ldangeli

F a honda, picking up a FX45. Toasted the doors off of my clk430. and it's all wheel and about 10k less.

PerformanceCLK

What i dont understand is why this forum's central theme of late is basically a "What is wrong with my clk/i want to sell it/ how much is it worth" progression. Granted my clk has numerous minor "issues" but my clk could start 10% of the time, backfire, get 8 mpg and drop to a retail value of $1,500 and i'd still keep it.... for the exact same reasons i liked it in the first place, and accepting the minor wrinkles that have been there all the while. This is as much a modification forum as an actual discussion of clk specs, and honestly i dont mod my car so that its resale value goes up. I don't think anyone does. Take some pride in ownership people. And NO car, Japanese or German, is unavoidably without minor problems.

robk115

you know what, all these "little" problems add up. I have a 2001 clk 430 and i have had nothing but little problem after little problem. It starts to get on your nerves. MB doesnt know how to fix a freaking thing and my car has visited the shop for the same problem 4 or 5 times until they fix it. I still have problems that they were never able to fix and i have gotten negative responses from the regional service manager, last time he told me this "Our vehicles are highly technical and some situations do arise from this. This is why we have a warranty for the vehicle.". so basically he is saying they build something that they arent sure if its gonna work, but what the hell we'll slap a warranty on it and be done..

we all pay alot of money to be in this car and we get treated like we're driving Kias(no offense to the kia owners).

my case was so bad that they even picked up many lease payments but would never really admit that anything was MB's fault.
i have less than 20 days left on my lease, and i can honestly say that i will not be driving another mb until they improve their product.

Big Terry

My CLK has been Great sorry you had trouble with yours, I just got rid of a lexus (ES 300) that had several elec problems, so go figure.

ldangeli

CLKAL, I am right there with you man. It is a shame, but oh well.

If you still have the stock wheels, let me know...

robk115 You are so right, it is time MB changes something. MBZ just had my car for 2.5 weeks, because of a sunroof issue...... Stupis "little" stuff, but it DOES add up..

robk115

one of my issues was the sunroof also, it took them 5 times to fix it.... finally on the last attempt, they replace anything and everything that had to do with it and one of those fixed the problem, but they have no idea which one...

clkal

I think you misunderstood my post. You say to take pride in ownership. HELL YEAH i do! Look at the pics of my car from the http address in my signature...... I think my car looks TOP NOTCH! I put a lot of work into gettting it to look like that. I wasn't complaining about the minor issues with the CLK ... I was just stating that ever since I added the body kit to my car, I"ve had a lot of bad luck w/ my car i.e., front tire blowing out on the freeway, body kit cracking when driving up and down the damn flat bed tow truck, and transmission feeling weird after i got everything back together.

I hated to part with my CLK, but the way things were going, I didnt' know what was gonna happen next. So instead of waiting around to see what was gonna happen next, I just got rid of it and bought a brand new car. =)

SoCalCLK

Break out the violin....

ldangeli

I broke it in half. i can always rely on you Socal to make me smile..



But still, can you answer my question.. Oh by the way, I saw a guy down on the Island with a 01' CLK430, with LEMON written all over it. It made me smile too.

Big Terry

There are alot more MBZ out there that people haven't any problems at all, I think the majority of people are having good luck with their MBZ, if you don't like them or you got a bad one sell it and go buy a honda POS or something else and go get praise from their forums for selling a MBZ and buying a honda.

ldangeli

Welp, it's done. Car wouldn't start yesterday morning, and really got on my last nerve. So I went and purchased an 04' Audi S4. I should have it today or tomorrow. If anyone would like to purchase a set of Mille Miglia 18 x 8', and 18 x 9, let me know. They make a great spare set of rims.

Car is going to sit in the garage for the next 11 months. Oh well.

Wanted to say thanks to all of those on this forum who actually helped me over the last two years, and wanted to say thanks to all of those who sparred with me as well.

I would say it has been a great experience, but then again, I would'nt be telling the whole truth.

Check ya on the roads..

PerformanceCLK

Good choice on the s4, i really like the new Audi lines

ldangeli

Mu only complaint is the center console on the driver side.. A little annoying.. But the rest of the car is .... wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!

GaryL

My 01 430 with 35K mi. has been almost completely trouble free, but I don't think I could be happy with it as my only means of transportation. It's not a very comfortable car to have living in the pothole belt of the midwest. It thumps and crashes over the rough pavement, and although I don't have the heart to take it out in the salt and snow, I have to wonder how it would hold up if I did drive it through the winter.

90% of the time I spend in it is just cruising around, or taking my girlfriend out for dinner and visiting friends. I was planning on selling it or trading it in on something else that would make more sense for me at this point in time, but couldn't find a buyer. Some of you may have seen it in the classified forum. I ultimately ended up getting a 04 Grand Prix GTP that I use for the frequent trips I make up to Detroit, and every day general use.

Having two cars is costly, but there's a big part of me that's glad the CLK didn't go. After spending time with the Pontiac, I'm really starting to appreciate the Mercedes many virtues in spite of it's shortcomings. The car has character and soul that's lacking in the Pontiac. I love the power and sound from the V8, and the car is very rewarding to drive under the right conditions. I also enjoy all the attention it gets. CLKs are fairly rare around here, and strangers are always complimenting me, and asking about it.

I guess I'll hang on to it, and save my pennies for a few more yrs. and see what happens. Maybe an E55...

Fletch

I see this echoed on many Mercedes forums. Visit a BMW forum and you will read about how much people dislike the Bangle designs of the recent cars. Visit a Porsche forum and read about how people feel Porsche has lost it’s heritage.

The situation with Mercedes is just as real as the others, Mercedes quality is down. Mercedes was once at the top of every major quality and safety report available. They are now below average in the vast majority, Check out http://www.autooninfo.info . In particular check out Mercedes from 2000. http://www.autooninfo.info/RelPerMerBenzCharts.htm

I don’t think you are reading lack of pride in ownership but rather disappointment. I know I am disappointed to see one of the best marks in the history the automotive industry slip. Pride in ownership should not mean you can’t point out a fault. I have great pride in keeping my daughters 1985 325e with 280k running well, but I can assure you I don’t always have positive things to say about it.

SoCalCLK

Great insights and good post.

ldangeli

HAHA, SoCal, SoCal, SoCal.

It was a fantastic post.

SoCalCLK

I am happy to entertain you. Please reciprocate sometime!

ldangeli

You got it my left coast brother. How is the weather today?

SoCalCLK

Around 75 degrees with little humidity. The weather around here is mostly the same throughout the year, sometimes a little colder and crisper in the winter than in the spring. Summer is sunny and hotter, mainly dry heat, but humidity on occasion.