C140 series coupe wanted

[Setanta]

Thought best to do this as a new thread since C215 is not practical (boot too small) and the sedan is taken care of! Yay.

Anyways, in case there are any lurkers on here who have one (as I would prefer to buy from a fellow member) or know of any that may be coming up for sale. Seems like quite a few people have managed to get some nice examples by way of word of mouth.

So.....

1996 onwards CL500 (preferred) or a CL420. I would consider a CL600 but it would have had to have had a lot of the problems areas addressed.

Miles - don't really mind as the service history is most important.

Owners - flexible, as would buy on condition. I am only interested in buying privately though.

MOT/Tax: must have. If a car has no tax it cannot be driven and I am not buying a car without driving it first.

Service History: must have. Does not have to be main dealer but rather recognised indies

Price range: willing to pay a fair price comensurate with miles and condition. This would be the 4th one I will have owned so I think I have a fair idea of what is a good price and what is not (from both buyer and seller)

There are a few floating around the usual places (Autotrader and the like) but most have been for sale for absolutely ages (so either overpriced, or junk, or a combination of the two).

Thanks in advance!

 

[Setanta]

bumpty bump

 

[jaymanek]

Have you seen the one on my site? I can do a deal for a club member... I think its a bargain and a really nice example.
It was sold but the chap hasnt come back to pick it up and only left a smallish deposit so ive put it back up for sale.

 

[Borys]

My m8 want to sell his s500 coupe but it is a 1994 model.Full service history,some where 100k on clock.Not perfect but he asks 2200 for it.Blue with amg wheels,baige interior.
Can ask him for pics if U're interested

 

[grafzep]

Thought it might have been you snapping up this one:

Mercedes-Benz : FACELIFT LATE CL420 WITH AMG ALLOYS AND BODYKIT £3500ono

- went in 3 days, pretty quick when, as you say, they seem to be sticking.

 

[Setanta]

There was no tax on it so could not be test driven. The price miles year balance was not bad although it does not have an AMG kit on it.

There are a few on autotrader that have been for sale for over 9 months and one that is not far off 4 years (yes, years!)

 

[Deleted member 37751]

I know of an immaculate face-lift W215 CL 500 with AMG kit, 90k, if it's of any interest to you?

 

[grafzep]

...and the cl600 boot badge was a bit rum.

but if you "buy the seller" then I thought it one of the nicer ones out there - essentially one owner and still parked in Mayfair where it was bought. I would find it very difficult to buy a cl from outside a house worth less than the car was new.

 

[Setanta]

...and the cl600 boot badge was a bit rum.

but if you "buy the seller" then I thought it one of the nicer ones out there - essentially one owner and still parked in Mayfair where it was bought. I would find it very difficult to buy a cl from outside a house worth less than the car was new.

I spoke with the seller, who was a friend of the person who placed the ad, and car is (was) actually in Essex, not London although it may have lived in London in the past. Was his father's car but being sold on by the son.

What is tax? £150 for six months? I would have taxed it then put it up for sale and that removes the risk that anyone would walk who could not test drive it (me for example). For anyone new to C140/W140's then it could be "so cheap, what could go wrong" but knowing them, you could rattle off at least £1000-£2000 in suspension etc depending on what was stuffed. Makes it hard to bring to somewhere on a ramp to check the rear brake lines for example (£££) or the various subframe mounting, suspension etc etc.

Cheap to buy but not cheap to run if you want to keep on top of it.

 

[grafzep]

You're right, of course, about the tax. Makes a buyer nervous for the sake of pennies and makes you wonder what else has been neglected. The pictures were taken within walking distance of where it was bought which I liked.

If you do follow up any others please do post the outcome. It's an interesting hunt. The cars are at a fascinating point the ownership cycle - not quite classic, not really prestige.

They would never have been practical as family cars, so I would imagine some were bought by older, near-retirement rich men. There must be a few of those now letting go...

 

[jaymanek]

People get funny about tax... my customers wil often delay collecting a car for weeks just to save £15-25...