Today’s E-Class has every feature of an SUV you could want save for the tippy handling. Could its price tip it even further in your favor?

I don’t know about you, but if I’m going to be assimilated by the crossover crowd, I at least want to have a half-way interesting whip in which to do so.

Yesterday’s certainly looked that part, all hunkered down as it was. As many of you pointed out, however, that $6,000 bit of British Steel, most likely wasn’t, in fact, a British steal. No, for most of you, Range Rover’s reputation proceeded it, and that sporty utility dropped in a 60 percent Crack Pipe loss.

Crossovers and SUVs have killed off a lot of car categories. One that’s still kicking, but certainly under threat is the family station wagon. Much like the crossover, the family wagon offers enhanced utility and sometimes, like with this , both three-rows and AWD.

Yep, this mid-sized Mercedes gives you pretty much everything you’d want in something like an Explorer or other SUV of that ilk, only in a more manageable size and without the feeling that you’re driving a teacup at every aggressively taken turn.

The W211 E-Class made its movie debut in the 2002 film Men In Black II. Today, I’d say it’s aged a bit better than has that sophomore sci-fi comedy. This one is offered on Facebook Marketplace, and this is the first time I’ve featured a car from that advertising venue. Let me apologize in advance if your online life now fills up with ads for Mercedes and Trending News about station wagons. That’s just how the Zuckerberg juggernaut rolls.

Anyway, back to this Benz. The Facebook ad describes the car as being in ‘very good condition.’ The seller offers a bit more info in the description:

For parts or whole vehicle car run and drive everything works as it should I have title. Not mechanical issues I just don’t want it. Firm price if you want the whole car. PM for more details

Yeah, that “for parts or whole vehicle” bit does sound a tad ominous, but the pics seem to show a complete and unmolested car. In fact, the only issue I can see in the pics is that the factory alloys are missing their center caps.

Okay, here’s what the seller isn’t telling us. This car has a salvage title and seems to have come from North Carolina where it was purchased at auction. At that auction, it had an odometer reading of 107,217 miles. The listing for the car describes it as having ‘unknown damage’ which is even more ominous. shows that the tainted title is, in fact, owed to flood damage. Ugh, I’m not a swimmer.

The auction closed just a bit more than a month ago and the car is now offered up in Maryland. The seller does show a pic of the car from the auction site in his FB ad. He does not, however, disclose the title issue, nor even how the car came into his hands. He does say that he now wants it gone.

Regardless of its present title state, it doesn’t look bad at all. The mid-size wagon really benefits from the 302 horsepower 5-litre V8’s presence and as noted, you do get the 4Matic AWD and a two-seat third row here so it’s a valid sub for an SUV. At $3,000, it’s also a lot cheaper than many similarly spec’d E500s you might find, a factor no doubt made possible by the soggy title issue.

The question of the day, however, is whether or not this questionable Benz should be bought for even that amount. What do you think, is $3,000 a deal for this well-spec’d but somewhat sketchy E500? Or, is that about as bad an idea as giving a social media giant access to every aspect of your life?

You decide!

out of Hyattsville, MD, or go if the ad disappears.

H/T to haroldcooplowski for the hookup!

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