This £3500 V8 Mercedes CLS Is An Unbelievably Cheap Bargain Barge

There’s nothing finer than finding a ridiculous, outrageous amount of car for not a lot of money. This first-generation Mercedes CLS is just the ticket.

We found this glorious old beast on Auto Trader. It’s the CLS500, powered by a 5.0-litre V8 with a lazy 306bhp and all the torque in the world. Well, not literally, but you know what I mean. It’s serious bargain barge territory, being the cheapest CLS we could find from a quick browse, and by some margin.

Just £3490 separates you from ownership of this self-propelled palace. The interior looks immaculate in a classy combination of black cow and walnut wood trim. It looks warm and comfortable, like an Alpine cabin with a log fire. It’s beckoning you, willing you to go to it; to rest your weary legs and back; to give you some relief from whatever comparative peasant-cart you currently drive.

Why so cheap? Well, aside from the fact that no one wants big, V8 petrol cars any more, this one has had a minor shunt at some point - hence the category D status. Judging by the dubious bonnet shut line at the very front, we think it’s had a front-end bash. Parts for these can be horrifically expensive so even a small impact could make it a category D write-off, even if it was just bodywork damage. It also looks to have had at least one partial respray in its 12-year life.

Nonetheless, this is a serious piece of luxury motoring with a proper V8 engine for a tiny fraction of what it cost when new. It’s covered 131,000 miles, but if it’s looked after you can expect way more than double that before a failure. The only thing wrong with it, apart from the apparent bodywork issues, is that someone has loaded it with AMG and 5.5 BiTurbo badges, which need to come off, immediately.

We can’t think of a single reason not to buy this if the service history checks out. Stick an ageless personal plate on it, polish up those clouded headlights and people will think you’ve won the Euromillions. Go on, you know you want to.