Hi All,

I've done what reading I can, but am interested in your view on purchasing a used 2001 CL600. The vehicle in question is black and has 100k miles on it. I believe the 2001 year comes with the M137 engine, which I've heard mixed things on from a performance perspective. The car has not had any real service except for fluids according to the owner. Currently the vehicle has issues with it's alternator and/or battery. I know this could mean a lot of different things are potentially wrong, but if the price is good is this a car I should be interested in, and I guess the question is for what price is this a decent buy? I know I should get a PPI, but just looking for a general sense from you all. I've seen ranges $4,000 - 20,000 in price so I have no clue.

Also what does this car drive like? I have experience with performance V8s but have never driven a V12.

Thank you

 

It's not a performance car, it's a luxury GT, and it drives as such. The M137 is fine, has almost 400hp, and is silky smooth when in good working order.

These cars, at this age, are always on the cusp of a mechanical breakdown. If there haven't been any parts replaced recently, i'd assume you will very soon have to address either the ignition system or ABC or both. The PSE system usually starts breaking down, the drivers door closer always fails first. If the hydraulic trunk opener is present, it will probably leak.

Just have the car very well inspected. It's not worth much more than 8k assuming it's in great shape. The later biturbo cars command much more of a price premium and they are still well under 20k with low mileage and in immaculate shape.

 

Thank you. So for $5K do you think it's a decent purchase? I have a daily driver SUV and a V8 convertible which is my performance car, but there needs to be something special about this car in terms of driving performance if you know what I mean. All thoughts are welcome.

 

You will regret it. This may come across as a joke, but the 00, 01, and 02 cl600 are hardly worth it even if it was given to you. The maitence and reliability of then is so horrendous. Also those 137s all and I mean everyone of them have massive oil leaks coming from the oil coolers and you would need to remove the cylinder heads to replace if it hasn't been done. I had 1 or 2 of them years ago and I can still remeber how bad the reliability was even under warranty. If your set on one at least get an 03 or up and youll get a superior drive train and better sound system / headlights / taillights etc.

 

As said above me, I would never consider a CL without the M275, the only reason this car is tolerable is the unbelievable power of the turbo V12. The rest of the car slowly disintegrates with age and it's a constant headache. I bought my '03 for $13k, it's absolutely fully loaded, was immaculate inside and out, and had about 75k miles on it. I've had it almost 2 years, put maybe 10-12k miles on it and I've spent easily 8-9K in PARTS only, as i'm an MB tech and do all the labor myself. So the car is currently costing me roughly $1/mile to drive just in repairs, let's not even talk about the 11mpg or 5k mile tire life (probably some of that is on my driving style lol) and at this point it's fully depreciated. I couldn't sell it for more than I paid for it, despite me fixing all the mechanical issues that they have.

I absolutely love the car, but if someone came up with the right offer today, i'd sell it and buy something that's less tedious to maintain.

 

i never discourage people about used cars. every single car you own starts to need parts replacement at 100000 miles, thats just the way cars go, my previous lexus was bought at 100000 miles, my current cl500 was bought at 92000 miles. ive loved both. one thing to understand about luxury cars is knowing what is the most troublesome part of the car and planning for it. with my cl500, i knew the abc was the biggest problem and i dealt with it right after i bought it. i converted to regular struts right away and have not had a single major problem with the engine. ive only replaced my radiator which i bought on ebay for less than 100 dollars. i also replaced my belt pully for 250, thats it. i will never have abc problems because i anticipated it way back. luxury cars are luxury cars and so should be treated as such. the difference beteen a luxury car and a regular car is that they are amazing and last so very long and keep an updated look and prestige way past there generation. you may buy a 2017 honda with 20000 miles but will never have the respect of a well kept 2001 cl at 160000 miles. another example is a range rover, if you want to buy a range rover, just make sure strautmaster has a suspension conversion kit for it and you will be fine just like the cl. once you convert to a regular suspension, you are left with normal car issues that anyone else faces with their cars. these cars are serioiusly strong and reliable and at 200000 miles you will still love them at a minimal cost. 1 thousand dollars a year on a luxury car is not bad at all and thats including tire replacement because you do not realize that you do way more than that on gas every year and thats money literally burned from point A to B.. whether you own a benz or a honda, you will need to change tires, oil, fluid, belts etc. i am about to buy a 2003 cl55 amg at 127000 miles, once done ill swap the strauts from the 500 to the 55 and sell the 500. i intend to keep the 55 since its an AMG collector item. after i changed my struts to springs in the cl500, i drove for 11 months without ever calling my mechanic up and when i did it was for my rattling exhaust which can happen to any and all cars. with the cls, somethings are just not worth fixing, like the auto trunk, back headrest, automatic door close etc, all those things that use air pump to operate, you will not die, just use your manual keys to open them and thats it, no more problems. its good to point out that most of these new cars now have almost all modern technologies that only used to exist in luxury cars so expect to face similar problems with a toyota camry with bluetooth, cruise control, v v t i engine and all which were only available in second gen high end lexus gs400. so now no car is cheap to maintain. PEOPLE SPEND $20000 TO RESTORE A CAR THAT THEY PLAN NOT TO SELL,GO FOR WHAT YOU LOVE BUT KNOW THE BIGGEST PROBLEM AND BRING OUT MONEY TO DEAL WITH RIGHT AWAY. GOOD LUCK

 

This thread is about a 2001 CL600. How would you plan to look after that?

Nick