2002c230coupe

I see a clk550 for 16k. 70k miles. It looks immaculate. And i like the pillarless design.

I think thats too much though. In my mind its worth no more than 14k.

What do you think? I also quickly googled some vids, this car is a beast with 400hp ft lb torque. Also not a fan of the mph either.

Cant wait until these e550s get on the used market... 25mpg 400 hp

Yidney

You don't sound like you really want to buy it. What is your basis for thinking it's only worth 14K? That's pretty low for a good 550. I can get 26mpg cruising the highway at 80+ with the AC on.

Fatz

I've gotten 27mpg on a long trip. That was a couple years ago.

With or without all the mod distractions on mine, I would not sell it for 14K. KBB is about 15.5K.

2002c230coupe

Of all the used Mercedes that I can afford at the moment with cash, I like the CLK the most. I also like the sl500, but I don't want to deal with the ABC\suspension issue, plus it is terribly impractical.

the CLK (any of them) I've heard has a bullet proof drive train so long as it is not among the batch that is affected by the camshaft balance problem. I think I read that the 2008's and above are immune to that problem.

What I like :
1) seats 4 people
2) Looks great\timeless design
3) fairly uncommon
4) reasonable maintenance costs (again, barring any major problems like the camshaft problem)
5) No B pillar, hard roof, sunroof, - My absolutely favorite thing about the car
6) And of course the power, 400 hp and 400 ft lb torque... smokes most mustangs, m3s, challengers...etc that I've seen, and the car looks like a regular vehicle, not shoutty.

what I don't like:
1) Kind of expensive, def a good 5 grand more than a reg clk500\350
2) MPG as I've read isn't the best.

I guess its worth the extra $ for the performance.

I guess my next question is: What problems have you dealth with thus far? I don't want to deal with a troublesome model... which is the main reason why i dont spring for an sl500\55

thanks guys

vsix

Hi, about the problem's:
eventhough my CLK haven't had the infamous camshaft balancer issue, my car suffered on misfire's & rough running. Wich led to a bill of 1k...and various visit's to the dealer where I had to pay top$ to get my CEL erased. I think alone of reading and erasing I probably payed 200 buck's or so.
At the very end it was an certain part ( don't know how it's called, but remember what the mech once said ) that was basically there to pump in more air into the motor so the O2 sensor's measured the car is "green", emission legal. Nothing else then what VW did with their scandal- software, MB does with this part.
Except this one repair, my car run's still strong and doesn't make me head aches.
I think if you focus on 2008's and check FIRST their VIN on here, you're safe.
Have fun hunting down your future CLK

Yidney

As modern MBs go, the 2008-09 CLK is about as trouble free as they get. Your '08 will not have the shaft/gear issue. As for problems, I have had none really. My car is just hitting 60k, so not high miles, but I drive it daily. About 7,000 miles a year. Bought it at 27k 5 years ago. It has never had a CEL. The warranty expired 3.5 years ago. In that time, it's been in the shop once - for a wheel alignment over 2 years ago. I do my own work, but even so, besides regular maintenance - oil, plugs, tranny fluid, brake fluid, wiper blades, tires and filters - I have done the following in 3.5 years - Cleaned the motor on the seat belt presenter, replaced one vent for peeling chrome ($65), lubed the front sway bar bushings, and am now replacing the rear sway bar bushings and end links (about $85), and........nope, that's it. So $150 in unplanned expense in 3.5 years.

Currently the driver's door handle keyless go buttons stop working for a couple days after some heavy rains - rare here - but that's no issue if you don't have keyless go, and is only about $150 for a new handle when it totally fails anyway. It works 98% of the time. Also, my steering wheel is occasionally slow to go to the fully lowered position after I start the car first thing in the morning. I think that little motor needs a cleaning too. That is the sum total of my MB parade of horribles.

However, since you seem to be sweating the gas expense you should be aware of one thing - these things eat rear tires. You don't need to do burnouts, just normal starts, which in this car is not Honda-normal, tortures the tires. I get about 13k from the rears. Some people get a little more. The fact that these cars tend to have a lot of negative camber does not help - the inside edges wear first - but mostly it's just the torque. So depending on your annual miles, factor that cost in. 13K is about every two years for me, so I don't really care.

Yidney

The part is called the secondary air injection pump. Can go bad on any car. In Audi A4s they fill with water and rust out. More reliable on our cars.

gixxerboy

the car sounds like a good price to me, I really dont know what you expect mpg. You want something fast its going to have less mpg than a 6cyl. if you are buying a Mercedes than you shouldn't need to worry about an extra $20 for gas.
I have 72k on my 09 and haven't had to do anything to it.
and most mercedes share drive trains, there may be small differences by model but most use the same trans and engines in comparable vehicles.

2002c230coupe

Ok thanks for thehonest list of problems. Looks like its a reliable car to own.

I wonder if a cheap scaner will wrk to read engine codes from the clk. i also have carsoft... But i think 2008 is too new for it

Yidney

Any basic OBDII scanner will read the basic OBDII codes. Not sure what you mean by 2008 being too new for carsoft, but I'm not familiar with that. MB has various proprietary codes as well as tranny codes that a basic OBDII won't read, but such is life. But for the most common stuff it works fine.

vsix

No, your car is definately scanable.
You can get cheap devices that can do that, sure.

As for rear tire's:

It's not as dramatic as Yidney mentioned it. Yes you get tire wear but it's really nothing to be worried about.
Just don't spin the tire's to much and your good to go.
From experience you'll do it probably at the beginning more often but you "grow" with the car and at the end you have an powerful CLK that you aware of and don't feel the need to act imature anymore hence, as mentioned, don't make yourself a head because of tire wear

m1mmmm

Yidney is correct, tire replacement can be an issue. I bought my 2006 CLK350 new and it now has 48K miles and is on its 4th set of tires. Part of this may be due to all city driving and the condition of Dallas streets. If you do more highway driving you might get more mileage from your tires. I have never attempted a burnout but even my 6 cylinder will occasionally, by accident, make a little noise at a stop sign.

Rudeney

Generic OBDII scanners can read (and usually reset) ECU (engine) codes. To read and diagnose other systems, like SRS, ESP, SAMs, ACC, door controllers, etc. requires specialized equioment. The sealers use MB Star (a.k.a. SDS). Several 3rd party companies also make scan tools that can read these systems. Carsoft 7.4 is widely available for about $100, but it won't work with the "facelift" MY2005+ models. I think there is a new version of Carsoft for that, but I know nothing about it.

Regarding tires, the wide, low-profile tires with staggered widths used in these heavy cars will wear quickly, especially on the rear. I usually get between 12K-20K miles on the rears, about 35K on the front.