Hello, I am new here. Have been looking at a 2004 CLK 500, with 39,xxx miles. The thing about the cars is that it has a rebuilt title. The work was really done well, it wasn't done at a dealer but looks great. The front bumper was damaged in the accident. The front bumper, radiator, and headlights were all replaced. The hood wasn't damaged. Everything works on the car except two things, the front pass light on the bumper (the yellow reflector doesn't light up) and also it complains about the phone not being hooked up. It has about every option, nav, rear windshield, xenons, heated seats.

It says Service B will need done in 1200 miles (although he just had an oil change and the transmission fluid flushed)

He wants $22,900

Any input, or anything to look for would be appreciated, also I know the seller, not personally but I know he wouldn't lie to me (when we were kids I was friends with his son). I now have a 01 330i that I love but is getting a lot of mile. I drive about 20k a year so I need a dependable car.

Thanks,
Todd

 

Please find another car.

Check with your state, because in most cases a "salvage title" means the car has been totaled, ordeclared a "total loss" in an accident by the insurance company. This typically means the car was severly damaged, sometimes requiring welding, pulling,or straightening of the frame. The problem with this type of repair, is that Mercedes cars have thousands of delicate parts in the front that have to be precisely calibrated and inspected in order to provide any reasonable type of reliabilty. In addition, hard vehicle collisions can cause internal damage to the engine such as cracks in the engine block or covers, as the result of the weight of the crank assyslamming forward inside the engine block, which can appear later.So at this point 39k miles is completely irellevant, and no longer a reasonable indication of futurelife.

In my book, the car is virtually worthless, a junkyard car; any stated blue book values do not apply with a salvage title. I would strongly advise you to ask for a different car, regardless of how good it looks, or how well the repairs were performed. There are simply too many cleanCLKs out there nowto settle for a salvage repair car.

Blue

 

Thanks for the reply Blue, yes the car was totaled, I saw pictures of the accident but I do not know what the future holds. Generally I don't keep cars more then a couple of years, so my resale value will be crap.

There are others out there but none in my price range, I really wanted to stay at 23-25k. I guess I will just need to look for a different model. Even after driving the CLK for a few hours this afternoon I still like the feel of my bimmer.

Thanks again for your opinion.

 

I looked up the kelley "retail" value for a 2004 CLK 500 with 39k miles, in fair condition (no salvage title). I suggest you do the same. It was mid 20's. Everything has a price, and this car definitley has a value, but not equal or near the retail of apristine car.

There's nothing unethicalwith properly repairing a car, but there should be a substancial allowance in the price, for the loss of the original condition, stigma of the salvage title, risk of problems, loss in re-sale value etc.

Perc