The tale of CLS55 ...

[C240Sport97]

I have been 'following' a very highly specced CLS55 on sale at a main dealer on a 56 plate for a while. The UK list is about £84k.

The asking price started at £73k, then reduced to £69k and is now at £65k.

On investigation, it turns out:

(a) the car was imported (by an import company and then sold to the MB Dealer) from Germany. It has about 800 miles as it was driven back;

(b) the delivery date (i.e. the date it left the factory) was 10 August 2005.

The country order code from the VIN check is 239 -- can anyone confirm that this is Germany?

MB Dealer says that the 1st UK registered owner is the import company. I don't understand why the import company registered the car to itself as that makes it a used car, and they do not benefit from sales bonuses or are under targets from MB. Something just doesn't add up.

When would the 2 year factory warranty start from? Date of UK first registration? Some other date?

What do people think the car is worth?

Regards,
SEAN

 

[saorbust]

Warranty is from date of registration. Imports can be troublesome in this respect though.

Regarding the build code - give me the full chasis number and I'll find out.

As for worth - considering its now effectively 2nd hand - take about 30% off for 1st year (of the UK list price - about 25K), its an import, one owner already, its an old engine, say about 50k tops.

I wouldn't pay more than about 45k - 48k for it. And I'd want all the paper work - particularly the VAT certificate. Incidently, imports are now becoming competitive again price wise, so I'd consider the import cost to be about 25% off the uk list price.

J.

 

[Tilly]

To be honest Sean, I would never touch an imported merc at all... They're a nightmare to shift on and merc can be really really ****y about warranty work even though strictly they're meant to honor it but they can be a pain none the less. The problem with mercedes is that they have a habit of knocking the back out of cars with crazy discounts when they're not shifting or they want to get them exposed to the market. This is why Audi residuals are slowly on the increase and why BMW tend to have the edge on merc although I'm sure some on here will be reluctant to admit it!

I personally would not opt for an import unless it was a specialist car, when I say specialist, I mean hard to come by or the UK variant offers no discount.

For example porsches are fine because they're hard to source. RR sports are fine because they're again hard-ish to source stock cars but they're all built in solihull anyway and retain the same warranty but with a discount (UK dealers will not discount RR sports) and other examples such as subaru where import cars are a different spec to UK cars hence why people opt for them, different running gears etc.

Be very careful!

 

[C240Sport97]

thanks. I am very uneasy about it.

also the car was registered to the MB dealer, rather than the import company .. but the same question applies. Why?

I will be staying away from this one.

 

[Tilly]

That sounds strange to be honest... The only thing I can think of (and this may be a silly distance from the truth) but being in the trade is is possible that the car was imported, a customer cocked on the deal prior to registering it and they couldn't shift it so sold it onto merc to recoup as much money as possible. Merc cannot sell imports new, only second hand so maybe they registered the car in order to deem it used so they were allowed to flog it on. It may be a long shot but this is the only thing I could think of. Plus it would be VAT qualifying

 

[glojo]

thanks. I am very uneasy about it.

also the car was registered to the MB dealer, rather than the import company .. but the same question applies. Why?

I will be staying away from this one.

Having been on this forum for a little while I have learnt there are a few folks that talk utter tosh and the greater majority that educate us all. 'Tilly' falls into the latter category. He is extremely knowledgeable and if he say NO! Then you would be a mug not to listen. If there is one thing I have learnt.... That is take with a large pinch of salt anything you are told by someone trying to sell you a car. They are after your money. NOT your friendship.

The CLS is very much a niche car, there are some very good examples available at attractive prices.

It might be that Tilly could possibly source a vehicle?

John

 

[Tilly]

Wish I could source something for him John but with this particular type of car to be fair unless it's a brand spanker there is not much that can be done as there aren't the same leeways in discounts on used cars.

I've spoken to merc on the new car front because they have been running a petrol CLS campaign which as mentioned in a previous post is where they're knocking the back out of the cars with silly discounts but the campaign has now finished and I don't think it included the AMG's anyway

According to our source there are no new 55's remaining out there unless dealers have marked them up sold with ghost buyers so they don't show on the dealer network system (tut tut naughty!)

The only thing I could do sean would be offer a 5% discount off a new 63 AMG factory order to your own spec where you could opt for a factory collection which is nice as its all paid for by merc with hotels and travel etc included and a tour of the factory but I know that you're more than likely going to be looking at a car with savings of 5 figures! Unfortunately I'd be talking closer to the £4k mark on discounts dependant on spec but if I hear anything on any motors out there I'll give you a shout.

Edit:

PS. A CLS is a whole lot of nothingness is it a bird? is it a plane? No its a funny shaped canoe with a roof and four wheels! Mwah ha ha

 

[ukslk]

I imported my slk200 in nov 04 as the UK dealers were giving unreasonable delivery times of 7+ months if i remember correctly.

Under warranty i have had:

Seat heater drivers side replaced/fixed
drivers side window seals replaced as leaking water
window adjustments for wind noise/not closing properly
both upper leather seat covers replaced

The car has been in loads of times for adjustments etc, several times have been taken out in the car by techs.... and I must say i have never had a problem getting anything done under warranty at all.. they are well aware it is an import. Have always been provided a courtesy car if requested and never made to pay for insurance (though i had to make a point of telling them i didn't want to pay). For me the only difference has been one year less warranty and when I asked for a trade in value I was told being an import I was offered approx £1000 less then would have been otherwise.

On the flip side I have had some awful service (car scratched by washers / door ding in their care) as well but it all sharpened up and was sorted after complaining.

My dad similarly imported a clk320 about 6 years ago as it was cheaper and never had problems with warranty either.

I often feel talk about not buying imports is scare mongering from UK dealers who obviously dont want to lose business.

Just my experiences.

 

[nickg]

I thought a CLS was an E Class with a different body and £10K on the price.....

 

[C240Sport97]

You northerners just don't get style.

the forum votes the CLS number 1:

http://mbclub.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=31015

Edit:

PS. A CLS is a whole lot of nothingness is it a bird? is it a plane? No its a funny shaped canoe with a roof and four wheels! Mwah ha ha

 

[Tilly]

lol @ having no style

Don't think it's anything to do with being northern Just too young to start worrying about "refinement" You know me, I like drivers cars! Plenty of time to worry about style when I hit mid life crisis age

I'll get slated for this but I look forward to getting into an impreza STi. Before anyone quotes it's a chav car... bah! I'm not interested in the looks it doesnt matter when you're having fun.

Symetrical four wheel drive system + 2.5 turbo flat four with a low centre of gravity + brembos and variable DCCD as standard + cheap cheap like the budgie tuning = top fun on one hell of a budget!

Plus the build quality has come on a long way since the classic and bug eye shapes. It felt better built than my W203... saying that, not a hard task ey?

PPS. Voted #1... out of Mercs how could an ML possibly have style? of course the CLS is going to win

 

[BenzComander]

When we were "serving" in Germany, we had a nice little earner with diplomatic sales of Mercs. The UK dealers could not get enough of them because they fell outside of the UK allocation of new cars. This is still going on I believe.

We were allowed to buy 1 tax free car per 12 months, from a German main dealer to UK spec and we got a NATO forces discount, no VAT and were able to buy the car in DM's. Worked out at about a third off UK retail price!! It meant we could run a new Merc for 12 months, and sell at a profit! Ah, those were the days!!

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Wish I could source something for him John but with this particular type of car to be fair unless it's a brand spanker there is not much that can be done as there aren't the same leeways in discounts on used cars.

A good friend is looking at changing soon, and thinking of a CLK, 3-Series Coupe, or maybe a 5-Series or IS250. Your comment re petrol MBs got me thinking - are any particular models being discounted more heavily at the moment?

He's most interested in being good value rather than actual cost, trim/engine - wants his next car to be sporty though. He'd consider lease or purchase outright.

Any thoughts welcomed!! Thanks in advance.

 

[jaymanek]

The reason the import company would have put it in their name would be to register the car in this country

 

[Tilly]

A good friend is looking at changing soon, and thinking of a CLK, 3-Series Coupe, or maybe a 5-Series or IS250. Your comment re petrol MBs got me thinking - are any particular models being discounted more heavily at the moment?

He's most interested in being good value rather than actual cost, trim/engine - wants his next car to be sporty though. He'd consider lease or purchase outright.

Any thoughts welcomed!! Thanks in advance.

Mercs - nothing worth bothering with, campaigns continued on C class coupes but you'd be buying into a lead balloon. Besides that nothing in the range at the moment. Come new year there will/should be new campaigns launched as its the start of the new quarter.

BMWs - There were recently discounts on most of the range at 17% bar new models ie. 3 series coupes, Z4 coupes etc but this was not known to the general public and was not every dealership offering them however be careful of residuals due to this. 3 series coupes I wouldn't touch 'til the launch of the M sports as they will be the most popular option and larger discounts will be available as currently they're only a couple of percent.

IS250 - Lexus never do much on the discount or residual front, they've always been a bit of an outsider.

The best bet 99% of the time is to stick with the germans. I was convinced 12 months ago Audi would have the market... today, they do... I was right woooooo!

They really are the ones to have the only issue is lead times with most cars being factory orders. For example contract hire on an A6 2.0 diesel you're looking at £280 + vat for a car that's comparable in size to a 5 series or E class and as standard has sat nav, cruise control, 6CD, dynamic suspension etc. On a Q7 you're looking at £425 + vat. Do you really think an ML would be that good against depreciation?

IMO if there are lease deals out there to be had on the car someone wants, jump at them because you have no worries in regards to resale etc, otherwise I'd look at lease purchase as being the most cost effective but it all depends on the individuals own scenario

 

[fuzzer]

doesnt sound right. Id walk away if i was you ...

 

[C240Sport97]

you 'forgot' the SL, old CL, new CL and CLK ...

PPS. Voted #1... out of Mercs how could an ML possibly have style? of course the CLS is going to win

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Tilly - You Sir, are a star!!

The prices you mention are interesting - by way of comparison to the A6, what would a 520d come out at?

 

[Tilly]

Tilly - You Sir, are a star!!

The prices you mention are interesting - by way of comparison to the A6, what would a 520d come out at?

In technical terms - ****e

520D SE manual with sparkly paint of the metallic variety (3+23) at 10k per annum - £385 + vat for a bogger Systems residuals have been altered after the 17% discounts were released which are no longer available, prices are back down in the real world now, E classes are worse!

Sean... I chose not to include rather than "forgot" the other variants, they have a bit more erm... whats the word... credibility than ML's so I had to pick on them, its more fun that way! well I had to get my point across somehow didn't I

Still, I'm not a fan of any of them bar the SL's and even then it has to be a new shape/facelift/glorified engine change or whatever you want to call it because at least now the 350's kind of move faster than syrup travelling down a 45 degree descent

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Cheers Tilly