Hey guys, I need a little input as to what you think might be a reasonable price for selling a 1993 190E 2.6 (the last year they made them) with 90K miles and all service records inlcuding recent 90k service. This 190E is pretty much stock compared to the other one I had, but it does have an amp, equalizer, and component speaker, tweeters, woofers replacing the factory speakers. It has a 6-Disc CD-changer (MB spec model Alpine) that works with the MB Head Unit. The car is in great shape inside (9.8/10) and outside (9/10) with brand new tires in the rear and a little less then half life on the front (about 15K miles used Pirelli P6000 Sport Veloce in 205/55/V15, traded to a friend for Dunlop SP Sport 5000 w/ 20k miles and got paid $75 for both.) The new tire are Michelin Pilot XGT H4 in 205/60/15.

It has all the options available including Automatic Transmission, Airbags, ABS, Power options, etc. except the "winter" options (heated seats, ASR, and Headlight wipers) because the car was not going to be used in snow much, and the ASR kills all the fun of driving! :) Its Metallic Grey exterior, and Grey/Black leather interior. Never been in an accident, painted, flooded, etc. with clean title. Still has full spare which was used once. Original Owners.

Now sorry for the long detailing, but I thought it would be important. Original price in April 93 was $34K+, so I did an evaluation of the car, and it basically comes to $17,250 fair-market retail, and $13,750 fair market wholesale. Retial sale is at $18,950 and dealer trade in at $12,950.

I talked to my local dealership (a guy I have known for years, bought 3 cars from him) and he said that if I did sell my car the DE/Philly area is a good choice because there wasn't that many sold/bought/traded according to the MB dealership. However, when I asked how much I would get for a trade in, he told me frankly that its not in my best intrest to do that (I knew that) because since there wasn't that many 190E 2.6 in the area, MB considered that an indication that the 190E 2.6 would be harder and longer to sell then other models. This would require more advertisement money spent, which meant less trade in price. On the other side, it represents to MB a possibility to sell a car that is in low supply, creating a higher retail value.
In english: "Its MBs way of making money, and its easier to due when you buy low and sell high." So his quotes came to about $12.5k and his sell price whould be about a little under $20k. He also told me that with MB's new no-hastle pricing, the dealers have also followed the trend on used car pricing. MB has their own appraisal value booklets that they follow.

On the plus side, he told me that these models (the w201, as well as the w124 and w140) were the best built quality wise, and the inline-6 were highly praised. Reliability was better then average, and I have all my service records, so I should be able to get a good price. He said ask for a little more then 15 and hlaf and sell for a little more then 14 and a half.

This leaves even more confused, becuase I don't see 190E selling at this price, but then again I don't see that many late model 190E. Another thing I don't see is the 2.6 being sold. So what is a fair price to ask?

Sorry for the long post, but I am torn up between the epic of selling my 190E and tuning it with the money I have, or buying a newer 190E preforming better for about the same. Sell 190 = maybe $15k + 14k in bank = a little less then $30k and buy a used MB or modify current 190E to performance of a larger/newer 190E and let go my chance of buying a new C-class. In a couple of months, the car will be 2 generations old, and I really do love the way the new C-class look. HELP!!!!!!

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Chirag (Charlie) Patel

99 Mercedes-Benx ML 430 V8 w/custom TV, Video, UHF, speaker system
93 190E 2.6 (4-sale) w/ an amp, equalizer, and CD-changer, integrated w. stock stereo for integrated cellular phone speaker system
2001 C-Class - Maybe (if 190E sells :))

Not so much about price but about durability...
The 6 cylinder engine in these 201's and others, has a propensity to let go the head gasket at around 150,00 to 180,00 miles, without fail, it seems to me. My own and every other one around here has done this consistently at this mileage......This though seems to be the Achilles heel of this motor. Apart from the alarm system going screwy and the shaking front rotors from tire shops wanging the lug bolts up too tight, these cars seem great performers and reasonable cost wise to run.
The other stuff that seems to fail more than it should is the viscous fan hub, the tensioner shock for the belt, the a/c leaking, the hood pad crumbling and the fuses corroding in the holders.

So......with that in mind, adjust your prices accordingly.....not that this is a bad car, quiet the opposite.
This is just an FYI you understand.
Don......DKV Euro..

have you check KBB.com
 

Dont want to rain on your parade, But KBBs private party value using 22032 as zip code (Fairfax Va) is sad to say a little under 5k.

Yep 10 year old 190 is not going to get you half what you paid for it. The market just sucks right now. **** I have a 2003 W203 and it is only worth about $17-20K on trade and it only has 34,000 miles and was $34K new! You may be able to get $12K if she is mint and all though. As for the post about the Head Gasket, well at 150,000 miles there are quite a few vehicle that have a head gasket go, but I do know what you mean, mine popped at 164,000, of course I am not sure if that was the first time! Since I have no records on mine. And I only paid $800 for my 1986 with 155,000 on it at the time.

Good luck to the original poster in selling this, but I would not get my hopes up for $15K on an 11 year old car that was the bottom of the line model in its day from MB!

Look at this ebay auction to get a idea what is the "top money" you can get for a car like that: ebay item# 4523317099,the 2.3 L is actually a better choice for that ...

The original post is FIVE years old.

DUH, i feel real stupid now

Wow, who the hell revived this to ask a question after almost 5 years? :bulb:

Ditto ! Damn it !