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What is it?

The newly launched estate version of Mercedes' much-vaunted new C-class. The extra £1628 you'll pay for the C350 estate over the saloon buys you a more practical but no less attractive bodyshell, and 1500-litres of boot capacity.

What's it like?

I have a problem with this car. It’s not that I don’t like it; in fact I like it rather a lot. The C-class is a fine car and, to me, this estate version makes even more sense than the saloon. The C-class’s splendi...Read the full article

Nothing more likely to dent your big Benz's resale value than ordering it in red. 

As someone seriously considering the new C-Class Estate, I too would prefer the refinement and quietness of the C350 Saloon over the increased weight penalty and noise intrusion you get with the Estate. But, as someone with three kids and a dog who makes frequent long trips, I need a load-lugger with the increased power of a V6 engine. Since I also live in London, Ken Livingstone's proposed new Congestion Charge for cars that output more than 225 g/ km of CO2, makes the C320 Estate a default choice over the C350 Estate. While increased fuel efficiency is also a major factor affecting choice and Blue Efficiency models will offer consumption improvements, direct injection petrol engines will only be preferable to the noise, vibration and harshness you get with a diesel, if they reduce emissions below 225 g/ km. Do you know what the Blue Efficiency CO2 output is for both the C280 and C350? it would be helpful to know.

The pre facelift model never did get the the lower emissions DI engine as far as I can see from the figures for newer models on Autotrader.