Merc CLK230 (W208) - what to watch out for?

[JulianHJ]

My sister is currently considering her next car, and has found an '02 CLK230 with 66k on the clock. It's just in at a local independent trader. We've had a brief look, it needs a valet and is having a wheel refurb and a couple of scratches sorted. There's a moderate amount of service history, old MOTs etc so I'm not too concerned about provenance - is there anything to look for in particular?

[Rovinghawk]

Rust. Also the engine has a potential to leak oil into the wiring loom- not too expensive to fix.

Having said that, the engine is the best 4 cylinder motor MB ever made.

[AH33]

Ive ran mine for a year under horrible conditions (capital city centre traffic) and the only thing that has broken is the clock spring behind the steering wheel (so my horn doesnt work). Thats it! Mines an 01 with 135k, still quiet and smooth. Bodywork is not so good, I have rust on one arch and the bootlid, but these cars are so cheap now that I dont see the point in spending money on the bodywork. I have also had to replace the rear springs but that is hardly a merc specific thing.

Fully recommended man. Its not possible to get a better combination of speed, refinement, toys and "you must be doing well" comments for under £2k. If it is, please tell me and ill buy it!

[AH33]

also, get a decent set of wheels on it, pronto. The w208 looks like a pile of crap without a reasonable size on it. I have S Class 18s on mine which look so much better than the standard old man 16s or 17s.

[JulianHJ]

Cheers, rust is something I was fearing due to MB's reputation for that vintage. I'll be sure to check thoroughly. The chap had only just got it in, so when I asked for the price he had a bit of think before quoting £3300. That seems a bit steep to me, so I'm planning on doing a little comparison on AT and PH classifieds. The paint was a bit dull, but it had had no prep at all, so will probably polish up fine.