New to forum - considering SL500

[beavere38]

Hi Everyone,

I'm new to the forum and considering buying an SL500 (2002 year onwards)

I've never owned a Mercedes before but I love the styling of the SL.

I might be going to look at an 02 model with 70k+ miles tomorrow - the first one I have been to see.

I have a few questions:

1. Top gear always seem to go on about Merc build quality/reliability recently, and they reckon the SL was about 138th in their owners satisfaction survey. Should I reconsider my choice or is the SL a good buy? On Parkers.co.uk they reckon it's a well built car with few reliability issues.

2. Is there anything specifically I should look out for (apart from the normal used car stuff) when I go to see the car?

3. If the car has covered 70k miles and the service interval I believe is 9k miles, should it have 7 or 8 stamps in the history (9k, 18k, 27k, 36k, 45k, 54k, 63k, 72k) or is it ok to have been serviced annually so maybe 5 stamps spaced annually?

4. Any other comments/advice welcome???

Thanks in advance!

Justyn.

 

[television]

Go and see one by all means,, do not buy yet until you know what you can get price wise and the extra's

My car is 2002 but has every known extra, just in case you do not know what these are
All dealers make a mountain over the extras on a car, most of which are standard.
The 500 extras are; the things that I love are marked §

AMG body styling §
AMG or other wheels §
Comfort ventilated seats §
Distromic §
Exclusive leather §
Keyless go §
Linguaretronic
Mobile phone §
Multicotour seats with massage §
Panoramic roof 10-02 on
Parktronic §
Bose surround sound §
Telehone pre wiring'
TV tuner §
Tyre preasure monitor
Wood steering wheel
Garage door opener §
Fir extinguisher
350 over the above

ABC suspension §
Bi xenon lights §
CD changer §

feel free to ask anything

 

[beavere38]

Thanks for your reply, I'll look to see what optional extras the car has if I go to see it.

An SL500 is at the upper limit of my budget - I also considered the Audi A4/S4 Quattro, Porsche 911, Porsche Boxster, Aston DB7, Jag XK8, BMW 330 or 3 Series Alpina (all convertible).

I've seen an SL500 in red (quite rare) with 72k miles for £26k GBP which seems about right for the age/mileage.

The advert doesn't say much apart from mentioning BOSE.

It's with this dealer and has 20 inch Khan wheels if you want to take a look:

http://dealerservices.autotrader.co.uk/19583/will_stock.htm

I'm not that bothered about extras as I'm buying at the lower end of the market and probably won't find a mega-high spec car without spending another £10k for it. I just want to know that I've found a good one for the price.

Cheers!

Justyn.

 

[hawk20]

This list of SL500s for sale at UK dealers, I posted recently, may interest you and give you some idea what you get for the money and what sort of kit to expect on most of the available cars: -
http://mbclub.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=47838&page=26
Bit of inside information: - about one third of SL 500’s of the age you are looking at chose the panoramic roof. So good chance of getting that (but it does rule out two out of three).

AMG kits on SL500’s around the age you are looking at are very rare. Reasons: -some owners think body kits are a bit naff; others think they are too dear for what they do and after all they have no effect on performance or driving pleasure. How rare: probably 10% or less. So if this is a must have item it rules out about 90% of second-hand 2003/4 SL500s. So small wonder you are finding the search difficult.

Here is an analysis of all the SL 500s in the hands of official MB dealers today registered in 2003 or 2004 and costing up to £37k.

Weston Super Mare-- SL500, 2003, 52k miles asking £30,850 PAN ROOF, NO AMG body-kit.
Brentford-- SL500, 2003, 57k miles, asking £29,995 NO PAN Roof NO AMG body-kit
Leeds – SL 500, 2003, 36k miles, asking £30,990 NO PAN Roof, No AMG body-kit
Cambridge – SL 500, 2003, 44k miles, asking £31,990 NO PAN Roof, No AMG body-kit
Ipswich – SL 500, 2003, 32k miles, asking £32,495 NO PAN Roof, No AMG body-kit
Boston has a very well specced SL350, at £32,950, Distronic, ABC, PAN Roof, TV & more, but no AMG body-kit and it is not a 500
Bedford -- SL 500, 2003, 31k miles, asking £33,850 NO PAN Roof, No AMG body-kit
Slough--SL 500, 2004, asking £34,750 NO PAN Roof, No AMG body-kit
Macclesfield -- SL 500, 2004, 31k miles, asking £35,990 PAN Roof, but No AMG body-kit

BEDFORD appears to have it all, at a price: - SL500, 2003. AMG body-kit and PAN roof, plus parktronic, Bose , Multi-contour seats etc etc Silver with graphite Leather, only 30k miles but asking £36,850.

I hope this helps.

Left out
Gatwick – SL 500, 2004, 42k miles asking £35,995, PAN roof but no AMG body-kit.


The new SL or facelift as some see it is out now and big discounts are being given on new ones. This tends to ripple down the market and may help you get the car you want at the price you want.

 

[television]

Hi Justin. there are some around now with 50k miles now for £26k

I am not sure about that 586 amber red and could be hard to re sell

The add does not say much about what its got

Where are you based

 

[stumpy]

Agree with TV about the colour. If you like red then fine, but it is kiss of death on these. I know someone with a red SL65 AMG. You don't want to know the depreciation!!!.........

 

[beavere38]

I'm based in Derby, the car I like is in Hull about 2 hours away.

My personal preference is that I don't like silver (which seems to be the most popular colour) I like red/blue or black but I also want to be individual which is why a rarer colour like red appeals to me.

Thanks for the list of available cars but they're all near the £30k mark which is above my budget - I started looking at other marques around £15k and now I am up to £25k+ so I don't want to go any higher than that. On autotrader the prices for SL500s start around £25k so I'd like to see if I can find a nice car around that price.

I know all the usual stuff I should look out for, I was just wondering if there is anything specific I should be aware of with this marque?

Justyn.

 

[television]

Leaking struts
leaking roof
noisy roof
re calls carried out

That about it roughly

 

[beavere38]

I spoke to the trader selling the car today.

The car has:

Ventilated seats
Keyless go
Mobile phone in armrest
Parktronic
Bose
Wood steering wheel
Linguatronic

So it definitely doesn't have:
Panoramic roof (may be too early in 2002 for that anyway)
Distronic
Massage seats
TV
Tyre pressure monitor (has aftermarket wheels anyway)
Garage door opener

None of the above I would particularly want anyway.

Not sure if it has:

ABC suspension (don't know what this is?)
Bi xenon lights (ditto and how do I check?)
CD changer (forgot to ask!)
Exclusive leather (again not sure how I would know?)

So all in all the spec sounds quite good and certainly has everything I would want.

Is there anyway to check what the original spec was (assuming there is no documentation with the car)?

Also no-one answered my questions namely:

1. Top gear always seem to go on about Merc build quality/reliability recently, and they reckon the SL was about 138th in their owners satisfaction survey. Should I reconsider my choice or is the SL a good buy? On Parkers.co.uk they reckon it's a well built car with few reliability issues.

3. If the car has covered 70k miles and the service interval I believe is 9k miles, should it have 7 or 8 stamps in the history (9k, 18k, 27k, 36k, 45k, 54k, 63k, 72k) or is it ok to have been serviced annually so maybe 5 stamps spaced annually?

(The guy didn't have the service book to hand today and I am speaking to him again tomorrow morning)

Thanks for all your help everyone!

I may go see it tomorrow.

Justyn.

 

[fahad]

I'm also considering an SL -- looking at between an 02 / 52 / 03 plates - any tame colour but silver (black prefered) and am looking for mileage to be (preferably) 40k or below. Am thinking that I'll have to pay around the 26/27k mark

Reason I'm posting is that I'd be interested in the answers to the above questions because they have been bothering me too... the one about the merc build quality.

The period I'll be buying from is in the lower period for MB quality and I wanted to make sure that the SL wasn't hit by this?

What do people say of the build quality of SL's in this period?

Thanks
Fahad

 

[television]

There are no build quality issues with the 230 and no faults other than outlined above,, they do not rust.

They are very well made