CL500 - worth the risk?

[MBDevotee]

I’m late coming to this post but here are my observations based on over half a century of motoring, owning an eclectic mix modern and classic cars and contributing to many forums.

There are those who post on a forum seeking advice and guidance on an intended purchase when in reality they are only seeking confirmation of their own opinion and become dismissive of opposing views by those ‘in the know’. I’ve seen it so many times, sad but true.


Returning to the OP’s original question here are two cars worth consideration, the former being closer to his location:
https://www.prestigecarsltd.com/veh...m-surrey-dfe54b9f-1f4b-4206-a013-4f8ccdd7e11c
https://classicclassics.co.uk/road-car/mercedes-cl500/

Also a mobile MB specialist in that area:
https://www.mercanix.co.uk/used-car-inspections/

Sadly the first one (whilst a stunning car) is nearly double the OPks budget and the second one, whilst also a lovely car is about £4000 overpriced!

Really - unless you get some sort of iron clad guarantee (and you can’t on a 15 year old car) or it’s a cl55k or 63 bi-turbo, I think the limit for these cars has to be £6000-7000. I suppose arguments could be made for a mint 20,000 miles example that it may go “classic” status and pay a bit more - but these aren’t rare cars and I think they are 5-10 years off classic yet....

I probably wouldn’t pay more than £4K for one, even a really good one - but can see that £6k can be justified, even £7k If the seller has spent a load on it will all new suspension bits and so forth.

Our argument ( well mine ) for the OP was that the one he is / was looking at was overpriced AND had faults - not two things that should go together.

 

[MBDevotee]

Now if I were going to spend about £8k I think I might be driving up the motorway to look at this.....

2007/57 Mercedes-Benz CL 5.5 CL500 2dr AMG HIGH SPEC STUNNING PX | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 2007/57 Mercedes-Benz CL 5.5 CL500 2dr AMG HIGH SPEC STUNNING PX at the best online prices at eBay! Free delivery for many products!

www.ebay.co.uk

Love them in Black, and those wheels are lovely....

 

[The Pan Man 2]

Since writing my original post I have discovered that you very much do NOT have to remove half the dash to replace the fan. All the mechanics I've spoken to say its a very short job - max hour and half though I'm thinking much less if you know what you're doing. Somebody here talked about doing it yourself - which i would consider as it doesn't sound very difficult.

So given that 'some parts' is actually 'the fan' - which seems to be anything from £60 to £300 depending on where you get it from.... I don't think there's much risk that this issue would cost me £2000.

Last year I was quoted £950.00 for a secondary air pump. OEM part aprox £170.00 Fitting time less than 1 hour including a coffee stop.

 

[MBDevotee]

Last year I was quoted £950.00 for a secondary air pump. OEM part aprox £170.00 Fitting time less than 1 hour including a coffee stop.

Thats not bad at all - are you saying the part was £170 and an hour to fit?

Perfectly bearable. On the car the OP is looking at tho there is also the door wiring issue - probably 3 or 4 hours of an auto electricians time? £300?

So £300 for the fan (say) plus £300 for the wiring makes the car he was looking at £8500.... the car books at £6000 retail....

Then if the seller (with perhaps £4000 of profit in this car remember) hasn't spent £600 fixing the faults you can clearly see and are obvious, what faults has he not fixed that are NOT obvious and probably won't be found for 3-6 months?

I dont tend to buy cars that are overpriced, but if I did, I'd only do so for something exceptional - if this car was being sold by the owner who's had it for 12 years and he's giving up driving, and I could speak to the man who'd serviced it all that time and so on so on...... but we dont know what this car is, the dealer may have bought at auction, washed and polished, and put on eBay - that does NOT justify £2000 over retail price, especially if he hasn't given it a decent going through (which he hasn't because he'd have fixed the fairly minor faults if he had).

May as well pick one up at auction, save £5k and use that money to fix any issues.

 

[The Pan Man 2]

That's exactly what I was saying. The Bosch part was £170 and less than 1 hour of my time. The £950 was not even a main dealer or independent , just the place that used to my MOT'S.

 

[MBDevotee]

ouch

 

[MBDevotee]

So here's another case in point....

The op could spend 8k on a 55 plate 55,000 mile old W215 which is likely to be unreliable because it's now very old

OR

He could spend £8500 on a 2007 W216 - which is ALSO likely to be unreliable cos it's old and a CL - the difference is, that until it goes wrong, this one has Distronic plus, Night vision, and the much more modern car and interior....... Ok it's done a few more miles (128k - but on a 13 year old car that's less than 12k per year - so in my opinion way better than 55k on a car that's 15 years old as that's only done 3-4k per year which smacks of local trip type car to me.....

Far better way to spend the money https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2007-Mer...825460?hash=item2f3ee78df4:g:8jwAAOSwgFpeNcC6

 

[umblecumbuz]

In a way, this is a self-answering thread.
If a person is contemplating buying a used CL500, then he must accept that it's going to hoover money.
Concerns about the possible cost of fixing an indicator light or a noisy aircon fan, suggest that when the hoover really gets into its stride it's going to be sucking air.

 

[MBDevotee]

I think my point has always been - if you're gonna buy one of these, it needs to be cheap enough to leave some budget for repairs.

If one has faults it should be well priced.

If it's priced £2000 over retail, WITH faults..... buy a different one!

I haven't seen the OP for a while, so I wonder if he's realised there are way better cars for 8K than the one he looked at, and has drifted to another car - OR has bought the car he was originally looking at, and because not everyone was saying "go for it, it's a bargain" he's not been on the thread since Thursday last week....

 

[bembo449]

Or he doesnt appreciate the wisdom the forum has displayed

 

[Wighty]

Or he doesnt appreciate the wisdom the forum has displayed

Hallelujah Pal !

 

[JBell]

even £7k If the seller has spent a load on it will all new suspension bits and so forth.

The seller spending money on repairs doesn't make a car more valuable

 

[MBDevotee]

The seller spending money on repairs doesn't make a car more valuable

Really??

So a car with multiple faults is worth the same as one without???? Blimey, you are a shonky traders dream!

Two identical cars parked next to each other - same spec, miles, age etc. You are saying the one with multiple faults is worth the same amount? No, it isn't.

 

[JBell]

Really??

So a car with multiple faults is worth the same as one without???? Blimey, you are a shonky traders dream!

Two identical cars parked next to each other - same spec, miles, age etc. You are saying the one with multiple faults is worth the same amount? No, it isn't.

You missed my point totally.

A car in full working order is worth what it is worth so a CL at £6k is worth £6k, an owner stating he has spent £5k on repairs doesn't make it worth £8k.

I see many cars for sale over valued because the owner has spent ££££ on repairs

 

[John Laidlaw]

You missed my point totally.

A car in full working order is worth what it is worth so a CL at £6k is worth £6k, an owner stating he has spent £5k on repairs doesn't make it worth £8k.

I see many cars for sale over valued because the owner has spent ££££ on repairs

Agreed- on that basis I would have liked to sell my 230 for about 40k

 

[MBDevotee]

You missed my point totally.

A car in full working order is worth what it is worth so a CL at £6k is worth £6k, an owner stating he has spent £5k on repairs doesn't make it worth £8k.

I see many cars for sale over valued because the owner has spent ££££ on repairs

My apologies - misunderstood you.

Yes, CAP retail is based on what a car without faults is worth, and whilst you could argue a car with replaced expensive components is worth a touch more than one without any current faults, not that much really.

Any faults should be deducted from the retail price - it’s why over 70% of our p/x’s go to auction - when we check them over, often the refurb bill would mean we’d have to price the car way over retail to make any profit.

 

[MBDevotee]

Mercedes BENZ CL 55 KOMPRESSOR 500 BHP | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Mercedes BENZ CL 55 KOMPRESSOR 500 BHP at the best online prices at eBay! Free delivery for many products!

www.ebay.co.uk

If the OP is watching this thread any more?

Saying that, with that mileage even this is a bit overpriced.

 

[John Laidlaw]

Probably not- that's a rare 5 seat version though

 

[V6Matty]

I’d say that’s about right for a 55k these days, even with that mileage, they are just starting to increase in value too

 

[JBell]

Probably not- that's a rare 5 seat version though

Bit threatening as well "first to see will buy"