Enrique is legendary here and spoken very highly of in all cases. I would say you can't get a better recommendation. I seem to recall someone driving their car from Salt Lake City to his shop, just because of his reputation. I have no idea where his shop is relative to your home, but like suginami suggested, the drive may well be worth it.

Enrique should also be able to give you an assessment of the general condition of your car and help you decide if it is a "keeper" or not. I drive cars until they can't be fixed anymore so I don't see why you wouldn't tackle that list over time if not in one chunk. A new equivalent car is going to cost you more in finance charges every year than maintenance on a good example of the W202 chassis. The basic chassis you have is a very solid car. Everyone has opinions, but it seems the later cars have all suffered from the rapid increase in the number of models MB put into production. Poorer engineering and poorer quality control. The W202 is simpler and seems more rugged than the cars that have replaced it. Too early to tell on the latest C.

Jim

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Own:
1986 Euro 190E 2.3-16 (291,000 miles),
1998 E300D TurboDiesel, 231,000 miles -purchased with 45,000,
1988 300E 5-speed 252,000 miles,
1983 240D 4-speed, purchased w/136,000, now with 222,000 miles.
2009 ML320CDI Bluetec, 89,000 miles

Owned:
1971 220D (250,000 miles plus, sold to father-in-law),
1975 240D (245,000 miles - died of body rot),
1991 350SD (176,560 miles, weakest Benz I have owned),
1999 C230 Sport (45,400 miles),
1982 240D (321,000 miles, put to sleep)