Ro_Ja Boy

I have always driven Japanese cars, so have never had issues with reliability. My step-bro has a '99 CLK320 with 100k miles that I was looking at buying as a daily beater. He just replaced the tranny with a used tranny. Other than that, hasn't had any issues.

German cars with 100k have always scared me. I just don't want to buy the car and then end up having to drop so much $ that I could have bought a less expensive car.

Thoughts? I tried searching a little bit. Saw the DIY thread, so I'm assuming those are common issues that go out (Motor Mounts, MAF, anything else?)

Thanks,

Ryan

Ro_Ja Boy

I also read SaintMiles post, "If you buy one of these(or if you haven't done it yet), the first thing to do is flush and replace your tranny fluid.
About a year after I got it the tranny blew. Broke. New Tranny needed. 3800
The manual and the dealer say NO maintenance is needed. Wrong.
If gone unchecked the fluid dries out over the years and miles, and most previous owners haven't a clue. Add to the fact that YOU can't check the fluid level in your driveway unless you buy an $80 dipstick "tool".
Who does that? (I did later, so I could keep on top of it.)
---I did try to convert the AT to Manny at replacement time, but no luck in finding what I needed---


Next. Replace the interior air filter. I drove around two summers wondering why the A/C sucked. After the filter change, the air was blowin' and goin'.
It is Very Easy to do. There is a post in the W208 DIY."

Guess that's probably why the tranny blew on the car.

clk430convert01

100k miles is simply a tune-up and not end-of-life on these cars. I've always believed V6's are less durable & shorter lasting than V8's b/c they have to work harder (more wear on parts). Make sure your friends engine/tranny has been well maintained. In addition to motor mounts/MAF, you've got routine maintainence (plugs, tranny service, air/gas/cabin filters, steering dampers, switches/sensors ) ....