MBQueen

I am searching for a 2002 CLK55 Cab
Car must have less than 60K miles
Prefer white or red, but will consider silver
send me a note. ready to buy now....thanks

MarcusF

You may want to contact your local MBCA section.

1. They'll probably put a "wanted" ad up for free - I know the Los Angeles and Orange County sections will.
2. Many MBCA members are meticulous owners - just the type of people you want to buy a car from.
3. MBCA members tend to notice when a Benz in their area goes up for sale.
4. Some sections help track down hard to find vehicles (The LA section recently helped a guy find a specific CL (year/color/engine).

Best wishes on the purchase.

bobbyjo9

Just curious about your mileage limit. 5000 a year will be a limited find for sure. A garaged cab with possibly higher mileage, may be a better bet for you. I can say mine with 105xxx runs like a top. I'm just saying, with a soft top, I would worry more about the elements than the mileage.

allenjdmb

been looking for one for a while. There are a few nice ones on Autotrader, but not many under 60k. I would be more concerned about condition than mileage. And folks who have these things are a bit delusional, they think it's some incredibly unique Benz because no one else has one....I think you're wasting your time with your local MBCA, unless you want to buy an old diesel. There are just not a lot of cars like this in the membership....perhaps it's different in SoCal, but not over here in the east.
Main thing you want to look out for is rust in the doors, front wings, and trunk latch area. There are some top problems as well, but most are not too serious. Good luck in your search....and send me what you throw back!

MarcusF

Things are quite a bit different in SoCal. For example; there are more Mercedes-Benz dealerships within a 50 mile radius of my house than there are in the entire state of Georgia. Georgia has a total of 11 MB dealers. There are 48 in California. That’s because there are more Mercedes-Benz vehicles sold in California than any other state. The California MBCA membership reflects this difference. I can’t say how many MBCA members are where you live, but I’m a member of both the Los Angeles Section and the Orange County Section. That’s about 800 people. It is very safe to say the SoCal MBCA membership isn’t just made up of “old diesels” and we know nothing of “rust”. Need a real 580+ HP factory W209 DTM? I know of TWO for sale here in SoCal. How did I hear about them? MBCA. If the next comment is ‘those aren’t street legal’ - there are factory DTMs with plates here in SoCal. “Yes” they have the original carbon fiber interiors, “no” they don’t have side airbags, “no” they have not been ‘converted’ and “no” they don’t have to be. Don’t take my word for it - another MBWorld poster (Saaboteur from Canada) took pictures of a W209 DTM cab with plates parked in Burbank while on vacation. Yes, he took a photo of the door plate proving it's a real DTM. The point is, don’t simply write off MBCA because the section in your area looks a certain way. It’s a large organization with a lot of members.

Since Thursday I inquired whether anyone knew of a low mileage 2002 CLK55 cab for sale. A SoCal MBCA member responded that he knew of one with less than 30K. Then I come back here and see that MBCA has been labeled a “waste of time” and it’s been implied that the members only have “old diesels”. That’s what I get for trying to be helpful I guess. Good luck with Autotrader. I’m out.

allenjdmb

and perhaps a "wasting your time" was too harsh.

I've been in and out of MBCA longer than many of the members on these boards have been alive. Yes, there are some great folks in every region. In our area (Atlanta metro), between the two regions, there are also a few hundred members. I'm simply trying to say that while there are the few of us that love these performance oriented cars, there are far less of "us" than there are the folks who do drive an old diesel, a sedan, or a pagoda or collector Benz. It's great that your area has those connections, but most don't. As far as the number of dealers in your area, also great for you, but the reality is that most Benz dealers don't want to mess with a car like a 208 CLK55. There is a reason that so few were sold new--lack of demand. Now, it's tough for them to get a 10 year old car financed, and if they fix it in their shop, they are lucky if they have a tech that's been there that long, not to mention how the shop is going to kill them on getting it together.

Check the classifieds of this month's Star. Other than 2 124 convertibles (one that's pretty suspect) , there are NO convertibles offered for sale except SL's. Only three are close to current generation cars. One of those has been for sale in our area for nearly a year. I know, that's not a good place to look for them. Just using it as an example. Anyway, no insult intended to anyone. A quick check of Autotrader today, with no mileage resticition, shows three pages of CLK55's for sale, and at least three with miles around 20/30's. Was only trying to suggest that might be a more fertile hunting ground. And, I still would like to have one, if you guys find something you throw back....

MBQueen

I appreciate the suggestion.

MBQueen

Thanks for the input. In general. I just think mileage goes hand in hand with condition. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure there are CLK55s out there with 100K+ that run and look great.

MBQueen

Thanks. I look at autotrader and cars.com and craigslist all the time. if the right car comes along, I'll buy it. I just need to be patient. I'll keep you posted....

MBQueen

Thanks for the feedback....Good syuff. So what about the CLK55 with less than 30K miles?

bobbyjo9

Thats where the homework comes in. With the age of these cars, the men have been seperated from the boys. High mileage cars have of course been driven. Low mileage cars have been "used" much less. Now comes the tricky part. Many people think "mileage" in terms of maint. They forget all about the time intervals and what happens to fluilds over time. Also if that car has issues everytime you take it out, miles will rack up slow. A fun trouble free car will stack up the miles because it can. Im not trying to sway you... just dont get blinded by mileage because that could be a false indicator.... both low and high.

err0neous

MB Encino, CA has a silver one with 59k miles. Showed up on autotrader 3 days ago.

whitee

I'm considering parting with my: 03' (Last year of the body) CLK430 Cab, Silver exterior, Black top, Oyster interior, HPS supercharged, with 44,XXX original miles.. Dealer, and MB shop foreman maintained, S/C installed @ 33k.. original owner until 2009 was a 79 year old woman.....More info available..

If anyone is seriously interested please PM me.

If not, best of luck in your search!

UncleSlam

I'll sell you mine for $25,000. Everything is perfect. 43k miles, nav. Designo dark blue interior, tan top on Black Opal paint (actually more like dark metallic blue than "black"). Color combo drops jaws often.