Cl 420

[tony12560]

I'm thinking of buying a CL 420/500 1997ish, can anyone offer any buying tips,details of performance relliability potential problems etc.

 

[Alex M Grieve]

I'm thinking of buying a CL 420/500 1997ish, can anyone offer any buying tips,details of performance relliability potential problems etc.

Hi Tony.

I am sure that somebody will, but they are probably all out enjoying their cars at present!

 

[jibcl500]

Great car but why not go for the 500, same price as a 420 and 315 bhp compared to 286 bhp.

Things to look for, rust is an issue, front wings, rear wheel arches on the corners, bonnet under thr grill rots badly and a bonnet will cost the best part of £1100!!!

Front grill if damaged can be expensive £600, coil spring tend to break but at £80 each isnt bad, shocks can leak and they are very expensive !!! Engine and box are good on these but look at service history, most will be high miles but if serviced will still be good.

Interiors dont seem to wear to bad but scruffy interior and 80k on the clock would indicate its been clocked.
Make sure the electrics all doo something, look for dash lights that stay on, test drive a 500 and it should go like hell if it doesnt then theres something expensive that needs fixing.

Check the paint work for resprays, most will have had some paint in the past but if its recent then there must have been rust and it will come back.

jib

 

[Setanta]

There are a lot that have been sale for absolutely ages now....and a number of them are just overpriced junkers.

I agree with jib - the 500's go like stink. On my second one now (CL500) although there is an ok CL420 that I was going to buy here in London - PM me if I that is of interest.

 

[tony12560]

Thank you

I'm looking to buy one in A1 codition, fsh, low miles etc, any ideas what I should be paying?

Can anyone recommend insurer, I'm currently with Adrian Flux on my SL £400 on limited mileage policy which I think is good value but you may know otherwise.

Can any one recommend a policy that would cover both cars?

 

[Alex M Grieve]

I'm looking to buy one in A1 codition, fsh, low miles etc, any ideas what I should be paying?

Can anyone recommend insurer, I'm currently with Adrian Flux on my SL £400 on limited mileage policy which I think is good value but you may know otherwise. Can any one recommend a policy that would cover both cars?

Really tip top cars are avaialble via the specialists who avertise online and in the magazines, but at quite a premium - so what they ask is surely "worst case" from the point of view of the thrifty, but the cars are nice. Dealers tend to hold them for as long as it takes to get a price, as their margin is probably very good. Low end cars with work to be done are often moved on as a "project", but unless you have the skills, the time and probably very deep pockets too, probably best avoided.

So by spotting the prices of cars at the extremes of that range, you should probably be aiming midway at a good private sale - the trick is to get there before the dealers. Private sellers will not want to hold a car as long as a dealer might, so they will be on the market only briefly.

Ideally, spot someone towards the end of their driving life, who now uses the car very little, and make a sensible offer. You might well be delighted, and they will be too.

For insurance, several forum members now use Admiral Multicar. I had 2 cars insured at around £400 each and one at £220 - I put them all into multicar for £760.

 

[television]

My best insurance deal was with Mercedes insurance, they mirrored my max no claims on a new policy.

 

[Setanta]

There is a 1996 S500 coupe that I nearly bought before I bought my last S500 coupe - it is back on the market and you can get that for £4500. 80,000 ish miles.

 

[Seeker_UK]

Electrics are the killers on these. There's a lot to go wrong. Check everything works. Everything.

 

[tony12560]

Thanks for the advice guys.