Have owned a c280 - 1996 for a few years now.

Look for a wagon now. Somewhere in the 1999-2001 range.

I have seen a variety of opinions on the reliability. My wife drives alot of highway miles and I can't have her breaking down on the side of the road.

There are a few here in Atlanta. Ranging from 85K - 100K on the mileage.

I have a good local mechanic - although I don't want to visit him much.

Just looking for some general opinions here. Thanks.

Expand your search nationally, and find one with much lower mileage.
Other than that, it's a great car.

They're fine cars. They got facelifted in 2000, so you may be better off looking at the newer end of your model year range.

Problem areas are the same as any 210 sedan. I cannot think of any problems unique to the wagon. About the only think that puts these cars on the side of the road is crank position sensor. It's a simple and inexpensive part to replace.

The challenge is finding a wagon in good, well kept condition. Unlike the sedans, they tend to get beat up pretty good with kid hauling, dog hauling, Home Depot hauling duties.

- JimY

Ex wife had a 2001 wagon (W210). Suffered from constant electrical/electronic gremlins (ate bulbs (tail light, brake light, driving light) constantly - started at ~ 35k. Dealer got sick of seeing the ex when she came in for replacements, but never was able to find the root cause. Power seats needed "rewiring," COMAND unit replaced 3 times, CD changer replaced, climate control brain replaced 3 times, Timeport brain replaced 2 times.)

Throw in a pre-recall harmonic balancer failure (see this thread for the "pre-recall" misery some of went through, or this one for the joys of getting the HB fixed under the service bulletin.

For final good measure, you'll want to make sure any W210 you get is from a salt free world, and even if it is, be aware of the issues with spring perches (lots of info in this thread.)

Other than that, she put somewhere north of 150k miles on it and it rode/drove damn well.

__________________
1961 220b: first project car - sold.
2000 CLK 430: first modern Benz - sold.
2001 CLK 55: OMG the torque!!! - sold
1972 280SE 4.5: Baby Gustav
1991 300TE 4Matic: Gretel the Snow Bunny - sold
1978 300SD: Katz the Free Man - given away
1980 Redhead: Darling Wife