gez
Senior Member
- Joined
- Dec 31, 2007
- Messages
- 152
- Reaction score
- 60
- Location
- South Coast
- Your Mercedes
- R230 SL350; R231 SL400 (SOLD), W211 E320 CDi Estate (SOLD), R129 Brabus SL500 (should not have SOLD)
After over a year without owning a Merc I'm now back in the fold, so once again will be leaning on forum members for information and advice.
About 18 months ago I sold my R231 SL400 for an offer I could not refuse, and early this year sold my workhorse W211 E320CDi estate that was getting rather tired.
I then took delivery of one of the first Tesla Model Y's into the country, a car which, despite being pig ugly, has proved a great buy and I just love the cutting edge tech, it's green credentials (OK I know it took a lot of carbon to build it) it's practicality and performance. With the daily workhorse sorted I then needed a summer convertible and bought an Alfa Spider 3.2 Q4 Q-tronic. While it's a great looking car that attracted a lot of attention it just proved unreliable (no surprise there!) and I lost all driving enjoyment while I waited for the next warning light, error message, misfire and wondering if the roof would manage to complete its cycle. They say everyone should own an Alfa at some time in their life, we'll I've ticked that off the bucket list and won't be going back!
So, then hankering after another convertible, but not with too much to spend, I thought about an early R230 for £5k or less, but then found a facelift 2008 SL350 at less than £10k in my preferred Palladium Silver with options I wanted: Airscarf, bluetooth, DAB, Harman Kardon, power trunk plus it also has distronic cruise. It's relatively high mileage @ 87k but with full history, all main dealer except the last 2 being merc indies, gearbox serviced about 25k ago, engine number not in the chain/balancing shaft issue range, good MOT history plus a new one, refurb'd alloys, new rear tyres and I will probably not add more than 3k per year.
It has a few things to tidy up and fix, so I will post some questions in the appropriate tech forum areas. I viewed it under cover and ensured the boot and inside were free of damp, but drove home in heavy rain and found a little water had got into the boot, so that is the first area to read up on.
It feels good to be back!
About 18 months ago I sold my R231 SL400 for an offer I could not refuse, and early this year sold my workhorse W211 E320CDi estate that was getting rather tired.
I then took delivery of one of the first Tesla Model Y's into the country, a car which, despite being pig ugly, has proved a great buy and I just love the cutting edge tech, it's green credentials (OK I know it took a lot of carbon to build it) it's practicality and performance. With the daily workhorse sorted I then needed a summer convertible and bought an Alfa Spider 3.2 Q4 Q-tronic. While it's a great looking car that attracted a lot of attention it just proved unreliable (no surprise there!) and I lost all driving enjoyment while I waited for the next warning light, error message, misfire and wondering if the roof would manage to complete its cycle. They say everyone should own an Alfa at some time in their life, we'll I've ticked that off the bucket list and won't be going back!
So, then hankering after another convertible, but not with too much to spend, I thought about an early R230 for £5k or less, but then found a facelift 2008 SL350 at less than £10k in my preferred Palladium Silver with options I wanted: Airscarf, bluetooth, DAB, Harman Kardon, power trunk plus it also has distronic cruise. It's relatively high mileage @ 87k but with full history, all main dealer except the last 2 being merc indies, gearbox serviced about 25k ago, engine number not in the chain/balancing shaft issue range, good MOT history plus a new one, refurb'd alloys, new rear tyres and I will probably not add more than 3k per year.
It has a few things to tidy up and fix, so I will post some questions in the appropriate tech forum areas. I viewed it under cover and ensured the boot and inside were free of damp, but drove home in heavy rain and found a little water had got into the boot, so that is the first area to read up on.
It feels good to be back!
