Hello all,

As of roughly two hours ago, I have become the proud owner of a triple black 2002 Mercedes CLK55 AMG Convertible. Found the car yesterday through craigslist, went down there today, and drove it back home.

Ohhh... what can I say? An uber-stylistic guided missile that has the highest grin-to-mile ratio of anything I've ever driven before. Even Porches, with their surgical precision, or bimmers, with their fantastic road feel, just don't conduct themselves with the same... same... class as this car does. They just don't. And I don't think there's any convertible on the market today that can compare with this one, is there?

34,500 miles, one previous owner. Car still has a couple months of manufacturer warranty, although I did pay for 4 years of extended warranty ($4K, Mercury Platinum; is this reasonable?) for my peace of mind. I paid about $37,000 for it, which seemed like a good deal.

So, anything to be aware of with this car?

 

before i buy an mp3 player, i have to think of it for a week... and there you are, you fell in love on CLK55 at first sight and throw $37k on it.

so far there isn't much complaint on it which considers your $4k extended warranty as a profit for them.

you may have some minor electrical problems once in a while and coincidentally it goes inside the loophole of warranty. so far, nothing much to worry about those since they are already paid in advance.

WELCOME TO THE FORUM!

 

So are you saying 37K is a lot for this car? I actually thought it was a reasonable deal. Heck, TBH, I thought it was a screaming deal - KBB puts the retail on it at 50K (!!)

As for the warranty - these AMG cars are to my understanding real expensive to fix. Was I wrong in this understanding?

 

$37k is a bit high for a 4 year old car.

yes, amg parts cost more than standard parts, but there isn't much of it.

 

I think the price you paid is fine. They are going to make some sort of profit. The fact that it's a 55 and a convertible brings the price up. They are not mass produced like the others. If you plan on keeping it for a while, you did just fine. I'm not exactly sure about the warranty. I got the warranty on my 2002 430. It has not exactly paid for itself, but I'm glad that I have it. These are times when people are saying that MB does not make cars as reliable as the ones of the 80's. I have to say that the only problems I have had have been little nagging electrical ones. The sunroof gets out of sinc a lot. I have learned how to reset it, but it is still a hasstle. The speakers on the left sometimes don't come on. If I turn the car off, take the key out, and turn it back on, they come back most of the time. But when I turn the key, the engine purrs. When I step on the gas, it roars and I fly past anyone I want. Still the best car I've ever owned. Two years with it, and I'm still happy. You're gonna love it.

 

Thank you Konman. I already love it It is a fantastic car.

Since the deal involved a trade-in, it's a little difficult to calculate the true price paid for the vehicle - the deal sheet actually shows the car as $36,200. But since I expected a bit more for the trade-in (about $700 or so), I am calling it $37K.

I have a good friend who works in a large Mercedes dealership down south, and he checked the car out for me and sent me the mercedes service records - it came out squeaky clean, which was another factor. In his opinion, with the car being that clean and the low mileage, I got an "astonishing deal", as he would have expected me to pay about $4000-$5000 more after hard negotiating. That pans out with my knowledge of these cars and their general valuations around these parts.

But it doesn't matter, really; I'm happy with the car and the price I paid for it. I'm just wondering about that warrant and whether it should have been less. I have a 60 day pullout clause, with only a $35 cancellation fee + whatever it costs to get a certified odometer reading, whatever that means (anyone? how do I get one?). It's another reason I bought it at the dealer's - I can now shop around a little and if worst comes to worst, it will cost under $100 for the excercise of getting and cancelling that one. I'm just wondering whether or not this was too high [8D]

 

I would get out of the Warranty since u will have to have 4k worth of "free" repairs just for it to pay for its self and if u expected to pay more for the car then if it does break just figure that was the price for getting it so cheap. I dont believe in paying for an extra warranty especially since u know the cars history.

 

Well, if you have the service records, looking them over should help you decide whether or not to keep the extended warranty. Is the car a lemon? Nevertheless, with deductibles and fine print, the extended warranties are notorious for NOT covering repairs. All consumer advocates advise against getting one.

You takes your chances. They aren't totally worthless, but it's going to be nearly impossible for you to get $4,000 worth of value out of it. On the other hand, you can put the $4,000 to work for you instead of for the insurance company. Invest it in something and use it for repairs if it's needed.