First A Class MB takes some beating for stupid design, subframe or engine out for a starter motor replacement.

The we get to the Diesel version, the injectors of which get stuck rigidly in place with carbon, i've seen 3ft slide hammers welded to a failed injector and strong men whacking the hammer with all their might and failing miserably to remove a stuck injector...i'm told the head can't be removed without the injectors being removed first, there's a catch 22 situation...my MB indy avoids having anything to do with A and B classes whenever possible.

I helped my lad change the heater matrix on his Toledo, never again, the dash in its entirety had to come out which necessitated the front seats and centre console out too, then half the bulkead engine side had to come out to gain access to the bolts holding it in...even changing the normal radiator required the removal of the front end of the car, a car designed only to be made not maintained.

On the subjet of Subaru, so far the Outback has proved a pleasure to work on, well engineered with a view to regular maintenance and repair not just cheap manufacture...mind you the spark plugs took me 3 hours to change all 6 but its a comfy job lying on a warm carpet working from underneath, not a winters job by any stretch and not sure i'd tackle an engine out job any more.

Lad and i changed the clutch on his Imprezza, simple straightforward job requiring only normal tools, though the box and transfer box is a heavy old lump and not a job for one man.

Mark 1 and current fiat doblo where a breeze to work on, likewise the mark 1 and current Citroen berlingo multispace / Peugeot partner tepee. Lots of space to get access.

Likewise the early 1997 - 2004 Hyundai/ kias where easy to work on.

The car a mechanic once turned down the work was a Renault Modus, it had half the engine and components under the dash and made access a long slow task.

Also had mechanics complain about Mark 3 or 4 astra. One of the common failures on the 1.6 was the thermostat, in GMs genius they had placed it behind the cam belt at the bottom of the engine.

Probably other cars to, but they spring to mind.

The car mechanics

Subaru Imprezzas, certainly ones I see and hear, seem to have a design fault with the exhaust silencer systems. Or it could be the nut behind the steering wheel.

I seem to remember the factory procedure for cambelt replacement on the 5-cylinder Fiat Coupes was an engine-out job, although some specialists say it can be done with the engine in place by moving some bits around.

Yes,this is perfectly true. Fiat wanted over 1k. to do mine,and this was over 10 years ago! I ended up driving from n.wales to Birmingham to get it done by a specialist. He just removed the engine mountings on the belt side and tilted the engine to get the belt cover off. He charged me £400.

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