W208 CLK 320 V-reg - One family owner, black, leather, many extras

tlbham · Mar 26, 2012

Located near Amersham, Bucks.
Viewable weekends and evenings.
£2,599 o.n.o.
CLK 320 Elegance.
3.2 litre naturally aspirated V6. Chain driven camshaft (no timing belt to worry about!)
Automatic (tiptronic, 5-speed).
V-reg.
One family owner from new (previously my father’s). Zero accidents/prangs.
Tax to 31.01.13; MOT to 16.12.12.
100% stock – no modifications whatsoever.
122,200 miles (used daily, so will increase).
0-62mph = 7.2s; 148 mph.
218 bhp; 310 Nm (229 lb ft).
VED: £215 per 12 months.
Group 18 insurance (37 under the new system).
Black paint, with full black leather interior. Wood trim.
Full service history: *EVERY* bill and service note retained since new (1-inch thick file!). See services listing further below.
Numerous recent MOTs retained. Last one late-December 2012, with advisories for front tyre levels – all 4 since changed.

Expensive things changed in last couple of years (i.e. not due any time soon, so you can rest easy), with receipts to prove:

Discs and pads all round. Quality Pagid components used. Brake fluid.
Spark plugs (of which there are 12).
Michelin Primacy HP 205/55/R16 tyres fitted less than 1000 miles ago – excellent grip vs. the terrible Pirelli P6000s these cars typically come fitted with.
Front suspension ‘drop links’ – no idea what these are but they cost a pretty penny to fix, and made the steering perfect again!
Gearbox and differential oil.

Facelift model, including following extra features over original:

Indicators in wing mirrors.
Updated steering wheel incorporating buttons for trip computer; volume and CD track selection.

Condition:

MINT interior, with new carpets (and mats) fitted throughout at about 50,000 miles-ish, for free, due to excessive wear. Many passengers have commented on the lovely ‘leather smell’ – Merc leather is so much better than BMW!
Garaged for around 5 years of life of car (including currently; and underground work car park by day).
Aside from some rust (outlined in more detail below) and parking dings on front/rear plastic bumpers, paint in excellent condition all over.

Electronic toys (EVERYTHING working):

Air conditioning.
Cruise control and speed limiter.
Rain sensor (automatic wipers) with adjustable speed.
Electric leather memory seats (which also remember wing mirror positions). 3 memory settings.
Safety: driver, passenger and side (SIPS) airbags. ABS, brake force distribution, ‘brake assist’, traction control and ESP (electronic stability program).
Standard 8-speaker Becker BE3200 audio (branded as Mercedes-Benz), with 6-CD auto-changer and 2 small sub-woofers in the rear shelf. FM/AM/LW radio. Cassette tape.
Trip computer incorporating:

[FONT=&quot]o [/FONT]Odometer/milometer.
[FONT=&quot]o [/FONT]Fuel economy (MPG).
[FONT=&quot]o [/FONT]Engine oil measurer (don’t worry, there is a manual dip stick too – this isn’t a silly BMW!).
[FONT=&quot]o [/FONT]Service indicator.

Electric windows.
Electric wing mirrors (linked to seat memory).
Parking lights.
Standard/Winter modes for gearbox. In ‘Winter’, pulls off in 2nd and changes up earlier.
Tracker ‘Retrieve’ fitted from new. Documentation retained. I also know where it is on the car, if you need to know.
Rear window heater.
Radio aerial hidden in rear window.
Remote open/close of windows and sunroof.
Alarm.
Immobiliser.

Other interior features/equipment:

Wood and leather trim.
Adjustable steering wheel rake & reach.
Electric sunroof.
Lockable glove box.
Driver and passenger vanity mirrors with lights.
Mercedes plastic boot liner fitted from new (boot carpet underneath looks mint).
Split folding rear seats.
Full size spare wheel (lightweight black metal), with good tread.
Original first aid kit (unopened).
Original jack.
Original emergency traffic triangle.
All original keys, plus a newer style key.
All original manuals. Spotless leather case with MB pen.

Hidden gems:

I’ve never known a car of this size to be so easy to park – it has a taxi-esque turning circle.
Seems to take snow in its stride despite being rear-drive – laugh as you breeze past BMWs!
Seems to heat up faster than most other cars in the winter.

Services, in detail:

??.??.?? @ 11556 miles - A service, Hughes Mercedes-Benz of Beaconsfield. Date not recorded by engineer.
27.11.01 @ 23561 miles - B service, Hughes Mercedes-Benz of Beaconsfield.
30.05.03 @ 34839 miles - A service, Hughes Mercedes-Benz of Beaconsfield.
04.10.04 @ 45236 miles - B service, Hughes Mercedes-Benz of Beaconsfield. Additionally: air and fuel filters; brake fluid.
24.10.06 @ 55216 miles - A service, Hughes Mercedes-Benz of Beaconsfield. Additionally: spark plugs.
18.01.08 @ 69292 miles - B service, Hughes Mercedes-Benz of Beaconsfield.
03.12.08 @ 82910 miles - B service, Hughes Mercedes-Benz of Beaconsfield. Additionally: air and fuel filters; brake fluid.
11.01.10 @ 98442 miles - B service, WDM Cars Ltd. (Mercedes specialists, Birmingham). Additionally: gearbox oil and differential oil changed.
04.05.11 @ 110207 miles – A service, Wheels V.T. Limited (Mercedes specialists, near High Wycombe). Additionally: spark plugs and suspension drop links. I also changed brakes and fluid all round; fitted with quality Pagid brake components. N.B. car MOT’d by Hughes Mercedes-Benz afterwards (in case you’re wary of people changing their brakes!).
Being serviced (B service) at Hughes Mercedes-Benz this Friday @ about 122,200 miles. Taking advantage of their £125 offer (celebrating 125 years of Mercedes)!

Honest appraisal and history of the car:
My father owned the car up to about 92k, I have owned since. He always took the car to Hughes Mercedes-Benz of Beaconsfield without fail. I have only ever used Hughes MB, WDM (Mercedes specialist in Birmingham) or Wheels V.T. (Mercedes specialist in High Wycombe).
This car has only failed to start once in its life – at about 40,000 miles when the ignition had a problem. Otherwise 100% reliable – it will always get you to work. In the couple of years I’ve had the car, the only big issue I had was a complete failure of the radio and CD-changer; both of which I replaced with identical kit (after much searching). Only other things have been standard wear & tear.
Reason for selling? Despite returning good fuel economy for a 3.2 litre petrol engine (24 in stop-start traffic; 31 average across a tank; 34 sitting at 80 on cruise; 39 at 50 on cruise), I’m switching to a little diesel run-around in order to save for a mortgage. It also doesn’t seem to suit me – I’d rather have something which says ‘young man’.
I’ve also found the car costs very little to maintain for what it is. Make no mistake – this is first class transport so if something does go wrong it will be a big bill, but as a family we’ve had VW Golfs and Ford Fiestas which have cost more to maintain over time – the Merc very rarely has anything go wrong but costs when it does so always keep a grand spare!
When it comes to parts and servicing, no expense has been spared on this car in its whole life. The only thing I’ve not seen to is the panel rust that’s appeared and grown in the last couple of years - it just isn’t worth it on a car this old or worth this little. I don’t want to waste your time or mine - I’d rather have the first person who comes to look just buy the car because there’s zero ‘unknowns’ for them, so here are all known issues with the car:

Panel rust on front offside wing.
Panel rust on front leading edge of bonnet, between nearside headlights.
Panel rust on bottom edge of all four wheel arches, of varying severity. None have rusted through (or anywhere near doing so).
The CD changer can occasionally have a day when it doesn’t want to change CD, but this is literally once every 2 or 3 months.
The nearside wing mirror will aim downwards towards the kerb when you reverse. Occasionally (maybe once a fortnight) it won’t return to position when you drive off (you just have to hold the memory button on the door to fix though, so no big issue).
Wheels have been refurbished once (at about 80,000 miles) – you might want to do them again (or replace with some nice AMG mono-block rims…I could never justify the expense to myself!)
Might sound a silly point to bring up, but there’s no cup holders, which can be a huge pain at times – however, there’s a conveniently cup-sized cubby hole in the middle of the car!

…..that’s it – there is zero chassis rust; engine or gearbox gremlins – just a smooth, torquey mile-muncher. Find another of this age in better condition (or with a more honest seller) and you’ll be doing well!

PM me please - will post a tele-safe number later this week.

tlbham · Mar 27, 2012

Forgot 2 things for the 'known issues' list....
1. Parking scuff on rear-right corner of bumper.
2. Parking scuff on front-left bumper at kerb level.
...apologies.

tlbham · Mar 30, 2012

The B service was done this Friday at Hughes Mercedes. Next one in 10,000 miles.
No word of a lie, the chap said the car is in "remarkable condition" considering miles and age.

tlbham · May 12, 2012

Price is now £1,995; mileage is 123,950.

W208 CLK 320 V-reg - One family owner, black, leather, many extras

tlbham

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tlbham

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tlbham

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tlbham

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