CL500 - worth the risk?

[Capra]

New SAM units.. those fail with water ingress
No mention of the SBC or ABC being maintained or repaired...
No idea where "facelift" comes from other than typical dealer speak trying to convince you it's newer than it is. The 215 is getting pretty old now. They can suffer with bodywork corrosion between the aluminium and steel panels
AMG badge is the worse issue though...

 

[V6Matty]

New SAM units.. those fail with water ingress
No mention of the SBC or ABC being maintained or repaired...
No idea where "facelift" comes from other than typical dealer speak trying to convince you it's newer than it is. The 215 is getting pretty old now. They can suffer with bodywork corrosion between the aluminium and steel panels
AMG badge is the worse issue though...

Facelift 215 was between 2003 and 2006 iirc, but other than cosmetics all the other expensive stuff was just as unreliable

 

[peterws1957]

Both well over 100 grand, possibly over £150k in the case of the '65

Actual invoice price on our 65 was £164k.

 

[Capra]

Actual invoice price on our 65 was £164k.

Has yours been expensive to keep on the road?

 

[peterws1957]

Has yours been expensive to keep on the road?

About what you would expect - spent a bit on cosmetics as you might expect on an 11 year old car, to keep it up to scratch. Much against the grain we have had it serviced at MB, not that an indie couldn't have done a better job, but resale might be easier in the future with FMBSH - who knows? It's heavy on gas if you potter, Ms peterws got it down to 6mpg driving through Manchester, but will get 20mpg on a run. Front discs and pads were £1500 ish . It's done just under 15k mileage so unlikely to wear out any time soon (touching wood).

 

[Naraic]

I like the wheels, but are they really 19s ? They look like the standard five star 18" AMG rims I have on my SL55. Never seen those in 19s, I could be wrong. They do look nice. Really I am sorry to say with a 15 year old CL, the thing is going to want constant £££ to keep it running. On the plus side that one does look clean, and it does look like it's been well cared for. Lovely car, I think you are right to want some money off. Just some random thoughts, HTH.

I have the same wheels...19s.

 

[James Gareth]

I like the wheels, but are they really 19s ? They look like the standard five star 18" AMG rims I have on my SL55. Never seen those in 19s, I could be wrong. They do look nice. Really I am sorry to say with a 15 year old CL, the thing is going to want constant £££ to keep it running. On the plus side that one does look clean, and it does look like it's been well cared for. Lovely car, I think you are right to want some money off. Just some random thoughts, HTH.

Yup those are 19s seen them myself.

 

[James Gareth]

If the car is off the road because of ABC breakdowns , you can sell the wheels for 1k to pay for ABC repairs ....it’s a win win

Thanks for the excellent tip!

 

[mioba]

As an opposing voice , don’t buy it buddy , or at least not unless you have £5k spare in the bank . If it’s a fun car then maybe , but certainly not as your daily drive unless you are rich or up for diy .

Spoil sport

 

[MBDevotee]

Well I just had a conversation with Alex - which was rather sobering. Thing is - to get a comparable car that's modern (and therefore supposedly less likely to break down) - I'd have to pay at least double/tripple/quradruple the price I am looking at. And then you'd be hitting corresponding depreciation costs.

Here's the actual car if anybody wants to comment...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202006180253032?advertising-location=at_cars&sort=relevance&model=CL&include-delivery-option=on&year-to=2021&make=MERCEDES-BENZ&aggregatedTrim=CL500&onesearchad=New&onesearchad=Nearly New&onesearchad=Used&postcode=gu84rw&radius=1500&page=6

With the two niggling faults it has I'd need to have the price start with a 6. Parkers has it coming in at £7200 - those 19inch alloys add £1000 to its worth (without that option it's £6200). Private it would be around £6K.

It's not so much the money either - though that sounds a bit mad. I just like things reliable. I don't want it breaking down on me and leaving me stranded. In the days when my mates were buying Bonnies I went and got me a Yamaha. No oil all over the drive. I'm still like that. I like things to work.

Not being funny, but that is a £3k car plus perhaps £1000 or so for the very low miles.

They are on eBay for 3k ish and stay there for MONTHS.

That guy is off his rocker with that price unless he could show me it had new discs, pads, ABC (the lot) and a warranty that covered everything (at that age "wear and tear" items will be excluded, which at that age is pretty much everything.

If its more than 5k get a W216.

If its £3k buy it, love it and then you have 4k to fix stuff! I do think that seller has looked at the kit list and made that figure up - at average miles it books around £1500 trade and you wouldn't get a trader paying more than £800 for a 100,000m one unless they owned a workshop and could check about before they bought it.

I want one one day, but it has to be throwaway money so you can walk away if it goes too badly wrong.

 

[mioba]

CL's were made to do 150 mile journeys absolute comfort

Big mercs are beauties on long journeys. I am often back and forth from Germany. Cologne to Nottingham. 8 hours, get out the car and feel totally fresh. More so in the S, than the R. I know I would be more uncormtable in the C.

 

[MBDevotee]

This is more like it

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/STUNNING...-/254836911173?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49292

Or

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mercedes...-/254837053340?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49292

Or

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2003-MER...-/373421905313?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49292

Ended - but you get the picture

Or

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MERCEDES-BENZ-500CL-COUPE-/393099243678?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49292

New shape - 160k but that's arguably better than a car thats sat about most of its life

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mercedes...-/274633010933?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49292

Sensible mileage

At 7k you would be insane to buy a 215.

If and when I buy one it will be on the basis it goes to an indie to have EVERYTHING checked, and if the seller gibbed that, no sale.

Its not the purchase price of these to make you scared its the repair bills! You could easily spend 6k putting a few things right on one - way better to spend that on better car from the off......

 

[alexanderfoti]

My thoughts echos these on here regarding price. The low mileage isn't a huge plus for it, as your swapping wear and tear with age related issues.

 

[Blobcat]

Big mercs are beauties on long journeys. I am often back and forth from Germany. Cologne to Nottingham. 8 hours, get out the car and feel totally fresh. More so in the S, than the R. I know I would be more uncormtable in the C.

I was driving from Aberdeen to Portsmouth quite regularly in my SLK no issues comfort wise at all.
I look forward to the drive every time

 

[MBDevotee]

Driving one of these cars is an event - pure and simple - but potentially ruinous.

Know the rusk, buy cheap, check it thoroughly and then be prepared to pay to fix it or scrap it depending on how it goes!

 

[James Gareth]

Spoil sport

I get what's he's saying. I bought a twin-turbo RX7 back in 95 - it was two years old - plenty of people told me not to buy that car. I f*****g loved every moment of that car. Even though in the end it went horribly wrong and cost me a near fortune to fix. But boy was it worth it. I also once had an XJR (1999 V8). Plenty of people told me not to buy that car.

Guess what?

Yup. I loved that car too. And it never went wrong (well until I got blind drunk one Xmas eve and totalled it into a field on the 1 mile journey back to my brother-in-laws). Lost my licence for 3 years that time (and spent Xmas day in hospital). But I loved that car.

This is not even getting into the motorbikes owned and loved (and crashed - CBR600s and R1s mainly).

So OK. This Merc could go badly wrong. I get it. I hear you. Sure. And? One thing Alex said was 'it's fine if you go in with your eyes open'. Well. So let's say I get it for £7K. Let's say the whole of the suspension goes kaput and another £3K on something nobdody's mentioned. So that's cost me £15K.

BUT WHAT A CAR FOR £15K!

Where else would you get a car like that - which would then be all set-up for a good thousand miles - for fifteen thousand pounds? And of course chances are it won't cost that. But if it does so be it.

I get it - its not sensible.

Well. Who said you're dead a long time and you can always earn more money - I liked that.

What else is that money going to do except sit in a bank account earning bu***er all interest?

This is my current state of mind.

It's the kind of states of mind I tend to have before buying things like RX7s and XJRs and R1s.

Happy days.

 

[James Gareth]

Not being funny, but that is a £3k car plus perhaps £1000 or so for the very low miles.

They are on eBay for 3k ish and stay there for MONTHS.

That guy is off his rocker with that price unless he could show me it had new discs, pads, ABC (the lot) and a warranty that covered everything (at that age "wear and tear" items will be excluded, which at that age is pretty much everything.

If its more than 5k get a W216.

If its £3k buy it, love it and then you have 4k to fix stuff! I do think that seller has looked at the kit list and made that figure up - at average miles it books around £1500 trade and you wouldn't get a trader paying more than £800 for a 100,000m one unless they owned a workshop and could check about before they bought it.

I want one one day, but it has to be throwaway money so you can walk away if it goes too badly wrong.

Webuanycar would give me £4600 right now for that car. And there are not any on ebay with that interior and those wheels and that milage. I've looked. So driving it off the forecourt if I got it at £7K would cost me £2400. Which is probably the price I am paying for being picky about the grey interior, the wooden-inlaid steering wheel and the 19" AMGs (all must haves in my book). Well it wouldn't be the first time I paid a bit more because of the spec I insisted upon.

 

[James Gareth]

Driving one of these cars is an event - pure and simple - but potentially ruinous.

Know the rusk, buy cheap, check it thoroughly and then be prepared to pay to fix it or scrap it depending on how it goes!

Well not ruinous - but I get what you're saying. Know the rusk. That's it right there - know the rusk!

 

[James Gareth]

This is more like it

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/STUNNING...-/254836911173?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49292

Or

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mercedes...-/254837053340?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49292

Or

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2003-MER...-/373421905313?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49292

Ended - but you get the picture

Or

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MERCEDES-BENZ-500CL-COUPE-/393099243678?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49292

New shape - 160k but that's arguably better than a car thats sat about most of its life

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mercedes...-/274633010933?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49292

Sensible mileage

At 7k you would be insane to buy a 215.

If and when I buy one it will be on the basis it goes to an indie to have EVERYTHING checked, and if the seller gibbed that, no sale.

Its not the purchase price of these to make you scared its the repair bills! You could easily spend 6k putting a few things right on one - way better to spend that on better car from the off......

Thanks for the thoughts and...

First one you linked on ebay: wrong wheels wrong interior - twice as many miles.
Second one: wrong interior.
Third - now sold btw at webuyanycar price - wrong wheels (they're 19s but thicker stems), wrong steering wheel (no wood)
4th - new shape with higher tax and anyway wrong colour etc

You get the point - I am a picky f****er.

One of the reasons I am even looking at these is that they have grey/light interiors as one choice - AND - they have an opening sunroof.

Thanks for the thoughts though!

 

[sonic]

I was driving from Aberdeen to Portsmouth quite regularly in my SLK no issues comfort wise at all.
I look forward to the drive every time

The SLK is nice particularly on 17" wheels, but I much prefer the 212 on long runs.
I have driven back from the Black Forrest to Staffordshire in a day several time in the 212. Its 700 miles but the 212 is so comfortable.