Mercedes E-Class bought unseen with a check engine light on passed emission tests in Colorado thanks to a $16 part

This 27-year-old Mercedes E-Class W210 bought sight unseen managed to pass emission tests in Colorado due a neat little trick that only cost the owner $16.

These guys bought the car with over 500,000 miles on the odometer for less than $1,000.

It still ran, but they were prepared to watch the car fail emission tests simply because it was just so old.

And yet, thanks to a small and seemingly unimportant component, it actually passed.

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The guys from the TFLClassics YouTube channel bought a 1998 Mercedes-Benz E-Class W210 for $800 plus taxes.

After that, they thought it prudent to invest an additional $1,800 to make it a bit better and, more to the point, safer.

The main thing to replace was the cracked windshield, but they also fixed the brakes and gave the car a new radiator.

However, even after doing that, they were still resigned to the fact that the car was likely to fail emission tests in Colorado, simply because the engine that powers it is so outdated.

Then, things got worse when the Check Engine light went on.

Amazingly, a simple $16 component fixed both the engine light problem as well as the emission problem.

In the end, they simply replaced the gas cap, which cost them $16, and that was enough to make the annoying engine light go off.

Not only that, it was enough for the state of Colorado to deem this car roadworthy as it passed the emission tests with flying colors.

Not bad for a car with over 542,000 miles on the clock.

Designed by the late design icon Bruno Sacco, the E-Class W210 was the second generation of E-Class, but still one of the most beloved ones.

And, over 20 years later, the E-Class is still a key product for Mercedes.

However, like so many other legacy makers, Mercedes spent the last few years going back and forth with their naming strategy.

First, they decided to split their line-up into electric cars, named EQ-something, and internal combustion cars, using familiar names like E-Class, S-Class and so on.

But this only lasted for about four years, because at some point Mercedes realized this whole naming scheme was a bit confusing.

At some point, Mercedes was even selling two totally different vehicles under the same name because you had the EQE, as in the electric E-Class, and another EQE (below), which is an SUV.

This was clearly not ideal, which is why the next-gen electric S-Class won’t be called the EQS, it’ll simply be sold under the S-Class name, and the same thing will happen to the current E-Class.

As for the current E-Class, the first with Mercedes-made software and with a selfie camera (believe it or not), it was only unveiled two years ago, which means it’ll still be around for a few more years.

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