Discussion
So I've been seriously contemplating chopping my 2018 Vitara S in for something a bit more sporty, go back to my roots. I thought I would have a look, out of sheer curiosity, at the A45's. I was surprised about how cheap they've become! I know go in with eyes wide and all that but does anyone know any specific reason, apart from just depreciation, why they're at a cheap price now?
I think it's a similar story to all hot hatches in that bracket - M140, Golf R, A45, S3 (Though seemingly not the RS3). They were sold in abundance and the sheer volume of them hitting the market vs the demand creates a disparity. Not to stereotype too hard but a good number of people who go for this bracket of car really value having the latest gadgets/interior on the vehicle and so there's a huge drop when the facelifts or new models are launched.
There's a hell of a lot of power being pulled out of that 2.0 engine, combined with the manner in which I've seen a lot of A45 flung around I'd be wary of buying one of these but that's very likely just me being judgmental and worrying more than necessary.
There's a hell of a lot of power being pulled out of that 2.0 engine, combined with the manner in which I've seen a lot of A45 flung around I'd be wary of buying one of these but that's very likely just me being judgmental and worrying more than necessary.
J1990 said:
I think it's a similar story to all hot hatches in that bracket - M140, Golf R, A45, S3 (Though seemingly not the RS3). They were sold in abundance and the sheer volume of them hitting the market vs the demand creates a disparity. Not to stereotype too hard but a good number of people who go for this bracket of car really value having the latest gadgets/interior on the vehicle and so there's a huge drop when the facelifts or new models are launched.
There's a hell of a lot of power being pulled out of that 2.0 engine, combined with the manner in which I've seen a lot of A45 flung around I'd be wary of buying one of these but that's very likely just me being judgmental and worrying more than necessary.
Thanks for the reply and certainly makes sense what you say. It does seem I'm a bit spoilt for choice on the hot hatch front at the moment. There's a hell of a lot of power being pulled out of that 2.0 engine, combined with the manner in which I've seen a lot of A45 flung around I'd be wary of buying one of these but that's very likely just me being judgmental and worrying more than necessary.
J1990 said:
I think it's a similar story to all hot hatches in that bracket - M140, Golf R, A45, S3 (Though seemingly not the RS3). They were sold in abundance and the sheer volume of them hitting the market vs the demand creates a disparity. Not to stereotype too hard but a good number of people who go for this bracket of car really value having the latest gadgets/interior on the vehicle and so there's a huge drop when the facelifts or new models are launched.
There's a hell of a lot of power being pulled out of that 2.0 engine, combined with the manner in which I've seen a lot of A45 flung around I'd be wary of buying one of these but that's very likely just me being judgmental and worrying more than necessary.
They were sold in tiny numbers compared to the Golf and BMW, they weren’t on £300 a month deals.There's a hell of a lot of power being pulled out of that 2.0 engine, combined with the manner in which I've seen a lot of A45 flung around I'd be wary of buying one of these but that's very likely just me being judgmental and worrying more than necessary.
They seem pretty robust given the output, not heard of any engine issues.
There's no obvious reason not to go for one. I have one, a 2014 model. I'm probably not the usual demographic for this type of car, I'm 52 yrs old, the previous owner was in his 70's 
It's well put together, the interior is a nice place to be. They handle and go very well, even though I really don't give mine a hard life. My wife often comments about why I have it, when I drive so slow!.
The engine, whilst only a 2.0 doesn't seem stressed at all, the 2014 is 354bhp I think? The later models and some of the power other manufacturers are getting out of 2.0's is pretty astonishing.
I actually thinking about selling mine, not because there's anything wrong with it, but I need something bigger as I have kids and now 3 dogs.
It's well put together, the interior is a nice place to be. They handle and go very well, even though I really don't give mine a hard life. My wife often comments about why I have it, when I drive so slow!.
The engine, whilst only a 2.0 doesn't seem stressed at all, the 2014 is 354bhp I think? The later models and some of the power other manufacturers are getting out of 2.0's is pretty astonishing.
I actually thinking about selling mine, not because there's anything wrong with it, but I need something bigger as I have kids and now 3 dogs.
nordboy said:
There's no obvious reason not to go for one. I have one, a 2014 model. I'm probably not the usual demographic for this type of car, I'm 52 yrs old, the previous owner was in his 70's
It's well put together, the interior is a nice place to be. They handle and go very well, even though I really don't give mine a hard life. My wife often comments about why I have it, when I drive so slow!.
The engine, whilst only a 2.0 doesn't seem stressed at all, the 2014 is 354bhp I think? The later models and some of the power other manufacturers are getting out of 2.0's is pretty astonishing.
I actually thinking about selling mine, not because there's anything wrong with it, but I need something bigger as I have kids and now 3 dogs.
Thanks for the reply. What sort of average mpg do you get?It's well put together, the interior is a nice place to be. They handle and go very well, even though I really don't give mine a hard life. My wife often comments about why I have it, when I drive so slow!.
The engine, whilst only a 2.0 doesn't seem stressed at all, the 2014 is 354bhp I think? The later models and some of the power other manufacturers are getting out of 2.0's is pretty astonishing.
I actually thinking about selling mine, not because there's anything wrong with it, but I need something bigger as I have kids and now 3 dogs.
pocketspring said:
Thanks for the reply. What sort of average mpg do you get?
The car computer says exactly 31.7mpg, Mine is 99% local urban stuff though. My work commute is just over 10 miles, 30/40/50 speed limit roads. If i go on a steady motorway run, 45+. If you do like a bit of a squirt, you can easily see high teens, low 20's mind you. So I don't.Look for a good spec, I bought mine from a main dealer, approved used, so probably paid too much for it. But AMG's come with a 2 yr warranty approved, rather than the standard 1, a FSH etc. I bought a service plan which I'm about to use for it's B service. I have full leather heated amg seats, aero pack, pretty much all the extras. It's a nice car to drive and be in. Get an early one and quite low on tax too.
I had a 15-plate A45 for a while four years ago. Great little car. I averaged about 30 MPG in it which I thought was excellent considering the performance available. I was told the turbo was a weak point but I had no issues with it at all. The trader I part-exchanged it with contacted me to say that, after 200 miles, the gearbox had disintegrated and needed replacing. £7k for an OEM replacement at the time, apparently. 
BillTheButcher said:
I had a 15-plate A45 for a while four years ago. Great little car. I averaged about 30 MPG in it which I thought was excellent considering the performance available. I was told the turbo was a weak point but I had no issues with it at all. The trader I part-exchanged it with contacted me to say that, after 200 miles, the gearbox had disintegrated and needed replacing. £7k for an OEM replacement at the time, apparently.
Oh what was the mileage on it by then?pocketspring said:
BillTheButcher said:
I had a 15-plate A45 for a while four years ago. Great little car. I averaged about 30 MPG in it which I thought was excellent considering the performance available. I was told the turbo was a weak point but I had no issues with it at all. The trader I part-exchanged it with contacted me to say that, after 200 miles, the gearbox had disintegrated and needed replacing. £7k for an OEM replacement at the time, apparently.
Oh what was the mileage on it by then?OP have you driven one?
A buddy of mine has one (newer AMG A45S with > 400bhp version) and it is an absolute missile.
Really an extremely impressive car. The thing handles like it is on rails and with its AWD the traction is verging on witchcraft. That is probably no help at all given your specific question but I just thought I'd give it a solid thumbs up.
A buddy of mine has one (newer AMG A45S with > 400bhp version) and it is an absolute missile.
Really an extremely impressive car. The thing handles like it is on rails and with its AWD the traction is verging on witchcraft. That is probably no help at all given your specific question but I just thought I'd give it a solid thumbs up.
georgeyboy12345 said:
pocketspring said:
BillTheButcher said:
I had a 15-plate A45 for a while four years ago. Great little car. I averaged about 30 MPG in it which I thought was excellent considering the performance available. I was told the turbo was a weak point but I had no issues with it at all. The trader I part-exchanged it with contacted me to say that, after 200 miles, the gearbox had disintegrated and needed replacing. £7k for an OEM replacement at the time, apparently.
Oh what was the mileage on it by then?TorqueDirty said:
OP have you driven one?
A buddy of mine has one (newer AMG A45S with > 400bhp version) and it is an absolute missile.
Really an extremely impressive car. The thing handles like it is on rails and with its AWD the traction is verging on witchcraft. That is probably no help at all given your specific question but I just thought I'd give it a solid thumbs up.
Not an A45 but have driven a C43 at Merc World ( broke the rear brakes and shredded the rear tyres, instructor was quite impressed! A buddy of mine has one (newer AMG A45S with > 400bhp version) and it is an absolute missile.
Really an extremely impressive car. The thing handles like it is on rails and with its AWD the traction is verging on witchcraft. That is probably no help at all given your specific question but I just thought I'd give it a solid thumbs up.
) and a C63 because the C43 was knackered half way through my session.. BillTheButcher said:
I had a 15-plate A45 for a while four years ago. Great little car. I averaged about 30 MPG in it which I thought was excellent considering the performance available. I was told the turbo was a weak point but I had no issues with it at all. The trader I part-exchanged it with contacted me to say that, after 200 miles, the gearbox had disintegrated and needed replacing. £7k for an OEM replacement at the time, apparently.
That would be my fear of them. The early cars in particular seemed to have gearbox issues.We ran one from new 2016-2019 and when we were selling it one of the potential buying dealers we spoke to said they'd another just in that at 35 months old had needed a new gearbox.
I would go drive one and see what you think.
We ran one for 3 years from new. It would have been the higher BHP facelift model (380BHP ish) - distinguishable by the flat bottomed steering wheel.
They are incredibly quick cross country, but they do feel a little soul-less (as do most turbo'd four pots of their ilk).
Things that irked us day to day -
=> the automatic headlights arent fast enough and theres no override. So fast driving at night means you could end up blind for a second when you really need full beam.
=> the comfort mode on the gearbox is frankly scary when pulling out of junctions because the turbo spins down, so you pull out and nothing happens. Workaround is to drive in Sport mode all the time.
Other things to note -
=> tyres are expensive and it goes through them very quickly. It took 2 fronts at 9,000 miles and then two fronts and two rears at 18,000 miles. I think we were paying £200-£250 a tyre, so one year it would be £500 of tyres, the next year £1,000. By comparison we get 18,000 miles out of front and rear tyres on our M140i and MP4S's are around £100 and £140 respectively.
=> We got the Sports exhaust option on ours. It was a hoot!
Spec of ours was as follows -
=> Panoramic Roof
=> Electric Memory Heated Seats
=> Logic 7 sound upgrade
=> Apple Connect
=> AMG Adjustable suspension
=> AMG Sports Exhaust
=> AMG 19 inch alloy wheel upgrade
=> Black door mirrors
=> Black front and rear splitters
=> Privacy Glass
=> Mercedes Garmin Map Pilot
Gearbox would definitely be a worry for me on one out of warranty. Not sure how prevalent failure is but it is a definite known issue.
We ran one for 3 years from new. It would have been the higher BHP facelift model (380BHP ish) - distinguishable by the flat bottomed steering wheel.
They are incredibly quick cross country, but they do feel a little soul-less (as do most turbo'd four pots of their ilk).
Things that irked us day to day -
=> the automatic headlights arent fast enough and theres no override. So fast driving at night means you could end up blind for a second when you really need full beam.
=> the comfort mode on the gearbox is frankly scary when pulling out of junctions because the turbo spins down, so you pull out and nothing happens. Workaround is to drive in Sport mode all the time.
Other things to note -
=> tyres are expensive and it goes through them very quickly. It took 2 fronts at 9,000 miles and then two fronts and two rears at 18,000 miles. I think we were paying £200-£250 a tyre, so one year it would be £500 of tyres, the next year £1,000. By comparison we get 18,000 miles out of front and rear tyres on our M140i and MP4S's are around £100 and £140 respectively.
=> We got the Sports exhaust option on ours. It was a hoot!
Spec of ours was as follows -
=> Panoramic Roof
=> Electric Memory Heated Seats
=> Logic 7 sound upgrade
=> Apple Connect
=> AMG Adjustable suspension
=> AMG Sports Exhaust
=> AMG 19 inch alloy wheel upgrade
=> Black door mirrors
=> Black front and rear splitters
=> Privacy Glass
=> Mercedes Garmin Map Pilot
Gearbox would definitely be a worry for me on one out of warranty. Not sure how prevalent failure is but it is a definite known issue.
Gassing Station | Car Buying | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff