I purchased a certified pre-owned 2002 Mercedes Benz Clk320. Within the first month of purchase I began to have problems with the amplifier which was later discovered after being replaced 3 times getting wet whenever the car became wet. Resulting in a crackling and popping sound ultimately leading to complete failure of the audio system. After complaining to the dealer where I purchased the vehicle, I was refered to a Mercedes Benz repair shop. They claimed to not be able to find the problem after wetting the car which was a lie upon washing the vehicle shortly after recieving the back from the repair shop. Ultimately the audio system had castrophic failure which resulted in a very load sqealing sound which blew out the amplifier the left door speaker and my ear which has resulted in permanent ringing in my ears, and hearing loss which has cost me to date nearly $4000 dollars in medical bills and has permanently altered my life affecting my ability to sleep, finished school and deppression. This was my celebration car for working hard to get into my current field as a computer specialist for the dod. I now have to take sleeping aids to get to sleep. And god forbid if I wake up during the night because going back to sleep is nearly impossible. I had no idea this was an issue with Mercedes Benz vehicles but further investigation on the internet has led me to a couple of websites of audio repair shops in Florida and California which show this is a national problem. Mercedes Benz ultimately discovered it was defective drain plugs directly over the amplifier which allowed water to leak directly onto the amplifier when the car gets wet including with morning dew which the water drains directly onto the amplifier. The amplifier blew up while driving to work and fortunenately for me no other person was injured as I had to pull over because I thought the car was going to explode; the sound was that load. The car had a little over 19,000 miles when this occured

- Alexandria, VA, USA