Advice Needed - sell IS200 and buy Merc ?

[Balthane]

Hi folks

I confess to knowing little about cars and have owned a 2002 IS200 for almost 6 years and have found it very good indeed. I have been thinking whether or not to change it and have found a 2005 Mercedes CLK 240 Auto Convertible with 41k miles up going for £6.5k.

[doog442]

Seems about right. I got £1200 trade in for my 53 plate two years back but that was tempered with a sweet finance deal that offset the trade in. 

If you can forget the trade in value and look at the cost to change it might make you feel slightly better . 

[Dinho]

You may get a few £££ more selling private. 

Would I go from a Lexus to a Mercedes.... Not a chance.

Buy another Lexus 

[rayaans]

The CLK isn't great on reliability and driving either. Worth a test drive. It doesn't handle all that well and TBH you might be disappointed going from an IS200 which is competent and has heavy steering to going to the CLK with its light steering and wallowy behaviour. Has a tendency to spin its wheels too in all conditions regardless of tyres that you put on.

[Malc1]

IMHO the Mercedes on-going maintenance costs will be horrendous and a big hole in your pocket.

Lexus lulls you into a false sense of bonhomie for when you change marque ..  especially to Mercedes or BMtroubleU

Malc1

[NemesisUK]

2005 Mercedes CLK 240 ... Rust, rust and more rust....

[noby76]

buy some warranty to go with it...why a 240? the 280 seems to be better on fuel and more powerful.. or alternatively IS250C? 

[br1anstorm]

I made a move in the other direction, from Mercedes to Lexus.  Not quite like-for-like:  I had a 1990 Merc 560 SEC, and sold it to buy a 2002 Lexus IS300 Sportcross.

My Merc was solid, bullet-proof and superb at transcontinental journeys.  But its thirst for fuel was epic if you drove with vigour, and maintenance work - though rarely needed - cost an arm and a leg.

The Lexus - solidly built, agile, powerful, comfortable, versatile, reliable.  More economical on fuel. So far (touch wood) has not needed major maintenance work.

One more warning.  Mercedes (any model) for a good 10 years from the mid-90s were a disaster area for rust.  The problems coincided with the shift, in MB, from being a car-making company run by engineers to being a business run by bean counters and marketing men.  All their range of cars suffered quality problems as a result.  If you must buy a Merc, buy a well-looked after example of your favoured pre-1992 model, not a more recent one.