New to forum: question on buying a used CLK55

[MMPati]

I'm interested in a used CLK55. Less concerned by model year than I am about mileage. Is there a mileage level I should stay below if I want 5 good years (at 12K miles per year) out of the car? Thanks in advance for any advice.

Mike

[F14Tomcat]

Hi Mike, welcome to the forums! Definitely add yourself to our map: http://www.frappr.com/amgpower

We haven't had our CLK that long (only since April '05) and it has 23K miles on it (bought it with 13K). But what we did find while we were looking at CLK55s is that used 2004s were selling for only about $3-5K more than used 2003s. I suspect if you do price checks today, you'll find the same is true for 2005s vs 2004s. Plus, ours was Certified Pre-Owned, so we got the extended 5 year (from in-service date)/100000 mile warranty. So, definitely look for a Certified vehicle, and get it as new as possible, and you shouldn't have any problems getting 5 years out of it. We'll have ours for probably 10 years.

[F14Tomcat]

Just another piece of information. CLKs will lose 15-20% of their value in the first year. After that, they only lose 1-2% a year - they hold their value better than any other Mercedes class. Here is a link to a forum topic about it: http://www.amgpower.com/community/viewtopic.php?t=1153

[55fanatic]

First off, welcome to the forum...

I think if your looking to get 60k miles out of it I would look at vehicles up to 40k as long as they are star mark certified, Make sure you get a pretty detailed history of service records. I think if a mercedes is going to be a problem child, it will be from the early goings, if its good to 40, you wont have to really start replacing parts till about 100k miles. I have a 2000 ML55 with 98k miles and I am smack dab in the middle of needing to replace a lot of things... power steering pump, engine mount, etc etc

So just make sure you get MB warranty(star mark certified)

[MMPati]

Appreciate your help Tomcat and 55Fanatic. It's my wife's turn to pick a car, and she's looking at the CLK55, amongst other vehicles. She let me buy my 2004 M3 new, in June '04. Now says she wants something that'll kick my a$$. I'm trying to convince her to buy a CLK55, not that she needs too much convincing. She's no ordinary chick...brakes later than an F1 driver. We have a date at the track when she gets her car. It'll be interesting to see which car / driver--or our insurance company--comes out on top. Hoping to keep posting here telling you about driving "my wife's CLK." Thanks for the hospitality,

Mike

[55fanatic]

if she wants to beat your car...she needs a C55

[55fanatic]

Appreciate your help Tomcat and 55Fanatic. It's my wife's turn to pick a car, and she's looking at the CLK55, amongst other vehicles. She let me buy my 2004 M3 new, in June '04. Now says she wants something that'll kick my a$$. I'm trying to convince her to buy a CLK55, not that she needs too much convincing. She's no ordinary chick...brakes later than an F1 driver. We have a date at the track when she gets her car. It'll be interesting to see which car / driver--or our insurance company--comes out on top. Hoping to keep posting here telling you about driving "my wife's CLK." Thanks for the hospitality,

Mike


not sure if you have made the purchase yet, its been almost a month but here is one I know of for sale... its in good condition as well from the pictures http://www.premier-motorcars.com/show.asp?vid=611161

[scruffyone]

Seeing a CLK55 in person is better than seeing a picture. Tomcat has a Fakkin A nice looking one.