10 year old CLK as first decent car, any reasons why not?
Discussion
My son is a 21 year old student, his car history to date is 1969 Morris Minor, 2001 Corsa, 2004 Micra (less than £500 total purchase price and minimal running costs for all three) .
He starts his first real job in May and needs to get something decent. He'll do 300 miles per week commute and some business miles so wants something comfortable and that looks respectable. He has very little cash at the moment and no credit history so he doesn't have a lot of money to purchase a car but he'll be on a decent salary so can afford reasonable running costs.
We've found several 2.6 petrol and 2.7 diesel CLKs on ebay around 10-12 years old for less than £5000, insurance quotes of £750. In both his and my opinion, a far better option than a warm hatch which would seem to be the default option for his mates.
As in the title, any reasons why not?
He starts his first real job in May and needs to get something decent. He'll do 300 miles per week commute and some business miles so wants something comfortable and that looks respectable. He has very little cash at the moment and no credit history so he doesn't have a lot of money to purchase a car but he'll be on a decent salary so can afford reasonable running costs.
We've found several 2.6 petrol and 2.7 diesel CLKs on ebay around 10-12 years old for less than £5000, insurance quotes of £750. In both his and my opinion, a far better option than a warm hatch which would seem to be the default option for his mates.
As in the title, any reasons why not?
I don't think the diesels are terribly problematic, but as with any diesel, injectors and the like can be expensive as they get older. Does.it have a dpf? I have clk350 petrol which has been ok so far...but I think an.older mercedes has the potential to throw some nasty bills. To be honest, at 21 I went would be looking at spending my cash on something less flash like a focus. And spend the money saved on having fun with my mates or saving towards a house deposit. Just my 2ps worth.
The diesels have a rubbish design for retaining the injectors in the head.
They will eventually start to fail, look up "Mercedes diesel black death"
The injector seal will fail, releasing diesel and fumes out of the head, and worst case scenario, the injector will blow out of the head.
Also, all Mercs of that era can have EIS problems.
This is the electronic ignition system, and it is, in my opinion, a "faulty design".
When it decides to stop the electronic ignition key from working, it will shut down loads of systems, including locking the car in gear if it is an auto and preventing it from starting.
I have a car with this fault, and someone with the same problem has put a boring video of the problem on Youtube.
It has had over 60,000 hits, and to me that implies that 60,000 cars could have the same problem!
They will eventually start to fail, look up "Mercedes diesel black death"
The injector seal will fail, releasing diesel and fumes out of the head, and worst case scenario, the injector will blow out of the head.
Also, all Mercs of that era can have EIS problems.
This is the electronic ignition system, and it is, in my opinion, a "faulty design".
When it decides to stop the electronic ignition key from working, it will shut down loads of systems, including locking the car in gear if it is an auto and preventing it from starting.
I have a car with this fault, and someone with the same problem has put a boring video of the problem on Youtube.
It has had over 60,000 hits, and to me that implies that 60,000 cars could have the same problem!
Last December I bought a CLK 320 CDI that was 10 years old and with 115k miles. In the last year it's cost me virtually nothing other than a routine service and I've covered just over 20k miles. I love driving it, it has an absolute peach of an engine - I came to it from a series of small cars such as mini Coopers S, Suzuki Swift Sports etc where I felt I was being bounced around on long journeys. It is super smooth, has pretty much every single option available in 2005 (£22k worth of options) and cost me around 10% of the new purchase price. I tend to get 44-48 MPG on decent journeys
I accept that it might all go wrong tomorrow but even if it did I wouldn't regret buying it for one moment, an absolute fantastic car, massively underrated.
Sooo, I really wouldn't be put off buying a diesel CLK
I accept that it might all go wrong tomorrow but even if it did I wouldn't regret buying it for one moment, an absolute fantastic car, massively underrated.
Sooo, I really wouldn't be put off buying a diesel CLK
I've had several Mercedes diesels in the past. 2 x W210 E220 cdi, a W203 C220 cdi estate and currently a W209 CLK 220cdi sport. None have given me any problems and all have done 100k+ miles. Highest being over 300k! I would recommend one over a petrol if doing that kind of mileage.
All I would say is get a facelift CLK, circa 54 plate onwards. Less prone to rust, better electrics, do some reading on MBClub, theres a wealth on info on there.
All I would say is get a facelift CLK, circa 54 plate onwards. Less prone to rust, better electrics, do some reading on MBClub, theres a wealth on info on there.
Gassing Station | Mercedes | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff