Acadianlion

I'm being sorely tempted by a very pristine CLK 320. Here's the story. I'm not at all new to owning a Mercedes. It has been quite a long time since I have owned one though. Currently the only vehicle in our house (that is running) is a GMC 1500 extended cab truck. It's a nice truck that does everything we need a vehicle to do. It's not at all new but having had only the three Maine winters since I bought it, it's largely rust free and in very nice condition. I want it to be the last truck I buy. The only way it will go on and on will be if it is not used as a daily driver every day year round. Indeed, I have been thinking more and more about buying another vehicle....a car...that my wife and I can use for a lot of the driving we need to do when we don't need the size or security of the four wheel drive system of the truck. So I have been shopping for quite a while and have compiled a lengthy list of things that I do not want in our next car.
The items I don't want are all the "modern" electrical gizzies, like big touch screens and all that stuff that will just burn out or fail expensively and which we don't need anyway.
I have had and enjoyed many Audi's, especially since I retired in 1990. I have owned 200's (two of those); V8 Quattros (3 of those) and have three years ago retired a 1994 100 Avant Quattro that I bought in Kansas City....a one owner car that had 39,000 miles on it since new and was seven years old when I drove it home. (It now has 220,000 miles on it, and needs more restorative work than it is worth.). Another Audi is not in the cards as used Audis all seem to be very high mileage with unknown or inconsistent maintenance history. They are expensive cars that will eat you if they are neglected.

So my search has wandered around and I have stumbled across a pristine 2000 CLK 320 and I am being seduced by her siren's song. 43,000 miles from new with a very good service history through the first owner (Mercedes dealer) and a full service history for the second 15,000 miles but by a service center unknown. This car could work well for us and I'm posting this to see what sort of reaction you folks might have. The car is a long way away from me here in central Maine so I will probably need to have a pre-purchase inspection done. The car will come with a 90-day power train warranty to that is something at least.
And of course the car is expensive, relative to the KBB valuation. The dealer does a lot of Mercedes and the photos show a sparkling, pristine vehicle. The asking price is $7000.
I have not made an offer nor am sure I will, but as I said above, I'm being seduced by this "Siren's song."
As they go, this car is pretty "old school" which fits me perfectly, I think.

Anyone have any thoughts?

CLKDave

If the car is as you said and totally clean underneath, rust free (I mean perfect) AND MINERAL GREEN, I would gladly buy it. :-)

I say that because I now have 155k on mine and it has been a great car. I have said before if I could find a 50k mile perfect replacement I would get it. Yes, 7000 is prime money and the car is 20 yrs old (20 yrs old car problems). Maintenance is actually less painful than my Audi was, but I love the CLK. Good MPG with good power.

If you are a gambling man, you can try to hammer the price during these "interesting" times. I would assume the market will be soft until the recovery comes in.

Acadianlion

Any car I buy has to come from somewhere other than where they spread salt and noxious brine on the roads in winter. This particular car apparently lived its entire life in south Florida although one service was performed in Arkansas. I expect the underside of the car is perfectly without rust but it will need to be looked at by someone other than the dealer unless the selling dealer will put it up on a lift in real time for me to see on the Internet. This car is silver with ash interior, not often something you see in the Northeast. I have not actually spoken with the dealer yet but I might do so in another few weeks to see how much, if any flexibility in the price he might have. This one seems very lovely, but I'm hearing the admonition of my late mother in the back of my head: "There's ALWAYS another car....."

convicted

I too have been an Audi man for the past decade and I can say that I am pleasantly surprised with my W208 CLK 320. The only MB specific weakness I see, would be in the CAN/BUS system. That makes it hard to track down electrical issues (especially in a 20+ year old car).

I do all my own maintenance and tuning (always have) and I can say with certainty that I love this car. The 3.2L V6 is great for this engine bay (since it was made to fit a 4.3L V8). It also seems to be an extremely "DIY friendly" car. Timing chain and "non serviceable" transmission are also huge pluses. It feels to me like the engineers designed this car to be exactly what you're looking for.

Having said that: I just bought one - in really good shape - for $900. It has 160k miles (< 50% of the national average), no real rust to speak of, the interior is flawless and the paint is as nice as I could expect. I had to replace the SAM, a door control module and a small (cheap) oil leak. That's it. I invested a few hours of my time and about $150. Now it runs and drives like new.

It's a great car IMO. I'm right there with you on the beauty of having the "newest" CLK that still has the good ol' dependability of analog gauges, etc........but $7k? That's a lot of money. I would never pay that (considering what you can get for $7k these days).....but to play Devil's advocate: The W208 is definitely a modern day classic - and I think the value will continue to rise indefinitely.

I hope that helps.

G/L in your decision.

2MERKS

I'd have to agree with the other member with regards to the car. 7K is "decent" for the miles, but it will always be the same model year. Took me a while to realize I wasn't going to sell my '99 so when it came up on maintenance I would drop it by dealer ( up to 2008) (2008 - 2016 Indy shop). Long story short I decided to put that cost back in my pockets, and do it myself. So if your ok buying now, a couple of months the price point would be better! Just my humble opinion.
2MERKS

Acadianlion

Some more information about the 2000 CKK230. I spoke with the dealer yesterday. Very nice fellow and an enjoyable conversation that was potentially very revealing. It turns out that the car in question isn't owned by the dealer. Rather it is owned by an independent broker who does work for the dealer from time to time. However, the dealer indicated that the broker isn't consistent, perhaps a bit of a "footloose and fancy free type" was my impression. And No: I did not want to call the broker myself. So the way it was left, the dealer is supposedly going to get the car there at the dealership and will call me. We'll see.

Meanwhile I did look at a 2007 CLK320 which was lovely and a lot more money plus higher miles. It's a darker color and I want to stay away from dark colors on this car. Dark colors are hard to keep clean here in Maine except for summer and fall...my truck is black and no matter how hard I try, seven months out of the year it's always dirty.

AND there is this: I have decided I'm more than passively interested in at least studying the possibility of buying a CLK 500, or perhaps a 550. Another "siren song": that of that lovely V8.

And finally this: I really like the looks of the first generation of the CLK better than the overall appearance of the second generation. I was looking at two side on photos and it's the change in the roofline of the second generation that I think makes the car less attractive to my eye. On the other hand I prefer the nose of the Second Generation as that star stuck in the middle of the hood never appealed to me. But I MUCH prefer the dashboard of the first generation.

Acadianlion

Some more information about the 2000 CLK 320. I spoke with the dealer yesterday. Very nice fellow and an enjoyable conversation that was potentially very revealing. It turns out that the car in question isn't owned by the dealer. Rather it is owned by an independent broker who does work for the dealer from time to time. However, the dealer indicated that the broker isn't consistent, perhaps a bit of a "footloose and fancy free type" was my impression. And No: I did not want to call the broker myself. So the way it was left, the dealer is supposedly going to get the car there at the dealership and will call me. We'll see.

Meanwhile I did look at a 2007 CLK320 which was lovely and a lot more money plus higher miles. It's a darker color and I want to stay away from dark colors on this car. Dark colors are hard to keep clean here in Maine except for summer and fall...my truck is black and no matter how hard I try, seven months out of the year it's always dirty.

AND there is this: I have decided I'm more than passively interested in at least studying the possibility of buying a CLK 500, or perhaps a 550. Another "siren song": that of that lovely V8.

And finally this: I really like the looks of the first generation of the CLK better than the overall appearance of the second generation. I was looking at two side on photos and it's the change in the roofline of the second generation that I think makes the car less attractive to my eye. On the other hand I prefer the nose of the Second Generation as that star stuck in the middle of the hood never appealed to me. But I MUCH prefer the dashboard of the first generation.

Seans_CLK320

Acadianlion,

I very much can sympathize with your desperation as not 2 months ago took the plunge and bought myself a 2005 CLK320. This beautiful machine only had 36k miles on it with 1 owner and a perfect maintenance record. All in with taxes & fees and all the happy horse#$% that goes with buying a car it came to $~9,000. I would've paid more, in all seriousness the CLKs are some of the most beautiful cars on the road and idgaf what the tuners with their turbo this and supercharged that say, having been driving my wife's 20 year old civic around for the past few years, IMHO my CLK fricking moves and is what i'd like to be buried in when the time comes. Apparently that's a thing in Pittsburgh area, getting buried in your favorite car at the cemetery...
https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/...george-swanson

Acadianlion

Well, the car has arrived here. It's as perfect as I had hoped, now with 17,800+ miles. I confess I enjoy driving it every chance I get. Since we are shut down here, and for us anyway, will continue to be shut down, my wife and I are planning a series of day trips in the new car. We'll finally get to use that very luxe picnic hamper we bought many years ago and never used.

I have started the hunt for true, winter tires for the car and will probably buy a set of remanufactured Mercedes wheels for winter use, too. Although I don't really intend to use the car a lot in the winter, I don't think I'll be content to just drive the truck all the time and we do get a lot of "good" days here in Maine with cold sunshine and clear, dry roads.

The second generation CLK is as you said, a truely beautiful car and it will really run if given its head!