mjsbenz

As mentioned in my previous posts, I have the opportunity to buy a 2012 E350 4matic from a friend. It will be used primarily by my son/daughter-in-law with their 2 year old and infant who live in Manhattan. Maybe 4K-5K miles a year...at most.

I have gone through all the questions about reliability, anticipated repairs, etc. All seems good. However, it is the right car for a young family? With strollers, and stuff that accompanies a toddler and infant, will this car handle the requirements when then want to come to our home in NJ for the weekend? Does anyone have real world experience using the W212 as the only car for a young family?

Thanks for your thoughts.

Rogue Leader

I actually DO have this experience! I have a 2 year old and a 9 month old. We have 2 different strollers a single and a double (Chicco singe, and baby jogger city select double), either stroller will fit into the trunk of the car no problem and still leave a decent amount of room for bags/toys/etc. The double stroller is inline not side-by-side. I have not tried to fit a side by side in here but I'd imagine it may be harder, but TBH in Manhattan unlikely they would buy a stroller like that.

The only other thing to keep in mind is that with an infant carrier the seat it is behind can't go back super far. For me its fine I'm 5'8", but if one or both of them are very tall they may be uncomfortable with the limit to bringing their seat backward. The electronic sunshade on the back window is great, keeps the kids out of the sun while still letting them see out the window.

Overall its great, my car holds nearly as much as our GLE does, in terms of physical trunk floor space its about the same, the GLE just has some height obviously. We have had no problems in the kid aspect whatsoever.

DFWdude

"Does a W212 Trunk work for a toddler and infant?" Sure thing. You should be able to stuff up to 28 toddlers in the trunk... or 45 newborn intants. Oh, wait... You're asking about space for car seats and strollers, diaper bags, etc.

Rear facing car seats are the only potential issue (clearance with front seat back). IIRC, all Mercedes sedans have industry leading child seat mounts in the rear seat. My 18 year old MB has them. But that's in the cabin, not the trunk.

mjsbenz

Please tell me that your capacity specs for number of toddlers and infants are not from your personal experience. Does anyone have a hotline to DYFS? . When I re read my post, I knew someone was going to respond that way. All in good fun.

Regarding the rear facing seats hitting the back of the front seats, I have a similar issue with my W213 which requires the front seat to be more forward.

DFWdude

I've owned minivans where there was not enough room for rear-facing car seats. Sometimes, a Peterbuilt attached to a 40 ft trailer isn't big enough, either.

Seriously, I've read here that a W212 is bigger inside than a W213, but only slightly. If you are really thinking about this, imagine driving long distances in either, and it might get you thinking of an MB SUV instead, rather than the friend's W212.

Rogue Leader

Its really not that bad. Me and my wife are the same height (5'8") and we have plenty of room with the kid seats rear facing back there.

Now that said, my wife likes the damn front seat back so far shes practically sitting in the back seat, so it annoys her somewhat.

onceover

Just sold my Porsche Cayenne for a S212 (wagon). There's more legroom with the car seats in the back than there was in the cayenne. Driving position is slightly closer than I'd like when a rear facing seat behind it, but my wife is the one driving most of the time, and she has no issues.