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Nobody circles the wagons like the … Mercedes-Benz wagons. I’m sure you know what I’m trying to get at here. In all seriousness, if you want resale value, go ahead and grab yourself a wagon from basically any generation. It’s even true of today’s bottom-of-the-barrel offering, the W203 C240 4MATIC wagon. I’ve ranted for years about how the W203 was a real low point for Mercedes-Benz in the modern era with its utterly bland styling, horrifically cheap interior, and lackluster powertrains. The wagon doesn’t alter that formula, but at least you have the utility of all that extra space. As you can probably tell, this is not an attractive color combination. Travertine beige over Java vinyl. Don’t let the fancy name of “Java” fool you either, it’s just beige.
I’ve been harping about the W210 Mercedes-Benz E320 wagon the past few weeks and all, but don’t forget the sedan was the real mover when it came to this generation E-Class. It was a stark departure from the W124 and it’s “old school” Mercedes feel and blocky design. But by the facelift models starting in the 2000 model year, they started to really come into their stride. That was of course if it didn’t rust away, which was a major problem. Today, we have a seemingly innocent looking E320, which is why I quickly dismissed it. However, I saw it pop up again and figure something had to be up for it to be priced at $12,000 for having 110,000 miles. Then I saw inside.
Even when SUVs and crossovers dominate new car sales and almost every brand offers one, the Mercedes-Benz wagon continues to command premium prices in the used market. The sedans wither away like regular old used cars until they have nothing left, while the wagons garner a response of “Why didn’t you just buy a new Honda Civic?” after hearing how much they sell for. Today, we have one of those examples.
This is a 2003 E320 wagon, which marks the final year of the W210 chassis as the 2003 sedans were already in the next generation W211. It is finished in the wonderful shade of Aragonite Blue Metallic, which is more of a turquoise color, but to me it is a welcome change over the silver/white/tan/black that we normally see. Inside, gray leather and just 67,000 miles. The price? Well, that new Honda Civic looks pretty good.
The jump from the W124 Mercedes-Benz E-Class to the next generation W210 was a large one. Gone was the slab sided bodies and square headlines and in was a much more soft design with quad round headlights. Inside, the W210 still behaved like a Mercedes from years past, but they made sure to carry over that roundness and a whole bunch of more plastic. Under the hood, a traditional V6 took the place of the trusty inline-six midway through the model run of the E320, and a workhorse it was. Today example, a 2000 E320 up for sale in Florida, is a great example of that. Why? Well, it has almost 300,000 miles on the odometer.
The introduction of the W208 Mercedes-Benz CLK-Class was a little bit of a shock if you were coming from a W124 E-Class coupe. Suddenly everything that was square was now round, and the interior felt….well, a little less quality. I’m sure Mercedes had some kind of spin about how it was modernizing it for the new millennium, but there was no mistaking the difference. You also were swapping a smooth inline-six for a squared-off V6, which I’m sure buyers didn’t really notice the difference of – as long as it started every morning. I think time gave us the answer as really nice E320 Coupes sell for strong money, while the best CLK320 examples, like the one we have today, won’t even sell for half that value.
