Platinum Anniversary - 2005 Mercedes-Benz CL65 AMG Long-Term Road Test

Edmunds.com

Platinum Anniversary - 2005 Mercedes-Benz CL65 AMG Long-Term Road Test

The Edmunds.com 2005 Mercedes-Benz CL65 AMG just crossed 70,000 miles

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bankerdanny

I like the symmetry of the temperature and the mileage readings.

kirkhilles1

"It ONLY has 70k miles on it" says that foolish next owner of this vehicle.

kirkhilles1

I DO like that cluster though. I don't understand what the "R" stands for instead of Empty (guess it's German) and have no idea what that "Bosch" word/ad is doing over to the left.

yellowbal

@kirkhilles1, R=reserve

chol92594

I've always loved this generation of the CL-class, but after reading these long-term test entries, I don't think I could ever buy any used German luxury car without it being a CPO model. I know that this car was built during the Daimler era, but Euro cars have always been notoriously expensive to fix as they age. I could only buy a car like this if I found one in great shape for a good deal, AND I had plenty of spare cash to spend on any eventual problems.

emajor

"Our 2005 Mercedes-Benz CL65 AMG is one major failure from being left under a tree"

It just blows my mind that this can be said about an aspirational high-dollar car after only 70K miles. Someone bought this 9 years ago believing it conveyed status. Mercedes Benz. The ultimate $180,000 throw-away car.

mercedesfan

@emajor,

I don't know why that is surprising. That pretty much defines every high-dollar exotic or semi-exotic. Ever tried living with a high-mileage Ferrari, Aston, Lambo, Bentley, or Roller? The only thing that makes the CL65 surprising is that it is a Benz. It is supposed to be better engineered and better built than all of those exotics. The W215s were deeply disappointing cars.

schild1987

What ever happened to the post about the USB port being installed? It was mentioned a couple months ago, but we never got the full run down.

emajor

mercedesfan said:

@emajor,

"I don't know why that is surprising."

Because I'm not accustomed to wasting money on a precipitously depreciating asset that displays terrible levels of durability and quality. Given the profit margin on these cars, one would assume they would be put together well.
This Mercedes is, as you mention, not unique is its fragility given its competition, a fact of which all the high-end auto manufacturers you mentioned as well as their buyers should be deeply ashamed. They violate their customers financially, and the customers just keep coming back for more. This perversion all occurs in the far upper reaches of the economy, so it doesn't affect me, but it does show that a fool and his money are soon parted even if the fool has lots of it to spare.

mercedesfan

@emajor,

Ah, but you are making the assumption that the CL65, and cars like it, adhere to the same rules as mass-volume vehicles. They do not. People buying vehicles in this segment are well aware of what they are getting themselves into. Cars at these lofty heights are on the cutting edge of technology and manufacturing. For the most part, the technologies they are using have never before been used in production. As a result, there will be problems and they will be very expensive to fix. That is the nature of technology. Not everything can be proven out in a lab. It takes actual real-world experience to find issues and figure out how to fix them. Cars at this level are essentially Beta-tests. They are a way for manufacturers to experiment with dream technologies on an audience that is forgiving of such things. Lest we forget, there are technologies on this CL65 which are still rarified even 10 years later. They are getting substantially better, though. The reports of ABC failures on W216s are minimal. Things definitely happen, but not to the same extent as they did on the W215s. Same for that massive V12. Over time, AMG has made subtle changes that have turned it into a pretty bullet-proof engine. However, these technologies all had to start somewhere.

Honestly, if I had the means for cars like these I wouldn't care that my car was constantly needing multi-thousand dollar repairs if it was as incredible to drive as these vehicles are when they are working. I would have a fleet of vehicles, so having it out of service would be no big issue. I don't live that dream, but I am glad some people do. They make it possible for volume models to get some pretty cool technology in time.