Mercedes A-Class hybrid reliability & safety rating

There are no questions around the A Class’ reputation for safety – a five-star Euro NCAP crash-test rating with great scores across the board means there’s not much to complain about. The reliability of the wider A-Class range could be better, according to respondents in our survey, although we may have to wait and see how the A 250 e and its added technology fare over the course of several years' ownership.

Mercedes A-Class hybrid reliability & problems

In the most recent Driver Power owner satisfaction survey, the Mercedes A-Class came 30th out of 75 on the best cars to own list, with the premium hatchback receiving fairly average scores for reliability. But, there are no known major issues with the A-Class. It was voted the best premium compact family car, and scored a ninth-place finish for its interior.

Mercedes as a whole meanwhile came in 23rd place out of 29 manufacturers, dropping behind rivals Audi and BMW this year. It’s slightly worrying that 27% of respondents reported faults with their Mercedes; 23% of BMW drivers and 19% of Audi drivers experienced issues.

Safety

Along with that stellar Euro NCAP rating, the Mercedes A-Class is available with a suite of the latest active safety and driver assistance systems. All get autonomous emergency braking, active lane-keeping assistance, speed-limit assistance and attention assistance as standard, but if you want even more kit, the optional Driving Assistance Package adds just about every other system you can imagine.

These include active cruise control, blind-spot monitoring and a range of other systems to stop you drifting out of lane or being hurt in a collision. You can rest assured that the A 250 e is one of the safest small plug-in hybrids around, especially once you’ve added the pack above.