Hello, everyone.

Just joined MBWorld to acknowledge myself of what I am possibly getting into.

After few happy years of driving my 2007 Mini Cooper S (not exactly masculine, I know, though it handles great!), I decided to move on as it's getting old. I have put on 195k miles on it in the Pacific Northwest so it had a fair share of rain and aggressive typhoons throughout its life and now it's to retire it. I have bought it about 4 years ago at 123k miles and put about 72k miles in 4 years so I drive about 18k miles a year I suppose. Though this car has been quite reliable with surprisingly the original turbo on it.

Mileage will be less than usual as my life circumstances changed and I will probably only do about 10k with occasional trip from Portland to Seattle and back (about 160 miles each way). I was considering 03 CLK 55 AMG with 110k miles on it. I know, it's got high miles. It has service histories and it has a little damage on the rear bumper that I can be careless but factoring that, I can get the car for $8500. There was another one, 05 CLK 55 AMG with 110k miles but it's got rebuilt title which I don't really want, though it's priced at $8300. I have about $11k to spend and I want to buy a car then spend a grand or a bit more to do any maintenances it might need including oil change, fluid change etc even though the owner claims he did change engine oil.

I understand any AMGs, actually any MBZs require more cares and money to keep it on the road compared to, per se, Honda Civic. Though, I do not want to spend a grand every other month just to see another CEL flashing. I know I am not under an ideal condition to buy a Merc as my budget is limited but before my second car, Mini Cooper S, I've had a 99 ML320 as my first car in high school, with 118k miles and despite a lot of people saying it's unreliable, I only changed timing belt for $230 and rear sets of brake pads for I think $150 or something, it has been dead reliable for a year and 21k miles throughout my senior year in high school. In my opinion, Mercedes never loses its class even after 10 years and that makes me want to consider CLK 55 even though it will be around 10 years old or so.

Sorry for the long post and hope anyone can enlighten me!

 

2003 isn't a particularly good year with the valeo radiator issue. If it has a valeo radiator I'd take a pass. Other than that it's a good car. You said on your ML you replaced a timing belt, the M112 V6 doesn't have a belt, IT has a chain, and $200ish dollars would be crazy cheap for a timing belt.... Probably just a serpentine belt. At 100k miles, you need to make sure the trans has been services, as well as the spark plugs being replaced... With 16 it can be pricey... Really though, the car shouldn't give you many issues.

 

Thanks for your input! I guess it's a timing chain cause I thought almost every MBZ has a timing chain. I mean I was in high school, it was my first car and I wanted something nice for the little money I had. What could I have known? haha. All I remember was that I couldn't steer freely and had to drive to the nearest garage in sight with a very restricted steering radius which could have been dangerous. All I recall is that I spent somewhere between 200-250 for the job.

I have studied that the 03 and few 04's have valeo rads but heard it could be rectified easily by fitting a Behr rad which the parts cost somewhere in the $200's? If that was the concern, I would order the Behr rad right after I make the purchase of the car for peace of mind. It's just I can't stop thinking of driving a smooth N/A V8 AMGs but can probably consider CLK500 or even 320 depends on the availability within my budget. Though, I would really really really want a 55 AMG as it will be my first AMG and I already know I will enjoy it a lot!

 

If your steering got stiff it was a serpentine belt as it drives the power steering pump. Anyhow, if there was any contamination from the cal so radiator then the tranny is toast.... I'd be very cautious at that mileage... Any reason not to go for a 208 55 AMG? Rock solid car's.

 

My opinion is if the radiator hasn't leaked after 11 years it probably won't. Or just order a replacement anyway since you will want to have the transmission fluid changed as soon as you get the car.

 

Don't want to ruffle feathers but that's a flawed logic brother... It's a seal that goes, and that would be like saying "well if the valve cover gaskets haven't leaked by now...." and that's just now how things wear... I wish it was, but it's not... Things have a tendency to fail given more time than less. I'm just looking out for Ya... If you can take it to an mb dealer and have the trans fluid analyzed to be sure it hasnt, then jump on it, and waste not 1 day having that radiator changed... Seriously, before you put it in your driveway have it swapped... That's a ticking 6K time bomb... Other than that its a great car... But you're also going to want to do the plugs as well and O2 sensors so you aren't putting New cats on it.... This car can become a very expensive machine when not maintained well.... If it is maintained well, it will be rock solid!

 

I appreciate any technical discussion, no ruffled feathers.

I am comfortable with the risk, only very few valeo radiators actually failed. I liken it to the M156 head bolt failure. It is a disaster but unlikely enough to not worry me. When you take the cost of replacement (which in my country is significantly higher than yours) and the likelihood of the problem occuring it makes more sense not to replace it. I would guess that if you took the thousands and thousands of car years across the affected range and models and divide by the failures it would be very small risk per car year. If I could access US pricing and availability of parts I would do it next weekend.

My knowledge might be flawed in that I was lead to believe that a lot of the failures were quite early on and that general wear over an extended period of time was not an important factor. The poorly made part coupled with the stress of normal usage resulted in the early failures. Please let me know if this is incorrect.

I agree with you though, everyone should be encouraged to change it at the first practical moment.

 

No, I did a ton of research when buying my first CLK... I had the chance to pop on a beautiful, loaded 03. The failure can happen at any point. The Behr replacement is about 238 us... Really not bad for cheap insurance against the alternative.... All you need to make sure is a shop with a glycol test kit to see if it is contamintated.. It would just hate to see someone get such a wonderful car and have the experience ruined by that small preventable fault that causes so much damage. Actually quite a few failed.... Most people aren't on internet boards.... So grandpa Joe with his 03 e500 probably didn't hop on the net and talk about it.... Lots were replaced under original or starmark warranty. Lots we're replaced to owner cost. I commend you for accepting the risk, but if I were you I'd mitigate that risk by spending a little (think bargaining chip) and see if you can get the current owner down a bit. I remember once I bought an Acura CL Type-S knowing the transmission risk on those.... I loved the car, the second day of ownership, loan not even fully accepted the transmission failure common to those happened to me on the way to work.... I was heart broken... I had to call all of the lenders the loan was being submitted to and tell them the collateral was worthless because the dealer wouldn't work with me... So finally They wouldn't clear the loan and the dealer had to take it back. It was the same situation, I had confidence because the car had lived enough life that it seemed solid, most failures happened well before and even were covered under a safety recall, mine was just outside of the factory extended warranty directly affecting the trans.... Acuras position was that it effected a small number of vehicles, however I spoke to every CL/TL owner who came through our shop (back in my car audio days) and every single one had at least 2 trans replacements. To this day I love those cars, they drove great, fantastic engine and just a nice way the interior felt... I'd consider one in a 6-speed as a second car... I digress... You would be surprised how little makes it to the net... My good friend has a brother who works for a local MB dealer as a senior master tech and he told me to run from any 03 with a valeo radiator unless I could have a glycol test in the trans fluid, ensure it was negative, then drive it straight to any shop and replace it with a bahr radiator.