I’ve had a fair few golf’s, and it does very much feel like coming home going back to a GTI, but there are a lot of reasons I’m not keen on the a35.
First off, it’s a very capable car. It’s damn fast, the wheel feels nice and there’s plenty of feedback, not to mention it makes a great noise, but it’s all very sensible and clinical. It’s like going to a really good gig with a great light show, and finding out the band is miming along. It’s technically brilliant, but it doesn’t feel like you matter. There’s nothing special about it.
Then there’s the laundry list of issues it’s had over the last 24 months. At delivery, the leather seats were loose and saggy all round, an issue that, 3 sets of seats later, still doesn’t have a fix. It’s a class wide issue Mercedes haven’t resolved in over 2 years. Delivery was extra disappointing as the dealership had marred every panel of the car, and scratched every wheel installing the locking wheel nuts. Fortunately they paid to have it polished and the wheels powder coated, and you can’t blame that on Mercedes. Then, the boot lid ate part of the rear bumper down to the paint as it settled. That was another week in the body shop. On recieving the car back, the bumper they’d had to take off and paint was sagging. New clips were ordered and took 2 months to arrive. That still didn’t fix the problem, so another 2 months and a set of tail lights later it’s finally sorted. Then, the servo for the rear adaptive suspension failed and would rotate until the shock couldn’t adjust any more, then sit there clicking. That was fixed by the dealership who had the part on hand, and just in time for the alarm to die. 3 o’clock every morning it would go off, without fail. 4 months later, it was finally repaired after replacing the overhead control unit, and the siren. Another class-wide fault. Most recently, the passenger seat heater has started to fail, and requires parts. Another 4 month minimum wait.
The supplying dealer have been awful. They were no help with the seat issue, as I’m 200 miles away, and basically told me they’d buy the car from me, leaving me 8 grand out of pocket, if I wanted rid of it. Mercedes themselves have been equally useless. I’m still waiting on a call from mid 2021. They must have a long backlog. The only saving grace have been my local dealer, who have been fantastic. They’ve helped sort the seats, given me courtesy cars whenever I’ve needed one (I’m in a chair and can’t get anywhere without a car), including when Mercedes roadside assist gave me a Passat from enterprise that appeared to have spent its life as an ash tray, and wouldn’t help at all.
Combine that with the fact that the 7.5 GTI was the best car I ever owned, it was a bit of a sharp decline.
