[ngc414]

I just bought a 04 CL600 Friday. This is my first benz also. It seems every time i found one for a low price there was a catch, mb buybacks, wreck history, poorly maintained or horrible color combo. After 2 months I finally paid more and got a clean one in the color combo i wanted.

 

[ngc414]

The blue benz in the first pic is beutifull. Was that an 01?

 

[ngc414]

I have owned a 03CL600 and a 05 CL65. You will love both.

If you get the 600 just send off the ECU to Renntech and have 640ish HP. If you can find a 65 get that. you will not be disappointed.

i see in your sig you have an 05 Ford GT. My neighbor has one also (red with white stripes). I havent had a chance to ride in it yet. How do you like yours? Just out of couriousity how does it compair to the CL65 seat of the pants power wise?

 

[ngc414]

Anyone buy a benz long distance through Ebay? The car I like (last pic posted) is on auction: eBay Motors: Mercedes-Benz : CL-Class (item 310133199700 end time Apr-09-09 19:01:44 PDT)

I bought mine through ebay through a dealer in the same area. I drove up to inspect it and drove it home. Besides checking ebay feedback, I checked their ranking with the better business B and ran an auto check on the cars history. I also googled the business name just to see what was out there on them. I know your still taking a chance, but it is extremely hard to find the exact car you want in your area.
I looked since the end of winter and they didnt seem to be selling, so I took my time. Once spring hit every single one I had my eye on sold in almost the same week. So I moved on the next clean black on black one that came up for sale.

 

[ngc414]

In the time I was looking, I spun out and crashed my Corvette which I was going to sell, so that's delayed my plans. Selling probably would've taken some time in this market anyway.

Something else that doesn't rush me, I did some research, and found edmunds.com has a True Cost to Own analysis online. The five year cost for a CL600 is $114K, and $137K for a CL65. So in this economy that's cash that's nice to keep on hand or ready for investments as we slowly pull out of this Great Recession (hopefully) next year. This year? No way in hell with the auto maker bankruptcies, unemployment trends, rapidly rising foreclosures, and 21% drop in GDP invesments 1Q09.

2005 CL600 5yr TCO 2005 Mercedes-Benz CL-Class True Cost to Own ratings at Edmunds
2005 CL65 5yr TCO 2005 Mercedes-Benz CL65 AMG True Cost to Own ratings at Edmunds

Yikes, I put in my 04 srt-10 ram I traded in on my CL600. I had the truck 5 years. It says aroung 58k for the truck $14k for repairs and maintenance. I never had a single issue. I paid whatever 2 oil changes a year would be, no where near 14k maybe $600 (I do my own oil changes). Same thing with my escalade. The maintenance and repairs where actually estimated higher for the escalade than the cl600. Again no where near what my actual maintenace and repairs where on the vehicle. I think the biggest thing with the mercedes is depreciation. The edmunds numbers seem far fetched to me. If that was the case i wouldnt buy anything, except maybe a used honda accord.

 

[ngc414]

I just checked the edmunds. Over 5 years they say its 30K insurance which is way more compared to what I am paying (1k deductable) 10kfinancing and 30k depreciation. If yo pay cash and insure the car for ~2K and forget about depreciation (as you dont pay for that) we are talking 10K instead of 70k. Another 20k for reapirs and maintenance. Fuzzy math...

I didnt catch the insurance part. Are they trying to say 30k to insure the car for 5 years? If so, that is absurd. I am paying $680 per year for my cl600 with 250/500/100 full coverage comp & collision 500 deductables (Of course insurance has many factors that determine rates besides the vehicle). Actually the only thing on the estimate that might be remotly close is depreciation. Honestly every car I have put in the edmunds "cost to own" was rediculous & not even close. I think its safe to say that estimator is absolutly useless.