Any A35 owners??

Author
Discussion

MustangGT

11,638 posts

280 months

Wednesday 21st February
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Dolf Stoppard said:
How have you found the build quality? Half of the posts online say it’s great while the other half seem to be negative. Having sat in one my initial impression was really positive.
Ours is fine at 21k miles and 4 years old.

msportpanda

689 posts

125 months

Thursday 22nd February
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I think the build quality on these is absolutely fine, a lot of car journalism inspired critiquing of the materials and interior creaks when you force components to do things they're not designed to do.

I had a CLA premium plus for just over a year from new and yes there were a few creaks if you pushed hard on certain bits but never got any worse over that time.

Greendubber

Original Poster:

13,214 posts

203 months

Thursday 22nd February
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Glad to see no horror stories cropping up with these, thanks again for the replies.

MustangGT

11,638 posts

280 months

Thursday 29th February
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drewbar said:
MustangGT said:
My wife has one, hers is an early 2020 car but low mileage. She loves it, insisted on a yellow one, no aero pack. Hers is a Premium but does not have Apple Car Play or Android Auto, suspect it may have been an option at that time. Hers also has the 192 wheels which we would rather not have.

Mostly used for motorway mileage, currently averaging 39.87mpg over about 3k miles. Had a service done by a local garage, all okay except for re-setting the service counter. Local MB garage refuse to do it.
If you buy one without Carplay/Android auto and you really want it, you can purchase it as an over the air retrofit from MercedesMe store on these vehicles with MBUX head units.
Our local MB dealer says it needs a new microchip to add the Apple Carplay and Android Auto, not just a simple SW/FW update. If you know different we would really appreciate the process to do this. We have the standard late 2019/early 2020 A35 MB head unit, not sure if it is MBUX?

drewbar

6 posts

164 months

Monday 4th March
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MustangGT said:
drewbar said:
MustangGT said:
My wife has one, hers is an early 2020 car but low mileage. She loves it, insisted on a yellow one, no aero pack. Hers is a Premium but does not have Apple Car Play or Android Auto, suspect it may have been an option at that time. Hers also has the 192 wheels which we would rather not have.

Mostly used for motorway mileage, currently averaging 39.87mpg over about 3k miles. Had a service done by a local garage, all okay except for re-setting the service counter. Local MB garage refuse to do it.
If you buy one without Carplay/Android auto and you really want it, you can purchase it as an over the air retrofit from MercedesMe store on these vehicles with MBUX head units.
Our local MB dealer says it needs a new microchip to add the Apple Carplay and Android Auto, not just a simple SW/FW update. If you know different we would really appreciate the process to do this. We have the standard late 2019/early 2020 A35 MB head unit, not sure if it is MBUX?
I think your dealer is incorrect, but you shouldn't need to involve them anyway. Assuming you are in the UK, if you go to the MercedesMe shop at:

https://shop.mercedes-benz.com/en-gb/connect

You just purchase it online and the function is activated in your vehicle over the air. The only thing I've heard of to stop this working is some of the vehicle first vehicles needed a head unit software update to make the process work. There is also a MercedesMe helpdesk you can call but hopefully the above process will work straight out of the box for you. There might even be some YouTube videos about to walk you through the process.

MustangGT

11,638 posts

280 months

Monday 4th March
quotequote all
Many thanks, I will look into it and see what I can do.

MustangGT

11,638 posts

280 months

Monday 4th March
quotequote all
drewbar said:
I think your dealer is incorrect, but you shouldn't need to involve them anyway. Assuming you are in the UK, if you go to the MercedesMe shop at:

https://shop.mercedes-benz.com/en-gb/connect

You just purchase it online and the function is activated in your vehicle over the air. The only thing I've heard of to stop this working is some of the vehicle first vehicles needed a head unit software update to make the process work. There is also a MercedesMe helpdesk you can call but hopefully the above process will work straight out of the box for you. There might even be some YouTube videos about to walk you through the process.
Logged into MercedesMe with the VIN and it says available for £299. I think my wife will want it. I already have it on my C Class.

Greendubber

Original Poster:

13,214 posts

203 months

Thursday 28th March
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Hello again all,

Thanks again for all the info already supplied. I've having a dig into any reliability issues and there's been a few incidents of head gasket problems on these, with some being outside of warranty cars on low miles etc.

Has anyone got any knowledge of this at all?

Thanks again.

donkmeister

8,173 posts

100 months

Monday 15th April
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GD, have you been to try one out yet?

I notice you wanted 5 doors - if that's because you have intentions to use the back seats for people then pay very close attention to the back seat room once you are comfy, with you being 6'4. I'm 6'2" but with relatively short legs, and the driver's seat was very close to the rear bench when I was driving a lesser A-class. At the end of the day it's a small hatchback, there's a limit to what they can do, and "premiumness" doesn't go hand in hand with making it roomy inside.

Greendubber

Original Poster:

13,214 posts

203 months

Monday 15th April
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I've not tried one yet, I think I'm bailing out to be honest as I've been reading about too many pre facelift cars having significant cylinder head issues.

I only wanted a 5 door as my dog goes on the back seat and it's easier to just open the side door so leg room really isn't an issue for me.

I'm also looking at BMW 135is (new shape) due to the head issues that are bothering me on the A35.

ukwill

8,911 posts

207 months

Monday 15th April
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I’ve no idea how many have had head issues. I’ve never heard of it until this thread. I’d be surprised if it was anything over than a small % that were affected. Forums tend to magnify outliers. Obvs the vast majority who dont have issues aren’t going to join forums to say as much. But whatever you buy, I hope it’s a good one!

RichA35

117 posts

54 months

Tuesday 16th April
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Mine didn’t blow up but was glad when It went.

https://www.aclassclub.co.uk/threads/a35-engine-cy...

Greendubber

Original Poster:

13,214 posts

203 months

Tuesday 16th April
quotequote all
The odds aren't great for that poll, I'd be after a pre-facelift car (20/21) and they seem like prime candidates for the head issues.

An approved used with the issue already sorted might be an option but I'd want some hefty warrantied reassurance it won't happen again as I'm hoping to keep whatever I end up with for a decent time period.

MustangGT

11,638 posts

280 months

Yesterday (14:29)
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Got a small issue with ours. Random non-functioning intermittent wipers, also occasional warning of forward facing detector kit not working, e.g. lane departure type stuff. Car is 4 years old, I suppose it could be a battery getting tired?