A month ago road debris toasted the engine, intercooler and radiator on my 2013 A5 cabriolet, insurance totaled the car, as a HUGE fan of wagons I wanted a Mercedes CPO E class wagon, and was blown away by how scarce they are, the Mercedes web site only showed a total of 42 cars from the 350 to the AMG in the entire country. 10 years ago I started hunting for a 1980's wagon, Pontiac, Mercury or Buick only, and there was more to choose from, today not so much but there are more than 42 out there.
What I was looking for was a CPO wagon with under 40,000 miles that did not have a Panorama Sunroof, the P3 package, no damaged Carfax and could not be a black car, also did not want a e63 AMG. And I needed it yesterday.
found 1 at Mercedes in Buffalo, Diamond silver metallic, the folks there were more than accommodating, gave me a good deal, on price and additional Cert. not great but ok. Most of the dealers (7) that I talked to were not budging on their price, their Certification or Mercedes me which I get based on how few there are, and it was ok - just not for me.

Have had the car a WHOLE 1 week and it is certainly quick enough for me to get into trouble, and driving it is surreal so far very glad I did it!

 

E400 are fine, the E450 have even more power. My wagon feels very sports car like. Great cars. It's a shame MB does not sell the regular wagons anymore in the USA. Yes they become more and more rare as time goes by. I think with my 2019 I'll just try to keep the miles as low as possible and the car will probably last me the rest of my life. I really never want to make the transition to Electric cars, I could be driving another 15 years or so and I think there will still be us old timers driving gas still at that point.

 

Looking at a really nice 2019 wagon that is well equipped including acoustic comfort and air body control - cardinal red. Hoping to make a deal on it this weekend...

 

I love my 21' AT Wagon, I can be fast if I want it to be fast and it handeles great on the road. Last week I drove the side roads at 45MPH and saw 35 MPG.

 

Don't forget to post some pics. Would like to see your new set of wheels

 

Pics of my 2017 Diamond Silver Metallic E400

 

Looks awesome! I still think the 'Luxury' variant is great looking. I like the grill and wheels that come with this variant. Happy motoring. These are really nice vehicles and are perfect for long distance cruising. I bought mine in Akron OH and drove it back to Austin TX. It was a really nice 1340 mile trip, getting to know the car and its many features. In two weeks I'm driving mine up to Toronto Canada and looking forward to the trip.

 

Silver with lux looks great.

RIP the analog clock.

 

Looks like nappa leather in there, makiii - that is especially nice. Congrats.

 

Stopped at my local independent dealer the other day and was talking to the owner about the E400 wagon, and mentioned that I'm glad I got it when I did, 4 months ago,
He said no kidding as availability is even worse now and that prices are absurd!
just did a quick MB CPO search for e class wagons 2016 E350 thru the 2020 AMG63s under 50,000 miles, there are only 4 2017's and they are all over $7,000 more than what I paid for mine at the end of August.
there used to be a saying "that when you Ford the world Fords with you, but when Rolls you Rolls alone" Think it applies to all of us wagon owners.

 

Small query. Why did you not want a panorama roof. I have one in the E450 and find it very enjoyable on a winter’s day. Makes for a bright cheery interior

 

Most of my cars have either been convertibles or older station wagons that didn’t have sunroofs, My wife’s cars have pretty much always had them, and we never open them,
usually keep the cover closed.

Why? I actually have no idea! Just don’t use them so why get a panorama!

just another 1 of my many idiosyncrasies

 

Got mine....2015 E350S4. All available options at the time.

 

We had looked for a proper wagon for almost a year, and just when we thought we would select a 25K mile car a few states away, our local dealer popped a 2019 E450 4matic with 3,000 miles on the CPO site. We drove over, did a test drive, and then drove it home. Our third E class wagon, there is simply no other vehicle like this; utility, styling, comfort and flexibility. All used cars have gone up in pricing the past year or so; we have an E450 cab that the dealer has offered me more today than we paid two years ago; this wagon was reasonably valued considering the age, mileage and warranty, not to mention like new condition. Drive on!

 

I know there is much I do not understand, but one of the more perplexing is why wagons (T-Model) get so much attention and space on this Forum from North Americans. I mean seriously is it that most people who own one post here.

 

Well, IMO, this thread is about wagons, therefore the responses are predominately about wagons (T model as you note, or S model historically). Beyond that, the estate / wagon in the US is a bit of a unicorn; just not a quantity of them anymore. Many of us grew up riding in the back of the family 'station wagon', with fond memories for the most part, those cars are now all gone, or in Chevy Chase movies. Perhaps we seek a 'replacement'?

The early 300TD/TE's are legendary in the States; many still on the road today, as are the S124, S210, S211, W212, now the W213 variants. So it is not that a majority of the owners of the estate / wagon are taking to keyboard in the forum; rather that a group of owners is quite passionate about their unique and somewhat rare vehicles.

If you take a look at sales numbers; in 2019, Subaru sold 181,178 Outbacks in the US market; Mercedes sold 39,172 E class autos; of that 39K, 8,000 were wagons, or right at 20% of all E class sales; and but 4% of Outback sales. In that same 2019 year, Mercedes sales volume in the US was 352,129; the E class wagon constitutes about 2% of all MB USA sales numbers; so not a common vehicle in a US gross market of 17 million. By comparison, the SL in 2019 sold 1,690 units in the US. Both the wagon and SL are somewhat rare.

So a vocal minority? Perhaps; however MB values the US market base for the wagon very highly as it draws in a well heeled (present company excluded) clientele, who tend to buy other vehicles, such as SUVs, sedans, G wagons, et al. Obviously you discern the value proposition of the vehicle as you own one. The broad use capability of this motor car is one of the attractions; the design, the performance, the reliability (we all hope) combine to position this vehicle as one that provides high utilization on so many levels.

As noted in one of my previous postings, this is our third E class wagon (1999 W210; 2008 W/S 211) the two previous iterations residing in our stable for about ten years each, and delivering supreme utility.

In closing, there is a passionate, yet relatively small, base of wagon lovers. And that does not even begin to address the E63s wagon crowd! As Streamliner stated a few days ago, "I LOVE THIS CAR!"

 

Estate wagon sales in the US are relatively small, because the American car buyer with a family appears to be SUV-obsessed. Very SUV obsessed. In Europe, where it is said the roads are narrower, the large SUV has struggled to catch on. So, wagon sales in Europe have been better in Mercedes' back yard. This benefits non-conformist Americans who want the E-wagon and can still get one.

This also explains why Mercedes is a late comer to the SUV business, making slow progress in an American market full of up-market Cadillac Escalades, and Japanese luxury knock-offs. As MB tries to catch-up, you will likely continue seeing a smattering of wagons as a prcentage of sales. But if/when SUVs take-over Europe, watch out...

 

I know you didn’t ask me but, I wish the sunroof was optional on more cars instead of standard. My wife’s SUV has a sunroof. I can count probably on one hand how many times it’s been open in the last 10 years. Open, it’s noisier than my convertible. We don’t even open the shade that much. When I open the shade, it’s on cloudy days. Obviously everyone is different but, I wish it was an option that we could skip. Like my Cab, the only way to get what I wanted was to order it.

 

I don't want to beat a dead horse, but its a quiet day. I never had much use for regular sunroofs. Small and didn't accomplish much. But the panorama is different at least for me. The two glass panels let in a lot of light all over, and the shade makes for a bright interior whereas a solid cover completely blocks the light. Frankly we never open the thing up. And I would not mind if it was fixed. An expensive feature I think most people could do without, but a fixed glass roof with a shade would be a cost effective alternative, but I guess MB prefers the full price style.

 

Living in Central Texas where it is over 100F (35C) for over 6 months a year I have little to no use for a sunroof. When I began searching for my 2020 back in Nov of 2020 I tried to find a wagon without a sunroof but never could, the vast majority had the sunroof so I had to go with it if I wanted a new 2020.

 

I have no use for a sunroof... or a panoramic roof. Both are a waste of resources that adds weight way above the center of gravity of the car. And in the summer climes noted by fleuger99, the glass just amplifies the heat in the car.

I did open the sunroof once on my W212, but can't remember doing it twice. The sunroof on my 20-year-old C320 has been opened 5-6 time, tops.

Everyone should own a convertible once... for 15 minutes.

I became somewhat handy at removing the T-Tops from my '85 Nissan 300ZX at longer stoplights. But that got old, too.

Everyone should own a car with a convertible roof... for 30-minutes... a month at most. That's enough...

 

I’ve owned convertibles for over 20 years now, I love it. During the start of Covid, going for drives helped keep us sane.

 

As I mentioned I am not a fan of sunroofs, but convertibles are another issue. I like 2 types of cars, convertibles and wagons - 8 convertibles & the E400 is my 9th wagon. have been driving for 47 years.
My 1st convertible was a 1970 GTO convertible, 73 Alfa, 69 280sl, Buick Skylark - had to sell the 280sl - (to flashy to drive to the plant, set a bad tone) 97 Audi, 05 Crossfire, 09 CLK 350 & 13 Audi A5.
When the weather is right the wind screen in place the tunes blaring - there is nothing automotive the beats that for me.
a sunroof cannot even come close.

 

I also wish we could option no sunroof. When I got my first S213, it had the panorama roof and that was just way too bright. It was the end of summer and you could really feel the heat, like the A/C would struggle, particularly if the wagon heat soaked while parked. Oh and it was black, which probably didn’t help. When I decided I didn’t quite like how that wagon was equipped I decided to order one and spec’d the sunroof. I thought I saw a W213 in Malaysia without a sunroof (or panorama roof), so I wonder if it’s on MBUSA as to not being allowed to order that variant. I’m quite happy with my current S213, but it would be better with the solid roof.

 

Since my first convertible in 91, I’ve had 12.