After selling the Jag S Type R and having a bad experience in trying to buy my first choice car - an Audi TT V6 - I went back to the drawing board.
I'm in Germany for 3 1/2 days a week - did I need a second car - no, did I want one - yes.
What does the M135i provide me with - its quick, agile, brand new and practical enough
Identifying this gave me a wish list for a second car - economy not an issue, age - irrelevant, usage - 3/4k per year, too old for something totally impractical so preference for a wafter - a high days and holidays cruiser
Always admired the Mercedes W215 series - a truly beautiful car in my opinion, yes it has its weak spots, electrolytic corrosion at certain points, ABC pump replacement costs (but a lot lower than they were) - the fear factor was diminishing. I briefly considered a CLK500 but it just did not look or feel special enough, I'd always be thinking that I should have gone for the real Mercedes coupe rather than the mass market model.
A lot of CL's were silver and / or with grey leather - neither of them were particularly appealing, I wasn't concerned about mileage, condition / provenance was more important
On searching the various sites I came across a very nice looking CL500 being sold by a Mercedes specialist in Reading, good history, 6 months full warranty, 16 stamps in the service book - what appealed was the fact it was being sold by a Mercedes specialist - that was giving me some reassurance.
An email was sent a week last Sunday, I got a call from the owner of the specialists about half an hour later, a long chat ensued and we agreed a deal - i wanted a couple of minor points rectified, a service, transmission fluid change etc. He refused to accept a deposit until I had spoken to a couple of customers which I did.
Within 10 minutes of paying the deposit the car had been removed from their website and Autotrader, the following morning I got the invoice stating that deposit was fully refundable in event of car not being as described and that all my travels costs would be reimbursed - very positive.
Today was collection day - car was totally as described, business is rarely as pleasurable and straightforward as this was
Without further ado - here he is:
Its stuffed full of toys - double glazing, electric rear sunblind, fully refurbished 19" AMG alloys, fridge behind rear armrest, air-conditioned centre storage, rear parking sensors that has a dashboard display and a repeater display in headlining for when you are looking over the shoulder when reversing, rear headrests that raise electrically and automatically when it senses a rear seat passenger.
Every switch, dial, control has a hewn from solid feel that is unlike anything I have ever experienced.
Plans - assessment tomorrow but a thorough deep clean I'm pretty sure will reveal a car that I'm really going to enjoy
I'm in Germany for 3 1/2 days a week - did I need a second car - no, did I want one - yes.
What does the M135i provide me with - its quick, agile, brand new and practical enough
Identifying this gave me a wish list for a second car - economy not an issue, age - irrelevant, usage - 3/4k per year, too old for something totally impractical so preference for a wafter - a high days and holidays cruiser
Always admired the Mercedes W215 series - a truly beautiful car in my opinion, yes it has its weak spots, electrolytic corrosion at certain points, ABC pump replacement costs (but a lot lower than they were) - the fear factor was diminishing. I briefly considered a CLK500 but it just did not look or feel special enough, I'd always be thinking that I should have gone for the real Mercedes coupe rather than the mass market model.
A lot of CL's were silver and / or with grey leather - neither of them were particularly appealing, I wasn't concerned about mileage, condition / provenance was more important
On searching the various sites I came across a very nice looking CL500 being sold by a Mercedes specialist in Reading, good history, 6 months full warranty, 16 stamps in the service book - what appealed was the fact it was being sold by a Mercedes specialist - that was giving me some reassurance.
An email was sent a week last Sunday, I got a call from the owner of the specialists about half an hour later, a long chat ensued and we agreed a deal - i wanted a couple of minor points rectified, a service, transmission fluid change etc. He refused to accept a deposit until I had spoken to a couple of customers which I did.
Within 10 minutes of paying the deposit the car had been removed from their website and Autotrader, the following morning I got the invoice stating that deposit was fully refundable in event of car not being as described and that all my travels costs would be reimbursed - very positive.
Today was collection day - car was totally as described, business is rarely as pleasurable and straightforward as this was
Without further ado - here he is:
Its stuffed full of toys - double glazing, electric rear sunblind, fully refurbished 19" AMG alloys, fridge behind rear armrest, air-conditioned centre storage, rear parking sensors that has a dashboard display and a repeater display in headlining for when you are looking over the shoulder when reversing, rear headrests that raise electrically and automatically when it senses a rear seat passenger.
Every switch, dial, control has a hewn from solid feel that is unlike anything I have ever experienced.
Plans - assessment tomorrow but a thorough deep clean I'm pretty sure will reveal a car that I'm really going to enjoy