This 1991 190E 2.6 is the newest Mercedes I have owned and will probably the latest I ever buy. While overall I like it and it drives nicely there is so much plastic crap in it that it makes me feel a little sick working on it and thinking of how good the previous models were built.
Yes, that is why I probably will not ever venture past the W201 and W126. It is relative I guess. Once you have spent time in the older cars the newer ones seem pretty weak.
ride in a honda/acura or toyota/lexus and you will change your tune.
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Jippi Jak
Totaled 6-27-05: 1985 MB 190e 2.3
1987 MB 190e 2.3-- sold
1993 MB 190E 2.3---work in progress
1996 Volvo 855 GLT
I need a benz bad........
Yes, but compare the W201 to the W110, W114 or even the W123. Even these economy models were put together well. Compared to the new cars the W201 is relatively good. I was just lamenting that W201 and it's generation were made just as quality was starting to go downhill.
If you look at the reviews the W201 got at it's introduction, rather than comparing it to more recent cars, I think you'll find that it got good marks for its interior design.
- The 190 interior is comfortable and very well made, but it is cool to the touch and the eye in the German tradition.
- This wasn't a new automobile so much as a perfect seven-eighths scale model of the acclaimed S-Class cars. All the trappings were in place: the matte black steering wheel big enough for a bus driver, the traditional Mercedes instruments, the burnished panel of exotic zebrawood, the zany array of climate controls.
- Intrumentation and interior layout are both sheer Mercedes - for lovers of the breed no more need by said. It is simple, clear and oozes quality in a way which conservative buyers will appreciate. Only the Germans can combine sound ergonomics with good looks in this manner.
I like the interior on of my w201, Simple and functional, they way its supposed to be. Sorry guys i drove a 1996 cavalier for 3 years(which was a very reliable workhorse.but the interior was crap) a 1984 nissan stanza sedan(nice when it worked otherwise a lemon) and my mom,s 96 taurus wagon. my w201 has the nicest interior i had the pleasure to own.
Sorry if sound I kind of cranky about the W201. I am just at a stage of going over the car (which only has about 73,000 miles and is in very good condition) and getting little details sorted out. Most of these little details involve small plastic parts that are cracked or broken. Overall I think it is a good car but I really wish they would have made the choice to use more metal and less plastic. This isn't a race car that only has to last a couple hundred miles, it is a vehicle that should do hundreds of thousands of miles over the course of 25 years or more.
I would agree that the interior is better than many cars but I still wish I didn't have to replace so many cracked plastic parts in it. Under the hood is where I'm making my list of broken plastic bits to replace today.
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