Manual transmissions are getting really rare these days, but they never have been common at the fancier end of the market. Even if a manual was technically available, so few buyers chose them that used examples are almost unheard-of. But for your consideration and enjoyment today, I have found two small luxury sedans equipped with V6 engines – and manual transmissions.
Yesterday, we took a look at two cars that are rare these days no matter what transmission is in them. You all weren’t happy about the automatic seatbelts in them (though only on one side of the Eagle), but lots of you had stories about one or the other, and I do enjoy hearing them. The vote wasn’t even close; the Mazda MX-6 won by a country mile. I get the feeling that if the Eagle had been a manual, the vote might have been closer.
I’d definitely take the MX-6. As I mentioned, I had a Ford Probe and really liked driving it. In fact, I only sold it because I bought a Miata and needed the parking space. An MX-6 or 626 with a five-speed would be high on my list of cars to look for, if I ever found myself in need of a cheap beater again.
I sometimes wonder if the rise in cell phone use by drivers and the decline of manual transmissions might somehow be related. Before cell phones, if you were a young executive on your way to the office, you had both hands free, and could have a little fun shifting gears before riding a desk all day. But once that phone was glued to your ear, a manual shifter was one too many things to juggle. These days, you have to go on a quest to find a manual, even among the usual suspects like BMW. The makers of today’s choices never were known for manuals, but nevertheless, these two have them. Let’s check them out.
1990 Lexus ES 250 – $3,000
Engine/drivetrain: 2.5-liter DOHC V6, five-speed manual, FWD
Location: Las Vegas, NV
Odometer reading: 122,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
A lot of the early models from Japanese luxury brands – especially Lexus and Infiniti – were just fancy versions of Japanese-market cars that US buyers hadn’t seen before. It was a quick and easy way of adding something “special” to the lineup, to support the flagship V8 sedans. The Lexus ES 250 was just a dressed-up version of the Camry called the Camry Vista, Americanized a bit and sold at a premium. Hey, it worked well enough to establish Lexus in the US.
The only engine available in the ES 250 was the 2.5 liter V6 that was optional in the Camry. I guess a small front-wheel-drive sedan was ok, but a four-cylinder version was just too downmarket. I guess I realized that these were available with a manual transmission, but I don’t think I’ve ever actually seen one before. This one runs and drives great, according to the seller, and it doesn’t have many miles on it, so it should continue to do so for a long time to come.
It has seat covers on the front seats, and the seller isn’t hiding the fact that the driver’s seat is torn up a bit. There’s also a pretty big crack in the dashboard vinyl. The rest of the interior is in good shape, though, and all the power features work as does the air conditioning. I guess for the price, we can forgive a ripped-up driver’s seat. If it really bothered you, you could have it reupholstered.
It’s hard to tell from the photos, but according to the ad, it’s actually really dark green, not black. The only damage I see outside is a missing left front corner light, and the left headlight may be a little out of whack as well. The corner light may be hard to find; these aren’t common cars. But I think it’s a side marker light, and not the turn signal, so you should still be able to signal properly.
2001 Mercedes-Benz C240 – $3,795
Engine/drivetrain: 2.6-liter OHC V6, six-speed manual, RWD
Location: La Habra, CA
Odometer reading: 186,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
The idea of a “baby Benz” dates back to 1982, when the W201 chassis was introduced. In 1993, when the W201 was replaced by the W202, Mercedes started referring to it as the C-Class, the smallest of three classes of sedan. This is the second generation of C-Class, and probably the last one before Mercedes cars started getting way too complicated to deal with.
The C240 is powered by a 2.6-liter V6 engine, which has a good reputation. It’s usually paired with Mercedes’s equally sturdy automatic transmission, but this one adds some engagement in the form of a six-speed manual. According to the seller, it runs and drives great, and has never once had a check engine light in five years of ownership. For a twenty-plus-year-old German car, that’s really saying something.
This is, unfortunately, the only photo we get of the interior, and it doesn’t tell us much. It’s dusty, and there’s a bunch of junk in the passenger’s footwell, but that’s all I can tell you. The seller does say that everything works. The air conditioner “could use a charge,” they say, but it works. In that instance, I can believe that maybe it really does just need a charge. I’ve had AC systems that were a little weak, but worked fine after a top-up. It’s worth a shot, anyway.
It looks good outside, though it could use a wash and a wax. The headlights are cloudy, which is typical of a car this age. I’ve had mixed results with the polishing kits; usually it’s better to just replace the whole unit, but these aren’t as cheap as some others I’ve replaced. It’s probably worth trying the polishing kit first.
I’m not sure you could exactly call these two cars fun to drive, but they’re more interesting than their automatic counterparts. And if you felt a little bit smug and superior driving them, I guess I can’t blame you; driving a manual transmission is a dying art. We certainly won’t see the likes of these cars again, so if you want one, here’s your chance. Which one will it be?
I lived in Vegas many moons ago, and when you wanted interior/upholstery work done you made a road trip to Mexicali. The work got done relatively inexpensively while you tried not to get into trouble in the bars.
I love the look of this generation Mercedes, so I voted for it. I don’t much care for Toyotas; my ownership experience with them has been pretty mixed. As others have noted, there are evident issues with the Benz, but I’m choosing to take the description at face value and spend my hard-earned internet monies on it. If it was real money, I’d wait for a day with something I like better.
I can feel the sticky residue from those HVAC controls on the Mercedes just looking at them. Lexus all the way.
Yeah. Some of the soft-touch controls on my ’01 Jetta got icky-sticky over time. Or just flaked off.
I think the worst was some stuff on an EOS Rebel Canon my wife’s ex had up in the attic in Texas. I had to use Dawn to get that crap off my hands. The stuff on the memory card was very boring and poorly composed.
Well, this one is a no-brainer. Camry all the way. Especially over a poorly maintained and beat up mercedes.
I’d like the Merc if it wasn’t a trash heap inside. It just looks beat up.
My MIL had this generation of Camry, with the V6, and it was a rocket. A tarted-up Lexus version-with a manual!- pushes all of my buttons.
I’d haggle him down for a new set of seat covers, though. Better seat covers.
Japanese V6 sedans are/were no slouches. I don’t often floor my ’17 V6 Accord, but when I do, it has more than adequate power.
Still, I voted for the Merc, because I have always wanted one. I’ve had a couple of BMWs and a VW. Might as well do the trifecta/hat trick. With imaginary Autopian dollars. In real life, I’d go with the Lexus. In the end, neither of these. Unless I had to. And even then, I’d keep looking.
An S-Class with a stick would be really cool. Impossible, but really cool.
With their upper-end engines, it would have to be a beefy one.
RWD 6-Speed Merc? Yes, please. Plus, I’ve always liked the lights on that gen. Polish them up for sure!
Au contraire! It tells me all I needed to know to vote for the Camrus.
This was actually a tough one, but ultimately I went for the Fancy Camry.
The Benz has some red flags, namely that we only get one interior shot. “No check engine light”, but couldn’t be bothered to clean it before sale or use a cheap headlight restoration kit? Also, again, if you’re claiming you cared for it and there haven’t been issues, why not charge the AC if that’s all it needs? Doesn’t add up for me. The staging in an upscale neighborhood where the seller likely does not live is probably the dealbreaker.
The Lexus has some red flags too though, which is what made it close. It’s hard to tell, but the tint on the rear window seems to be bubbling, which is unfortunately common on multi-owner Lexus products of this era. Not hard to fix, but I’ve found that bad tint jobs tend to go hand in hand with other undesirable things.
That Benz already took its turn at the buy-here-pay-here lot and I wouldn’t touch it if you paid me.
The “C” in C-class stands for cut-rate. Pass on the bargain bin Benz. Will take the Camry wearing it’s best interview suit.
The Benz is a running red flag: if they couldn’t bother cleaning it before posting pictures, odds are good that the A/C isn’t the only thing that they’ve neglected in five years. I’m almost willing to bet that “never once had a check engine light” is more due to the bulb being pulled long ago than the maintenance regimen. That being said, the other option is still just an (old) Camry and I don’t need something reliable above all else right now. Give me the Benz and they don’t need to clean out the bottle of Tylenol that is undoubtedly under the trash in the foot well cause I’ll be needing it.
On the most basic surface level this is easy. Both are manual, so it’s FR vs FF. Easy Mercedes, right?
…weeeellll…
First of all, we’re talking Bubble Era V6, manual Lexus ES, which as far as I know has none of the ailments of four cylinder, automatic Camrys of the same Era that are so often heard on reruns of Car Talk. And it’s something you never see. Good plus points, even if the seats and dash need work.
Compare this to a DaimlerChrysler Era Mercedes C-Class. An Era notorious for a major drop in reliability, as Mercedes started chasing profits rather than perfection. And then there’s the condition of the interior – how much effort does it take to clean up your junk!? – and the biggest red flag: every window but the windshield is tinted. Easy to fix, sure, but you will probably get profiled by every police officer on the way home, if you don’t take a cordless heat gun, trash bags, and some goof-off with you.
Definitely the cushy 3-pedal Camry.
The Mercedes is common and trashed – when the seller doesn’t even bother washing it to sell, it tells a lot about how it was maintained (barely).
The Lexus is unusual, probably has fewer needs and has lower mileage.
The signal lamp will be easy to find on eBay – or as a Toyota Vista part, from overseas.
Its the green one for me.
Yeah, the Lexus owner at least cared enough to clean the car before posting, and seems very honest in their description.
Both manuals, so now I’m looking at repairs on a Toyota vs a MB. Yeah, I’m going Toyota.
The Lexus is ready to go. That MB looks like it might give you tetanus; without more information, I can’t even consider it.
I’ve been longing for a rwd stick shift to shamelessly hoon in the winter ever since I traded in my Genesis.
That Benz will do nicely.
I love the look of the Lexus, but I have yet to own a FWD and I see no reason to start today.
I’m all over that Lexus…still looks classy as hell all these years later, and has an “it” factor due to scarcety. Nothing against the Benz…fine vehicle, apart from the wooly dashboard pic and propensity of costly repairs.
Not overly interested in either, but the fact that the Lexus has essentially half the mileage (You know MB miles count for more than Lexus miles) probably would have given it the win anyway, but then it’s also significantly cheaper. Bye bye Benz!
I reluctantly voted for the Fancy Camry. Those photos of the Benz do not paint it in a good light.
The photos taken with the staging as they did, putting the car in a nice neighborhood, but without making any effort to clean up the car or hide the fact that it likely hasn’t had an easy life for the past however many years just turned me off from it.
Which is sad, I always vote for the RWD option over the FWD option when available. Even living in a northern state and fighting snow I’d rather have RWD.
The novelty of the Lexus is more appealing than the repairs on the Merc
I think the Camry would be joyless to drive. I always liked the C-Class, but they rust out so badly in the Midwest. This one needs a really good detail, but I don’t mind a little elbow grease its still a RWD sedan with decent power and a manual transmission.
Camry would be joyless, but it would drive. A MB with nearly 200k is pushing your luck and not something I’m interested in rolling the dice on.
The drivetrain is pretty stout, I don’t have much hope for the electronics, but that engine should be good with fluid changes. Plus given the amount I drive its really 2 years until we are approaching 200k miles and by then the MB would be cleaned up and listed for sale again.
This might be my favorite C-class body design, and it always looked good in silver! I am also too tempted by the 6-speed. I wish there was some kind of interior condition picture, though. I think we can assume it is trashed, based on the one pic of the shifter.
You’re close. Given the druthers I’d go for a 1980s M-B 300SL
Choosing Benz, despite what must be a disgusting interior, because I’ve never owned a 6 speed or a Benz. And just needs an AC charge? I would bring my pressure gauge and can of refrigerant to the test drive.
Take the headlamps to a bodyshop to polish and then clearcoat them. It should give them more longevity as it adds a protective layer against further UV with the clear.
But I’ll vote the Lexus. It’ll be good for another 30 years.