CL600 (W216) advice

[CLGuy]

Hi guys,

Ling time lurker and past owner of a CLS500. I am close to buying a 2008 CL600 with 70k on clock. Car is described as being excellent mechanically and cosmetically.

However seller only have half of the car’s service history due to it being a repossession. Any big ticket items I can try to spot on initial inspection? Would it be wise to have it sent to MB dealer for PPI.

No warranty in the land will cover it due to age.

 

[oldguy57]

Hi guys,

Ling time lurker and past owner of a CLS500. I am close to buying a 2008 CL600 with 70k on clock. Car is described as being excellent mechanically and cosmetically.

However seller only have half of the car’s service history due to it being a repossession. Any big ticket items I can try to spot on initial inspection? Would it be wise to have it sent to MB dealer for PPI.

No warranty in the land will cover it due to age.

You may be able to get service records from MB if you have a friendly dealer. If it's a repossession I'd suspect that recent servicing might be sketchy or none existent, but you never know.
I would be checking brake discs and pads which are a touch expensive. Make sure everything electrical works. Coil packs are £1500 each ish if you buy from MB - if you can inspect and check if they have been replaced that would be good. Tyres are not unduly dear £200 ish depending on type. Water ingress into the front footwells affecting electrics can be an issue- this is often due to blocked drains on the bulkhead next to the bonnet hinges (there are other drains but these seem to be the main culprits. Wet carpets in the rear footwell point to sunroof drain blockages.
With this age and mileage I would try to get a pre purchase inspection by a reputable indie and if you proceed stick a good few £'s away for maintenance etc.(plugs alone can be £6/700 for example)

 

[W1ghty]

ABC , £1k for each corner and £1k for the pump .
@Sam87 might have some input on the engine , he just bought 2 (600 cars)

 

[CLGuy]

Thanks guys.
The only history with car is attached and I cant even see whats been done.

Do these cars suffer from rust and is there any signs that the abc etc are about to fail?

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

Very very brave to be buying a complex £100k car that has no evidence of servicing for a decade.

It will could cost thousands “just” to bring it up to date / safe.

What condition are the tyres in? How old are they? (Date stamp is on the side)

Have you checked MoT history to see if there’s been a haircut as well?

 

[CLGuy]

Very very brave to be buying a complex £100k car that has no evidence of servicing for a decade.

It will could cost thousands “just” to bring it up to date / safe.

What condition are the tyres in? How old are they? (Date stamp is on the side)

Have you checked MoT history to see if there’s been a haircut as well?

Mot looks ok but limited due to being Irish car in last ownership. I received the paper services and basically minor services but one major with brake overhaul in 2013.

I believe brakes have since been changed again but nothing in way of abc etc.

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

Any background as to why it's been 10k over 5 years?
Great if it belonged to Rory McIlroy, worrying if it was used as someone's daily.
The dates and wear on the tyres will tell a tale. If very old but still plenty, then it's been low mileage, if recent, not so clear.

Sorry to be so sceptical but V12's are expensive cars to run. Without knowledge of background you could easily spend half its purchase price within the first two years of running it. ABC is a well known headline "issue," but at 70k miles there's plenty routine work to be done, even if it's been parked up for most of the time.

 

[CLGuy]

Hey guys,

So nothing substantial to report in the service documents, see attached. Any help welcome

 

[W1ghty]

Hey guys,

So nothing substantial to report in the service documents, see attached. Any help welcome

Any chance you can take the car to an MB specialist at your cost to check it over?

 

[roviw1]

These are very very expensive cars to maintain, a friend of mine had a 2007 one for several years, he was lucky to have got a brilliant Syntner used car warranty when he first got it and then he took out a mercedes warranty afterwards up until it was 13 years old, I think that was as long as mercedes would cover it for, he then part exchanged it for an S class coupe 6.3 AMG.
He did really like the CL600 , as did I, but it did have to have a new transmission in his ownership, lucky the warranty covered it as it was a £14000 job !
There were other smaller items , a pulsation damper and a few other bits, also as mentioned above it has lots of spark plugs !!
We, on the forum, are not trying to put you off but purely making some suggestions so you are aware of things.
Can you maybe get a decent inspection done on it, it may be possible and worth spending £500 or whatever for a bit of peace of mind, if you did not go through with the purchase the seller could also benefit from this inspection so he could possibly be very happy for it to be carried out.

Regarding low mileage over a period of time, in the case of my friend , the cl600 was one of 8 other cars so he shared his driving between them all and probably only covered 2500 to 3000 a year at most.