Merc CLK 320...any good?

GinG · 26 Nov 2011 at 08:51

Morning All,

In my quest to try and find a new car I have been looking at the CLK, would prefer to have a diesel (mileage around 20 - 25k+) and looking at the range of engines the 320 seems the one to go for (40mpg average??)?

Looking at cars from 06 onwards and auto. Is there any major flaws in these cars?

Had a look around the competition and really like the A4 (drove the 3.2 quattro which is amazing mpg not so!), drove a 3 series (330d) loved the engine but felt the interior was lacking quality compared to the A4.

I tried out a 220 last year and I really liked the car, loved the styling with AMG kit and wheels but at the time was out of budget and also lacked a bit of acceleration (felt slower than my grande punto sporting!)

I would say budget of around £10k - £12k if any other suggestions, but I am sad to say I was now bowled over by BMW as I really thought I was going to own a BMW as next car but was left a bit underwhelmed by the quality compared to the Audi

Thanks!!

[TW]Fox · 26 Nov 2011 at 09:45

If you didn't like the quality of the 3 series you will rightly hate the CLK. Not a well built car at all.

Plus 25k a year in a 5+ year old prestige diesel will cost a fortune in repair bills.

Raymond Lin · 26 Nov 2011 at 10:15

Doesn't Audi do a more economical diesel than a 3.2 quad?

GinG · 26 Nov 2011 at 16:25

In what way is it not well built fox? Just the era of mercs?

Are these cars renowned for going wrong, and what should I expect to go wrong?

wez130 · 26 Nov 2011 at 17:02

Have a look at the A6 3.0TDi quattro (S line) if you liked the A4, nicer interior than the A4 (imo), and like most cars in its class, you get more for your money than you do from the A4. Prices are pretty good compared to the A4 too as the A4 is the more popular choice and holds its value better. Get the one with the MMI high though - it shouldn't be hard as from when i was looking, more had it specced than not. Your budget should get you one close around 2006 - 2008, though look for an S Line if possible.

GinG · 27 Nov 2011 at 12:02

Thanks Wez, not sure on the A6 the styling doesn't seem to be as 'aggressive' as the A4.

As of this morning I took the dog for a walk and for the 1st time since we got him I let him of the lead...and was fine!

Because of this now it opens up a whole new set of places we can take him...so as silly (or not so) as it sounds I now may need to consider space for the dog! This could potentially mean heading away from saloons & coupe style and go hatchback/estate.

Is there any mercs to consider in my price range??

How about if I upped the budget a bit and look at something like this? http://pistonheads.co.uk/sales/3429332.htm

wez130 · 27 Nov 2011 at 12:54

The A6 looks much better in 'le mans' trime with its 19" wheels.

As for merc estates, look at the older W210's iirc, they are bullet proof and were built before MB went through their bad patch. Especially if yr gonna have a muddy dog running round.

commited · 27 Nov 2011 at 13:17

W210s are anything but bullet proof, they were the start of the problems for MB, especially well known for their tendancy to rust faster than pretty much any car produced at the time! The W124 was the last of the properly built Mercedes.

[TW]Fox · 27 Nov 2011 at 13:19

wez130 said:
The A6 looks much better in 'le mans' trime with its 19" wheels.

As for merc estates, look at the older W210's iirc, they are bullet proof and were built before MB went through their bad patch. Especially if yr gonna have a muddy dog running round.

Absolutely rubbish, you couldn't be more wrong if you had tried. The W210 was one of the worst affected cars by the Mercedes-Benz quality dive and the majority are now very rusty. I cannot understand where your opinion has come from, did you just make it up?

SeatIbiza · 27 Nov 2011 at 15:34

[TW]Fox;20653045 said:
If you didn't like the quality of the 3 series you will rightly hate the CLK. Not a well built car at all.

Plus 25k a year in a 5+ year old prestige diesel will cost a fortune in repair bills.

Really?

I'm driving my parents 270 cdi CLK at the moment. it's an 04 plate. And bar servicing they've spent a grand total of nothing else on it. They have owned it from new.

OP - i like the CLK and it's reasonably well put together in my opinion and there are a lot worse places to be in...Trip back today average 65mph over it all and 45mpg...

[TW]Fox · 27 Nov 2011 at 15:38

They are very lucky to have not a single bill in 7 years. Even Honda owners often don't manage that.

SeatIbiza · 27 Nov 2011 at 16:42

[TW]Fox;20662200 said:
They are very lucky to have not a single bill in 7 years. Even Honda owners often don't manage that.

I dont think so really. It's been utterly faultless. I've done 500 miles this week in it with not even a thought there would be an issue...

[TW]Fox · 27 Nov 2011 at 16:49

You dont think there is any luck involved in buying a car and suffering not a single glitch in 7 years ownership? You therefore imply from that beleif there is no luck that all examples of such car could be expected to be faultlessly reliable regardless of age?

As so far as the interior quality goes its obviously superior to something like a Fiat but the OP specifically mentions feeling dissapointed by the interior quality of the 3 Series, a CLK is inferior to the 3 Series in this regard (It shares its interior with the 2000 onwards C Class, a nice car ruined by cruddy quality) therefore its unlikely he'll be impressed.

Seems like the OP needs an Audi of some description.

SeatIbiza · 27 Nov 2011 at 18:04

[TW]Fox;20662758 said:
You dont think there is any luck involved in buying a car and suffering not a single glitch in 7 years ownership? You therefore imply from that beleif there is no luck that all examples of such car could be expected to be faultlessly reliable regardless of age?

As so far as the interior quality goes its obviously superior to something like a Fiat but the OP specifically mentions feeling dissapointed by the interior quality of the 3 Series, a CLK is inferior to the 3 Series in this regard (It shares its interior with the 2000 onwards C Class, a nice car ruined by cruddy quality) therefore its unlikely he'll be impressed.

Seems like the OP needs an Audi of some description.

Well maybe a bit, but they have a H reg merc (nearing 200k now) they've had from new and that's still going strong...

I haven't been in a 3 series recently but the courtesy car my dad got was a abse spec 320d. I can confirm the CLK is a better interior...I shall take a pic tomorrow of the one i'm in.

[TW]Fox · 27 Nov 2011 at 18:07

SeatIbiza said:
Well maybe a bit, but they have a H reg merc (nearing 200k now) they've had from new and that's still going strong...

Thats because Mercs from 1990 were built with the sort of care and attention almost no car has been built with since. They are everything you'd expect from a Mercedes Benz and I quite beleive one would simply go on and on and on.

I haven't been in a 3 series recently but the courtesy car my dad got was a abse spec 320d. I can confirm the CLK is a better interior...I shall take a pic tomorrow of the one i'm in.

We are not talking about asthetics so I'm not sure what a picture of the interior will do to settle the quality dispute

wez130 · 27 Nov 2011 at 18:52

[TW]Fox;20661266 said:
Absolutely rubbish, you couldn't be more wrong if you had tried. The W210 was one of the worst affected cars by the Mercedes-Benz quality dive and the majority are now very rusty. I cannot understand where your opinion has come from, did you just make it up?

i might have the model wrong then, i'm thinking of the one from early - mid 90's (square headlights), had the rear facing seats behind the back seats

GinG · 27 Nov 2011 at 18:52

[TW]Fox;20662758 said:
You dont think there is any luck involved in buying a car and suffering not a single glitch in 7 years ownership? You therefore imply from that beleif there is no luck that all examples of such car could be expected to be faultlessly reliable regardless of age?

As so far as the interior quality goes its obviously superior to something like a Fiat but the OP specifically mentions feeling dissapointed by the interior quality of the 3 Series, a CLK is inferior to the 3 Series in this regard (It shares its interior with the 2000 onwards C Class, a nice car ruined by cruddy quality) therefore its unlikely he'll be impressed.

Seems like the OP needs an Audi of some description.

Not sure if it was a one off re. interior quality...don't get me wrong it was a nice place to be in but compared to the Audi I drove, in fact compared to my Fiat the BMW had more squeaks and rattles!

How would a 5 series compare?

[TW]Fox · 27 Nov 2011 at 18:53

wez130 said:
i might have the model wrong then, i'm thinking of the one from early - mid 90's (square headlights), had the rear facing seats behind the back seats

Thats a W124.

I somewhat doubt somebody in the market for a £10-15k car and considering a 58 plate C Class would instead decide to buy a 1992 W124.

GinG · 27 Nov 2011 at 19:02

How do the 5 series compare in this market fox? Say something like this for example...http://pistonheads.co.uk/sales/3198067.htm

[TW]Fox · 27 Nov 2011 at 19:09

I am quite disillusioned with the E60 5 Series. I don't consider it to be as good as the model before it nor the model which came after. We have one in the family but - and I am not joking - have an E39 Tourer to replace it with, which just feels like a much better car.

I guess there is nothing fundamentally wrong with the E60 it just lacks the well crafted brilliance thats present in the E39 and, it would seem, once again in the newer F10. The interior in the prefacelift models is completely dire - its like the designer had a fight with a set square and designed the car whilst on a voyage to trip out city - and whilst the facelift models are more asthetically pleasing inside the number of rattles and squeeks from the interior quickly begins to resemble a branch of Mothercare as they begin to get older.

Up front is a range of brilliant yet unreliable engines. You can have a diesel engine which is economical and delivers great performance but enjoys destroying itself by injesting the plastic swirl flaps in the manifold, or blowing turbos, etc. Or you can have a fabulously economical (It really does do 37mpg combined) gloriously smooth direct injection petrol Six, deleveloping a fantastic 272bhp. It's hobbies include blowing high pressure fuel pumps, trouble with the injectors and the one we have decided it didnt want it's ECU anymore and instead decided it would be much happier if the dealer were to fit it a nice new one for over a grand. Jolly good show.

In isolation it's fine - it's 'some executive car'. It's a nice place to be, the engines are decent and it doesn't handle too badly. But it doesnt feel quite as complete as the previous or replacement model and you'd be absolutely mad to try running one without a cast iron warranty which in my experience basically means the BMW warranty or nothing.

Oh, and pretty much everything - even the battery - is coded to the car. You name it, it requires recoding to it. Even plugging a CD changer in. Hurrah!

A new model should be a leap forward in every respect. The E60 was two steps forward - the tech is fantastic and the styling is more modern - but two steps backwards at the same time.

I am particularly peeved because in my quest to replace my 5 Series, I had to rule the E60 out because despite ticking all the boxes and being easily in budget it just... didnt feel as good. So it made me decide to try something different. That didn't really work either

Drive one. You might like it - and if you are not irritated by the numerous things that irritate me about it, and you can get a very good warranty, it's fundamentally a decent car. It's just a damn shame at the same time.

I honestly think I'd rather have a W211 E Class Mercedes and probably would have been tempted to try one were it not for the fact that it seems they break just as much and the Merc extended warranty costs comedy money.