[V8] Mercedes 190

[Roger M. Woodbury]

I have had a lot of experience (miles) with this body back in the day.  My first was a 190-D 2.2, and the second was a 190-D 2.5 turbo diesel.  Not the same as your $800 “special” but the bodies and bits and pieces are largely the same.

My experience was that these were true Mercedes, just small ones.  The 190D 2.2 was a 1985 and through the first 88,000 miles it had zero problems of any sort. At 88,000 miles the center driveshaft bearing failed and Mercedes fixed it under warranty.  I traded that car in in 1987 for the Turbodiesel which was a vast improvement over the small, lower powered 2.2, and delivered much better fuel mileage for me in the sort of driving that I was doing.  That vehicle was leased and four years later with 90,000 miles or so, it got returned to Mercedes.  That car was sold last year on eBay with quite a few miles and significant body rust as I think it lived most of its life up here in the north of the Mason-Dixon line.  My time in that car was wonderful: powerful, smooth, relatively quiet and bullet proof:  I had NO failures in that car through around 125,000 miles.

The 2.2 litre 1985 diesel was sold by the dealer to someone in the Portland, Maine area and they drove it for four years before trading it in on some other Mercedes.  The dealer then kept that car as a service department loaner and in 1994 I took my (then) Mercedes, which was a 1983 300D in for some A/C work and while I was in Portland they gave me back my “old” 190D to use while they piled up the repair bill on the 300D.  At that point the 2.2litre 190 felt a bit tired:  275,000 plus miles showing on the odometer, but everything worked as it should, and although the driving experience was a bit looser than when I first picked up the car, it still felt like a Mercedes.

If I was looking for another car and could find a 190 in really good condition AND was not going to be driving in rural Maine winter weather, I would not hesitate.  Parts are available and they are really not rocket science to repair with plenty of good independent mechanics around who can work on them. They are NO way like driving a V8 or for that matter any Type 44 Audi, but they are real Mercedes.  If all service records are present for the $800 car, it will likely be a good one for longer than your daughter wants to drive it.

my .02 and worth every penny.

Roger