vfxcxn0309

Mexico build A220 vs A250 made in Germany

almost decision time here, just check it out the A220 (Canada ver) and A250(made in Germany) at dealer, i have notice some quality difference between two cars, for example, the welding in side the engine compartment, on A220, you can see the welding is kind of rough, whereas on A250, it very smooth, feels like a laser welding. i don't know, maybe i'm wrong, but i can notice some difference.

Any A220 owner here, suffer some quality issue? the engine and transmission should be ok, i just worry about those piping, sealing, electricity things. there was a re-call on the welding for brake pedal, not sure is recall only on A220 or both A220 and A250.

planning for keep the car for 7-8 years, i don't want to running into any quality issue, and give me expensive repair after warranty expired.

Thanks

Kenyon1976

My only issue so far (almost 3K miles) is the front passenger door rattling constantly.

vfxcxn0309

Unfortunate to hear that, did you ask dealer to fix that?

Shayke

No all A220's are being built in Mexico. I ordered one (still waiting) and it's going to be built in South of Germany.

vfxcxn0309

nice to hear that,

possible to give more details? i'm in Canada, when a ask this to dealer, to get A220 from Germany, they said, it's not possible, ....... is your dealer give you option to order A220 from Mexico or Germany?

thanks

Kenyon1976

Not yet...

Deriggs007

Pretty decent amount of issues with my A220. Nothing major. The quality is pretty good, but yes, the Quality control is a different story. Overall, it's not bad and the dealer fixed everything on one visit.

I had the following issues:

1. Sunshade loose - resolved after my sunroof exploded (a different subject on that entirely)
2. Windows would screech when rolling up/down - Resolved and are whisper silent.
3. Door panel trim squeaks with light pressure - they put insulation and is now fixed.

That said, with those issues out of the way. As soon as I got the car back, I got a new issue crop up of "Front passenger malfunction, service required" - So it's back in the shop for that.

Overall, the materials are fine, but for the $40,000 price I'm paying, I'm really paying it for the name and the MBUX system. Everything else about the vehicle is honestly not even as good as the new Mazda 3's that were redesigned for this year, for half the cost.

vfxcxn0309

did you lease or bought it? if lease, i think it's fine, but you might need to let dealer know this

vfxcxn0309

wow.. you are surprising me a lot, have you bought it or lease it?

Roger8

I've had my A220 for 2 months.

• Driver side wiper would sometimes bump the frame - they fixed it by replacing the arm and making adjustments (took a week at the dealer).
• The front passenger airbag warning came on due to a faulty belt buckle - they fixed it (2.5 hours)
• The fuel door became stuck - they fixed it by replacing the plunger thingy (a week at the dealer)

Only the third item was a real concern given I couldn't fill it up so I was stuck taking it in immediately. FYI, there doesn't appear to be an emergency release mechanism so if the door is ever stuck then it's truly stuck. At least, there wasn't anything the dealer could find to get it open (beyond, i suppose, prying it open forcibly.)

Aside from that, the car is been fine. Deriggs007 had more severe issues than me but I have a similar impression that I'm paying more for the "quality" of the name vs. the quality of the workmanship. It's a fine car and I enjoy it but I don't think it's substantially better than many, less expensive cars on the market. I'm ok with this as I figured it's the A (lowest) class and a first year model. That's why I got the extended warranty. The MBUX is significantly better than what I've seen elsewhere; it was the primary selling feature for me personally. If it didn't have that then I wouldn't have bought the car.

Deriggs007

I bought it. Don't get me wrong, none of these are really big concerns. Things that probably took about an hour or two to fix. It's still a really great car and I do love the "cool" factor. Some things you cannot put a price tag on. People turning heads to look into the car, especially at night with the ambient lighting just makes me grin in smiles.

But that's where it about stops. I didn't purchase an extended warranty, just the maintenance package.

The new issue (airbag light) was most likely a fault code because they had to take a lot of parts off to fix them, and probably caused that issue and needs to be reset..... or I hope. Once that is resolved, I'm hoping I can get the car back for a few days, because I still have to take the car in to get the paint fixed from the sunroof exploding.

Like mentioned, in this vehicle, you're paying for the informatinment and the name and probably the polished/aesthetic interior. When it comes to driving and things of that sort, you can buy cars significantly less that do the same thing. Don't let that fact persuade you from this vehicle. I wouldn't have purchased it if it was all about the money. :-)

vfxcxn0309

thanks for your info!! yes, yes, i will buy this car, just need to make decision to get A250 or Mexico made A220, if you have chance at dealer to compare A250 and A220, in Canada, only 1000CAD price difference, you can feel the both car are different.

Shayke

Hi, no my dealer did not have the option of choosing where it would be built. I live in Belgium, about half a day's drive from Southern Germany. That's probably why they will build mine there.

O/

vfxcxn0309

thanks, that's why,i'm in Canada, i guess i can only order A250

ZacMatic

I did a custom order of an A220 4MATIC in the US and am fortunate to report that I've not had any quality control issues with the car, but I've also only put about 800 miles on it so far. I haven't noticed any loose panels, squeaks, rattles, or issues with wipers or windows. The only problem I've had so far is that sometimes when exiting the car, the door handle sensor that locks the car doesn't lock the car, and I have to use the smartkey instead. Last time this happened, I tried opening and closing the driver door, and then the locking sensor worked. This is probably a software bug.

I ordered this car and this configuration specifically because I wanted a small sedan with adaptive cruise control, automatic parking, and 360 camera. The refreshed Mazda 3 is very nice, but it doesn't offer all of these features. If the A220 didn't exist, I probably would have leased a 2019 Volvo S60, but I'm glad I didn't have to because automatic parking is only available on the more expensive trims of that car (my configuration would have been MSRP $48-50K). In my opinion, if you're comparing an A220 without these premium segment exclusive features to other brands, it's pretty hard to justify the higher price, especially if you're going to use Android Auto or Apple CarPlay for your navigation and music. However, the A220 is the cheapest car available that can be configured with all these features. So far, I'm extremely happy with how the car drives and how the car drives itself.

vfxcxn0309

glad to hear that, i think the quality of A220 will improve overtime, myself, actually really want A220, like the side shape, but worry about the quality of it, especially i need to keep for longer time.

dwhite

I noticed this too. I used to have a 2013 C250 coupe (made in Germany; my first MB) and the workmanship is really good.

vfxcxn0309

i have bought the A250 ( made in Germany ) in last year in Aug, the workmanship is great! but some parts quality is not so great, got turbo replaced already. other than that, everything is ok, workmanship is good,

Vampire1984PL

Same in mine + rattling on right rear side on passenger side , will go to dealership to fix this
Other issue are Keyless sensor on door handle, works sometimes but sometimes not
Mazda is no match to a class, no dcc, slow auto transmission, no 360 cams, no live nav and some other annoying stuff. Oh i forget pretty slow even with 2.0 180 HP

vfxcxn0309

have you notice the A250, on the snow day, the car delay my input on gas, if i hit gas harder on snow covered road/almost no snow on the ground but snowing in the air, the wheel would not spin as fast as on the dry road, feels like it delayed a little bit.

Vampire1984PL

Aint got snow in Poland in north, yet
I think it can be same situation on rain, turn on on max wipers, hit full throttle, watch engine performance, I mean kW + Nm + Turbo boost - it will be limited vs no wipers no rain, bad conditions. Same thing is on Seat, VW, Audi. Dont know if other brands limit performance on rain/snow bad conditions for safety

vfxcxn0309

ok thanks~ last time my wife hit gas on snow covered ground, the car doesn't move ^_^

Vampire1984PL

You have to video such things, that on snow 4x4 didnt moved

vfxcxn0309

hard to video, i will try, i think it's normal, it was uphill road, and snowing, bit no snow on the ground, my wife hit the gas a bit quick, the car don't move, and she again step on gas with lighter foot, the car starts to move.