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2005 Mercedes-Benz CL65 AMG Long-Term Road Test

Edmunds.comEdmunds.com Member, Administrator, Moderator Posts: 10,316
edited September 2014 in Mercedes-Benz

image2005 Mercedes-Benz CL65 AMG Long-Term Road Test

We drove to Reno to buy a 2005 Mercedes-Benz CL65 AMG

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  • quadricyclequadricycle Member Posts: 827
    So who got to drive first? Anyway, the really hard part of this experience will actually be selling it, especially if you don't want to take a massive hit on it.
  • stovt001_stovt001_ Member Posts: 799
    I'm having a lot of fun picturing how you determined who got to drive the CL65 home and who had to take the Dart back.
  • jasond52jasond52 Member Posts: 37
    Dart or CL65...man, talk about a major bummer if you got stuck with the Dart. Think I might look for the local Greyhound station rather than get stuck with the Dart...
  • 06scooby06scooby Member Posts: 3
    That is awesome! My very good friend is the inventory control manager there and handles the adds and the pricing for everything on their lot. His older brother actually owns the dealership and is a huge car guy...

    I wish I would have known you were in Reno. I'm a loyal reader and follow and have been for a long time and would dropped whatever to meet you!

    And yeah its' been cold and frozen up here for a couple of weeks now...
  • hybrishybris Member Posts: 365
    I want engine pics... now! The world doesn't see enough V12's running around.
  • agentorangeagentorange Member Posts: 893
    No-season rubber = fail.
  • juddholl10juddholl10 Member Posts: 84
    @Quadricycle:

    Used cars don't depreciate the same way when you drive off the lot. There is no new car smell to tarnish…except in this case because that car looks brand new. Mercedes had a spell of poor quality cars in the late 90s and early 2000s.
  • quadricyclequadricycle Member Posts: 827
    @juddholl10: You're right about the depreciation difference between new and used cars, but that's not the kind of "hit" I was talking about. The fact is, the market for an 8 year old AMG is small. It usually requires a couple of months to find s
  • ed341ed341 Member Posts: 0
    I would have insisted on taking the 911, CLA, Telsa or even Cadenza or MDX on such a trip. Its much more fun to make an event out of a trip like this, but I suppose you guys do this sort of thing a lot. Maybe I'm just a simple guy, but I think driving a nice car makes and mundane activity more interesting.

    Plus my opinion that the Dart is a hideous hunk of junk is solidifying..
  • kirkhilles_kirkhilles_ Member Posts: 151
    Neat! I look forward to hearing about long term reliability and maintenance on it. Does it have a major 60k service coming up?
  • oldparnelloldparnell Member Posts: 37
    Glad we had some LA celebrities come visit us here in Reno in the middle of winter, no less. It would be interesting to see the history of the car, as we seem to be getting a lot more wealthy Californian maintaining a "residence" here for tax purposes (and bringing their chariots with them). Look forward to the story on the return trip. Safe travels.
  • duck87duck87 Member Posts: 649
    Sounds like you guys actually had a good dealership experience. @quadricycle: True, there is the curiousity of how low it can go... but surely by now having lost such an enormous chunk of value, it's got to be near rock bottom right? Do you expect Edmunds to sell the car for less than $28K at the end of the year, especially after they fix all the issues (that are most definitely going to crop up)? It's actually kind of intriguing! I think if I were to do something as YOLO as buying a CL65, I'd at least try to look for something with a carmax level warranty because I'm pretty sure you can run up 9K easily. V12 engine! That sounds cheap...
  • cjasiscjasis Member Posts: 274
    This isn't a car that I'd normally be interested in... big, heavy, thirsty and frankly showy to a certain demographic... but as a car guy I'm very interested to follow this car. If anything breaks, it's going to cost an arm, leg, and toe to fix but this much car for that price is pretty cool. And there's just nothing like the silky smooth power of a V12. Great choice Edmunds.
  • fordson1fordson1 Unconfirmed Posts: 1,512
    I think quadricycle is right on your resale a year from now. Also, you haggled, settled on a price, filled out the reams of paperwork and even cut a check for $34k before driving or even seeing the car - ? How does this square with the directive that "The Boss told us we had to drive the car and see it in person before making an offer..."? Regardless of what the boss said, how do you haggle meaningfully on a purchase of this magnitude and variability without seeing the car? Yeah, you made sure you could back out of the deal, but why make just backing out of the deal your only negotiating tool? You don't think you can find something on an eight-year-old car with 56k miles on it to try to further lower the price? Showing up with a check in hand...if I were the salesman (I once WAS the salesman...), I would have probably regarded you as gofers not empowered to dicker further.
  • kamakurakid_kamakurakid_ Member Posts: 6
    What's the over/under on repair costs over the ownership by Edmunds?
  • firstshad0wfirstshad0w Member Posts: 0
    Awesome, you guys got an AMG of your own! Now, go sign up on the AMG Private Lounge to get even more owner benefits :)

    Mercedes says there were 142 CL65s produced for the 2005 model year btw
  • kyolmlkyolml Member Posts: 37
    did it appreciate? If I recall correctly, it was under $30k no matter how good of condition it was couple year ago and it's way more readily available on craigslist I felt.

    It might be even more expensive when Edmund done with it.
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