jonjay

gettn a car when i get my license and i like the cl's but when i saw a kleeman body kit on a cl. i was in love what should i get for my first car , of course trying to impress all my friends ..
thought about doing 2001 CL 600 + Kleeman Body kit + quad exhaust (2 on each side ) + wide tires. hmm what else?

CY

The new 2007 CL will clown you if you are looking to impress teenage minds.

Get a 2003+ SL500/55/600...keep the top down...put 20's on it and lower accordingly and you will be the boss...unless a gallardo rolls on you...lol

AndrewAZ

How much do you have to spend? And have your parents ever had a mercedes? CL that old is just going to be a money pit in repair bills, I know they look like a good buy but the reason being is again repair costs.. I am guessing you have about 40-50K to spend.. My advice is to get a BMW E90 325I with some nice options and you will be a lot happier.. Navigation which comes with I drive, bluetooth any to many features to list will impress your friends more than a 5 year old CL. Plus you can get keyless go and radar cruse control on the BMW just like a fully loaded CL would have.. But guess what your new BMW comes with a 4 year warranty that covers everything, not to mention you will have a brand new car and you dont have to worry about how the last owner treated it or having expensive repair bills. I think if you ask your parents for a 325I you will get one without objection but a CL might raise doubts in their minds. Lets just say I was in high school a while back and some kids drove old 7 series and thought they where cool but I along with most other kids would rather have a new 3 series or a newer car. Trust me a 5 year old CL wont get you much attention and why would you want an old persons car anyways that has 1/4 of the gadgets that the new BMW has.

slk55lvr

He has a point, but I wouldn't spend 40-50k on a new 3 series either. If you really like the benz's, check out a decent low miles clk 55, which you could probably have in the 30's now. That would still give you a decent repair budget and a DAMN FAST car.

AndrewAZ

Just what a first time driver needs is a "damn fast car"... Might as well buy him a bomb that is strapped to him that will go off randomly in a year. He needs to learn to drive first and build experience, the CL is a good car since it is heavy and slow the BMW is a quick car but not to quick that he would have trouble controlling it...

A new 3 series fully loaded will be at max $45k. My brother just got one with just about everything out the door for $39k (add in taxes more around $43k). The car has more features than any Mercedes offers for the same price. And so far with my brothers car I have even questioned why would anyone spend more for a car. To me the new 3 series is the best bargain in german luxury/technology/ride.

MercedesFTW

Cl600 is a nice car. Plus I don't think many other teens will have the new Cl, let alone the current Cl! But IMO, don't buy a car to impress someone...

I dislike the new 3 series, well at least for the price. Too much money for too little. I test drove a 330xi with...no upgraded sound and no navi that came in at 45K.

Vik888

buying a car to impress your friends .. haha, thats rich.

AndrewAZ

Yea isnt it... But its what just about every high school kid thinks about, kind of sad...They should be more worried about doing well in school so they can buy more expensive cars later on in life that getting something mommy and daddy bought them..( Yea I have no room to talk lol)

b3d_sage

Now, I disagree. I constantly am thinking about what kind of car would impress my friends the most. It is that desire to get really crazy cars that has me making A's in college.

[180]

x2.
Especially if they know you're buying the car with your parents money. I don't think that'll impress anyone.

Make the money first, then buy the car. Respect is something that needs to be earned... if you drive a CL that your parents bought, people will just pretend to be your "friends" just to leach off "your" $$$.

Honestly, I'd be more impressed by a high school kid who bought a $2000 Honda Civic with his own money than some rich kid driving around in their parents' (or parent-bought) cars.



As you get older and have more money, you'll realize that it's just foolish to spend money to impress other people.
Buy whatever cars you want because you're going to be the one driving and enjoying it... not the people you're trying to impress. You don't need to care about what other people think because in the end, you'll know you have more money than them.

AsianML

What would your guys' opinions be if the car was "passed" down to you.

Air Marshall Eldritch

Whatever you get, make sure to add a 2-level handlebar spoiler. The spoiler makes the man.

[180]

Nothing wrong with that... my first car was passed down to me as well, it was a 93' Camry. Although any parent giving their kids a new Mercedes, even a base C230, is definitely spoiling them.

What's most important is that you don't just relax and enjoy what's coming from your parents... because you just can't rely on them for the rest of your life. I personally think that every kid should be able to be financially independent (and living on their own) by age 18.

HLG600

I would like to jump in as the exception. As said numerous times before, the SL is for my driving pleasure, not for some bull**** juvenile show off contest. The CL is a beautiful machine, just be sure you are buying it for YOU to enjoy.

b3d_sage

Well, I suppose that if you really wanted to analyze me, you would actually find that what I think other people would be most impressed by is, of course, what I would be most impressed by. So, I'm actually trying to impress myself. What impresses me? Not the amount of cash dropped on a new toy. What impresses me is an appreciation of style, engineering beauty, and the driving experience. So, when it comes down to it, I'm just like most other people here, only I have a more complicated way of going about it.

Of course, I just dangle neat cars in front of myself like a carrot to motivate me. Deep inside I know that the real value of being succesful is so that I will be able to provide the best for my future (hopefully!) family.

FireFox31

Come to your parents with the following proposition. I guarantee it will work and will profit you in many many many ways:

Tell them you'd rather not waste $45k on a CL, but instead invest it in real estate. Trust me.

Take $5k of it and buy a 1993 W124. You'll command respect by owning the last TRUE Mercedes.

Tell your parents to help you invest the remaining $40k. When you're done with high school, use it as a down payment on a condo near your college of choice.

Then, for four years, you can party like an animal, have all the ladies over to "your place", and live free of the college's annoying rules. You will be one THOUSAND percent more "The Man" for owning your own place in college than for wasting money on a quickly depreciating CL in high school.

And, when you're done with college, you'll own PRIME realestate to rent to college students for the rest of your life. It will pay YOU instead of you loosing money on the depreciation of the car.

Then buy an SLR and enjoy.

b3d_sage

but how is he to pay the mortgage on that condo while he's in school?

And, most kids that would get a $45k car would probably get a place of their own in college or get into the high rollers frat anyhow.

Of course, this is definitely a smarter move than spending $45k on a car before you have a degree or assets (although he may already have some?).

FireFox31

Mortgage during college; good point, you got me. Work study?

I still like the part about the SLR.

Ryanr317

I TOTALLY AGREE! I believe you'd command a lot more respect if you bought your car yourself, now it probably won't be a CL, but it would be YOURS. I'd be more impressed if you bought your own '94 C220, or heck even a '92 civic.
Impress your friends by showing them that you are responsible and can buy your own things with your OWN MONEY that you WORKED FOR.
Then on the other hand, if my parents offered to buy me a late model CL i certainly wouldn't decline.

b3d_sage

that's definitely true. People are a lot more impressed with my old C when they find out that I paid for it with a single check from my own bank account with money that I earned and not that I convinced mommy to pay the loan bill.

Tangerine

well i think a parent buying a (example) c240 for you because its a safe car for you but having you support it isn't spoiling you now is it? well i guess in a way.... if not able to support that car then that car is outta the question.

i would like to be independent and living on my own when i was 18 but i wasn't able to save up enough money even though i was working after school every single day even when i was sick. the insurance/gas/misc fees were a handful. by the time i graduated h.s i still didn't have enough money and i was thinking abuot college (b.u ~40k/year) and how it would be too much work for me. everyone needs a little help here and there rite? i guess i could always go to a community college and live on my own, sell my car and take the bus

b3d_sage

If I had a daughter in highschool right now (heaven forbid! Knowing what I know, I'd pull all of my hair out and bite my nails clean off I'm sure... hopefully kids will be, shall we say, "better" by the time I have mine and they start growing up) I would probably want to get a C240. I would pay for the insurance and gas. However, the key would have to be earned. If she were behaving well and doing well in school, showing a promising future, then the car is the reward for her hard work. However, let the grades slip or start sneaking out at night and it's back to riding the bus to school with those nasty freshmen boys! (Or, even worse, having to show up at school riding with her gradfather in his dorked-out '98 dodge caravan... oh wouldn't she LOVE for the cute boy that sits next to her in math class to see her arriving in THAT. I know, I'm twisted.)

ultraseven

a mercedes for a kid is just pure disaster, even it's a CPO'ed vehicle. The exceptions are probably a much older E/C class with the smallest engine available so they will be seen more as a hand-me-down.

A civic or a used volvo S40 is a much better choice.

b3d_sage

sorry, can you give a reason or deeper explaination for your statements? Otherwise, they aren't really useful in any way.

AndrewAZ

I guess I will pass on what my father always told me... "I used to walk 3 miles to school uphill in the rain and snow with panthers attacking me, be glad you get any car"