Hello, everyone:

Although I have been a member for quite some time, I have seldom posted anything in this section of the forum, since I never really had any significant issues to discuss. Most of the time, I just read the posts and learned a few things from them. However, I'm now seeing some very disturbing problems on my 1999 CLK Cabriolet, and would like your input. This CLK was actually my very first Mercedes, which I ordered in 1997 and received on July 4, 1999. I'm told it was one of only two silver body with blue top CLK's delivered to Florida that year. It has been a garage queen for most of its life and only has 37,000 miles on the odometer. I truly love this car and would never consider getting rid of it, but the ravages of time have reared their ugly head. I took it out for a drive recently and noticed that there was a white haze over the bottom of the instrument panel bezel, which as you know is black. The knob on the radio feels sticky and has the same white haze, while the little rubber box under the radio fell apart when I touched it. It seems that keeping the car garaged has been as bad, if not worse than leaving out in the hot sun. I'm suspecting dry rot is the culprit, but I'm not sure how to proceed from here. I could replace the box under the radio, and even the radio itself, but what worries me most is the instrument cluster bezel. I shudder to think it might be mold that is causing this disaster. This car is original, down to the floor mats. In addition to the aforementioned cosmetic problems, I'm also dealing with the yellow screen on the dashboard going completely blank during that last drive. I tell you, I'm almost afraid the car will start to disintegrate. Any thoughts on how to tackle these issues would be greatly appreciated.