LexFather

LexFather

mmarshall

It's nice to read about these cars again...........some of them, I never got to test-drive myself when they were here.

Of the ones I DID test-drive, however, I liked the Peugeot's soft ride/comfort level (but hated its unconventional and quirky Gallic French control stalks), liked the excellent build quality and tanklike solidness of the Mercedes 190 (in the late 80's/early 90's, Mercedes had some of the best quality in the world.....soon to become a disaster), and the safety-cocoon protection of the Volvo 940, although it was super-dull to drive, felt like an appliance, and was too large and heavy for its four-cylinder powerplant....I don't think the one I drove had a turbo.

I wonder how R&T would have ranked the BMW's of the period, compared to this group..........I see they didn't include one, apparantly because of unavailability. (I distinctly remember that BMWs were the classic Yuppie status symbols of this era...........they were THE cars to own among young urban professionals, even with those who were not classic car enthusiasts or looking for BMW-type handling)

Lexmex

I'd take the 190E, my parents still have both. The Alfa as I remember when I drove it ran quite smooth but would slowly fall apart on you.

mmarshall

Welcome to the world of Italian cars. With some of them, it was a not-so-slow process of falling apart.

The fact that your parents still have their 190 is a testament to how well the average Mercedes was built 20 years ago. What happened to that company over the course of the next 10-15 years was truly sad.

MadMax96

Haha... my folks purchased a 1990 Peugeot 405 wagon as a leftover in 1991. It wasn't a bad car - had the same interior as the Mi16 model but with an automatic trans.

The 1.9L was pretty gutless, but man, it handled awesome (keep in mind other cars in the family were Lincolns/Cadillacs). As a teenager I pushed that car HARD and my dad was ticked to see how rounded off I made the front tires. Doh!

I don't remember it being unreliable - but maintenance and parts weren't cheap. Of course shortly after we got it I want to say that's when Peugeot pulled out of the U.S. and the already lousy resale went in the crapper.

rg_gibson

I remember all of these cars and I definitely could remember going with my dad to test drive a black on black 190 and boy did I feel in love with Benzes, well, at-least until I feel in love with Lexus a little while afterwards.