Should I buy or stay away?
 

Hello,

I found a used 03 CLK500 for sale with 15000 miles at a dealership. The car is good shape besides the following:

1) Rims. All of them have fairly big marks (on the outside of the rims, probably from hitting curbs).
I would probably have to change all the rims (approx $ 1,600 at tirerack) or get them fixed. The rims do not appear bent or anything, it is just visually unpleasant.

2) The front bumper has a big crack (probably from hitting a curb that was too high). I did not see it at first but upon closer inspection, I was able to see it. It is not really visible as it is the bottom part on the bumper that is broken. I have no idea if it could be repaired or what it would cost to repair or replace. I am especially worried about the front bumper. It is not like rims that you can replace, you know how much it will cost and nobody knows about it.

The price is good but I am afraid to buy a car in such condition after just one year or so of ownership and and I know that I will want to fix it all.

What would be your advice? What do you think a fait price should be considering the condition of the car? Should I just walk away?

Thanks,

Yves.

Does this dealership offer the Starmark package? I wouldn't touch it without the package regardless of the 15, 000 miles on it. If it is available go for the 100,000 mile package. Sounds like it has been beat up as a lease car.

Unfortunatly, it is not certified. However, Carfax tells me that the car was not leased.

You are right tough, the previous owner probably did not take much care of it. Based on what the dealer tells me (if they do not lie), the car was a trade in for a new porsche.

I know for a fact that the dealer had the car for at least 2 months and I am sure that they are anxious to get rid of it. I normally would walk away but the price is very tempting. Since it was first listed the price went down by 3K and is now is 45K (not bad for a one year old car with 15K miles)...

Decision, desicion.

Yves.

Walk. From the description it's been hammered. Plenty of others out there. Sounds like they're having problems dumping it...

It's at a dealer, a year old with only 15000, but not certified???? DANGER WILL ROBINSON DANGER.

There's gotta be a reason they won't certify it.....

Run away....

My guess is that it's not a Mercedes dealer that is selling this and that is a reason why there's no Starmark on it.

I wouldn't worry about the curb rash on the rims, since they are 17's with low profile tires the rim sticks out further than the tire so it hits the curb first. So just the slightest touch on the curb gives bad results on the rim. You should see all the MB, BMW, and Porsche rims out here in LA.

The bumper is probally caused by the previous owner hiting a curb when parking. The owner pulled up to the curb 'til the tire hit the curb hitting the bumper and dragging it everytime he/she parked.

The car still should have the remainder of the factory warranty left on it so I wouldn't worry about it. Bring it to a MB dealer and have it inspected just to see if there is any damage that isn't noticable. My guess is that you could easily get the price down more if you make a big deal about the bumper and the rims. I can't imagine it having any major damage, mechanically.

Don't buy it!!!!!
45K for a one year old model, high mileage for one year. bodywork damage.
Scraped wheels means the suspension has probably been knocked. If your into high speed, knocked wheels mean the tires may have be curbed hard which isn't comforting at triple digit speeds.
For that kind of money, you'll likely be able to but the new `05 SLK, six cylinder CLK - isn't far off the price, and a new BMW 525 is right at that price.

It has only 15k miles, which these days is low, and that price will come down.

Like I said have it inspected beforehand. He has the opportunity to get a very good price on this car. Out of all the posts here I am the only one who has said buy it, if it passes an inspection fo course. If we were all people in the used car market and took a look at this car that would be 1 out 6 people interested so far, this means that ygillard will have an excellent change in getting a really good price since the demand for this car is low.

A couple of points, I don't know what very good condition garaged and detailed no damage 500CLK's are going for.

I also think the 500CLK is speed limited to 130mph, the same speed as the six cylinder CLK.

The purchaser of such a car needs to ask himself, at or around 45 thousand dollars, there are some very nice new cars to consider both from Mercedes and BMW.

This car may pass inspection by a Mercedes mechanic, but the car has lived a hard life, and items like transmission thrashing is only going to be detected by transmission fluid analysis.

Why gamble with forty thousand, get a new six cylinder CLk, in the coming months new paint technology and maybe a seven speed auto will be in the CLK.

First, thanks for all your comments.

The reason why the car is not certified is because the dealership is not a MB dealership.

Prices for good shape 03 CLK 500 with approx 15K miles could go for 49K if you can wait for the right opportunity. Most listed by dealer are more like 51K, 52K.

While I agree that there are very good new car for 45K, I usually try to buy slightly used car because of the first year depreciation. A new CLK 500 is approx 57K...

At the end, I think that it may be a risky buy and I do not want to make a 45K purchase and then be disappointed. So I will walk away and keep looking.

Now, if they lower the price by 2K to 3K and it passes a MB inspection, well, we'll see...

Thanks,

Yves.

Not too hard to come up with a work plan.

Get the car inspected by an MB person you trust. Ask for a work plan and prices for anything they find.
Get an idea of the working price by surveying Kelley BlueBook, Edmunds and NADA. Adjust for needed repairs/replacements (ie rims).
From those, if you're still interested, proceed to negotiate.
Realize that the PO is probably a guy who took good care of it otherwise but is about my age and getting used to his first bifocals.:D

I'm suprised that they would not fix these problems before putting it up for sale. To me that indicates that they are a lower quality dealership. Cavet Emtper

Why not a 2001 E55? Or if you really want a coupe get a 2000 911. Good plan on walking away. With all the issues, that car would have to be in thirties to be worth thinking about. If you just go a couple years older you will eliminate a lot more depreciation.

I dunno. Sounds like the kind of car I'd consider. Yes, it has a few problems, but correctable. Even if it had a hard life at 15k miles, it's unlikely to have significantly damaged the car. All of the things you mentioned (non MB dealer, no repairs, etc) only enhance the opportunity to get a deal. If the repairs HAD been done, you would have no clue to it's life.

I wouldn't run. If you plan to turn it around, that's one thing. If you plan to drive for awhile, you should be able to get the car and get it cleaned up and drive for a year or two and still recover your investment. Just my opinion.

Did you say this was a MB dealer that was selling the car..If so, I'd run since they aren't starmarking it.

If its not the mb dealer, try to find out who the MB dealer is. They have all the maintenance records onhand. Call up a MB dealer, give them the VIN, and they can run a search. (pst..best service; go into the service area of the dealer).

Finally, the car is wholesaled at 40K, so the dealer is making 5K off you. You walk in there with 42K cash, they'll sell.

Dave