Jack88

Next car looks like it'll be a 2004 Mercedes CL600 with 52,000 on the clock. Needs new rims, but otherwise quite lovely. And at less than half what I sold my A8 for, I will meet the goals I had for financial readiness. Ticking Mercedes biturbo V12 off the bucket list is just a bonus.

ahyaman718

NIIIICCCCCCEEE!

05audiman

I passed on a 2006 cls 55amg because it was rear wheel drive. My next car may be a 2009 cl65amg, not passing on that one.

Jack88

Very nice, in either case. I almost went to look at a CL55 that looked very good in the pictures, but it had 145,000 on it. In addition to the extra expected problems on a car with that much mileage, it wouldn't be worth a lot in a couple years when it was knocking on 200,000 miles. Rear wheel drive isn't much of a concern, I've driven high powered rear wheel drive in the snow before, and the kind of snow we get here isn't enough to cause much concern. I will get some winter specific tires, though.

triniexr

If your going with that type of car make sure and get a very good aftermarket warranty. Replacement parts are not cheap.

05audiman

In Michigan, we definitely have some rough winters. My first car was a 88 5.0, and it taught me to respect winter with power at the rear wheels, plenty of scary moments before I did lol. I passed on it to get my A8L, it was different at the time. Not many ppl here with it, I still get plenty of compliments on it and it has treated me well so far. I didn't worry about mileage as much, I'm the type of guy that'll pull the entire engine to see what's wrong, and those engines are pretty much bulletproof. Only major problem which turned out out to be minor is that diesel sound the supercharger makes after a while. That's an easy fix that me and my buddy did on his that the shop charges upwards of $700-1200. The bearing can be had for about $50 on ebay, and it's easy to change smh.

DirtyVegasTT

I had 2004 S600 Lorisner V12 BiTurbo. I really hope you did your research on these cars because my extended warranty paid out around $30K in the last few years I owned it. Most propblems start around 60K miles.

Engine and transmission mounts, suspension, harnesses, diffs, door motors, leaks, etc, etc... the engine was out on that car more than once. There is a reason why they tank in value like a rock after warranty runs out.

05audiman

Sounds like an Audi 😂

DirtyVegasTT

Yeah, I will never own a German luxury car out of warranty.

Jack88

I did do research, and it turns out most of the really expensive fixes are drastically overcharged. Many of the more expensive repairs, like Audi, over complicate the process resulting in inflated labor costs. Doing stuff myself or using a good Indy will cut those costs enormously, which will be a must given that the dealer wouldn't offer a warranty. I know it's accepting quite a responsibility, but there's not a lot of things that are any more complicated than working on an Audi.