Buyers Beware on this 03 CL55 for sale
09-28-2007, 12:06 PM
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CL55 / E320 / 400E
Buyers Beware on this 03 CL55 for sale
Hello everybody, I am new to this forum but have been lurking for some time. It is now time to come out of the closet; the posting closet that is. I just wanted to issue a buyers beware warning on a vehicle I came across while trying to locate my perfect CL55 (now in my garage). Not to bash a dealer or anybody specific, just to make sure that fellow forum members don’t pay good money for a sub-prime vehicle.
During my search, I came across a 03 CL55 AMG for sale at Tommy Thomas Chevrolet in Panama City. It is on consignment there due to the fact they did not want to pay the trade in dollars that the owner desired (just a guess). The car had some unique features such as suede-covered door Airbag covers, center console lid in suede and the dark (ash) wood trim as well as Alcantara headliner. They were asking a ton for it ($54K with 40,3xx miles) and they would not take less then $47K. That would have been OK until I started to dig further.
I was very interested and test-drove it. It drove a bit “funny” when switching into reverse and it just did not feel right, hard to explain. As if one could sense that it has been through hell. There were no service records, no oil change tags, nothing. After a detailed search, it turned out that the vehicle originated in California where it received a full “Buy Back” / Lemon branded title and it had five previous registered owners. Upon closer inspection, it seems that this car has a story to tell if it could. And signs of it being not properly looked after started to be evident. It breaks my heart to see such a wonderful piece of machinery be abused and go through such vehicular cruelties.
Again, this is not to bash the dealer and in fact the sales person was very nice. Although, their prices are always highly over inflated. Below is the VIN and location of the vehicle.
Approach with caution is my advice.
2003 Mercedes Benz CL55 AMG
VIN: WDBPJ74J43A032678
Location: Tommy Thomas Chevrolet, Panama City, Florida
During my search, I came across a 03 CL55 AMG for sale at Tommy Thomas Chevrolet in Panama City. It is on consignment there due to the fact they did not want to pay the trade in dollars that the owner desired (just a guess). The car had some unique features such as suede-covered door Airbag covers, center console lid in suede and the dark (ash) wood trim as well as Alcantara headliner. They were asking a ton for it ($54K with 40,3xx miles) and they would not take less then $47K. That would have been OK until I started to dig further.
I was very interested and test-drove it. It drove a bit “funny” when switching into reverse and it just did not feel right, hard to explain. As if one could sense that it has been through hell. There were no service records, no oil change tags, nothing. After a detailed search, it turned out that the vehicle originated in California where it received a full “Buy Back” / Lemon branded title and it had five previous registered owners. Upon closer inspection, it seems that this car has a story to tell if it could. And signs of it being not properly looked after started to be evident. It breaks my heart to see such a wonderful piece of machinery be abused and go through such vehicular cruelties.
Again, this is not to bash the dealer and in fact the sales person was very nice. Although, their prices are always highly over inflated. Below is the VIN and location of the vehicle.
Approach with caution is my advice.
2003 Mercedes Benz CL55 AMG
VIN: WDBPJ74J43A032678
Location: Tommy Thomas Chevrolet, Panama City, Florida
