Thinking of a 2000 CL

[edgley]

Hi,

Potential new MB owner here.
I am thinking of getting a CL around 2000, and wanted to ask on here a few things please.

I have driven one, and it was amazing, I have never been in anything so comfortable.

My first concern has to be all those switches and them failing. As I am thinking of getting one around the 70k mile mark, and there seems to be some being sold with around 100k on them, that I should be okay for general reliability?

The bigger problem is all the options
Tis very confusing; for example, is there more than one option for the xeon lights as I see them being called different things on different adverts.
What about the seats? Some say vented, some say lumbar support etc.

Is there a master list somewhere (I did google but couldnt find one) that list all the options so I can cross them off?

Anything else that I need to know about the CL? Its rather a change from what I am used to driving

Thanks,
Simon.

 

[gaz_l]

Hello and welcome!

Choose wisely would be my first words. CLs are lovely cars but they are complicated beasts and can cost *huge* amounts to fix when they go wrong. Don't forget, if you buy a top end model it could have cost the original owner 6 figures! I've no experience myself but there are plenty of owners on here who will have words of advice.

Good luck in the search

Cheers,

Gaz

 

[edgley]

Thanks for the welcome, and damn for the first words of advice

I had hoped that the first words where going to be "most reliable car MB have made, ever"

 

[Deleted member 37751]

Thanks for the welcome, and damn for the first words of advice

I had hoped that the first words where going to be "most unreliable car MB have made, ever"

Fixed that for you^
Hello and welcome to the forum

To be fair, they did cost in excess of £100k brand new, so it will have massive maintanence costs (£1,000 per corner suspension for example)

The standard of your car will come down to your budget.... Which is?

 

[hawk20]

Unless you have a big budget or are extraordinarily lucky with cars, buying a ten year old £70-£100k car with just about the most complex systems around- at that time- is asking for trouble IMO. Sorry. It is a fabulous car to drive.

I've always driven someone else's. Much less worrying.

 

[edgley]

I have 7-9k to play with.

Would a S Class be a safer buy then? It was what I was thinking of first, I thought the CL was out of my price range.

I had thought that I could get some form of warrantee that would cover all the major things, have I got that wrong too?

Just found a CL55 up the road from me as well...

 

[edgley]

Just got a quote from WarrntyDirect; everything other than the in-car entertainment is covered for £700 for 13m.

Does that not remove the worry?
And thanks for the honest opinion. One dealer I spoke with said that these where the last of the mechanical cars, and so where much easier to work on; guess he just wanted the sale

 

[hawk20]

Just got a quote from WarrntyDirect; everything other than the in-car entertainment is covered for £700 for 13m.

Does that not remove the worry?
And thanks for the honest opinion. One dealer I spoke with said that these where the last of the mechanical cars, and so where much easier to work on; guess he just wanted the sale

The 'guarantee' will exclude lots of things including wear and tear which on a 10 year old let's them off the hook for most things!

I have owned an S class and many E class. The S is great but the E class runs it amazingly close and comes for more sensible money. Buying a Mercedes I would try to get to 2003 or later because then they are fully galvanised on all steel panels and far better protected against rust.

You say you have up to £9k but if some finance would get you up a bit further, and spend less on repairs etc, I would at least consider buying a 2003 or later E class, Avantgarde (best spec), from an MB dealer who will give you a good guarantee.

Others may differ but in my experience it goes like this. About 80% or more of MB owners buy another MB. Most, like me, don't want the hassle of selling second-hand and so we part ex with an MB dealer. They keep the good ones to retail, and send the poorer ones to traders or to auction. So, on average, the better ones are with the dealers. It is not 100%; there are exceptions and you may find one. But when I've looked at second-hand it tends to be true most of the time. One year of MB warranty gives good peace of mind too.

If you go to the MB website, approved used cars, search E class any price, and rank lowest to highest. Today the lowest is around £11k. Can you get to that with some finance? Hemel Hempstead have a 2004 320cdi, Avantgarde, auto, COMAND and leather and lots of kit inc Bi- Xenon lights, only 70k miles, for asking £11,900. Haggle to get for £10,900 or £11k?

Sometimes they throw in free servicing for a year or two. Might be worth a look and a test drive. The 320cdi engine gives wonderful effortless overtaking (same engine as most S class have) and 40 mpg on a run is easily achievable.

Until you drive a 320cdi you won't realise how good a diesel can be. Over 80% of E's and S's nowadays are diesel. Petrol are rarer but available at usually lower prices secondhand.

 

[edgley]

Sorry, dont want an E class; I have always wanted one of the large cars from them.

Wear and tear is included, and also non-insurced parts damaging insured parts too, it seems too good to be true.

Here is a list of the details:
Warranty Direct :: The UK's leading car warranty & household warranty supplier. Providing used car warranties, new car warranties, and household protection for your TV, washing machine and other products.

 

[hawk20]

Sorry, dont want an E class; I have always wanted one of the large cars from them.

Wear and tear is included, and also non-insurced parts damaging insured parts too, it seems too good to be true.

Here is a list of the details:
Warranty Direct :: The UK's leading car warranty & household warranty supplier. Providing used car warranties, new car warranties, and household protection for your TV, washing machine and other products.

Trouble is that, as many threads here reveal, too good to be true often is just that. Ask them what their most expensive top cover would cost i.e. as comprehensive as they can do?

 

[hawk20]

I note their best cover is only available on cars up to 4 years old and with mileage no higher than 60k. After that the exclusions roll in. Worth searching for threads on the warranty topic.

Then there is reduced cover for cars up to 7 years old and only a max of 70k miles

What you are talking is a car on the level even below that one.

Then there are the "options" for extra cover which need checking.

Trouble is with a ten year old car they can always say 'well that's what you would expect to need replacing on a car of that age and mileage.' No comfort if someone wants £5k to replace the automatic gearbox! All I'm saying is you need to very carefully check exactly what is not covered. Thread seach will help.

 

[edgley]

They say its to the value of the car.
If I give them a ring, not even sure what else to check is covered.

I am more confused now, as I have just gone and looked at S class's.
More toys, same age/miles and £2k less.

 

[edgley]

Really?
All I see is that I wont be covered on Sat Nav, Airbags/emissions, alarm and ICE.

I will go and search for other topics.

 

[Setanta]

Buy on service history and condition, not miles.

When I was looking at W220's, I saw junkers with 40,000 and 50,000 miles and ended up buying one with 130,000 miles because of the service history.

Make no mistake - these are extraordinarily expensive cars to run

 

[Silver CL55]

But a CL from Mercedes and it will have a Mercedes Teir 1 warranty for a year (2 years right now I think?) up to 100k miles.
Teir 1 covers everything.
Buy-run-forget.
Renewable at about £800/annum from MB.
My CL55 had bodywork done, alloy wheel, gear selector module, digi dash and ABC pump, filiters and oil all replaced under warranty (paint was Mobilo warranty)
About £8k at Mercedes prices?
Otherwise buy one serviced by a good independant who knows the car and keep going to him.
They are fabulous cars but can cost an arm and a leg if your'e not carefull.
I would buy another in a heartbeat.
Good luck, colin.

 

[Setanta]

The problem is trying to get a CL from a main dealer. One MB place that shall remain nameless told me that for that (and the higher end S-Classes) they don't retail them due to the warranty costs but will sell to trade.

As the ABC for example is a ticking timer waiting to go off, you can see what they are not keen to retail CL's or S600's

 

[steve333]

I have 7-9k to play with.

Would a S Class be a safer buy then? It was what I was thinking of first, I thought the CL was out of my price range.

I had thought that I could get some form of warrantee that would cover all the major things, have I got that wrong too?

Just found a CL55 up the road from me as well...

Hi,hate to put a dampner on your enthusiasm to own a cl/s class & although they are both truly amazing pieces of engineering they are relatively cheap to buy when 8+years old(considering they were both around £100k when new).I doubt you will get a warranty on a car in the age range you are looking at that will cover the parts that are most likely to fail & aside from that have you budgetted for the service/insurance & general wear & tear items(i.e if you had to replace the tyres & say front discs/pads as well as a service on a cl in the same year you would be looking at about £2,500 minimum).Also remember the way petrol prices are rising you will be lucky to get 18-20mpg over a tank.If after considering all this you are still set on a cl/s class then make sure you take someone with you that knows these cars well(aa/rac inspection?)as if you buy blind you could end up with a car that will empty your bank account very quickly,good luck

 

[Smiley]

Great value to buy but a potential money pit to keep on the road. They are defo NOT the most reliable MB ever and there are plenty of things to go wrong that will relieve your bank balance of a four figure sum.
I guess that if you only have £9k to spend then you are unlikely to take £1k repair hits without a bit of pain.
Warranty companies are not stupid and they will definitely not cover all the running repairs on a 10 yr old £70k car for £700.
If you dont have a fat bank balance then I would forget a 10 yr old CL. Sorry.