Should i take a gamble???

[powwerr]

Friend of a friend has offered his merc cl500 2001 to me for £6000

its a one owner from new (him), full service 160,000mile, daily driver.

bodywork is a bit bubbly at bits although ive been informed the body is aluminium...more expensive to fix?

i fancy a big relaxing car for use at weekends as ive recently got my bike and van for through the week.
just wondering if theres any known problems/moneypit at this age

im presuming less than 20mpg is the norm aswell.





^^pretty much the same as this but silvery blue colour.

[RobCrezz]

Sounds like a bargain, a lot of car for £6k!

[powwerr]

i kindof thought that but being a 500, i was wondering how much your talking roughly for example new (drilled) discs and pads??
hes a company director so aint shy of a few bob, has a caterham for sunny days and wife has 2 cars too, think hes just bored with it!

[powwerr]

The Crack Fox said:

if anything goes pop.

^^ thats what i thought and was making me hesitant.

hes in no rush to sell, just thought id find out what the masses thought.

[RobCrezz]

I would buy it with the plan to run it for 6 months and move it on before any servicing or big bills are due. Still a gamble, but might be worth it.

[magpie21]

I sold my 2002 cl500 with 70k on the clock for £10,500 in May. I ran it for a year and it only depreciated £500 quid and I put 25k miles on it. It really is a big comfy cruiser, I loved it. However it chewed rear tyres like nothing else I've ever known!!! Got about 20mpg average and that was with alot of motorway cruising. I eventually sold due to the worry that something is going to wrong and it would cost a fortune to fix, the air suspension is a known issue with them and is about £1,500 a corner to fix everything on them is electric so if you do get a wiring problem then it would be a nightmare.

I suppose it depends on how long you fancy keeping it for and the gamble you're prepared to take, it will be hard to sell on though with the rust. I trawled the merc forums before buying and the overriding message was if it has any sign of rust walk away as it's expensive to rectify on aluminium.
Try www.mbclub.co.uk for any more info.

Cheers

Edited by magpie21 on Friday 20th August 11:04

[Lancs Jag Boy]

Nice car, but unles you can do a bit yourself, then you're going to need balls of steel or deep pockets. Just remember anything that needs attention will be big money. I've run similar and a service and front brakes, plus a bit of this and that, blah, blah, oof that will be a grand sir.