Is the new Mercedes-Benz A-Class hatch good for new drivers?

By Ané Theron

 

Merc's "entry-level" hatch, the A-Class, is excellent in every respect. As you probably know by know, it was the AutoTrader 2019 Car of the Year winner. If your parents are loaded or you've just won some cash in an overseas lottery, by all means, buy yourself an A-Class as your first car. 

 

Technology for days

The sexy new A-Class is like a compact spaceship which will suit new tech-savvy drivers exceedingly well. I almost felt like I needed a millennial to assist me in figuring the A200's fancy new infotainment system out, as it's all very daunting at first with its big screens and plentiful buttons.

The new MBUX multimedia system is light years ahead of the previous-generation's COMAND online interface, and it is said to be able to learn your driving habits, favourite locations, people you contact most often as well as the routes that you normally take. With an all-new voice control system that works much like Siri or Alexa, you can give the system commands that are supposed to be understood easily, but given our wide array of native languages, the system is sometimes confused. Perfect speech recognition for flawless voice control is probably data scientists' biggest challenge these days.

There are a multitude of buttons on the S-Class-inspired steering wheel, however, so you can scroll and swipe away if the other method of communication to your car is not 100 percent successful.  For yet another way to access and control the system, you'll find a touch pad on the central console. This is perhaps the easiest and most direct way, but while you're driving you'd better keep those hands on the wheel and those eyes on the road!

 

Driving fun

The previous A-Class's ride was rather hard and you truly felt it in your spine as you drove over any kind of bump a touch too fast. The latest A-Class is much gentler on your skeleton and if you stick to the 16-inch wheels that are available as standard, you'll be very comfortable. With all the potholes to be found on our poorly-maintained roads, I won't spec 18-inch wheels at all, and besides, they do cost extra.

Performance wise, a new driver will find the entry-level A200's power to be more than sufficient. Don't be put off by the fact that there's only 1.3-litre 3-cylinder engine under its bonnet; it's turbocharged and has an output of 120kW and 250Nm of torque, which will make the 0-100 km sprint in a swift 8 seconds. You also have the option of driving it in different modes, namely Comfort, Sport, Eco or Individual. As a new driver, I'd stick to Comfort for my daily driving and Eco in town, which assists greatly in saving fuel.

 

Safety

As far as small cars go, you can always count on the Germans for comprehensive safety features. The A-Class gives you seven airbags, stability & traction control, hill-start assist and most importantly, autonomous emergency braking. And yes, this does mean the car will stop on its own if you don't react quickly enough. If you have extra cash to spend on tech, you can spec optional extras to include blind-spot monitoring, lane keep assist, and adaptive cruise control that breaks and accelerates autonomously in stop-and-go traffic. 

 

Fuel economy

Maybe you will have to pay for your fuel yourself, of perhaps your dad (or hubby) will? Either way, the entry-level A200 is pretty fuel-efficient using around 6-7 litres of petrol per 100 km. Even with the air-con at full tilt during summer, both myself and my colleague managed around 6.2-6.8 litres per 100 km in the above mentioned model. The diesel models are more expensive initially, but in the long run you will end up saving fuel money.

 

Space?

Space up front is more than sufficient, but your friends in the back will be a bit uncomfortable if they're very tall and long-legged. Two average sized adults (and a kid in the middle, if you must) wautoon't complain that there is't enough room. The boot is an average 370 litres which is about the going rate for a hatchback in this segment.

 

Warranty and maintenance plan

Merc has just chopped their six-year maintenance plan to five years, so now it's the same as Audi and BMW's. If you're perhaps thinking about a Volvo V40, it has a 7-year/140 000 km maintenance plan...

Verdict

The new A-Class is a winner whether you're new at this driving thing or a seasoned driver. We give it 4 out of 5 stars. 

 

Current pricing (July 2019)

A200 hatch Style (tested): R500 012

A200 hatch AMG Line: R525 012

A200d hatch Style: R536 000

A200d hatch AMG Line: R561 000

A250 hatch AMG Line: R596 969

 

Recommended reading

Click to read our review: Mercedes-Benz A200: The distilled essence of modern-day Mercedes. Perhaps in the market for a previous generation A-Class? Read Mercedes-Benz (A-Class)y set of wheels