Sure looks purdy:
The story is not so nice though... From Casanova Cars:
Car dealer sues Mercedes as $1.7 million CLK-GTR wont travel 10 blocks
LA based car dealer Mark Johnston bought the car of his dreams a Mercedes AMG CLK-GTR Limited Edition Roadster for $ 1.7 million. Only 5 of these speed machines were made and this baby had entered the Guinness book of records as the most expensive production car. Mr Johnston was the proud owner of the only CLK-GTR in North America. The silver AMG Roadster is a product of Daimler Chrysler's long collaboration with H.W.A. and Mercedes-AMG, two German manufacturers of racing and high-end performance vehicles. But the car proved to be an expensive piece of scrap metal as after cruising in it for the first time after covering 10 city blocks the oil light came up which has not been fixed yet. After this the roadster's transmission failed to shift properly. Additionally, the hydraulic jack system failed and the windows became unglued, Mercedes sent and engineer from Germany who dismantled the car and took with him a number of parts to Germany to never install them again.
And the litany of problems:
"The car was absolutely gorgeous and we were excited about offering what we thought was a true gem to our customer base," Mark Johnston explained. "Unfortunately, the car turned out to be 'exotic' in the worst possible way. When we took it off the lot in 2004 for its first customer test drive, Ernie drove the car all of ten 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."
According to the complaint, the roadster's transmission failed to shift properly. Additionally, the hydraulic jack system failed and the windows became unglued. In 2005, the defendants dispatched a technician from Germany to examine the car in 2005; after dismantling it, the mechanic returned to Germany with a number of parts that were never reinstalled. Mr. Johnston asserts that the defendants later instructed Grand Prix to transport the non-working car to a Mercedes facility in Lake Park, Florida, which Grand Prix did at an additional cost of $10,000.
Although the Mercedes technicians determined that the car suffered an oil-pressure related engine failure and needed a new engine, the defendants were unwilling to make any repairs. The complaint asserts that the defendants were aware that several of the other Mercedes AMG roadsters in circulation had oil pressure-related problems.
"Mr. Johnston has exhausted himself trying to get Mercedes and the other defendants to recognize their warranty obligations," said John O'Malley, the Fulbright & Jaworski partner in Los Angeles who is representing Grand Prix Motors. "You'd think you'd be able to drive a $1.7 million car more than 10 blocks."
You would think that for this kind of money, there would be an effort to rectify the problems. Sounds like something made by a committee...
