Posted on 06/18/2006 5:18:35 PM PDT by wjersey
The owner of a Los Angeles car dealership is suing Mercedes-Benz, its parent company DaimlerChrysler and other affiliates, alleging that a $1.7 million car purchased in 2004 wouldn't run for more than 10 blocks without problems.
The car, a Mercedes-Benz AMG CLK-GTR Limited Edition Roadster, was supposed to be one of only five made. In the lawsuit, the owner of exotic car dealership Grand Prix Motors also alleges that six were actually made, reducing the value of his car.
A two-door sports car, the CLK-GTR has a carbon fiber body and a 6.9-liter 12-cylinder engine enabling it to go from zero to 124 mph in 9.9 seconds. It has a top speed of 198.4 mph. According to the dealership's Web site, the car's intended retail selling price was $2.5 million.
The car is believed to be the only one of its kind in the U.S., said plaintiff Mark Johnston. It is intended to be a street car but, because of differences in safety and emissions rules between the U.S. and Europe, it cannot legally be driven on public roads here.
"Unfortunately, the car turned out to be 'exotic' in the worst possible way," dealership owner Johnston said. "When we took it off the lot in 2004 for its first customer test drive, drove the car all of 10 blocks with a prospective buyer when the oil light came on. We've been trying to get it fixed ever since, but the Mercedes folks have refused to stand behind the car as promised in our contract."
Additionally, according to Johnston, the car's transmission failed to shift properly, the hydraulic jack system failed and the car's windows came unglued. Mercedes ultimately determined that the car suffered from an oil pressure-related engine failure, the plaintiffs allege, but refused to make any repairs.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
A fool and his money...
For sale by owner: slightly used, almost new, rare vehicle. A mechanic's dream!
12 cylinder gasoline engines are "old technology". This is pretty typical of the breed. Best take a well trained automobile mechanic with you when you drive something like this. Also, a roll of tape to cover up the warning lights so they won't bother you any.
If a dealership is suing the company, this probably has merit.
Of course, they'll retaliate and he'll lose the dealership long before this case is settled.
But this contraption is not for driving at all. It is for impressing, and this function it could [and does] perform best when stationary.
When I start the car a little light on the dash tells me I've got oil.
New Dus
Old Dus
'
Old Jag
Nice body style. The mechanics are the nature of the beast when you buy a super limited edition vehicle. This car is designed to be a piece of sculpture. I've often wondered how many people actually ride the custom-made motorcycles from "American Chopper." BTW, does anyone know what those guys get for a bike?
FYI, it's actually supposed to be a street legal version of the ill-fated LeMans racing CLK-GTR - and it's supposed to be driven hard, not just looked at on a stand.
According to Consumer Reports magazine, recent model MB cars have a poor reliability record, along with most other European cars that are sold here. But I would say that an engine failure after 10 blocks in a $2.5 mil car is a just a wee bit worse than poor.
And I thought my wife's '89 Hyundai was a lemon. It had it's problems alright, but it only set me back about $9K to drive it off the lot.
Old Dus 0-100 in 17 seconds. In 1938.
What a shame. And it's not even that attractive of an automobile. When it comes to super design, leave it up to the Italians....bring in the German Engineering, Japanese Manufacturing and American Marketing, then....it should work. They probably had too many Turks on the assembly line that day.....
Hyundai's have gotten much better since 1989. At the same time these old 12 cylinder gasoline engine deals haven't.
I have heard the number of $100,000 as a minimum price.
I don't think those American Chopper bikes are much for riding. Whenever I see those guys riding their own personal bikes on the show, I see Harleys.
NEW JAG
Where is the new Deusenberg made, and who makes it?
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