Mercedes CL63 – The Carmax Unicorn Blog

January 11, 2023January 10, 2023

Quick Hit – Mislabeled 2012 Mercedes CL63 AMG

I’ve been trying so hard to get to a 14-car comparison blog piece, and I was way over my head when Hans sent me the 2011 Kia Rio yesterday. Today he sends me this 2012 Mercedes CL63 AMG unicorn that is incorrectly listed as a C63 at CarMax. Thinking we’d all be better off if he just signed on as a ghost writer?

This is a third (and final) generation CL63, an S-class coupe really, powered by a hand-built 5.5 liter twin -turbo V-8 pumping out 536 horsepower and torque of 590 lb-ft. With the seven-speed automatic it’ll do 0-60 mph in 4.4 seconds. Comfortably.

Here’s the comfortable place. Heated and cooling dynamic seats, adaptive cruise control with lane keeping assist (back in 2012!), night vision assist. Adaptive high beams. Designo alcantara anthracite roof trim. Heated windshield washers. Harman Kardon audio. Air suspension. Fairly loaded for a CL63.

Previous CL63’s I’ve seen on CarMax include a 2012 with 59,000 miles at $36,998 two years ago, four years ago a 2012 with 35,000 miles for $44,998, a 2008 for $35,998 with only 28,000 miles, and another 2008 with 47,000 miles for only $30,998. I guess 2018 was a good year for used CL63’s.

This 2012 Mercedes CL63 AMG sold for at least $155,000 back in 2012 and is a decent buy at $34,998. I found a few other 2012 CL63’s with about the same mileage selling for $8,000 more, so wondering if Hans is on to something and perhaps this car is priced as a C63 also? With MaxCare and taxes you could be out the door for $40,000. The history report shows it as a CL63 and the VIN does too, so not like they got the wrong pictures. It’s a three-owner, accident free southern car (Florida and Georgia) and is available here at the Southlake CarMax in Stockbridge, Georgia, just southeast of Atlanta. Let’s see if CarMax catches their mistake before Mustafa snatches this car.

November 2, 2018

$12,000 Price Reduction on Mercedes CL63 AMG – WTF?!

Was tracking this 2012 Mercedes CL63 AMG for no good reason, since its price tag far exceeded my $35,000 cap for unicorns (I set that figure after rigorous calculations when I bought Etta, my 911 – the calculation being “what’s the most I can pay for a used car without my wife leaving me?”). The car was listed at $56,998 and languished for maybe a week. Wish I had access to data on when cars were first listed. Any readers able to do that? Yesterday I got an alert that the price on this car was reduced $12,000. I was sure it was an error but it was not. The price is now $44,998. I do not know if someone had bought the car at $56k they would have been a sucker, or if it is now a bargain at $44k. Still outta my range. I also got another alert that one of my unicorns had dropped $2,000. Cars usually only get reduced $1,000 at a time. I have a theory more reductions are coming and if I get time this weekend will share.

For now, have some fun looking at this big, beautiful coupe, really a two-door S-class. Just like the CL550 I wrote about recently, all the car I need – luxurious and large from the driver’s seat forward without an S550 butt behind. There’s controversy on how much more performance vs stiff ride and noise do you get from a CL63 (with a 5.5 liter V-8 536hp and 590 ft-lbs of torque) vs a CL550 (4.6 liter V-8 with 429hp and 516 ft-lbs of torque). For me, I’ll take horsepower any day of the week. The AMG is not that harsh. All you need to know from this Car and Driver review back in 2012, “Let’s just cut straight to the chase. This deceptively demure execu-coupe weighs more than 4800 pounds and can sprint to 60 mph in four seconds. That would be four seconds flat. The CL63 AMG enters triple-digit speeds in 8.8 seconds, trips the quarter-mile lights in 12.3 seconds at 121 mph, attains 150 mph in less than 20, and maxes out at 190 mph, whereupon its governor says, “Das ist genug.” And it has my mandatory night vision assist. Love it. By the way, this two-owner car sold for at least $150,000 new and probably closer to $175,000 in New Jersey back in the day. If this car is for you, please, please buy the MaxCare warranty – this one ain’t going to be cheap to repair when things go wrong. Find it discounted here in Fairfield, California. If the link is dead it’s sold, on hold, or being transferred.

2012 Mercedes CL663 $44k 35k Fairfield CA $12k Reduction

July 7, 2018

Quick Post – Quick Sell…2008 Mercedes CL63 AMG Unicorn. $200,000 New – $35k!

CL63 I want this car. Over 500hp, 0-60 in 4.3 seconds, every luxury option imaginable (night vision!), and while only driven 2,800 miles a year, it depreciated about $17,000 every year for the last 10! Something about scoring an exclusive (less than 1,500 produced), once-$216,000 unicorn for the price of a new Accord pumps me up. As always, unless you’re rich, the car makes no sense without adding the five-year MaxCare warranty for a couple of grand – for another 100,000 miles of driving without unexpected repairs. Love the quote from Car and Driver test of 2008, “Since the CL63 is a product of Mercedes-Benz’s AMG tuner shop, it gets a full-on Los Angeles-grade body kit, 20-inch wheels on a stiffened and lowered chassis, and a dual exhaust that sounds like ripping hundred-dollar bills at high amplification.” It’s a two-owner Florida-Texas-California car, found here in Los Angeles. If the link is dead the car is sold, on hold, or being transferred. I think it will move quick. 2008 CL63 $35,998 28k LA

January 24, 2018May 8, 2018

2008 Mercedes CL63 AMG for $30,998 – $138,000 when new!

Love these big coupes, their 518hp engines, and exclusivity. One of 1,476 made in 2008. I love depreciation, too! Here’s the 2008 review from Automobile magazine. Beautiful car and with the MaxCare warranty you can get another 100,000 miles and five years of worry-free driving. Here’s the CarMax link – find it in Atlanta, Georgia. I think this goes in days. Added some sample MaxCare menus at the bottom at a reader’s request. Thanks. 2008 CL63

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