CLK Maintenance
 

I recently bought a used 1999 CLK 430.

It's got 67,000 miles on it, comes with new front brakes, new tires, and had a mercedes service A performed on it at 60,000 miles.

It also came with a 7 year / 100,000 miles extended warranty on it.

Now I'm wondering what type of service I need to perform on it and when. The seller had mentioned to me (and I confirmed it by reading the manual) that the car comes with a FSS that tells you what type of service needs to be performed and when.

How much does a service A and a service B cost? Also what are people's opinions on going to the benz dealer vs. a workshop that specializes in european cars (or strictly mercedes cars).

I'm trying to figure out how much per year this car is going to cost me to maintain. Anybody want to throw some numbers out there?

thanks.

-shehryar

So far, my 2000 CLK430 has cost me about $2100 to maintain since June '00. One set of Pilot Sport tires to replace the OEM crap at 8K miles, 2 bent "17 wheels (my fault) and one set of front brakes ($425 dealer) at 20K miles. All service is included. They've flushed the brake fluid and anti-freeze at no cost. Not bad.

Our '99 CLK320 has not been so cheap. 4Yrs maintanence was not included. To date, 4 services ($200, $390 $650, $210 all dealer) , front brakes ($380 dealer), new tires ($900) at 21Kmiles, battery ($310 independent shop) and recently $1100 (independent shop) to replace a broken accessory pulley and belt.

Thank God you have the warranty. The '99 is becoming a money pit and with no more warranty to covery things, I suspect it will get traded soon. The '00 has had its share of problems but all have been covered under warranty. As soon as the warranty runs out, its a goner too.

The independent shop is a money saver ONLY if the problem is self evident. If they have to diagnose something, chances are they'll hunt and peck their way through a systematic replacement of anything remotley related to the problem until they stumble on the solution. My brother in law swears by the independent, hyet his Benz is in the shop more than mine! Choose wisely.

Why would you pay $310 for battery at an independent shop??? I bought an OEM battery for my CLK 430 for $190 from the dealer.

Like I said, if the problem is not self evident, the independent shop can cost more money to diagnose the problem. They were playing with the alternator for 2 hours before they realized the battery failed the load test. The original bill was $395 and only after I went nuclear did they drop an hour from the total.

Nice thing about the dealer is they charge you only a standard rate for any job, not actual time. If they screw up, they eat it. Work is also guaranteed at any dealership. The drawback is their rates are higher.

CLK's are expensive to maintain...

...unfortunately, this is the cost of driving this...a CLK.

It's really all comes down to it being nothing but a bling bling on the road. Sometime though, I wonder if this car is worth it myself..

I've told myself, I'd retire this car and maintain it as a classic after the warranty runs out, and get myself that SL. :)

does this mean that both 00 and 99 CLKs have a lot of problems? (and specifically, it would not be wise to buy a used 99/00 CLK without warranty)?

I've got no mechanical problems whatsoever with mine. I don't follow the FSS and change oil every 2,500 miles regardless of what it says. The only problems I had where with electronics, the command was replaced 3 times under warranty, and the brake switch sensor, which threw off the ESP and ABS lights on the cluster also. :D

thanks

What about chaning the air filter and cabin filter?? I'm doing my own oil changes, but what am I missing? Differential service? Transmission service? Anything else you can think of??

I know I am kind of new to this...but .... get the warranty - to date repairs....

Squeaky driver seat
Rear window shade
Gas gage
Power window "bounce" on driver side
Broken license plate light
Air conditioning (not blowing cold!!!!)
Leaky window washer fluid container

I don't know what I would have paid to get these fixed...but in the long run, I have a good feeling that the warranty was well worth it.

So far I had no problems, and have had the car there every service appointment. I feel really lucky, because of all the complaints I've heard about this car.

DIYer Looking for 1999 CLK 430 Repair Manual
 

It's great to hear that some of you haven't had any issues. I too recently became an owner of the fabulous 1999 CLK430 who is looking for a repair manual. I have come across several DVD type manuals but would actually like to have a book in hand.

Can anyone help a girl out and share any information they may have?

Thanks
~Captain73

I do not believe a book exists - and believe me, I've looked.

Marcus is Mr. Wizard when it comes to MB so take that as bible and verse. Alot of what is done is the A&B service is BS. Just read down the list of the things that they check. Really! If you are changing your own oil you can surely go down the list and do exactly what the dealer says they do at no cost. I have no complaints about my car and have had no issues with any part of the car but then I only have 36k on it.

What kind of Cd head set can i insert into my 99 CLK 430
 

Does any know what kind of CD player can I put into my 99 clk 430? I'm trying to stay original but the charger won't eject the changer. Any help

Complete total bullcrap. Check out how much an alternator or fuel pump or power window regulator or power seat motor or anything else costs on a 2001 Honda Accord or Camry or Ford or, or or...

They're all the same man but they don't have the style, and overall cache of our CLK's. If you happened to get one that is a POS then all I can say is you didn't buy it right or chose the right one. If somebody buys a CLK cheap with no history at all, just the car, you will get burned.

Maintenance history is everything not just with this car, ANY car. I'm a former car guy I was in the business for 25 years. It doesn't mean I have X-ray vision or my crystal ball is any clearer than anybody else's but still I know what to look for in a used car. That info is easily available all over the net I'm not going to go over it here.

My car has 140K on it and 14 months after I bought it I finally had to pay $497 for a throttle position sensor, the brake light sensor, an oil change and the complete A service inspection from my indy. It's been about 3 months and everything is fine. I was with him when he put it up on the rack so I inspected it as well. Bone dry under there, not a drop of any leak anywhere. Not bad.

Everything works in my car. Understand I have no illusions about this, the car is 12 years old with lots of miles. I know and expect to have to fix stuff but the car was solid, original paint, body completely straignt but for one little crease on the gas cap cover and it drove great when I bought it and it still drives great now. It was an original one owner I bought from a speciality German used car dealer and I got the history from South Bay Mercedes. The guy did everything it needed over the years. That's what you want and don't buy anything until you find one like that.

If you failed to do your due dilligence don't trash all CLK's because of your ignorance. But, if you really are knowledgable and did all that and got burned anyway then you have my sympathies. These cars are not known for lots of problems, they're pretty good overall just check all the different automotive websites that track reliability.

Bob

Pretty much any one you want. Here is a link that describes how to install a head unit, keep the steering wheel controls, and not cut any factory wires.

Since you're upgrading, you may want to upgrade to something more modern than a CD player. CDs are bulky, skip, degrade in quality over time, and only hold about 70 minutes worth of music. If you install a head unit that reads solid state (flash) memory, it will never skip, takes much longer to degrade (and when it does, can be easily copied and replaced), and a $20 drive has a storage capacity of about 150 hours.

BTW, I agree with Bob