reliable daily driver merc

[carspath]

over the last 15 years i have had old 2nd hand mercs as DD's -- one w123 coupe , followed bya w124 saloon and now a w124 coupe that i have had for 6 years

the key requirement is reliability, followed by safety and low maintainance cost

how do you rate the following models in terms of satisfying the above criteria:
slk
c class
another w124
sl
g wagen (in anticipation of a bad winter)

i find that mercs almost drive me to work themselves and are so relaxing ,that i am hooked
do you think that i should be considering any other cars given the criteria above

TIA

[r129sl]

G-Wagen is overkill. And they are very expensive in good order. My s124 is pretty much unstoppable on winter tyres, even in very severe conditions. I have snow chains for extremes but have never had to use them.

W124 as you know is excellent.

My R129 SL has never let me down over 210,000 miles. It was used as a daily driver for a long time, including some pretty severe winter conditions. On summer tyres it was better in snow than a W124; with winter tyres it is amazing, presumably because there is a fair bit of weight over the rear axle.

The SLK is pretty good but they seem to suffer a few glitches. Not as good as the 124 and 129.

202 is OK but they're starting to tire now.

I find it hard to go past a very good 124 as a value and reliability propositon and, in my experience, they are great in winter when used in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions, i.e., with the correct footwear.

[Pontoneer]

I'd vote for another W 124 out of that list .

Another possibility is a W201 since 190's can be picked up for reasonable money and are very reliable if maintained correctly .