which classic SL?

[DaveyJC]

Hi folks and Merc specialists,

I'm looking for a late 70's/early 80's SL for the summer. I'd really appreciate any advice on the common pitfalls associated with picking up cars of this age. I'm a novice when it comes to car maintenance and I'll be keeping it on the street in North London - is this wise?! I've no real idea of the difference between the various models but I'm pretty sure that a V8 500SL in town is going to be wasted...although I'm not that far from the country roads of Essex if I did want to cut it loose.

Have seen a few likely contenders on eBay and autotrader - but is buying cheap (ie, sub £6k) a false economy?

Also, what kind of annual maintenance costs should I be prepared for?

Any advice would be gratefully received.
Many thanks
Dave

 

[television]

http://www.benzworld.org/forums/forums/forum-view.asp?fid=23

Hello Dave, And welcome to the forum, go to the above link and ask the same question, they have 1000,'s over there, compaired to very few here. The guys here can help with problems.

malcolm

 

[Myros]

for your sanity's sake

don't test drive a 500SL if you are thinking of buying any other model in the range, espec the 6 cylinder models. They are all beauts, but the 500 will sour your opinion of the others if you drive it first, or even at all. Having said that, I love ours to bits and am seriously considering withdrawing it from sale.
My costs have been reasonable considering the age of the car and the price of the bits at the dealers. I use Mercman and e-bay as parts sources whenever possible. Trim bits are the hardest to find, and most expensive.
I've only needed an idle control valve, new pads front, oil and air filters, plugs and tyres in 8k miles in the last year. all the rest has been voluntary, such as tired seal replacement etc.
A very rewarding car to own, drive and work on, as it is still spanner-friendly for a Merc.