heh - 39mpg, and mine was diseasel. You weren't driving hard enough. Also they could be made to slide at either end, just need huge provocation.

;-)

Yes it was quite roomy - at the expense of a tiny boot.

Well, that's sort of my point.

Yes, it could be made to slide, but not in a nice 'ooh, there's a nice wee slide that's actually fun'. It was more like, lots of provocation followed by a sudden loss of grip for a very short period of time followed by it being immediately reigned in by the electronic gubbins. I know you could turn that off, but it soon turned itself right back on again at any sort of speed at all.

Anyway - I liked mine and would do it again.

But still better than any Audi ever made.

I know the roll over is exagerated, so not really a problem there, but she did get lift off oversteer in the Fabia once on a damp dieselly rounabout.

For a Focus, it would be last of the old ones. She had one as a fleet car. With her seat forward and up enough to see over the wheel, she couldn't drop the sunvisor down without it hitting her head/knocking her glasses off.

She should be OK.

All made in CZ I think, but I get this feeling, while the C1 will use to clips to hold a trim piece on and rattle, the the Toyota will use 5 bolts, 2 clips and some soft rubber velveteen covered fill strip to stop the edges touching in the first place.

She wants to avoid VAG due to reliability issues with a fully serviced Fabia (non of which were related to Skoda based engine, but the VAG mechanicals/electricals).

And as I said to Dervy, in the MK1 Focus, with the seat in the right position, she had trouble safely lowering the visor while driving to avoid glare, without having to duck. Otherwise it would hit her glasses/head.

No, they all feel equally crap :-)

Elder wrote

If it's any help, the Arosa/Lupo won't outhandle any Fabia unless you get a GTI. Our Lupo sport 16v feels soggy compared to the Fabia vRS (our main car), and about the same as a more normal Fabia. Having said that, the Lupo is a good car- esp with the 100bhp 16v- just far too expensive new. You have to remember it's based on the last Polo floorpan, where the Fabia is still just about a current VAG chassis.

I'd atill say that VAG products are nowhere near as unreliable as some suggest these days. I've driven VAG products since 1988, and between SWMBO and myself we've owned 11 with no serious problems.

I have never managed lift off oversteer on such a roundabout, but, I do tend to stop and sniff...

Be *absolutely positive*. You have to fit the car, rather than the other way around.

I mean, don't get me wrong and all, okay enough to drive - but the merest hint of a sore back and it'll cause big problems if you don't fit it.

I tried the trio back to back. Really, nothing in it from a build quality perspective. If I wanted something of the class and wasn't bothered about resale value, the C1 is the machine to go for.

But avoid the diesel. It's not much more economical than the 1.0 three banger and costs lots more to buy.