Project CLK55 AMG

[daibevan]

I have my first aid kit too. I can't imagine that any plasters would stick after 11 years in the boot.
Now I've thought of it I'll keep a homemade kit in the car and keep the original mint, just because.

 

[Sasha94]

Nothing has changed in CLK land but it does now partner a new daily: Goodbye Volvo, Hello Skoda

 

[Tony MB]

Looks nice !!! need more info ie why the change? is it diesel? Superb or Octavia ?

 

[JBell]

Looks nice !!! need more info ie why the change? is it diesel? Superb or Octavia ?

Looks like an Octavia vRS

 

[fabes]

The Rallye edition!

 

[Sasha94]

Looks nice !!! need more info ie why the change? is it diesel? Superb or Octavia ?

It is an Octavia vRS 2.0 TDi 184 DSG. So, sadly, it is another diesel. I liked the V50, I’d had it for 18 months and enjoyed it but the manual gearbox, poor cabin storage and, although the performance was adequate in isolation, it was a little too slow for daily driving. At 140k on a 12 plate it was also getting a little up on its miles! The Skoda has 75k on it so it will hold me for a while. It’s quite a high spec one, but still doesn’t beat getting into the CLK and no sound symposer is ever going to fool you into thinking it’s not a diesel haha

 

[bembo449]

im with you on 2 fronts there Sasha , the auto box is best for many miles of driving and the noise of a NA V8 is a thing of beauty

 

[silestanix]

Any updates Sasha......?

 

[Srdl]

Any updates Sasha......?

Ditto - hope you're OK, it's been a long time

 

[Sasha94]

I’m still alive haha, just swamped with work atm. For those who want to know, I’m a special school teacher by trade and I’ve spent my whole career in education including time in school transport. I’m doing a Masters in Education and Disability currently which is taking up a lot of time. Also the Skoda has been the focus lately, I’ve done a few things on that to make it feel a bit more like mine. The CLK has been used sparingly over the last few weeks, but it is being used. It is heading towards 121k now. After this big assignment is in, I plan on giving it a good detail and will update the progress here. I’m away over half term though, so the time I would spend getting the car cleaned I will be trying to enjoy on something of a break, though I’m not really on holiday! I do look outside and feel sorry for the car sometimes being sat there not being used, but then I drive it and I think there’s no way I’m selling it yet. Hopefully over the summer when I’m not in uni it’ll get some proper use again. I will also do a video just to capture what a real engine sounds like. Tempted to send it to Skoda so they can use it instead of the naff soundaktor noise they use. I’ve turned that off on mine as it is just too fake.

 

[LostKiwi]

Friend of mine has a Skoda with one of those fake noise generators and he tried to tell me it sounded like a V8. I took him for a ride in a real V8 to show him the error of his ways...

 

[Sasha94]

Yeah, it doesn’t. The soundaktor is a synthesised V6 (apparently) but it just produces an awful noise and you can only hear it inside. To the outside world it sounds like a cement mixer full of tools; nothing can touch a V8 for sound. Everyone turns around when they hear the CLK coming and I love it

 

[silestanix]

Nice to hear from you Sasha, yeah take care of yourself & hope all goes well with your assignment. Just missed your updates, however I've got pics in my thread for ya, detail bug used.

 

[JBell]

For those who want to know, I’m a special school teacher by trade and I’ve spent my whole career in education including time in school transport. I’m doing a Masters in Education and Disability currently which is taking up a lot of time.

Much respect to you Sasha, my youngest is SEN and the teachers / TA (he also has a 1 on 1 assistant) that work with him are incredible

 

[Sasha94]

Nice to hear from you Sasha, yeah take care of yourself & hope all goes well with your assignment. Just missed your updates, however I've got pics in my thread for ya, detail bug used.

Was just having a browse through them, the 202 looks awesome, I do have a soft spot for those and yours is just immaculate!

Much respect to you Sasha, my youngest is SEN and the teachers / TA (he also has a 1 on 1 assistant) that work with him are incredible

I love it, I could never go back to mainstream teaching now. I trained as a secondary school teacher in D&T and after my degree I looked for a job in a school but even though there’s a national shortage of STEM teachers (and if I’d have done the Product Design route and then a PGCE instead of doing a degree with integrated Qualified Teacher Status I'd have received a £20,000 tax free bursary from the government to sit my PGCE but because you don’t get any Initial Tecaher Training grants on a normal Bachelors degree I got nothing!!!!) I couldn’t find a D&T teacher opening within an hour of home so I approached a supply agency who offered guaranteed hours for Newly Qaulified Teachers and I was previously a TA in a special school. Eventually I was asked for cover for a Multiple Learning Difficultly unit and I ended up being there for 2 months and I was offered a job at the end of the academic year in a secondary age communications group so I use a lot of visual communications methods like sign language and Makaton in my teaching and I’m working toward my Level 5 in Makaton now. My Masters is British Dylexia Association approved as well, so I’ll be a BDA approved teacher at the end of it. Every teacher is a teacher of SEN (any good teacher!) but the methods of working and teaching in the school I’m in now are just so much more rewarding to be around compared to a mainstream school. I have done some Profound and Multiple Learning Difficultly (PMLD) experience and that is just amazing to be around.

 

[silestanix]

Was just having a browse through them, the 202 looks awesome, I do have a soft spot for those and yours is just immaculate!



I love it, I could never go back to mainstream teaching now. I trained as a secondary school teacher in D&T and after my degree I looked for a job in a school but even though there’s a national shortage of STEM teachers (and if I’d have done the Product Design route and then a PGCE instead of doing a degree with integrated Qualified Teacher Status I'd have received a £20,000 tax free bursary from the government to sit my PGCE but because you don’t get any Initial Tecaher Training grants on a normal Bachelors degree I got nothing!!!!) I couldn’t find a D&T teacher opening within an hour of home so I approached a supply agency who offered guaranteed hours for Newly Qaulified Teachers and I was previously a TA in a special school. Eventually I was asked for cover for a Multiple Learning Difficultly unit and I ended up being there for 2 months and I was offered a job at the end of the academic year in a secondary age communications group so I use a lot of visual communications methods like sign language and Makaton in my teaching and I’m working toward my Level 5 in Makaton now. My Masters is British Dylexia Association approved as well, so I’ll be a BDA approved teacher at the end of it. Every teacher is a teacher of SEN (any good teacher!) but the methods of working and teaching in the school I’m in now are just so much more rewarding to be around compared to a mainstream school. I have done some Profound and Multiple Learning Difficultly (PMLD) experience and that is just amazing to be around.

Thank you very much Sasha!

Just reading all the above mate, massive respect to you Sasha, genuinely in awe because it's a lot of effort being a special needs teacher as every child is different due to their condition, it can be a challenging task to work in special needs teaching, must definitely be rewarding. Fair play to you.

 

[Sasha94]

Every child is different, but if you can remember that they only have 1 shot at the next hour and you’re there to make that hour count and help them get the best out of it, you are doing well. Every hour is a new hour and that matters in a classroom. I love it, but it is a lot of planning. Where my colleagues in a mainstream secondary school are planing 5 lessons a day, I have 3 TA’s in my class and I’m planning for them too. I’ll split the group up so each of us has 2-4 children each and we’ll be delivering the same lesson, but heavily differentiated so it’s a bit like planning 20 lessons a day

 

[Sasha94]

Sent some images to Pixar My Car for them to alter and I’m super impressed!! Will be sending some more and some ££ to have them without the water mark. Please excuse the old grill and badges on this image, but just thought I’d post to let you know I’m still here.



In other, maybe less positive news (but maybe not) I have decided that I can’t have this car sat outside the house everyday not being used, so over this summer I will be offering the car for sale. If it doesn’t sell for what I want, I will keep it. I fancy another caravan, I don’t have the time to use this and it is a travesty to have it sat around not being used. If anyone from here would be interested in first dibs, please get in touch. This is a very nice example of a CLK55 and you can be assured that it’s only being sold as I am not using it. Will be available from May after I put a fresh MoT on it and sort out the passenger seat mat properly.

 

[John Laidlaw]

Sorry to hear the latter part of the post Sasha, but I do understand, my SL was a similar situation albeit it was also flawed which yours clearly is not! Good luck with it whatever and stick around anyway

 

[Sasha94]

Don’t be sorry, I have had a great journey with this car, I’ve loved owning it and I feel I have come to the end of the journey regarding things to do with it. It’s got as new brakes, nearly new tyres, it’s fully serviced, it’s very clean and tidy, it has a couple of OEM+ touches... It’s all sorted, and I have nothing more to do to it, perhaps the wheels could do with a touch in of the kerb marks, but they are more than clean enough and I’m loath to do them as maybe the next owner might change the colour of them to suit their taste. It’s a very nice factory standard CLK55 with excellent history and I’m hoping for an easy sale. I’ve done 2500 miles in the 10 months I’ve had it, which is more than the previous owner averaged. I may want to change my mind when someone is crawling all over it looking to buy it, and my son will be devastated as he loves it, but practicalities and all. *She says knowing full well an even more ridiculous car will probably replace it...