Mercedes Benz A-Class (1998-2005) Review

Comfort and Equipment

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This is not the A-Class's best feature. A choppy ride, especially over badly surfaced roads, and hard seats make it a somewhat wearing long distance drive, whether you're in the back or the front, and the problem is compounded in the diesels, which are excessively noisy. The petrol engines, by contrast, are impressively quiet, and there's not much wind noise at speed either. Surprisingly, given the high basic price, air conditioning is not standard, although the £220-dearer Classic SE brings you this. The more expensive Elegance and Avantgarde trims have chilled air as standard. It would be five stars were it not for the smallish boot, relative to the cabin space, and the limited oddments space. For passengers the A-Class's space is astonishing. The standard version is easily capable of accommodating four adults in comfort, while the optional long wheelbase version is literally limousine-like with legroom. However, its relatively slender body makes it a tight squeeze for three adults in the rear. If you need a bigger boot, you can fold or remove the rear seats and optionally, the front passenger seat. There's also a storage option pack helps with in-car bric-a-brac. You get a radio with a Sony single-slot CD and six speakers as standard in all models - not bad - and of decent sound quality, too. You can build on this with myriad Bose and Mercedes own-brand options, including a sat-nav system called Auto Pilot, though this is very pricey.