190 Cosworth...worth buying for the wife?

[AndStilliRise]

r129sl said:

Whatever you do, do not discuss the merits of any particular car.

Do not mention the naff clear front indicators and repeaters.
Do not speak of the Pirelli P6000 ditch finder rear tyres.
Certainly do not observe that the relationship of front wing to front bumper and bonnet suggests said wing is an inferior aftermarket replacement.
The defective off side headlamp wiper is probably off limits, too.
Likewise the irritating phone antenna in the rear screen.
And as for the miserable vendor, well, keep that to yourself.

Weather looks nice in his pictures doesn't it? Oops, probably best not to point out that it has been for sale for what seems like forever. I doubt you could even say that it looks like a fairly decent but far from perfect example that is possibly over-priced.

Excellent. Thank you.

By the looks of Mrs would prefer a RRS after all!

[UpTheIron]

MrB. said:

Whilst I appreciate this is a country of free speech, perhaps I may be so bold to suggest you keep your opinions of my car to yourself unless you've given me the courtesy to actually view it in person, rather than offering opinion from behind the safety net of your computer screen.

or why don't you state that isn't the case and there is no rot at all?

[r129sl]

In fairness to the vendor, the car plainly is not rotten. To my eye it has some of the usual niggles to be found on a 25 year old Mercedes; and according the the ad it has had some effort and expense applied to it in recent times. As I observe above, the interior looks remarkably good. (Despite the huge seat bolsters, most of these cars do not wear there. Rather the (gorgeous) "Karro" check cloth frays and splits in the base of the seat and the pleats come away: this car has none of that.) If it were £7k rather than £9k, it would look a lot better. These cars are on a steep rise, though, and there's not many of them for sale.

[e21Mark]

I don't know much about these Mercedes specifically but it looks to be a pretty tidy example of what is now a pretty rare car. So many of these fell into the wrong hands, where people simply couldn't or wouldn't shell out on proper maintenance and/or repairs. As E30 M3 values have got silly, people have been looking at the competition, so it's small wonder that values and desirability are on the up.

Personally I would rather this than something modern and mundane but I am probably in the minority.