First of all this is a departure from the norm for me as by now I have sold my current car and probably be extoling the virtues of my Porsche 911 Turbo S on a different forum, having driven one it is still on my list.
Before buying the car I did a fair bit of research on the V12 engined cars and was very nearly put off. In particular a lot of American based forums almost bordered on hysteria about the running costs and over here the various forums did not paint a very positive picture either so it was with a bit of trepidation I ventured on.
Even recently the V12 that was for sale in the form of a CL600 had been subject to coil pack failure and ABC problems that appeared to be a fairly common failure.
So why did I buy one? First of all as my wife constantly reminds me more money than sense, secondly I drove one.
Although I’ve only done about 2800 miles in this year due to being a bit busier than normal work wise. I signed up for the excellent service plan run by Mercedes and it seems to be a good deal for V12 owners plus you have a decent history on the car when you sell it on.
I’ve averaged 18 MPG over the 2800 miles according to the onboard computer and I have no reason to doubt that. I did have this ‘Sword of Damecles’ feeling hanging over me during the first six months but as time has passed I calmed down.
So far the car has been an absolute pleasure to own and on the odd occasion when the road is a bit damp scared me a bit but the electronics seem to be up to the job, I do love the sound of the rear tyres ‘chirping away’ when you’re too heavy on the throttle.
I don’t like the £500 plus road tax but there’s nothing you can do about that (it’s a personal bee I have in my bonnet so to speak) everything else has been fine.
I have been running a thread on Pistonheads readers cars under the title of ‘CL65 a fast barge’ my thinking behind that was to at least present an accurate experience of ownership rather than the third hand pub talk about how these cars are all money pits.
Long term plans are to have the car re-mapped, possibly resonators removed and some rather fancy Vossen forged wheels have been ordered to bling it up a bit. Apart from that just keep it properly serviced and hope for the best.
Before buying the car I did a fair bit of research on the V12 engined cars and was very nearly put off. In particular a lot of American based forums almost bordered on hysteria about the running costs and over here the various forums did not paint a very positive picture either so it was with a bit of trepidation I ventured on.
Even recently the V12 that was for sale in the form of a CL600 had been subject to coil pack failure and ABC problems that appeared to be a fairly common failure.
So why did I buy one? First of all as my wife constantly reminds me more money than sense, secondly I drove one.
Although I’ve only done about 2800 miles in this year due to being a bit busier than normal work wise. I signed up for the excellent service plan run by Mercedes and it seems to be a good deal for V12 owners plus you have a decent history on the car when you sell it on.
I’ve averaged 18 MPG over the 2800 miles according to the onboard computer and I have no reason to doubt that. I did have this ‘Sword of Damecles’ feeling hanging over me during the first six months but as time has passed I calmed down.
So far the car has been an absolute pleasure to own and on the odd occasion when the road is a bit damp scared me a bit but the electronics seem to be up to the job, I do love the sound of the rear tyres ‘chirping away’ when you’re too heavy on the throttle.
I don’t like the £500 plus road tax but there’s nothing you can do about that (it’s a personal bee I have in my bonnet so to speak) everything else has been fine.
I have been running a thread on Pistonheads readers cars under the title of ‘CL65 a fast barge’ my thinking behind that was to at least present an accurate experience of ownership rather than the third hand pub talk about how these cars are all money pits.
Long term plans are to have the car re-mapped, possibly resonators removed and some rather fancy Vossen forged wheels have been ordered to bling it up a bit. Apart from that just keep it properly serviced and hope for the best.