A couple of weeks ago, I noticed a wet spot behind the driver's side rear tire, and thought it was water that had drained down some hidden gutter after getting the car washed. I drove the car for a few days, no error messages, and parked it again in the same spot in the garage. Switched daily drivers to the CLK and a week later noticed the same "water spot." I crawled underneath and much to my horror, there was a drip from the control arm. The culprit was the left rear ABC shock that was slowly leaking hydraulic fluid. At 2200 miles, with no hits or pot holes, this is totally unacceptable. The car is at the dealer, waiting on the part, and I'm in possession of a 2008 Dodge Charger. Needless to say, the Charger is in the garage and I'm driving the CLK. I'm saddened to admit that IMHO new American cars made for the masses are a piece of crap, as evidenced by the materials in this car being cheap-looking, having an engine that lacks power and a clunky transmission. My 9 year old CLK is even superior to this new car. However, the fact remains that a $147,000 Mercedes Benz with barely over 2000 miles has just sprung a leak. Makes me think the $22,000 Charger might not be so crappy after all. Just thinking out loud.

 

As unfortunated as it is to have a problem at 2000 miles, we must not forget that it is a machine, and sometimes parts are defective from the supplier or during the shipping of the car and they do not manifest for some time.

I think is unrealistic to judge the quality of your car because you had the bad luck to recieve your brand new car with a defective part.

I know is upseting and inconvinient, but we have to be realistic, all machinery, no matter how expensive and well made are going to have failure rates.

just my 0.02

 

ABC always was a pain in the a$$ in the past. And apparently still can be...

However, when it works properly, there is nothing that can match it's functionality.

 

Be thankful you noticed.
Be thankful the part did not fail during spirited driving.

I think the CL is otherwise going to prove to be a very well built auto. I know of three instances buddies of mine would be no longer here if not for the superior build of the Mercedes.

 

I wonder what excuse the dealership and MB will come up with to not warranty it?

 

So far, no broken items on my CL63.

But, I must have gotten a bad tank of gas. The thing pings like an old diesel.

Yuck. I am waiting to drive it till empty and then I am going to put in a tank of real 93 octane gas. In California, that stuff is $6.00/gallon. Hope it makes a difference.

Mark

 

Just in case any of you were wondering, I'm not so disappointed that I'd get rid of my CL. I enjoy it very much and wouldn't dream of driving anything else. My point was that I have experienced a mechanical failure very early in ownership, and this is not the first time. On my GL, the A/C died a month into ownership and a few months later, the front suspesion dropped, leaving me thinking I was driving an old Impala in L.A.. I just think that these little things shouldn't happen with vehicles this expensive. I especially hate going to the dealer, as invariably, when they fix one thing, something else breaks. Worse yet, the last time I took the truck in for service, I found the radio on a Hip-Hop station when I got it back. When the CL went in for it's routine 1000 mile service, I asked the service writer to tell his porters not to play with the radio. He wrote a very polite "Please don't touch the radio" note, which he placed on the dash screen. When I got the car back, not only had they doodled all over his note, and had set the radio to some God-awful station, but the mpg screen read 4 miles and 10.5 mpg! The test drive was a joyride. This time I told him he should write the radio note in terms that would be clearly understood: "Don't F..K with the radio." After his color returned, he politely declined. There will be hell to pay if there's a joyride again.

 

Neodoc, sorry to hear about your CL's ABC issues....

Also hate going to dealer for any svc (and my dealer seems rather competent and treats me extremely well)....am OCD about my cars and dislike having others mucking w/my car...and despise driving any loaner cars....

That said, my anecdotal sense is that '07-'08 S/CL are highest-quality, most reliable cars being made today of any brand and even among the various MB models.....have had not even one glitch in the 4 different '07-'08 CLs I've owned to-date....over some (total) 25K mis.....and of the several guys I know who've owned multiple CL63s, they have been similarly impressed w/their copies' exemplary quality/reliability....but suspect every brand/model, no matter price, has at least a few flawed/lemon copies....

Hope your car's issue is readily solved; is dealer that you're using the best in your region in terms of svc competence?

 

Oh man, you are not kidding. If it wasn't for the ABC suspension, the CL would not be a bad car to own long term. You are right about when it is functioning properly.......it's awesome.

 

Dude get over it **** happens. The more expensive the car the more technology the more things that can break.

 

Please note that most techs leave the car running in the workshop while the diagnostic computer is connected to stop the battery going flat (MB recommend a 30A (minimum) charger be connected while doing so).

If you look at the time take to drive those 4 miles then you'll see that the car was idling for quite a while.

Having said that, I do think some cars get given a bit of a longer dive then they should sometimes.

 

How would an idling car rack up miles?

Also, what kind of MB dealer loans you a Charger when you have a new AMG? After what you have said, I'd get the problem fixed and be done with that dealer.

 

I was refering more to the 10.5mpg, I'd expect at least 2 miles to be clocked up with a service, maybe a few more is there is a specifi driving problem.

I know I can do 30mi quite easily if I need to perfrom shift adaptations (transmission repair).

 

The car is back and everything seems to be fine. They respected the "Do Not Turn On the Radio" sign (the clean version; not mine) and it seems the car had a 2 mile test drive. Mileage was 2.5 mpg and the time was 2.5 hours, so I'm guessing it was idling for a while. I don't doubt that test drives can be extensive and, combined with long idling times, produce a dismal mpg reading. However, judging from the readings this time, I'm more convinced that last time the test drive was a joyride. Nevertheless, all concerned were warned and they seem to have heeded the warning, or at least were better at covering their tracks.

As for the loaner car, most high volume dealers here in Miami have contracts with Enterprise to provide their customers with loaner vehicles. The dealer I use pays Enterprise a certain fee for a certain category of vehicle, based supposedly on what the client drives. It must not be much if a $150,000 car qualifies for a 6 cyl Dodge Charger with no ABS. In any case, the other dealers are much farther away, not necessarily better, and probably wouldn't offer a loaner car since I purchased my car elsewhere. The automobile dealers we have here in Miami leave a lot to be desired. So, it's better to "stick with the evil you know."