Due to garage space limitations, I am reluctantly starting to change my thinking from a big coupe (560SEC, S500, CL500 etc.) to a smaller car. I was thinking of a 300CE, but good ones meeting my minimal requirements (low miles, serviced properly, garaged, non-white) seem to be pretty rare around here (suburbs of NYC).

OTOH, there are a TON of CLK’s around, obviously all 5-6 years newer, with not much higher prices, than a good 300CE.

This will be a VERY lightly used car – maybe 2K miles a year – and therefore gas mileage isn’t a major concern. I would like semi-decent ergonomics for the backseat passenger (my son), and after 2 hip replacements, decent in/out and seating ergonomics for the driver (me).

Any thoughts on the CLK vs. a 300CE? If so, what years/models to avoid?

Any other car I’m missing? (Including non-MBs and non-coupes.) I was also thinking about a 400E, but these are also pretty rare here. (Forget 500Es).

Also...I would like to buy relatively locally, so unfortunately, I'm not shopping in SoCal.

Thanks
Al