School me on the merc CL series...

[Dave]

I have been entertaining the idea of a used CL and have some questions.

While reviewing the specs for a CL 600 and a CL 65, I am at a loss on the massive new price difference.

CL 600 - $151,900
CL 65 - $203,700

I know the 65 has a .5 liter larger displacement and AMG ECU/TCU tuning which accounts for the 94 hp and 126 lb ft.

The 65 comes with 20 in wheels standard, while the 600 has 18 in wheels.

I assume the 65 has better brakes.

They have identical specs on almost everything else, including fuel mileage.

What am I missing?


:confused:

[Raven]

Your missing the AMG tax. :)

I had looked into getting a slightly used 65 for a long time. You should be able to pick up one for ~ half MSRP or possibly less for one that has < 10k miles on it. From what I had researched, MSRP for the 65 was way over-priced, so it did not hold its value very well.

[Qship5]

MikeCLKBlack might be able to chime in. He had a CL55 and knows the cars pretty well.

[Mike CLK Black]

I have been entertaining the idea of a used CL and have some questions.

While reviewing the specs for a CL 600 and a CL 65, I am at a loss on the massive new price difference.

CL 600 - $151,900
CL 65 - $203,700
....
What am I missing?


The sticker is of no consequence unless you're buying new. It's a market driven product, they price to what they think they can get.

The 65 AMG is sportier in suspension set up and drive train. The 600 while blisteringly fast is a GT cruiser for ... dare I say it, an older crowd?

The 65 torque converter is tight and ready to rock from 700 rpm's, while the 600 is loose and heavy until 2,200 rpm's and then look out.

The 65 is the enthusiast's drive while the 600 is luxo cruiser's ride. It seems to me that you drive one (65) and you ride the 600. Is that too subtle?

Drive both cars, then make your decision. One will feel better than the other.

[BlackSheep]

Buy a used 07 for mid 50's.. Don't buy a new one and loose 150K in 2 years!! My father bought an 07 Sl65 new for 190K.... Can't even get 75K for it now... He's pissed to say the least...

[Mike CLK Black]

.. Don't buy a new one and loose 150K in 2 years!! ...

I couldn't agree more.
AMG has legendary depreciation. Most people take care of high end cars and they're generally a good reliable bet on the used market.

[Dave]

Buy a used 07 for mid 50's.. Don't buy a new one and loose 150K in 2 years!! My father bought an 07 Sl65 new for 190K.... Can't even get 75K for it now... He's pissed to say the least...

I have no intentions of buying new, that would be stupid. I found an 05 CL 65 for under 50K locally and am considering it.

I really like the 07 face lift, but the used versions are a bit out of my price range currently.

[Qship5]

I think the difference between 05 and 07 is much more than a face lift. The car had a complete redesign for the W216 chassis.

[Dave]

Buy a used 07 for mid 50's.. Don't buy a new one and loose 150K in 2 years!! My father bought an 07 Sl65 new for 190K.... Can't even get 75K for it now... He's pissed to say the least...

Where are you finding 07 CL 600/65s for mid 50s?

the cheapest 07 600 I can find is about 90K in Phoenix....

:confused:

[BlackSheep]

Sorry, I meant SL's... Many SL600's in that price.. Just to warn you maintenance is rediculous on those cars.. My dad just spent 6k on a brake job @ 8,000miles.. (He did some driving events) and one side of the motor's wiring harness for the ignition coils went out 2mos after the warranty and it cost him 4k as well... just the harness was 3,200.. Good luck on the search.. Go over it with a fine tooth comb and try to get an extended warranty...

[DallasM5]

Sorry, I meant SL's... Many SL600's in that price.. Just to warn you maintenance is rediculous on those cars.. My dad just spent 6k on a brake job @ 8,000miles.. (He did some driving events) and one side of the motor's wiring harness for the ignition coils went out 2mos after the warranty and it cost him 4k as well... just the harness was 3,200.. Good luck on the search.. Go over it with a fine tooth comb and try to get an extended warranty...

you're dad should really find a good indy because whereever he went, they stuck him for all he's worth. those mercedes have 8pot brembos on them. a brand new brembo kit isnt even 6k. so how is a brake job on the car 6k? see where im going with this.

now all he would really need to replace is rotors and pads, those calipers dont go bad. so he shouldnt have spent even close to 2k to have new pads and rotors installed. just something you should fill your dad in on.

[BlackSheep]

Rotors are 995.00 a piece.. Pads are 300 for the front... Can't find a price on the rears.. Google it... The **** is waaaay expensive.. My father was an engineer for GM from 66-74.. He is not a mechanical idiot.. He did hid research before he brought it in.. So if there's 4,500- 5,000 in parts, not to mention the rediculous Mercedes tools you need to do the job, where would you reccomend that he goes to find someone to do it for under 2K?? He would be willing to give you a finders fee if you could save him some money.. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

[snowball]

I have no intentions of buying new, that would be stupid. I found an 05 CL 65 for under 50K locally and am considering it.

I really like the 07 face lift, but the used versions are a bit out of my price range currently.

Buying a new car is stupid? :confused:

[Fubar]

Poor choice of words... no doubt.

Where were you today Gerald? I showed up early (well 10 a.m.) and fully expected you to be the first person to show up.

[snowball]

Poor choice of words... no doubt.

Where were you today Gerald? I showed up early (well 10 a.m.) and fully expected you to be the first person to show up.

Wife surprised me with some early morning chores and there was no way I could get them done in time. And early is 5 AM not 10 AM!

BTW, Mark, I forgot to ask you. Where did you go the week after Cars and Coffee in May? We left Cars and Coffee and started the group around 10 AM, you drove by asked where Scott was and then you disappeared?

[DallasM5]

Rotors are 995.00 a piece.. Pads are 300 for the front... Can't find a price on the rears.. Google it... The **** is waaaay expensive.. My father was an engineer for GM from 66-74.. He is not a mechanical idiot.. He did hid research before he brought it in.. So if there's 4,500- 5,000 in parts, not to mention the rediculous Mercedes tools you need to do the job, where would you reccomend that he goes to find someone to do it for under 2K?? He would be willing to give you a finders fee if you could save him some money.. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

dude at the price your dads paying, he could buy a new brembo brake kit WITH calipers each time. can you send me a pic of his brake kit, car model/year. ill look into it and get back to you. because if you are paying a grand for rotors, yea you are really getting raped. pads are going to be 300 since you are running 4 of the F40 pads(i think) and those are 150 a pair.

mercedes tool to do a brake job? how the F do they manage to create a tool? if its brembo calipers then all you do is remove the 2 pins and the pads slide out. im willing to bet the rotor is a brembo rotor too, if its a 2 piece rotor then it should be $700 MAX for a pair of front rotors from brembo.

been there done that with the 8 piston brembo.

mercedes overprices the F out of things because they can sucker people in.


these are the pads you need
http://www.zeckhausen.com/Brembo/GT8_Pads.htm

and if i were your dad and like the way he tracks the car, go ahead and buy the brembo hats for that car so you can run brembo aero rotors.

so $300 for the race pads for the brembo GT8 kit.
then 380mm x 32mm are 345, so 345x2=690

total brake job with pads and brand new rotors is roughly a grand.

your dad paid enough to do the brake job 6 times over.

now thats what id call getting hustled.

[Fubar]

Would it be possible for you to give a guy good information without telling him he got "raped," "hustled," "suckered?" The information will likely be received much better.

[BlackSheep]

dude at the price your dads paying, he could buy a new brembo brake kit WITH calipers each time. can you send me a pic of his brake kit, car model/year. ill look into it and get back to you. because if you are paying a grand for rotors, yea you are really getting raped. pads are going to be 300 since you are running 4 of the F40 pads(i think) and those are 150 a pair.

mercedes tool to do a brake job? how the F do they manage to create a tool? if its brembo calipers then all you do is remove the 2 pins and the pads slide out. im willing to bet the rotor is a brembo rotor too, if its a 2 piece rotor then it should be $700 MAX for a pair of front rotors from brembo.

been there done that with the 8 piston brembo.

mercedes overprices the F out of things because they can sucker people in.


these are the pads you need
http://www.zeckhausen.com/Brembo/GT8_Pads.htm

and if i were your dad and like the way he tracks the car, go ahead and buy the brembo hats for that car so you can run brembo aero rotors.

so $300 for the race pads for the brembo GT8 kit.
then 380mm x 32mm are 345, so 345x2=690

total brake job with pads and brand new rotors is roughly a grand.

your dad paid enough to do the brake job 6 times over.

now thats what id call getting hustled.

Do you know that the SL65 rotors are 390mm in the front and 360mm in the rear... Not real sure my father would like wrong smaller sized rotors on his 190K Mercedes that already has a hard time coping with the brakes it comes with.. I'm sure the dealer would love to void his drivetrain warranty when he shows up with half ass brakes on his car to save a couple grand.. If you google the actual OEM parts you will see that my prices are correct.. If my father decides to half ass maintain his car, I will give him this valuable information to put the wrong brakes on his car.. Thanks for your help!:thumbsup2:

[DallasM5]

Do you know that the SL65 rotors are 390mm in the front and 360mm in the rear... Not real sure my father would like wrong smaller sized rotors on his 190K Mercedes that already has a hard time coping with the brakes it comes with.. I'm sure the dealer would love to void his drivetrain warranty when he shows up with half ass brakes on his car to save a couple grand.. If you google the actual OEM parts you will see that my prices are correct.. If my father decides to half ass maintain his car, I will give him this valuable information to put the wrong brakes on his car.. Thanks for your help!:thumbsup2:

wow, he has 390mm rotors....:adore:

then i take back everything i said, that stuffs going to be pricey

hows he having a hard time braking? why doesnt he opt for ceramic brakes then? if its 7k a change, ceramic brakes are 14k? but they will last him a ton longer.

so if he is running 390mm rotor, what type of pad is that? i guess its a 1 off pad then? i didnt even know brembo made a 8pot caliper for a 390mm kit. or that they even made a 390mm kit.

[Dave]

Buying a new car is stupid? :confused:


For me it would be. Being the first owner to take the massive deprecation hit is not logical to me. I would much rather buy a low miles, one or two year old model for 1/2 the price of a new car.

[SyN]

Raza on those big cars they use a different type of brake setup. I've seen them before My mech. did a bake job on a older CL55 the years before the 55 was blown. and it cost around 3-k with all the rotors and pads, the fronts do run 4 pads on each caliper. And the newer CL's seem to have even bigger calipers due to the increase in size of the car. So, for a 6k job to have been claimed here, it is not surprising what so ever.

[QDOG]

Would it be possible for you to give a guy good information without telling him he got "raped," "hustled," "suckered?" The information will likely be received much better.

:thumbsup2:

[snowball]

:hahaha:Would it be possible for you to give a guy good information without telling him he got "raped," "hustled," "suckered?" The information will likely be received much better.

He's too freak'n young to understand that bit of advice.....:D :laugh:

[DallasM5]

:hahaha:

He's too freak'n young to understand that bit of advice.....:D :laugh:

old fekkers, wanting the youngins to grow up faster so you wont feel as old. :laugh:


carbon ceramic brakes ftw

[snowball]

:hahaha:old fekkers, wanting the youngins to grow up faster so you wont feel as old. :laugh:


carbon ceramic brakes ftw

no need to worry you're on your way.........:laugh: