I am very new to Mercedes cars, and I'm wondering how bad of an idea this is, and what to ask the seller for before I think about buying. This is going to sound very stupid, be warned. I found a 1,000 dollar 2004 CLK500 hardtop, and it has 196k miles. Listing says transmission struggles to shift out of park, and the seller is weaseling his way out of showing me a mechanics receipt! Every time I ask about maintenance he will say its just the bad transmission but I don't see how that's possible when it has 196k miles. Is this worth checking out? If so, what should I look for? Pictures of the car look good, except for damage to the bottom of the bumper. Brake rotors are rusty and there are leaves and sticks on the hood so it hasn't been moved in a while.

You're a first time poster so I have to ask

• Are you really handy with tools and can carry out work yourself?
• Have you got somewhere you can work on it?
• Are you looking at it because you're short on funds and need a car at a low price or are you looking at a project car with a view to spending $$$$ on it?

I'd be very wary of a £1000 CLK on Facebook especially with that mileage, known issues and a less than forthcoming seller. Minimum if it's been neglected it'll need a full service (oil, filters, plugs, coolant), brakes, maybe tyres and a transmission service. But the transmission might be borked anyway. You also need to look for rust underneath and round the rear arches plus any electrical issues.

But then again, you might be a spannering god

Good luck!

How deep are your pockets?
PArts for that will be crazy $$$$$$$$$$$$.$$

I am fairly confident I can do most maintenance, and am looking for a project to spend max around 7k a year on. Only maintenance I would be scared to do is crankshaft bearings and most related to camshafts. Should I look for a car with less miles that costs more?

Keep looking and save yourself from my experience!

A 20 year old car with 200K on its clock is a project car. You're doing the seller a favor paying him $1000 for it because it's otherwise going to cost him $500 to have it carted away. You'll put more $$ into it than it will ever be worth afterwards. There's a point at which every vehicle becomes most valuable as a junker.

What is so shocking that a car with nearly 200k has a bad transmission? Or likely needs every major component replaced in short time. OR may have been neglected as it was reaching death. I would not expect anything of educational value from a seller of a 1k dollar vehicle. The seller priced the vehicle as a hunk of metal. Do not expect youre getting more than that. Tire kicking a 1k dollar car is just silly, take it as a gamble and know you'll likely lose. If you have 7k a year to spend on a car, you can afford something MUCH nicer, newer, and possibly with a warranty... do not spend it on maintenance of a vehicle that is never going to be worth it. 7k a year of maintenance is absurd as not one of my cars has ever required that, from E55, S55, E63, LX, Lancruiser, BMW, Dodge, Ford, Jeep, Audi etc. That type of money is only spent by people that require a dealer and or indy to figure out problems on overly complicated and poor quality new luxury cars costing 120k plus, IMHO. 7k in DIY funds is equivalent to 20k in dealer spending and if you have bills like that, the answer is to get rid of that junk.

My two cents.

Thank you all for your opinions, Ill look for a better car. This seller is being super suspicious too I'm not sure if he knows anything about the car.