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Multiple Cylinder Misfires - 2005 Mercedes-Benz CL65 AMG Long-Term Road Test

Edmunds.comEdmunds.com Member, Administrator, Moderator Posts: 10,315
edited August 2014 in Mercedes-Benz
imageMultiple Cylinder Misfires - 2005 Mercedes-Benz CL65 AMG Long-Term Road Test

Our 2005 Mercedes-Benz CL65 AMG has a check-engine light. We're headed to the shop for some non-scheduled maintenance.

Read the full story here


Comments

  • ebeaudoinebeaudoin Member Posts: 509

    Oh my goodness.. The joys of owning a 9-year old high-performance vehicle! $14,000 service estimate? I would love to see a picture (or at least a breakdown) of the repair order.

  • mecksermeckser Member Posts: 18

    Ouch, the part alone is $1200. Not even a cheap DIY fix.

  • vvkvvk Member Posts: 196

    And SAAB drives complain about their $400 ignition coils. And this is just ONE OF TWO :-)

  • schen72schen72 Member Posts: 433

    I could never own an "exotic" car such as this. Even if money wasn't an issue, I would be so upset that it's constantly breaking down. I'll stick to my reliable Japanese cars, thank you.

  • miata52miata52 Member Posts: 114

    14 grand, what a hoot! Would also like to see the entire estimate.

  • grijongrijon Member Posts: 147

    Thanks for the write-up - I (clearly among others, ha ha) was very curious!

    Yes, indeed - please post the entire estimate!

  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    edited August 2014

    "China’s government said Monday it has concluded Mercedes-Benz violated anti-monopoly law and charged excessive prices for parts, adding to a growing number of global automakers snared in an investigation of the industry."

    China says Mercedes guilty of price abuses (Detroit News)

    Oops, wrong thread.

    Or maybe not. :)

  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,092
    edited August 2014

    An economic criminal complaining about supposed unethical behavior, hilarious. The regime there will do anything to distract, and then officials involved will siphon off money and buy their way into the west.

    Taking an aging money pit MB to the dealer instead of a well regarded indy mechanic, also hilarious :)

  • reminderreminder Member Posts: 383

    Owning that piece of "engineering" is akin to owning a helicopter.
    An hour of maintenance for every hour of service.
    No thank you.

  • kshankarkshankar Member Posts: 175

    Engineered like no other car in the world :-)

  • eclogiteeclogite Member Posts: 48

    +1 kshankar
    Wow. This car is a POS. I mean, I can see the appeal, but the reality is sure ugly.

  • goaterguygoaterguy Member Posts: 64

    looking at the depreciation of these cars, the free market is a great indicator of how these cars are worth. People complain at the Tesla powertrain failures but for a manufacturer like MB that has been building cars for over 100 years, this is ridiculous. I am no tree huger but can see how EVs are the future.

  • christophermcgchristophermcg Member Posts: 10

    What a piece of junk. Someone I know just got a 2002 CL500 - the front end fell on him, ABC light came on, bumper fell off.. all within the first day. He has bad credit and is a moron so, even advising him away from this lemon was never going to happen. He has his luxury Mercedes for $10,000+$1000/mo in estimated maintenance. Tires, brakes, regular up keep, on top of everything breaking every other week.. what a delightful ownership experience.

  • veedubber86veedubber86 Member Posts: 57

    The nice thing about VW coil packs going wrong all the time is that they're a dime a dozen and dealers always have them in stock...

  • sloanbjsloanbj Member Posts: 2

    We could all cluck our teeth about how MB tried to put too many elecronic gizmos in their vehicles and ended up with poor reliability. But when you see their flagship motor, the hand-build AMG 12 cylinder, self-destructing at modest mileage, you know they are truly horrible automobiles.

  • cjasiscjasis Member Posts: 274

    Would appreciate a view of the entire estimate.

  • mercedesfanmercedesfan Member Posts: 365

    When the first post about this went up I was expecting the worst. However, a failed ignition coil is an easy and common repair. I'm actually surprised your dealer didn't recommend these be changed at your last service because V12 motors are notorious for eating their coils. It's hard too be too upset about this repair because it can and does happen to every car. The other $12k worth of repairs, on the other hand, is absurd for a car with just 60K+ miles. Welcome to a turn-of-the-century Benz.

  • duck87duck87 Member Posts: 649

    The potential issues with cylinders 11 and 12 are interesting. Either those cylinders are not getting enough fill (which I would normally expect only for naturally aspirated engines with plenum style intakes where the rear cylinders usually get less air), or there is a problem with the coolant circuit, either flow stagnation/poor circulation or just coolant being too warm in that spot. Or the engine ingested something small. Very interesting...

    In any case, on a scale of 1 to Tesla, the unreliability factor of this car might actually exceed the Tesla, except you don't have a warranty to protect you!

  • texasestexases Member Posts: 10,685

    How do they just replace a few plugs?? If some are bad, all should be replaced.

  • desmoliciousdesmolicious Member Posts: 671

    Once the Benz finally leaves/is towed out of the LT fleet, please get another fancy Euro ride. Like a 5-10 year old Range Rover. The real one, not the sport version. Those also can be had for cheap and may be just as an entertaining experience for your readers. Maybe not the Edmunds' staff...

  • allthingshondaallthingshonda Member Posts: 878

    The used Corvette ZO6 Edmunds had a while back had the reliability of a Honda compared to this. It is a low volume car with a hand built engine but as reliable as any other Chevy.

  • quadcammerquadcammer Member Posts: 3

    those plugs look oil fouled.

    If you are a speed and luxury junkie, despite the repairs, the 215 cl65 offers a hell of a value. Where else are you getting that kinda power, full leather interior, and good looks for that kinda price.

    The other problem is edmunds exercising some stupidity. You are in the LA area as far as I know where there are dozens of Mercedes independents. Why you would use the dealer for this stuff I'm not sure. A cheap $350 knock off of SDS and some know how is really all an indy would need.

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