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I'd like a Mercedes-Benz A-Class but am concerned about reliability - what else would you recommend?
I'm driving my 5th Saab (currently an old 95 auto estate) and I drive up to 15,000 miles a year. I'm thinking about changing my car for a small diesel automatic and I like the Mercedes-Benz A-Class, but for my budget of £5000 I'm only going to get an old one (some with low miles) and I read there were a lot of problems. My replacement car has to be a hatchback or small MPV as I have a big Labradoodle and he does not get comfortable on the back seat. I also need room for one or two overnight bags because we frequently have weekends away. Air conditioning is also a must. Any ideas?
Asked on 1 June 2010 by Memorial
Answered by
David Ross
Firstly, is there any particular reason for changing out of your Saab 9-5? Because for £5000 - and if you're after a small diesel automatic - you could be limited for choice. If the 9-5 is reliable and not too expensive to run we'd consider keeping it. However if you do want to change to something else we'd suggest looking at a Ford Focus C-Max (a small people carrier based on the Focus). In the classifieds we've seen 2004 1.6 TDCi diesel models with an automatic gearbox and 40,000 miles on the clock for less than £5,000.
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