15,000 Miles - 2005 Mercedes-Benz CL65 AMG Long-Term Road Test

Edmunds.com

15,000 Miles - 2005 Mercedes-Benz CL65 AMG Long-Term Road Test

We've put 15,000 miles on our long-term 2005 Mercedes-Benz CL65 AMG.

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bankerdanny

Personally I won't be sorry to see it go. I have always liked this series of the S and CL, classy, tasteful, understated, its a big Merc I would be happy to own. But as a reader this car just failed to generate any excitement or interest for me.

But I do hope you get another car in the same vein. Maybe you and the Edmunds team put together a short list of cars to target and let us vote? I think a Defender 90 came up last time. That would be cool, but I would actually like to see a Series 1 Range Rover. Which are pretty common and MUCH cheaper than a Defender.

Or a 90-96 Nissan 300ZX Turbo, the Japanese Ferrari 308, only faster and more reliable. You can find low mileage versions for similar money to what you paid for the Mercedes and the NSX. You want an every day supercar, the Z is actually better than the NSX in my opinoin.

How about an S4 Avant? How well does a high mileage V8 Audi super wagon hold up?

kirkhilles1

I was going to make a sarcastic comment about whether that number of the cake was the total amount of your repair bills, but it HAS done pretty well lately. Of course, that really means nothing. Saying that you didn't have any repair bills in a couple months of average driving isn't saying too much and the fact that you had to state that really indicates how unreliable it is. Its definitely time to retire her.

I do like the idea of a mid-90's car. You'd have a tough time finding a good deal on a unmodified 93+ Supra Turbo, but I'd love to hear about that or a 91+ MR2 Turbo

aussiedude_kc

I would have liked to see a performance test video for this car. Maybe a drag race against some other cars in the fleet for kicks. It is a beast, and it would be entertaining to watch it blow by some other machines. If it doesn't break down, of course!

arcticbluetsx

bankerdanny said:

Personally I won't be sorry to see it go. I have always liked this series of the S and CL, classy, tasteful, understated, its a big Merc I would be happy to own. But as a reader this car just failed to generate any excitement or interest for me.

But I do hope you get another car in the same vein. Maybe you and the Edmunds team put together a short list of cars to target and let us vote? I think a Defender 90 came up last time. That would be cool, but I would actually like to see a Series 1 Range Rover. Which are pretty common and MUCH cheaper than a Defender.

Or a 90-96 Nissan 300ZX Turbo, the Japanese Ferrari 308, only faster and more reliable. You can find low mileage versions for similar money to what you paid for the Mercedes and the NSX. You want an every day supercar, the Z is actually better than the NSX in my opinoin.

How about an S4 Avant? How well does a high mileage V8 Audi super wagon hold up?

Speaking of S4s, how about the original 1997 version? When 250 hp was a lot for a family sedan, and not available on Accords and Camrys?

throwback

Love the big Mercs, it was nice choice. I suggest you go a little older for the next car. My suggestion is a '78-'80 Mazda Rx-7. My other suggestion is a '90-'93 Lexus LS400. I still see quite a few of the original gen cars on the road. I remember when they came out, Benz bosses said they would never sell!

emajor

Great picture and send-off, Mike. I love that you bought a cake and planned so carefully for the odometer milestone.

The cake will help keep you alive as you wait for the search parties to rescue you when the Merc breaks down in the middle of nowhere. At night. The wolves circling.

The whole "cool used car or utilitarian new car" for the same price question is an interesting one, and I hope you continue to do this in your long term tests. Top Gear posed this same question several years ago and I believe picked this exact Merc as an example. I don't recall if they kept it long enough to rack up repair costs.

It must be said: $6000 of repair bills in what amounts to a single year of driving would be completely unacceptable to most budgets. I don't see any reason to expect that rate of repair to slow down as the car continues to age. The way I see it, this experiment isn't a test of whether to purchase a used semi-super car vs a new $34K vehicle, but whether to purchase a used semi-super car vs a new semi-super car. You need a semi-super car expense budget to afford $6K a year in repairs.

miata52

For your next car, how about the only cheap 911 left, the 996?

allthingshonda

This is like getting an award for not completely self destructing. Count me in for a 90's 300ZX turbo or even a Toyota Supra Turbo. Or get the rarely seen Lincoln Mark 8 (guess where Lincoln gets the MK_ naming thing from). The 290 HP DOHC V8 made it a rather quick car in it's time.

kshankar

If you could find one, how about a 3rd gen unmolested RX7? They are still out there!
Happy Holidays everyone!

bankerdanny

miata52: nah, they already did a 911. If they want to go Porsche again, go with the true bargain Porsche, the 944. You can get an 88-90 944 with the better 2.7 and 80-90k miles for $5k all day long. it won't get you any points at Cars and Coffee, but it's $20k cheaper than a FR-S/BRZ and about the same as a decent Miata with even more utility thanks to the hatch. Step it up to $10-$12k and you might find a clean Turbo that would show the Toybaru it tail lights all day long.

desmolicious

Get the British Vette. The TVR Tasmin.
Or, for Rizwick, the James Bond Lotus Esprit Turbo like the one in The Spy Who Loved Me.
Not the previous gen one that turned into a submarine. That would be just silly.

s197gt

bmw e30. a beater, like the miata, and fix it up, on a budget. then i'll buy it at the end.

benson2175

I've thoroughly enjoyed reading about the CL. These are special cars and it's nice to see what ownership would be like. I was considering this generation as a replacement for my W140 but I just don't have the confidence in these S/CL class'. I might wait a bit for the W221 prices to come down even more. It seems like more of a proper successor to the W140 than the W220. After some initial deferred maintenance repairs my car has been rock solid for years. Change the oil, change the filters, change the tires, repeat; and it just keeps going.

mcesarey

I remember you guys discussing this topic a few years ago and posted a picture of an early 90's Bentley Turbo for around $19K. That's my suggestion....get an old Bentley. Lots of enthusiast cars posted in the suggestions above, but the point is its a used "dream car" as opposed to a new sensible car for equivalent money.