Best Shed Ever? 2001 - A170 CDi

[scotlandtim]

When my '13 plate leaf finally fell apart in September last year, I traded it to WBAC and got back what I payed for it in 2016. I had 2 trips to N. Wales (from Scotland) due that month and renting for 2 x 4 day periods would have been over £450. I decided while the car market was so £££ to find a shed and see if I could get through the month with it.

Next day found this car on FB marketplace. Asking £590.

Merc A Class W168 170 CDI
1 lady owner, MOT until April.
Only faults - LCD screen not working (last known mileage 43,000)

After a phone call to the lady's son I agreed £500 unseen, and transferred the money. Due to work couldn't collect until the next day. When I picked up it was in excellent condition. Clean, and tidy interior. Everything fully working inside and out other than the LCD screen - not a big issue!

2 days later drove me to N Wales and back without a fault - over 500 miles. Did the same the following week!

now 10 months later and it's still going strong, doing about 600 miles each wee (hard to be fully sure as I still can't see the mileage! Maybe I'll fix it one day!)

Only costs to me:

£250 - Put 4 x Michelin winter tyres on in November
£142 - April 2022 - Passed MOT (only needed rear coil spring)

Still in daily use, and no signs of failing me. Not bad for a 21 year old car.

It's surprisingly brilliant too - rear seats slide forwards and back to increase boot / passanger space. Also can adjust the tilt of rear seats to make more upright if needing space.

Rear seats fold then tilt then pop out with a 1/2 split -making a huge load space when needed. Same for front passenger - so I can slide a bike in without removing wheels.
Electric sunroof works a treat
Bought Thule foot pack on Ebay for £3 so I can now carry my sea kayaks on it too
Enough space for a family of 5 to travel in reasonable comfort

All in all - a great car, and I can't see any reason to get rid of it.

Just thought Id share !!

[SimonTheSailor]

What mpg does it do ?

[scotlandtim]

Hard to be precise - as I dont have a mileage readout!

But estimates put it at about 50mpg

( drive a 200 mile round trip each week to Carlisle and back. Mixture of A roads and M6)

[underwhelmist]

I guess he can’t calculate mpg if the odo display isn’t working.

[Evil.soup]

I do love an unexpectedly good shed!

June last year I bought a 2006 1.4 Fiesta zetec for £700, low miles, full service history, only issue was EML was on for an O2 sensor so didn't put me off at all.

I only intended on keeping it a few months just to see if it is worth owning to save money on running the Impreza. It certainly does that and more, I have totally fallen for it, it's a great little car, drives fantastic and is brilliant fun! I love it so much that I have decided to keep it and I have a 2010 Ceed Estate coming to me in the next couple of months.

So now I will own 3 cars, 2 daily drivers with different strengths and one for super fun!

You have to love shedding!

[rxe]

Here’s mine:



£300, 138k miles when I bought it about 6 years ago. It’s a 156 JTD 10V - an old, simple diesel, easy to map, no DPF. I did 10,000 miles in it with merely a thorough service. I then picked up a 25,000 mile a year commute, so embarked on a pretty exhaustive overhaul of clutch and suspension. Got a mapped ECU from a mate which has really improved the engine for £100.

It’s now on close to 200K miles, still drives well, air con works, nice leather interior, does 45 mpg if I am gentle, about 40 thrashing it. I’m not doing the 25k a year commute any more, so it is not getting the exercise it needs.

[scotlandtim]

Got to enjoy that feeling of "smug-ness" knowing you've spent less in total on your car than most people spend in a month!

[vikingaero]

I remember borrowing my Dads A200, ditching the rear seats at home, then at night removing the passenger seat and folding it and using the car as a tent.

[samoht]

Here's a really good piece by Andrew Frankel on how great the original A-Class is
https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/features/class-...

[wong]

Original A class - I had one as a hire car for ~ 3 weeks about .....20 years ago. I thought they were really ahead of its time. The sandwich floor allowed great interior space and possibly electric battery storage when they need to convert the design to EV for the 2nd Gen.
I had several Issigonis' Minis before and thought I could judge the front bumper distance quite well. Nosed up quite close to a wall, get out and see that I'd left about two feet instead of my anticipated 6 inches between bumper and wall. Clever packaging allowed a tiny footprint.

[scotlandtim]

samoht said:

Here's a really good piece by Andrew Frankel on how great the original A-Class is
https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/features/class-...

Thanks for that! Interesting read. Coming from a background of E classes (124, 210, 211) I had always turned my nose up at the A class. However I have been nothing but impressed with it since buying it.

Years ahead of its time in design - so practical. very clever safety features (once they sorted the Elk tes problems out) and actually a pretty nice car to be in! Storage is massive, esp wiht the options of folding / removing various seats.

I started my motoring n a 2cv and can't help but think this is the modern equivalent!

[scotlandtim]

Here another pic!

[PistonTim]

Genuine question - how does it pass an MOT without a mileage reading? I always though that was required?

[scotlandtim]

PistonTim said:

Genuine question - how does it pass an MOT without a mileage reading? I always though that was required?

Honestly - I have no idea, but if you check the MOT history fo this car it's been unreadable since 2014 and has always passed!

Helps the insurance if you're only doing 1000 miles per year ;-)

[Evil.soup]

scotlandtim said:

PistonTim said:

Genuine question - how does it pass an MOT without a mileage reading? I always though that was required?

Honestly - I have no idea, but if you check the MOT history fo this car it's been unreadable since 2014 and has always passed!

Helps the insurance if you're only doing 1000 miles per year ;-)

Wonder if an ECU reader can give that information? It should be able to since it is electronic.

[scotlandtim]

Evil.soup said:

Wonder if an ECU reader can give that information? It should be able to since it is electronic.

I've never bothered to try!
I have one and will do so sometime soon and report back.

A couple of month ago on a very hot day and a long drive the LCD display slowly faded back into existence and read 45,xxx . has never happened since.

I've considered removing the instrument cluster and looking for a fault, and am aware there are companies that wil fix it for £100 but i've never got round to it.

Will plug in sometime and report back........

[scotlandtim]

Evil.soup said:

Wonder if an ECU reader can give that information? It should be able to since it is electronic.

also - it's actually insured for 10,000 miles per year. both cars on a multicar policy its easier that way, and costs so little anyway its a no brainer....

[blue_haddock]

PistonTim said:

Genuine question - how does it pass an MOT without a mileage reading? I always though that was required?

they just put "unreadable" on the test

[carinaman]

blue_haddock said:

PistonTim said:

Genuine question - how does it pass an MOT without a mileage reading? I always though that was required?

they just put "unreadable" on the test

Yeah, I looked at the MoT history of two 2017 or later Suzuki 750 motorcycles being sold by a large supermarket style retailer. I think they both had practical extras that appealed to me, one had a rack. Checking the MoT history of both their first MoTs, had 'unreadable' on them. Seems they're both now sold.


Loving the A-Class OP.

[carinaman]

I rotated your photo and cropped it a bit. Nice car!