5k: Wedding Cake: 1990 Mercedes-Benz 190E W201; 26k miles

The Mercedes-Benz W201 chassis was the first compact luxury car from Mercedes and was positioned to compete with BMW 3-series and Audi 4000.  The W201 was marketed as the 190E in the USA and received a sophisticated 5-link rear suspension and lots of other high end goodies.  The 190 sold well in its 10 years of production and by the time the last one rolled off the assembly line in 1993 Mercedes had sold 1.8 million worldwide.  Find this 1990 Mercedes-Benz 190E with low miles (26k!) for sale in Paterson, NJ for $7,999 buy-it-now via ebay.

The car is offered at the top of the market for a W201, unless it is a rare 2.5-16V model with a DIY transmission or something wearing an AMG badge.  This minty clean white 190E looks like a fresh slice of wedding cake and we want to eat it!

The 190E is powered by a 2.6 liter inline-6 that puts 160 horsepower via an automatic transmission into the rear wheels.  The smooth inline-6 is similar to most of Mercedes road cars from the 1960s until a few years ago and does a decent job of pushing the car around without alarming the passengers.  It can’t be described as sporty, but it will also not be confused with the ‘suicidal-freeway-merge’ diesel engines available at the same time.

The inside of this Mercedes reflects its 26k odometer reading with the notable exception of the steering wheel, which in fairness, all similar vintage Mercedes steering wheels that we’ve seen are pretty scummy looking.  The rest of the interior looks clean enough to eat off and nicer than most 3 year old lease returns.

This won’t be the best apex carver that you can find for $8k but it will haul a family around in comfort and its something you can use to pick up your in-laws at the airport without getting “the look.”

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