balthus

Hi All -

Searched through this forum and read a lot of the wagon posts but would appreciate opinions about a 13, 14 or 15 wagon (likely a Sport model) all with P1 and each has some other options so not apples-to-apples.

We are unexpectedly in the market for a wagon to replace our 04 E320 Sport that has taken forced early retirement due to an accident and insurance is just writing us a check as the body & repair costs will be about book value.

We are still in mourning as she was a beauty (black/black) with under 90k miles and meticulously maintained and we had planned on keeping her as long as we could and are now faced with choosing from past 3 model years.

The 14 and 15's we are looking at are new and the 13 pre-owned (one CPO - one not - both with less than 12,000 miles). There's an almost $20k swing between the cars but the 13's went into service in '12 & will go out of warranty in mid-summer '16.

This could be our last MB new purchase as we'll probably be in retirement by the time we buy another car & we are now going from no car payment to a hefty one. plus likely have insurance increase.

We are "wagon" people and have looked at Volvo's, BMW, Audi, etc and none of them do it for us. I am very particular about exterior & interior color so this is limiting choices as well.

Any thoughts on which direction to go - '13 or new and any must-have options? We are steering away from anything older as we don't want to have a car payment and start incurring service expenses straight off.

Thanks in advance.

shashivr4

I think the first question you have to ask yourself is whether you like the pre-facelift or facelift models...that will help decide between 13 or 14/15. If you go 13, try to get P2 (versus only P1).

thenew3

Also another thing to consider is the start/stop annoyance. the 13 will not have that, but 14/15 will have that as standard.

Personally I really dislike the start/stop "feature". Although MB seems to have done a pretty good job implementing it, I still dis like it and question long term reliability on the starter, engine and transmission.

Because of that, I would suggest a 13. You can always buy an extended warranty to get you another 2 years after the CPO expires if you are worried.

DerekACS

The 2014/2015 wagons offer both technical and structural upgrades compared to the 2013. IMO, the newer styling is another major bonus. For example, the LED lighting system is more effective than the previous bi-zenons; even the front and rear turn signals have improved visibility.

As for the auto stop/start, it is non-issue for me. It's easily turned off when desired or it has the potential to reduce fuel consumption and emissions. It's operation is seamless, compared to BMW's version of ***.

balthus

Thanks for everyone's posts and sorry for not responding sooner but we decided to go with the '13 Sport versus a new '14 or '15.

The combination of the price differential, low miles, condition, options & ability to extend the warranty to summer of '19 (additional year from CPO & 2 year extended) won us over.

It's Polar White with Black MB Tex and equipped with P1, rear side airbags, panorama sunroof, driver seat with massage, black ash wood trim, keyless go & the lane tracking package.

For us, it will be like getting a new car compared to the '04 although there are a few quirky things to get used to like the run flat tires (no place for spare?), blind spot assist (the triangles on the mirrors & the coffee cup symbol on dash will take some getting used to), etc and the sport seats feel a bit more contoured (snug) but it rides great and it very elegant.

Are the run flats ok in rain & show? We are used to our Michelins. I guess you have to have run flats on this wagon since there is no place for a spare?

They have to do the CPO on it and we are headed out of town for a long weekend later this week so we probably won't pick it up for another 10 days or so.

Looking forward to interacting on this forum from time to time.

Thanks!