What option should I take disposing my CL203 V6?....

[BrainSuperGlue]

So, I need your advice.

My Merc CL203 C230 V6 Auto Sports Coupe is 18 years old. It's only done 56k miles. The engine is great. It has some electric issue in the telephone module that makes the battery go flat in three days if not driven and wireless unlocking doesn't work (the infrared uinlock on the key works fine). I need to get a different car for life reasons.

The question is this, to get the most cash for it, do I sell the car...

1. privately as is, for a fixed sum?
2. to a webuyanycar type retailer?
3. direct to a scrap merchant?

What are your thoughts?

TIA

BSG

 

[fabes]

Have you had a quote from WBAC or Motorway / Car Wow?

Scrap value is c£200 to £250 I would expect?

What are others going for on eBay?

What is AT's, 'good price' for it?

And then it's do you want to deal with the general public (and those that you potentially will at this price point, for this car which is not a first car for a son or daughter, being blunt)
And how quick do you need to change the car - you mention life or pressing reasons?

It's got faults, no doubt sounds good and goes well enough, but will a bit thirsty, isn't the cheapest to tax and is getting on a bit, so you may not have a huge amount of local interest if listing it yourself....

 

[Will]

So, I need your advice.

My Merc CL203 C230 V6 Auto Sports Coupe is 18 years old. It's only done 56k miles. The engine is great. It has some electric issue in the telephone module that makes the battery go flat in three days if not driven and wireless unlocking doesn't work (the infrared uinlock on the key works fine). I need to get a different car for life reasons.

The question is this, to get the most cash for it, do I sell the car...

1. privately as is, for a fixed sum?
2. to a webuyanycar type retailer?
3. direct to a scrap merchant?

What are your thoughts?

TIA

BSG

You can get a WBAC type quote easily yourself, but they are likely to knock the price down a bit upon inspection.

Scrap value as said will be very little.

I think you’d probably get the most for it with an honest advert as above. Maybe stick it up for £500-1000 and see how you get on, someone can always make an offer and you know what the bottom line is from the scrap/WBAC type quotes

 

[Teego]

Try a local Arthur Daley type dealer.

 

[poormansporsche]

The wireless fault is a known issue on the CL203 it's the amplifier/ receiver in the boot suffers water ingress. Unfortunately it is joined to the rear screen and a new screen is required
There are places now that can gut the amplifier without changing the glass but it's not cheap either way.

The power drain may be related to that as well.

Although your car is low mileage it will be in the range of the balancer shaft issues which is going to limit any potential private sale.

I'd personally bung it on eBay as a classified ad for £995 no offers playing on the sporty nature, 200 bhp is not bad at all in that car ULEZ as well.

Or if you don't want that I'd probably look at finding a specialist Mercedes breaker and just say you want a above scrap price for it.

Trying to get anything more is just going to be aggro.

 

[Riva811]

I would get a quote by autotrader. They provide a higher price than webuyanycar. Selling privately can be a waste of time - people coming to see it, wanting to test driive it, asking stupid questions about full dealer service history on a ~20yo car and eventually ghosting

 

[ALFAitalia]

Take it to your local Demolition Derby.......better to go out in a blaze of glory than slowly rot away on someone's drive!!!

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[Philbask]

So, I need your advice.

My Merc CL203 C230 V6 Auto Sports Coupe is 18 years old. It's only done 56k miles. The engine is great. It has some electric issue in the telephone module that makes the battery go flat in three days if not driven and wireless unlocking doesn't work (the infrared uinlock on the key works fine). I need to get a different car for life reasons.

The question is this, to get the most cash for it, do I sell the car...

1. privately as is, for a fixed sum?
2. to a webuyanycar type retailer?
3. direct to a scrap merchant?

What are your thoughts?

TIA

BSG

I tried WBAC with my CLK240 (2004) with no faults, a good car, it did not meet their criteria!! So it seems they buy any car apart from mine

 

[John N]

I tried WBAC with my CLK240 (2004) with no faults, a good car, it did not meet their criteria!! So it seems they buy any car apart from mine

WBACAFM!

 

[BrainSuperGlue]

Autotrader couldn't come back with a quote. Parkers, interesting.

 

[BrainSuperGlue]

The wireless fault is a known issue on the CL203 it's the amplifier/ receiver in the boot suffers water ingress. Unfortunately it is joined to the rear screen and a new screen is required
There are places now that can gut the amplifier without changing the glass but it's not cheap either way.

The power drain may be related to that as well.

Although your car is low mileage it will be in the range of the balancer shaft issues which is going to limit any potential private sale.

I'd personally bung it on eBay as a classified ad for £995 no offers playing on the sporty nature, 200 bhp is not bad at all in that car ULEZ as well.

Or if you don't want that I'd probably look at finding a specialist Mercedes breaker and just say you want a above scrap price for it.

Trying to get anything more is just going to be aggro.

Thanks for the info. That's really interesting about the amp / receiver.
After a couple of years of having it, Merc did official rebuild of the engine re the balancer shaft and have never had any issue with it since.

I'll certainly speak through with Merc breakers and see what their take is. The engine itself effectively being half the age of the car.

 

[Will]

Thanks for the info. That's really interesting about the amp / receiver.
After a couple of years of having it, Merc did official rebuild of the engine re the balancer shaft and have never had any issue with it since.

I'll certainly speak through with Merc breakers and see what their take is. The engine itself effectively being half the age of the car.

Someone somewhere will need an engine for one of these no doubt

 

[Petrol Pete]

Do Dronsfield buy 'old' MB's direct from the public ?

 

[brandwooddixon]

Will Car Wow give a valuation? I've found them better to deal with than webuyanycar.

 

[BrainSuperGlue]

For reference, if someone is in a similar position, I went to Mercedes themselves to see what options they have. They referred to Autogreen (Rewarding Recycling), whose auto-quote valued the car at nothing.

Return and disposal | Mercedes-Benz

Information on the take-back and disposal of end-of-life vehicles, waste electrical/electronic equipment, waste batteries and waste oil.

www.mercedes-benz.co.uk

Scrap My Car | Scrap Car Prices | Rewarding Recycling

Get an instant scrap car price by entering your car registration. Receive money when you scrap your vehicle with Rewarding Recycling.

www.rewardingrecycling.co.uk

 

[Stratman]

I'm facing the very same question with my twenty year old C200cdi. Last MOT it got the dreaded rear subframe and brake lines corrosion advisories. With the next MOT imminent and a probable fail, I'm picking up a BMW i3 120 Ah on Tuesday. My chosen solution for the W203 is donating it to the local fire service for training purposes. The dealer I'm buying from said it would only get scrap value of around £150 which I suspected already, plus I'd have to pay Citizen Khan's fees to get it there. The fire brigade will put it to good use and who knows, it may end up saving a life. A noble end for an excellent car.

 

[Stratman]

Alternatively...

That 'Scrap My Car' site offered £272, which would buy me a used TaylorMade Stealth driver Decisions decisions...

 

[JHS]

Alternatively...

That 'Scrap My Car' site offered £272, which would buy me a used TaylorMade Stealth driver Decisions decisions...

The mighty 2017 S205 250d AMG (line) P P+was valued at £0.0 (Tried it out of curiosity only)

 

[BrainSuperGlue]

Certainly during this week I've seen some very contrasting car £ values. Looking at what defines a faulty vs a scrap car, I'd consider it faulty. I can see it still being able to pass an MOT. However, to keep it as a practical car, the power drain over three days issue needs to be fixed.

The resell value of the car (given the mileage) with an MOT looks to be around £1800 - £2100.

The M272.920 2.5L V6 engine itself is around £2000 retail SH and some scrappers want the car for nothing?!?

So, can that power drain issue be fixed? Whilst the OBD fault scanner said there was an error code in the phone system but the phone and iPhone module works fine, and the power fault exists, the issue pointed to that. Yet I pulled fuses out for the whole phone system and the draw still happened.

Maybe @poormansporsche is absolutely right with the aerial amp causing the draw. A fault there might not show up on the ODB scanner, maybe a short / rust somewhere. I can't see any water ingress.

That's the thought then, can that draw be fixed for a few hundred or is it truly beyond economic repair...

 

[BPD07]

Certainly during this week I've seen some very contrasting car £ values. Looking at what defines a faulty vs a scrap car, I'd consider it faulty. I can see it still being able to pass an MOT. However, to keep it as a practical car, the power drain over three days issue needs to be fixed.

The resell value of the car (given the mileage) with an MOT looks to be around £1800 - £2100.

The M272.920 2.5L V6 engine itself is around £2000 retail SH and some scrappers want the car for nothing?!?

So, can that power drain issue be fixed? Whilst the OBD fault scanner said there was an error code in the phone system but the phone and iPhone module works fine, and the power fault exists, the issue pointed to that. Yet I pulled fuses out for the whole phone system and the draw still happened.

Maybe @poormansporsche is absolutely right with the aerial amp causing the draw. A fault there might not show up on the ODB scanner, maybe a short / rust somewhere. I can't see any water ingress.

That's the thought then, can that draw be fixed for a few hundred or is it truly beyond economic repair...

Pulling fuses isn’t always going to find the fault. I’ve had two r230s that suffered badly. One was down to an old Tracker battery, coupled with an alarm siren that was staying active, the other a faulty SAM that was being energised off the keyless go wire. Admittedly both cost around a £1k to track down, so perhaps not viable in a £1,500 car.