I purchased a demonstrator Mercedes A180CDI auto with 9,500 miles in late June from a main dealer and have put on a further 6,000 miles. The fuel economy has always been disappointing, averaging 41.2mpg, despite living in a rural area, the car being garaged and a variety of journey types. Any short journeys into town, never less than 12 miles, are out of peak period, so jams are never experienced and consumption on these runs rarely falls below the long term average. I have long since abandoned hard acceleration. I gather speed and in an effort to at least achieve close to Mercedes combined figure of 52.3mpg, have rigorously avoided speeding. A recent 240 mile return trip on empty M-way and dual carriageways (two roundabouts), returned 44.3mpg. My main dealer cannot explain this, but says no fault-codes have been found, has downloaded an official engine management upgrade, and has suggested I use the gearbox sport mode - to no effect. Once, an economy-run journey on relatively level rural roads generally at 40mph, rarely above 50mph, returned 48mpg. This has never been approached in sensible motoring. At 15,200 miles the brake wear indicator lit. The main dealer insisted and has been proved correct by continuing poor economy, that binding brakes were not the cause. Previously, I ran a Volvo V50 D5 Geartronic for 20k miles and a V70 T5 manual for 40k; neither requiring brake parts. The Mercedes front discs and front and rear pads, have been replaced at about 20% of the true cost, which suggests a degree of manufacturer or dealer culpability. The front discs were not damaged but the dealer wanted to establish a base for consideration of future wear rates. I apologise for the lengthy story. Does any of this conform with feedback you have received?