What to buy

[maha]

Hi all I am new to the forum. I was about to buy an S Class but after reading about the airmatic problems I got put right off. If you had a budget of between 13 to 15k what would you buy. I love the whole luxury feel but have been tempted by the CL500.


To hear your thoughts would be interesting high mileage cars are not an issue either the s class I was going to buy had 85000 on the clock

 

[AMGeed]

Welcome to the forum

If you want an S Class, I'd say don't be put off by airmatic. There is a company in London that can replace your airmatic strut for under £500 and the pump for £250, should it go wrong. Just budget a bit should anything happen.

I might be wrong but I believe CL's have ABC suspension which can be just as bad should anything malfunction.

85k miles is nothing for a MB, and there are thousands still going strong well into the 150k+ miles. Correctly serviced, a higher mileage car is a good buy.

 

[maha]

Thanks for the warm welcome. It wasn't the cost of the airmatic that put me off it was the randomness of the issue. I heard that even when replaced it can go wrong very quickly again. Yes I heard about the ABC suspension on the CL. The S Class was so beautiful to drive and inside if only I could find maybe a CLS that nice inside.

 

[John]

I've found my Airmatic to be very reliable apart from the pump has been a bit iffy for a while.

With a new pump, I don't get any problems with it at all.

The ride is in a different league to gas shockers and springs in my experience.