Mercedes CL or S class

biggus

These Cl's and S class' are more reliable then people think. Alot of CL problems were fixed under warranty and it's fair to say that a five to seven year old should be well sorted. I have a good aftermarket Merc specialist mecanic to recommend if on southside Dublin pm me if you buy a merc.
CL can be got for handy money because Taxi men aren't in the market for them and they tend to sit around forecourts.

try and get a post 02 one with the slightly different back lights (more clear slats)these are a far superior built car in either S or CL
Mercedes had to address earlier quality issues and did a better job from 03 on. Much better built interior also.

No timing belts and suspension fixes are cheap.

unkel

Cyrus wrote: »

no

it will make your heart sing every time you floor it

live a little people, the irrational fear of big engines is just wrong

QFT (and why can I only use the thanks button once?)

As I said, not for the high mileage person, but if your mileage is low enough it really doesn't cost all that much in fuel

20MPG over 10,000 miles costs only €2k per year with a petrol price of €1/l

Add another €1.5k for tax

That's €3.5k

The depreciation alone on a 3 year old sh!tbox is more than that

skyhighflyer

henry hill wrote: »

OK, 125 Euro a week to fill it up * 52 weeks = 6500 Euro p.a. = heartbreak

And to be fair, thats a very conservative estimate.

Hardly

Say 250 miles per week at 18mpg = 63 litres per week. At 99.9c/litre that equals €63 per week, or €3276 per year.

Take an average 2.0 litre petrol family saloon. Same miles covered per week at 35mpg = €1669 per year.

So, by my calculations, a CL500 would cost just over €1600 more to fuel for a year than a Mondeo or Avensis. Or, to put it another way, just over €30 per week. Hardly a huge price to pay considering the sense of occasion you get by climbing into a CL500 every morning.

The difference would be even greater if the OP did a lot of motorway work like I do. (M/N9 and M7 work mostly). Owners report 25mpg with such use. Then the difference becomes even less.

The other biggie is tax. But people forget that a 2.0 litre car is now over €600 to insure. So an extra €1000, or less than €20 a week to tax as opposed to the Avensis mentioned above.

A big engined car can make a sound finanical case for itself when you actually examine the figures.

L-M

skyhighflyer wrote: »

Hardly

Say 250 miles per week at 18mpg = 63 litres per week. At 99.9c/litre that equals €63 per week, or €3276 per year.

Take an average 2.0 litre petrol family saloon. Same miles covered per week at 35mpg = €1669 per year.

So, by my calculations, a CL500 would cost just over €1600 more to fuel for a year than a Mondeo or Avensis. Or, to put it another way, just over €30 per week. Hardly a huge price to pay considering the sense of occasion you get by climbing into a CL500 every morning.

The difference would be even greater if the OP did a lot of motorway work like I do. (M/N9 and M7 work mostly). Owners report 25mpg with such use. Then the difference becomes even less.

The other biggie is tax. But people forget that a 2.0 litre car is now over €600 to insure. So an extra €1000, or less than €20 a week to tax as opposed to the Avensis mentioned above.

A big engined car can make a sound finanical case for itself when you actually examine the figures.

+ Servicing costs, rear tyre's (which you'll use a lot of:D) and if anything goes wrong.

I'm sure in anycase the OP didn't ask for the arguement of whether he should buy one or not, just what goes wrong. I'd buy one if i had the money, he obviously has, so give him advice on what the car is like, and let that be it.

skyhighflyer

Limerick-man wrote: »

+ Servicing costs, rear tyre's (which you'll use a lot of:D) and if anything goes wrong.

I'm sure in anycase the OP didn't ask for the arguement of whether he should buy one or not, just what goes wrong. I'd buy one if i had the money, he obviously has, so give him advice on what the car is like, and let that be it.

Fair enough. So what advice do you have for the OP in your post?

L-M

skyhighflyer wrote: »

Fair enough. So what advice do you have for the OP in your post?

No, lol i that wasn't directed at you. The first line was, rest wasn't.

I said i've driven one, and they are animals of yoke's.(post is up there a bit^^) Ie. Buy one. I could say more but alot of it would be repitition.

skyhighflyer

Limerick-man wrote: »

No, lol i that wasn't directed at you. The first line was, rest wasn't.

I said i've driven one, and they are animals of yoke's.(post is up there a bit^^) Ie. Buy one. I could say more but alot of it would be repitition.

Oh, ok, my mistake

nialler

I own a 00 S320 LWB, brakes, tyres the usual servicing costs, avg 17mpg, love it to bits, not worth much now but I don't think I'll get rid of it soon. Forget about getting it serviced anywhere near a dealership, Seamus Mulligan in Synge Lane is who does mine, spot on and quite reasonable.

Though if you have 20k to spend you'll get yourself a lot of car and you're well in the CL territory. I myself was offered a 03 S600 biturbo for €30k a couple of weeks ago and I reckon he'd take 26-27 for it. Might be worth looking at.

And if you're in doubt about the tax situation, get yourself a PSV licence then tax the car as a limo, €72 a year in tax but €1200 in insurance.

therewillbe

Hop on the boat and bring one in from the uk, a lot more choice for your money. Do your homework first and buy from a garage not joe public. Great deals when paying with cash.

NewApproach

nialler wrote: »

I own a 00 S320 LWB, brakes, tyres the usual servicing costs, avg 17mpg, love it to bits, not worth much now but I don't think I'll get rid of it soon. Forget about getting it serviced anywhere near a dealership, Seamus Mulligan in Synge Lane is who does mine, spot on and quite reasonable.

Though if you have 20k to spend you'll get yourself a lot of car and you're well in the CL territory. I myself was offered a 03 S600 biturbo for €30k a couple of weeks ago and I reckon he'd take 26-27 for it. Might be worth looking at.

And if you're in doubt about the tax situation, get yourself a PSV licence then tax the car as a limo, €72 a year in tax but €1200 in insurance.

A CL wouldn't make a great limo mind...

If the OP opted for an S class this would probably be the way to go though.

VolvoMan

ninty9er wrote: »

Okay it's the cheapest but it is a 03 S Class.

Haggle room as they are NOT upgrade alloys, and on the plus side it has the facelifted dashboard with a decent display as opposed to a big hole in the centre console.

I reckon it could be had for €15.5-€16k

Edit:
http://www.carzone.ie/search/Mercedes-Benz/S-Class/Petrol--/200831189505565/advert

That is some value for money!:eek:

Funnily enough they actually are upgrade alloys. You should see the standard ones.....

Dermo123 wrote: »

Actually I have just noticed that this car has been relisted by a dealer for almost 10K:eek: more...... see --> http://www.driving.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=1183348

They probably paid 19K to the private seller so if you want offer them 20K trade price and see what happens........

or else leave them sweat it out a couple of months and offer them 15K when the motor trade is even more in the doldrums

That's because the private listed ad is a scam with pictures stolen from the dealer who has the car advertised for 10k more.

RobAMerc

I would go with the CL - big merc 4 doors get to a certain point and then are worthless - the coupe will always be a bit special.

btw - the top end mercs like this are seriously well engineered ( if not always that well built ) and I think you'll marvel at the cars supremacy.

by the way - I would go for one with all the toys.

I had a 74 280ce the level of engineering is simply superb made a modern sh!t box feel barely adequate.