Kelvin07

Guys,

I really want to trade in my CLS500 for a CLS55 AMG the dealer has, it has 35k miles, and it pulls like a rocket!, body and wheels in perfect condition.

But...

The leather on the seats is just deplorable, very deteriorated, the seats look "deflated", very pale, old looking leather, with A LOT of veins and very noticeable wear and tear... EVEN THE BACK SEATS look like this! (which blew my mind, tbh...)

I am wondering if this is normal?, is it???
Are there any treatments to "revive" the leather?

After driving it/hanging on for dear life, I am intoxicated by this car, but it's weird, I feel like the guy who loves that girl with a black mark... and as much as I wanna forget about it, THAT'S ALL I THINK ABOUT!

Would it be a foolish purchase?
A sign of worst things to come? (under the hood..)

Zod

Well to keep peace of mind do the following

Good checkon the engine and the sc
second the gear box.

if both check out ok

car body, if that checks out ok

then the rest should be easily replaced. I.E get new leather done, and u can go 2 tone if u like ;p

keith954

Post a link to the car or a pic of the interior.

hyperion667

its wear and tear man......what do you think the dealer would do if they were selling it to you??
the answer: not give a hoot....

good luck

TopEndS62

ive seen cls55s with way more mileage with great looking leather interior. wouldn't say it common. i would negotiate accordingly.

Kelvin07

I sure will

Kelvin07

Gotta go back and take a few pics, I'll post back

Kelvin07

If you were in my shoes, how much would you asked them to shove of asking price?

$2-$3k?, more? Less?

TopEndS62

Any rips?? i know you said wear and tear. just want to confirm.. regardless of the fact the dealers has the lowest price already set for the sale. i'd say a deduction of about 2-3k seems about right. Seats would have to be refurbished.

Kelvin07

No rips (yet), but a lot of fading and many, many wrinkles.

TopEndS62

OK. Personally i'm an interior neat-freak as most are. That being said, IF I were getting a super-deal to compensate for shabby seats, YES i would take it as longs as the more important things checks out. Set aside a few hours to call some local leather experts to get a quote on the potential work. Curious to see the pics as well once you get them.

C43AMG

Leatherique www.leatherique.com

CharlyE500

Its not uncommon for CLS having leather issue. I have a friend with CLS500 the leather was not as solid as my E class. Before he purchased the dealer changed the leather seat for $250 at dealer cost. Its not very expensive to do but if you change the leather you better change driver and passenger side together or the color will be a bit different. This is from my friend CLS500 experience.

Kelvin07

For sure, you're right, but, that car needs all four seats refurbished if I'm honest, it's that bad.

I guess what worries me the most is the thought of negligence... if the previous owner was so untidy with the interior to let it rot like that... maybe he was even a more careless with the engine...

I gotta find a good shop to run test on the engine, SC and gearbox, although, it felt awesome when I drove it!

Kelvin07

Guys, the reason why I'm being so nit picky about it, is simple, the car, a 2006 CLS55, is $70k!!, that's $30k more than in the US...

In Costa Rica, cars like these are stupidly over priced, thanks to our ridiculously idiotic government.

scottyOTM

my cls has 60k miles and the seats look new. i have some friends that live in CR. they told me a lot of our flood cars are for sale there. maybe water damage.

Kelvin07

He is somewhat right, but most flood cars are japanese or US brands, rarely some very old german car.

About this car, it is one of only 2 the dealer ever imported and sold.

djrabbi

mine had lot of those wrinkles so what i did was used a blow dryer and cleaned it with shampoo and conditioner. Looks new

Kelvin07

WOW, for real bud?, what brand of shampoo and conditioner u used?

djrabbi

I used Lenox.

I wet the seats with water like spray on and cleaned it. Than I shampoo'd it and cleaned. Heat up the seats and conditioned. Looks great!

Kelvin07

Well, the deal is like this,

The dealer cuts $3k PLUS, the will get their in house detailers to work the leather with some product they use.

Also, they will swallow the $5k that costs to transfer the title here (I know, insane)... plus MY cars title fees too, which are like $3k.

Total, $11k in savings for me... sounds too good to be true?, that's what worries me a little bit...

Kelvin07

I'll take your word DJ on look them up, you seem to be very **** about your car, same as me.

Any special brush or sponge you used bud?