Mercedes EQA review: reliability & safety rating
Euro NCAP awarded the EQA five stars for crash safety, but it's still a bit early to pronounce on long-term reliability
| Euro NCAP | Adult protection | Child protection | Safety assist |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 stars (2021) | 97% | 90% | 75% |
Mercedes has a very strong reputation for quality, and while there’s very little hard evidence just yet, we’d expect the EQA to follow suit when it comes to reliability. The brand’s smallest model, the A-Class, routinely performs well in customer satisfaction surveys like Driver Power.
It seems Mercedes owners are less happy with the brand overall, however – perhaps because they have particularly high expectations of such a premium brand. Overall, the maker finished a lowly 23rd out of 29 manufacturers in the 2022 Driver Power survey – behind premium rivals Audi and BMW. Owners criticised their cars’ value for money, though black marks for running costs and fuel economy are clearly less relevant for the pure-electric EQA. Only time will tell whether EQ models like the EQA and EQC can turn around Mercedes' fortunes in this regard.
Mercedes EQA reliability & problems
It’s hard to drill particularly deep into the Mercedes EQA’s reliability as it’s a relatively new car. However, the maker’s decision to design its electric models around existing petrol, diesel and plug-in hybrid cars suggests at least some of the components should be dependable. That said, while the A-Class finished 30th in Driver Power’s rundown of the top 75 cars to own, the GLA with which the EQA shares so many parts only managed to finish 58th in the 2022 survey.
Prospective EQA owners should take this with a pinch of salt, however, as one of the GLA customer’s biggest gripes was with their cars’ fuel economy, which is clearly less relevant for the electric car. Low scores for the GLA’s practicality might be more concerning, however, as the EQA has an even smaller boot than its petrol-powered sister car.
A total of 27.3% of Mercedes owners had experienced problems, though being electric, the EQA has fewer moving parts than the A-Class or GLA, so in theory there is less to go wrong. High insurance costs might put some people off, however.
Safety
Euro NCAP decided in July 2021 to apply the Mercedes B-Class' five-star crash-test result from 2019 to the EQA, as the two cars are very similar under the metal. The individual section scores of 97% for adult occupant protection, 90% for child occupant protection and 75% for safety assist systems were carried over, too – meaning the EQA is a very safe choice indeed.
Every version comes with a reversing camera, lane-keeping assistance, speed-limit assistance and blind-spot monitoring, plus LED headlights with automatic high beams.
