Interesting, but nothing new in the world of Mercedes-Benz. We've had a couple in our family (most recently last gen SL500) and nothing but problems. The MB USA spokesperson is wrong about being able to drive on the streets. Show & Display has both the coupe and roadster listed for eligibility. Although I see what they meant that the car wasn't sold through MBUSA and their dealer network handles warranty issues as well as pays for them.
Sounds like any other hyper-exotic car to me. I'd be more concerned that the CLK-GTR is probably less than a $900k car right now and they can't sell it for their asking price. I don't think an oil light or even an engine failure would keep someone from buying this car if they really wanted one.
A few months ago a buddy of mine at the Car Experience informed me of a CLK GTR roadster. He also sold the red Supersport(later painted in silver). I hope the car gets fixed.
I saw this car when it first came to the USA back in Feb 2004. The Johnston brothers had recently purchased Ojai Ford and were throwing a Grand Re-Opening party. They brought out the Roadster to help with publicity and so I went to see it. It was pretty funny having it there in the midst of all the everyday Fords, and in true Ford dealership fashion they even tied a baloon to the mirror. I took about 100 pics of it that day. If anyone wants to see more just let me know and I will host them somewhere. >8^) ER Image Unavailable, Please Login
Here you go guys - hopefully no one has trouble with Imagestation. All the pics should be roughly 1280x960 if you keep clicking to get the hires image. http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2105238376 There's several shots that seem to be duplicates, but I included them anyway. It's hard to take a lot different angles of one car in a stationary position surrounded by a building and other cars. They wouldn't open the doors for me (I asked nicely...) and were obviously not interested in removing either the front or rear body shells (wasn't expected, but would have been cool). Unfortunately most of the finer details remained hidden away, but the album still has some good shots. I'm pretty sure the guy in the black polo shirt in image DSC02669.jpg was Mark Johnston. The lady in front of him with the blond hair was the mayor of Ojai as I recall. It was a pretty big event for such a little town. In the last shot - DSC02782.jpg - you'll see some deep scratches at the base of the windshield. I'm not sure if that happened by accident or was done maliciously, but it wasn't pretty and looked like it would be an expensive repair. Finally, here was part of the advertisement they ran in the local AutoSeller magazine announcing the event. >8^) ER Image Unavailable, Please Login
Great photos Peloton, always appreciatte your work a good eye for a shot you have there, What type of camera do you have?
the clk gtr was manufacture in 1997 or shortly thereafter, can't see how they can make a warranty claim after so many years. Plus the car was never officially sold into USA market so MBUSA has no obligation to honor any warranty claim It's a lemans based race car for the street, not a c class. off course the maintenance will be high. Can't tell whether the buyer is extremely shrewd or very stupid in bringing this suit.
Thanks man. I have a Sony Cybershot F707 that I've been shooting with for a few years. It works well for what I do even though I'd like to have something better, but I don't really use it enough to justify the cost of replacing it. Just to clarify, the Roadsters are only 3-4 years old. I don't know if their warranty claim is justified because we don't really know what was written into their purchase contract for the car. The story on the lawsuit seems to imply there was a warranty that Mercedes Benz is choosing not to honor. Also the Johnston brothers have had this car in their possession for over two years and may have been fighting to resolve this without legal action for most of that time. >8^) ER
wasn't there a reporter that took one out for a test drive and the rear caught fire from an over heating exhaust, there are pics online somewhere....
