This is my first post and I'm looking for some practical/technical guidance. I'm considering purchasing a used CLK, anything from 1998 and newer. I love the ride and the performance but have some serious concerns about the reliability. General maintenance is less of a concern as this would be a weekend only car and I would not put more than 5,000-8,000 miles per year.

Can you enlighten me as to what problems I should be concerned about? any model year that I should avoid? do the AMGs have more/less problems?

Your feedback is truly appreciated.

Thanks

 

I believe the W208 (2002 and earlier) have issues with dead pixels on the dash. With the W209 (2003 +) the first two years had problems with the radiator that caused problems with the transmission. The radiator (and possibly the tranny) would have been replaced by the warranty. That is definately something you should ask about as it's a repair job in excess of $10k.

I think you will find more information in the mbworld or benzworld forums.

 

I'm willing to answer any questions you have.
I have a 2000CLK, and have had it from new to old.
It now has 150,000 miles.
No major problems like enginework or tranny work; as a matter of fact I changed the tranny oil recently and it was still like new.
Brakework, tire work, changing bulbs etc.are typical. Amatuers tire changers will do poor work and you will have to have it redone.
I have had two annoying fuel related problems in 150k miles. But even so that is still not bad at all. One problem at 100k drove me and my mechanic crazy for about six months. The "check-engine" light would come on then go off, and we could never figure out what was causing it. We could never catch it in the act, and the DC code was very vague. Finally I became ill with it and began arbitrarily replacing suspect fuel components.With the help of people in here, I got it on the third part. Here recently at 150K,it woundn't start twice, but I would walk away and try fifteen minutes later and it would start. So I'm looking for that gremlin now. But overall it has been a fantastic car. I mean two things in 150k is perfectly satisfactory.I am about to retire the car to weekends only, and buy a brand new one...except white this time.

Blue

 

I guess, given the variety of readers, I should mention that the diagnosis was nearly $1000. us everytime they looked at it, with one repiar over $10k, another over $4500., and another around $2500. in addition to the minor emmissions and component maintenance I performed using my own MB HHTmyself in the garage. But, once again these were all minor repairs before 150k miles. The cylinder heads have never been removed, the engine or tranny has never been apart etc. It is for this reason I give the car a good report. So it is not my intent to recommend an old or new CLKto teenagers working odd jobs, or adults who cannot drop 10k for a repair, each year.

Blue

 

BlueSilver,

You said the repairs were minor, yet you said you paid $10K one time, $4.5K another. Are these amounts in U.S. dollars and if so, what were each of the problems? The seem major to me.

Thanks,

Hermes1