Lance
Senior Member
But not quite...
Albeit a fairly brief stay on the MB forum despite having had Mercs since 1997, I didn't discover the forum until fairly recently. I registered ages ago but lost the link or forgot about it or something, I can't remember. Anyway, since I found it again, it's been very useful and I've had some great advice from some super people.
Fact is though, we've sold our two Mercs which, between them, per year cost £700 in insurance and £410 in VED, as well as getting on average around 25mpg and probably getting on for £1000 in servicing too between them. This month alone would have cost £500 to keep a 1998 C180 on the road, which is 20% of the value of the car! Just not worth it. With the SLK being a 2003, and therefore not one of the best years in terms of build quality, as proved by the rattle when the roof's down, and the tinny sounding boot, I felt that the liklihood of that becoming a future classic were somewhat limited and would prefer an older SL, which attracts 0 VED for the classic MB which I hope to get at some stage.
In the meantime, in a belt tightening exercise mainly aimed at house improvements amongst other things, we've bought a Honda Civic Hybrid which costs £15 excise licence per year, (yes £15) £200 to insure, and will return 50mpg on average, so we'll be quids in after a year or so, and I might be able to get my classic SL then, on classic limited miles insurance.
So maybe a step backward to take 2 forwards, only time will tell.
And here's a tip. If you're buying a car and want to trade yours in, if you're not in the trade, buy a Cap Black Book or Glass's guide from Ebay for between £10 and £20, and take it to the dealer with you, and when they offer silly money for yours...well you know the rest...
I'll still be lurking no doubt, and monitoring the SL situation from time to time, so don't go talking behind my back just yet!!
Thanks to everyone who's given me advice over the past months too. No doubt I'll be back posting when I'm back in the fold...
Albeit a fairly brief stay on the MB forum despite having had Mercs since 1997, I didn't discover the forum until fairly recently. I registered ages ago but lost the link or forgot about it or something, I can't remember. Anyway, since I found it again, it's been very useful and I've had some great advice from some super people.
Fact is though, we've sold our two Mercs which, between them, per year cost £700 in insurance and £410 in VED, as well as getting on average around 25mpg and probably getting on for £1000 in servicing too between them. This month alone would have cost £500 to keep a 1998 C180 on the road, which is 20% of the value of the car! Just not worth it. With the SLK being a 2003, and therefore not one of the best years in terms of build quality, as proved by the rattle when the roof's down, and the tinny sounding boot, I felt that the liklihood of that becoming a future classic were somewhat limited and would prefer an older SL, which attracts 0 VED for the classic MB which I hope to get at some stage.
In the meantime, in a belt tightening exercise mainly aimed at house improvements amongst other things, we've bought a Honda Civic Hybrid which costs £15 excise licence per year, (yes £15) £200 to insure, and will return 50mpg on average, so we'll be quids in after a year or so, and I might be able to get my classic SL then, on classic limited miles insurance.
So maybe a step backward to take 2 forwards, only time will tell.
And here's a tip. If you're buying a car and want to trade yours in, if you're not in the trade, buy a Cap Black Book or Glass's guide from Ebay for between £10 and £20, and take it to the dealer with you, and when they offer silly money for yours...well you know the rest...
I'll still be lurking no doubt, and monitoring the SL situation from time to time, so don't go talking behind my back just yet!!
Thanks to everyone who's given me advice over the past months too. No doubt I'll be back posting when I'm back in the fold...
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