Original battery failed after 8 years (!) of service.
Sun roof can stick occasionally when opened back (as opposed to tilt). This tends to be on hot days and I haven't bothered to fix it since the tilt works just fine.
Minor oil leak from gasket, which was rectified cheaply (£40 parts/labour).
Water leak from the cooling system, although this is just happening (Oct 2001) so I'm unsure as to the cause/cost to rectify.
In performance terms this car is excellent. It will comfortably cruise at 90mph down the motorway and pushes upto 100mph without any grumbles. It can easily keep pace with modern cars. It will equally potter at 65mph with the same road holding and balance in both cases. Fuel economy is MUCH better at 65mph though...
The body work and engine, etc., are in excellent condition. Prior to myself the car had one lady owner (hmm...), but I have kept it on a busy street for 3 years and have no corrosion/rust at all. As one other reviewer said "it's a tank". My local mechanic rates the engine and other technical bits as A1 and reckons I will easily get 200,000 out of it.
Dealer servicing is an extortionate rip-off. I had one service from a main dealer in Manchester and it cost me twice as much as a private specialist. They clearly only did the main items and, like most garages, ignored the "smaller" items that, cumulatively, can cause problems. Very poor.
In general, the car lacks some of the refinements that you get on other models or, nowadays, as standard on most cars, e.g. air conditioning. Overall, this is a quality car and will run and run with regular servicing. If you are an advocate of "banger-nomics" then this is a great car to go for. Current value: £3,000. Annual maintenance costs: £500.
I am thinking about buying a 190 - this has further encouraged me to do so.
There is much to be said for buying a quality car and running it according to the principles of "Bangernomics".
Thank you for this very sensible and helpful review.
I've heard of Regan-omics. How is that different from Banger-nomics? In Canada there is a well established school of Beater-nomics. A "Beater" is the same as a "Winter-beater". You "beat" winter if you park your "good" car and drive a "beater" between October and March. UK-ers have no notion of how brutal a Canadian winter can be. Except for this year which really shows how badly screwed the environment is - as I can BBQ in my underwear - if I want to. Many cheers!
Note: A Comments RSS Feed is available. New comments appear in the Members Area before the main site