IMHO, the only low-end Fords worth owning are the 90-93 Escorts, and I have found them to be excellanet "bargain" cars. They are actually re-badged Mazda Proteges, in other words, they're good Fords because Ford didn't make them. They're great on gas and will go to 220k, but you have to remember to change the timing belt every 80 k or you'll turn the motor into scrap. I've only owned standards, so I can't say how the autos are. One advantage, since people identify the model with the other POS Fords, you can buy them dirt cheap compared to what an identical Mazda would cost. The Escort wagon was a mom-mobile, so you can find a lot of low-mileage low-speed driven models out there. I've bought a number of these for business use and have bought Proteges for my kids to drive. They're a great used car for a kid - you can pick up a good one for 1500-2k and not have to put a dime into. If your like me, as your kids wreck them, you become expert at replacing fenders and such, and you will appreciate the cars for how easy it is to slap a fender or bumper on them and how cheap the parts are at the junkyard.

Otherwise I agree on Toyotas. They're worth the price premium. I've owned three of them over the years and each one was a legend, espeically the one I owned in college, which withstood torture and abuse so well it would have made Saddam proud to own it. I paid $450 bucks for it, beat it like a drum in a thunderstorm for four years, repaired nothing, and sold it for $450. Thats a car. If he drove a big Dodge, a Camray would be a nice fit for him. They have a big car feel in a small car and are incredibly well built.

I'd stay away from cheap MBs. The good dependable ones cost lots of money. The cheap ones are usually cheap for a reason. The older ones make great restoration hobbies but can be an expensive proposition as a daily driver. I don't know much about the 190s, but I tour a lot of junkyards as part of my 83 280 SL hobby, and there sure does seem to be a lot of 190s in the yards that looked like they died of engine problems.