I bought my Mercedes 190E late last year after my trusty and beloved Renault Megane had an altercation with the central reservation of a dual carriageway. Needless to say, the central reservation was victorious.
As I was still paying for the Megane, and was only covered Third Party, Fire ... Read review
Mercedes A-Class - Hatchback - Front (FWD) - 6 Speed - (Man) / Autotronic - (Auto) - 1992 cc - Max Speed: 116 mph - 109 bhp - Diesel - Available Trims: Elegance SE, Classic SE, Classic, Avantgarde SE, Long
I bought my Mercedes 190E late last year after my trusty and beloved Renault Megane had an altercation with the central reservation of a dual carriageway. Needless to say, the central reservation was victorious.
As I was still paying for the Megane, and was only covered Third Party, Fire and Theft (D’oh!) I needed to find something cheap and reliable, not an easy task!
After scouring the small ads in the local paper, I came ... ...this, as I had heard Mercedes were not known for excellent manual transmissions. This car failed to disappoint however, with gentle use of the clutch, you almost feel it is an auto, so smooth are the gear changes.
The ride quality is like nothing else I have ever experienced. The engine is so smooth, and the suspension so accomplished, you almost feel as though you are floating on a cushion of air! The power steering makes manoeuvring ... more
I bought my Mercedes 190E late last year after my trusty and beloved Renault Megane had an altercation with the central reservation of a dual carriageway. Needless to say, the central reservation was victorious.
As I was still paying for the Megane, and was only covered Third Party, Fire and Theft (D’oh!) I needed to find something cheap and reliable, not an easy task! After scouring the small ads in the local paper, I came across an ad for a 1991 / J Plate Mercedes-Benz 190E for £1800. I must confess I was dumbstruck – I had no idea one could procure an actual Mercedes-Benz for such little money, and figured there must be a serious problem with the car.
Nevertheless, I phoned the owner who assured me the car was a diamond, absolutely immaculate and so on and so forth. So, with a little trepidation, I went to view the car, taking my dad along with me to curb any excess enthusiasm that may lead to an impulse buy!
Upon seeing the car, I must say I was impressed. The owner had kept it garaged and attended religiously to any faults / defects – The motor for the electric sunroof had been replaced, and a minor problem with the steering rack had been rectified. He had washed, waxed and polished the car on a weekly basis and as such the bodywork was in absolutely fantastic condition for a 12-year-old car.
Slipping into the drivers seat, the door closed with a satisfying solid “clunk.” The interior of the car was in just as good condition as the bodywork. The leather seats had no rips, tears or scuffs, the dashboard was clean, and had been enhanced with some fake wood trim – sounds ghastly, but does give a very good effect.
The ignition is located on the dashboard to the left hand side of the steering wheel, rather than on the right hand side in the steering column. To start the car, you need to push the ignition key in slightly as you turn clockwise, and if cold, it pays to pump the gas pedal a few times otherwise it takes an age for the engine to fire.
The 1.8 litre engine runs very smoothly, and can hardly be heard from the drivers seat – although a quick glance at the tacho reassures you it is actually running!
I was so impressed with the car that I bought it there and then, the seller agreeing to £1700 for cash. It was then I noticed the car had a full years tax on it and a quick look at the MOT certificate revealed 11 months remaining. I was well chuffed – saved another couple of hundred quid there!
My first drive in the car was terrifying. After the Megane it felt like a tank! The long, wide bonnet with the “gun sight” at the front only adding to the illusion! This model was the 1.8litre manual with a 5-speed box. I was a little worried at this, as I had heard Mercedes were not known for excellent manual transmissions. This car failed to disappoint however, with gentle use of the clutch, you almost feel it is an auto, so smooth are the gear changes.
The ride quality is like nothing else I have ever experienced. The engine is so smooth, and the suspension so accomplished, you almost feel as though you are floating on a cushion of air! The power steering makes manoeuvring and cornering a joy, being neither too heavy nor too light.
My first drive was to the petrol station as the car was practically running on fumes, I was expecting to get stung when filling the tank, but no, £35 filled it to the brim. Driving home, I decided to “test” the performance…purely for research purposes of course! The 1.8 is considered to be the baby of the Mercedes engines, producing around 100bhp, and housed in such a heavy shell; I was not expecting anything special in terms of acceleration. I was pleasantly surprised however. Putting ones foot down in second sees 40mph come up in a matter of seconds, with 60mph following soon after. The brakes equally, are up to the job; with discs all round stopping the 1200 kg beast is no problem, although the lack of ABS is always a little worrying.
Having got the car home without incident, I figured it was time to have a proper nose around all the features and functions! This car seems to be a base model with very little in the way of electrics. However, the sunroof is electrically operated and is of the tilt and slide style found in most cars today. Also the passenger side wing mirror is electric – adjusted by a small joystick located next to the gear lever. There is a rear courtesy light, operated by a switch on the right hand side of the dash, and two front courtesy lights – the main one that comes on when the doors are opened and a second smaller one for map reading etc, which can only be operated by a switch in the roof panel.
The headlight switch is located on the lower right side of the dash and you have several options available to you; sidelights only; dipped headlights; sidelights with fog lights; headlights with fog lights; passenger side parking light and driver side parking light. The headlamp angle is adjustable by a control dial next to the light switch.
Indicators, windscreen washer/wiper and main beam headlight are all controlled from one “control stalk” on the right hand side of the steering wheel. Having the indicators on the right was a little confusing at first, but didn’t take long to get used to.
The seats are fully adjustable, although not electrically. You can slide them forwards and back, raise or lower the height and you can also tilt the base of the seat, which is great on long journeys when your bum starts to go numb!
Legroom in the front is superb and headroom is not an issue – even for my tallest friends! However, the rear is slightly cramped and the long-legged will find the going tough after 50 miles or so. The boot is quite well sized for a saloon car, although with my sub-woofer, CD changer, spare jacket and box of “stuff” there is not much room for anything else!
The only faults I have found with the car are that the heated rear window switch does not work and as the car is prone to misting up this is quite annoying! Also the heater control although looking fully adjustable appears to have only two settings – very cold and very hot! I’m not sure if this is a fault or just part of the cars “character” at least you have the option of opening the window, manually!
I have had the car almost 6 months now and at almost 100,000 miles (2,000 of which are mine!) have not had to replace anything beyond the usual consumables. New discs and pads cost about £100 for the front wheels. New tyres all round cost £280 fitted and balanced.
Fuel economy is not too bad for an 1800cc. A full tank lasts around 350 miles on a run, whilst short journeys and commuting in traffic see this drop to around 250. This equates to around 35 mpg on a run and 25 mpg around town. Insurance is very cheap – I paid just £1000 Third Party, Fire and Theft with one years no claims discount which is only £100 more than my Megane cost me to insure.
Overall, this is an excellent car for the money, plus you get the kudos of owning a Mercedes-Benz, which at 20 years old, lots of my friends find unbelievable! I have seen 190E’s on sale on E-bay for £500 with a little work needed. You really cannot go wrong for that kind of money.
This is my first review on a car and I found it strangely difficult to write....would really appreciate any comments on how to improve it!
