Buying Advice CLK 320 W209

[jeegnesh@gmail.com]

Hi,

So I am considering buying W209 CLK 320, was wondering if anyone can give any advice on this car in terms of cost of maintenance, how reliable the car is, what kind of mileage can it go up too? servicing costs?

I am not sure whether to go for Petrol or Diesel either.

Would like to spend max £10k and am only interested in W209 model.

Any advice much appreciated.

 

[colechelle]

the 209 320 is a good car! early ones had problems with the rads letting water into the gearbox oil, very expensive!!! CATs can be a prob, again not cheap, apart from some other "silly" bits, i,e airmass sensor, crank sensor, sounds bad but as i said, a good car, prob get a few more added but i think thats about the worst!!!

 

[PeterCLK]

Not sure you'll get a diesel 209 for that price as they only brought in the 320cdi in 2005 (I think) on this model.
It's a good car. If you can get a higher mileage late 04 or early 05 petrol then it will have galvanised body and updated dash/electrics.
If you are doing lowish mileage petrol engine is worth buying.
As with all Mercedes, auto box + leather are best options as without will be harder to sell on.

 

[David Nock]

For £10k W 209 diesel it will be higher miles and/or early model.
For information mine is 270 CDI 54 plate, 27000 miles and Dealer trade-in is around £16k against a new model. Then he will expect to make a bit on resale.
For goodness sake, and as Colechelle above, make sure you've checked out the 'Valeo Radiator Problem', which affected some W209CLK's up to Sept 2003 production date. (Use search facility on this forum and others).

 

[David Nock]

For £10k W 209 diesel it will be higher miles and/or early model.
For information mine is 270 CDI 54 plate, 27000 miles and Dealer trade-in is around £16k against a new model. Then he will expect to make a bit on resale.
For goodness sake, and as Colechelle above, make sure you've checked out the 'Valeo Radiator Problem', which affected some W209CLK's up to Sept 2003 production date. (Use search facility on this forum and others).

 

[avsdoyle]

I have a petrol CLK320. Dec'04 model. I had no issues with my car. One regret is that it has the old D2B Fibre Bus not the new MOST system. Ipod integration from Mercedes only works with MOST based cars. It was fitted from May'05 onwards.

PS Mileage on my Merc is 28 mpg which is a mix of city and motorway. Low 20's in town and 30 mpg on motorway cruising at 7-775 mph

 

[PeterCLK]

I have a petrol CLK320. Dec'04 model. I had no issues with my car. One regret is that it has the old D2B Fibre Bus not the new MOST system. Ipod integration from Mercedes only works with MOST based cars. It was fitted from May'05 onwards.

PS Mileage on my Merc is 28 mpg which is a mix of city and motorway. Low 20's in town and 30 mpg on motorway cruising at 7-775 mph

Exactly same car (Dec 04) and mpg. As regards electrics, mine has the updated dash (Comand DVD etc.) but how can I tell if it is the MOST based system?

 

[DougCLK320]

........PS Mileage on my Merc is 28 mpg which is a mix of city and motorway. Low 20's in town and 30 mpg on motorway cruising at 7-775 mph

Crikey, what fuel are you using? My CLK is nowhere near as fast as yours.

Actually, by keeping mine to sub-sonic speeds I manage an easy 33mpg on motorway runs (two or three mpg less when the hood's down).
Doug

 

[jon_harley]

I can't see you getting a CLK320cdi for £10k, as that model only came out two years ago, so only an extraordinarily high mileage example would have depreciated so much (bearing in mind that these cars cost £40k+ new and typically depreciate at 50% every 3 years). You should be able to find the CLK320 petrol W209 for that kind of money. They're very reliable (any teething troubles will have long ago been sorted out) and not especially expensive to service except when you need the spark plugs changed, because of the V6 engine design. Check when the plugs were replaced when looking at a second hand one. On a £10k car (i.e. quite old) they should already have been replaced at least once.

 

[DougCLK320]

I'll second that Jon, I've just been quoted £326, on top of the other service items, to have the twelve sparking plugs replaced at my local MB dealer.
Sadly, it's not 'cos it's a V12.... no, it's because, unusually, there are two plugs per cylinder.
Doug

 

[jon_harley]

I'll second that Jon, I've just been quoted £326, on top of the other service items, to have the twelve sparking plugs replaced at my local MB dealer.
Sadly, it's not 'cos it's a V12.... no, it's because, unusually, there are two plugs per cylinder.
Doug

Yes. The CLK320 was (and is) a V6 with 3 valves and 2 plugs for each of the 6 cylinders. And it sounds lovely compared to the gravelly sound of the 4-cylinder kompressor engines!