Very nice CLK55 in black

[///ajd]

Whats is this really worth?

Mercedes : CLK 55 AMG Coupe

Glass's guide says £13,250 - £16,500 trade in with that mileage, and £19,800 retail. Hence private sale around £17,000?

It does look the business in black with 4 pipes, it has to be said. 57k miles is quite a lot though - if W208s are anything to go by it'll be worth under £10k in 3 years when it'll probably have 90k on the clock.

Is it safe from rust?

 

[peterg1965]

It's not worth the asking price, in my view. I would say nearer £18-£19K. It looks great in black. No issues with rust, the galvanisation process kicked in from about 2003. Spec is OK, no sunroof. I would check out the full MB history to see when it has had the brakes done (discs and pads) and to make sure the ATF fluid and sparkplugs have all been changed - should have been if all services at MB.

 

[peterg1965]

And if you can afford it go for the W209 over the older W208 model.

 

[peterg1965]

Have you seen this one?

2003 MERCEDES CLK55 AMG AUTO SILVER on eBay (end time 06-Aug-09 16:10:36 BST)

 

[///ajd]

Have you seen this one?

2003 MERCEDES CLK55 AMG AUTO SILVER on eBay (end time 06-Aug-09 16:10:36 BST)

Yes, thanks for the heads up - looks like it might have had some front end damage (lights don't seem to line up with bumper, but hard to tell definatively on the photo).

I've had both W208s (Cabrio 230K) and W209s (52 reg 500) before, and while the W209 is the better car I've always had a soft spot for the star on the bonnet and "period" interior of the W208 - and I always felt the W208 seemed more solid / better built (not really the case with the rust of course!).

If they sorted the rust in 2003 - does that mean early W209s might be flaky - or is it more a case of they sorted the production process when the W209 came in in 2002 (as you'd expect the prod process to remain largely unchanged during the model life)? Is this change documented anywhere or is it sort of "folklore" in MBenz circles?

Ref the black one, only issues really are the mileage and lack of sunroof (which is a shame as they all need to be loaded really) - and of course the price. Mind 4 years old and it would have been £65k new (thats depreciation - ouch!).

On balance it'll be a W209 - but Imperials W208 Cabrio does still look tempting (they briefly reduced it to £15,995k last week, but its gone up again - still too much for a W208 though, no matter how rare the Cabrio is).

 

[jaymanek]

I cant believe i sold a 53 plate convertible CLK55 AMG for around 15K end of last year...

 

[buccal]

I cant believe i sold a 53 plate convertible CLK55 AMG for around 15K end of last year...

I have never seen such a bounce in the used car market, i SO wish i could have bought last year.

Has this happened before Jay?

 

[chord]

I have never seen such a bounce in the used car market, i SO wish i could have bought last year.

Has this happened before Jay?

Do convertible prices not go up in the summer months anyway, agreed not as much as in this case.

 

[jaymanek]

Im not sure the summer effect has much of an influence on MB's... yes MX5's and older classics tend to attract premiums in the season of rain but i dont think premium brands are affected.

The rise this year has just been due to the general rise in demand for used cars.

 

[buccal]

Do convertible prices not go up in the summer months anyway, agreed not as much as in this case.

They do but the prestige market seemed to bomb around the end of last year. A friend of mine bought a reasonable 996 for 13k. Try doing that now.

 

[peterg1965]

On PH there are people who bought 3 year old E60 M5s for less than £30K as BMW AUC cars at the back end of last year, if they sell them now they will break even. Low mileage AUC M5s are well over £30K at dealers.

I nearly bought this 2001 (Y) stunning green 75K Jaguar XK8 convertible last October for £9995, I ummed and ahhhed for far too long, deciced against it and am now kicking myself.. It had impeccable history, new OEM wheels and tyres...

How much would that fetch now?

Hindsight is a wonderful thing. I was thinking the other day, if I hadn't bought that CLK55 in jan, and just invested the £9500 in Barclays Shares I wold have had something like £50K now!! Oh well.......

 

[buccal]

Hindsight is a wonderful thing. I was thinking the other day, if I hadn't bought that CLK55 in jan, and just invested the £9500 in Barclays Shares I wold have had something like £50K now!! Oh well.......

Lovely car. My uncle (who was in the trade for 40 years) always maintined "there will always be another car".

Hindsight would have me a million by now i reckon

On the otherside of the coin i watched a friend of mine lose 250k (his entire inheritance) in 3 months when he decided to forge a new career as an amateur stock-broker.

Terrifying. Don't think he ever got over it.

 

[///ajd]

Re the CLK55 above - it does seem very overpriced - I saw a fully loaded CLK55 on an 03 plate for sale for £15k last week with 39k miles on the clock.

So despite being a facelift & 2 years younger, its got 20k more miles and is expecting £8k more for it.

 

[sencem]

didn't know the rear windows of CLK could be rolled down
live to learn..