Maybe changing my car for Mercedes CLK

[abmunro]

I'm replacing my Audi A4 convertible

I'm thinking purchasing a 2009 Mercedes CLK 350 Avantgarde Convertible

Anyone have or ever owned one?

[abmunro]

Sorry title is a bit misleading LOL!!

[tb10]

You can say that again!

Re the CLK - never owned one - been in a number - good car but depends on the variant - Diesel or Petrol and then yearly mileage.......

regards


John

[esprit888]

Yes, nice car but....... as with any BMW and Mercedes once it gets past 6 -7 years old it starts getting expensive as the multitude of sensors and electrical items that were thought of as great when new start to act up. As an example a sensor for the power roof gave up working and the cost for the part was $900, a seat belt sensor was $500 and so on. That's for the merc, now the BMW is even worse (2009 650I convertible) sensor that tightens the seat belt in the event of a rollover =$1,600 ! The natural thought would be to ignore it but the damn alarm sounds on the Idrive every time you start the car, its a pain in the ass. Both cars no longer use wiring for the power windows, they are flexible printed circuit strips, and can be expensive!

I'm replacing my Audi A4 convertible

I'm thinking purchasing a 2009 Mercedes CLK 350 Avantgarde Convertible

Anyone have or ever owned one?

[Fredjohn]

Hi
Just bought a CLK 320CDi Elegance last June. 57 plate, 07 year. V6 3L diesel, 7 speed auto box 43k miles. I have coupe rather than convertible.

Thoughts so far after 4 months: love it. Very good performance when floored, but excellent economy: 30mpg general local driving, but 40+mpg on long journeys.

Wanted the Sport model (you get paddle change as std) but none available at the time. Elegance has almost identical performance though, and road tax slightly less than Sport. Avantgarde is as Elegance. Handling for a heavy large car pretty good, but it is no Elan! Car is very well equipped as standard, and I have the optional Command System (sat nav, audio, phone/Bluetooth with right interface).

I had a Subaru Legacy 3L 4wd estate before: similar performance and ride. Both cars can be driven spiritedly and enjoyed as such, but CLK has much better fuel consumption. Can't comment on reliability or failures as I haven't had any yet! But realise it might be expensive: risk I was prepared to take.
You also get that "classy" feel of sitting in a very elegantly styled Merc. The later models c2004-2009 are the nicer styled (IMHO) with a lighter touch than preceding versions. No experience of the 350 (petrol?) model: I went for the diesel for the excellent economy/performance combination and much cheaper road tax.

Driving position is comfortable, (electric memory seats with electric steering wheel adjust), steering gives good feel and brakes are superb, even with Merc's brake assist.

That about sums it up. I love the car and do not regret buying it, and that is after the Subaru which I thoroughly enjoyed and wondered for ages about what to replace it with. Ask away if you want any more info.

Fredjohn

[abmunro]

Thanks for response.

I drove it and it goes fine. Don't like the wheels I think they look a little small.

This is the one.

Merc 350 CLK

[epipete]

Very nice, I toyed with the idea of one of these when I traded my C Class Coupe in a couple of years ago, I really enjoyed the C Class, it was terrifically well built and I always felt confident in it every time I climbed in. Two random thoughts though:

1. Positive, the automatic seatbelt extenders are really cool
2. Negative, the handbrake is operated by your right hand (I think it's the same on the CLK as my old C Class!) it can be really confusing when you are doing pressurised hill starts!

Pete

[esprit888]

some common problems, 2006 to 2008:

http://www.benzworld.org/forums/w209-cl ... oblem.html

http://repairpal.com/internal-component ... ifting-412

and several happy campers

http://www.edmunds.com/mercedes-benz/cl ... views.html

[DaveT]

Dave T has got one 2007 CLK Avantgarde low mileage. Great car for Miss Daisy especially now his left leg is knackered and cannot use clutch. Even on the CLK he has to use hand to put hand brake on, or is it a foot brake!!!

[abmunro]

I bought it, you put handbrake on with pedal on left of brake and take it off with handle.

It's a nice car but only driven it from Huddersfield to home and then onto Aberdeen. It's been sat in Aberdeen for 11 days now.