Newbie needs some advice!

[Koopz]

Hi all, new to the forum and looking to buy my first Merc. Have my heart set on an r230 SL500. I'm in Northern Ireland and they are nearly non-existent over here so I'll probably have to travel to England to pick one up. Annoyingly this means I can't see the car in person before buying! I've seen this one in particular that I like the look of and is a good spec, just wondering if anyone knows this car or dealer and what they think - SL500 for sale. (Reg is LG52 XYW).

I've spoken to the dealer and they have sent me pics of the service book, the standout being that the car wasn't serviced between 2011-2019, or there is no record if it was. It only covered 9k miles in that time so it looks like it was owned as a weekend car. Is this a massive red flag that I should walk away from? MOT history shows a fail last June for worn ball joints and prop shafts, these have been replaced and they have sent the receipt for this (work completed by ABP Motorsport in Crewe). No record of any work done to the ABC system so if I bought it the first thing I would do is change all fluids. Anything else I'd need to be aware of? Is this a potential decent car or a disaster waiting to happen? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

 

[drmw]

It looks good.
It could be testimony to "not the best" photographs but that's probably unlikely.
Customer reviews extremely good
One thing to check is keyless - make sure both doors lock/unlock via keyless
I has gone over a year "being serviced" so that should set your mind partly at rest.

 

[Koopz]

Thanks for the reply! I'm guessing it's never had a transmission service either so that's something else I would be looking to do straight away, maybe a decent bargaining tool. If the ABC system is in good nick (couple of MOT advisories in the past about a light mist of oil on the struts, but I've read that as long as it isn't leaking this shouldn't be a problem) and I get a fluid/filter change done, should it be good with regular maintenance? Or is this something that will eventually grenade regardless?

Thanks again!

 

[drmw]

I've had three over the years (about 3 years each).
One had a front strut replaced, but it turned out it was a wire that had shorted out.
One had both replaced - nothing to do with the strut, but just the ball joint - Crewe wasn't on the radar (and my good luck with warranty !)
The other was fine

The leaking strut - you can never tell. It could go on for years or it could happen quickly - you can never know. Struts are much cheaper these days.

Transmission fluid / filter change will do no harm

 

[SmartAmg]

Welcome.

 

[Koopz]

That's great information and exactly the sort of thing I was looking for, thanks

 

[davemercedes]

Hello Koopz and welcome...

You're right about an auto transmission service - there was a lot of confusion about MB boxes being "sealed for life" - which they certainly are not - and the box should be done every 40K-miles. It's almost certain yours won't have been done so it's a good investment although it's unlikely you'll feel any differemce = but you'll be safer knowing it's been done. A good MB independent (Indys we call them) will charge around £80 - 90 which is a lot less than an MB Dealer's price - but I mean a known Indy - don't trust it to jusr anyone! The box not having been serviced might also help with a lttle bit of price haggling so good luck on the purchase!

Dave

 

[Chrishazle]

That garage is only a few miles from Stevensons MB (Steve Garlick) near Maidstone, a well known and respected MB specialist https://www.stevensonsmercedeskent.co.uk/page/privacy-policy

Steve Garlick Maidstone, Kent | Mercedes specialists across the UK

Many of you will have used Steve Garlick down the years especially if you are in the Maidstone, Kent, South East kind of area. Steve worked as a Diagnostic Technician for Mercedes (latterly Tonbridge) for donkey's years and has now, after much encouragement from MBClub members, set up on his...

forums.mbclub.co.uk

for peace of mind you could give him a call and ask if he could inspect the car (and what it would cost!), and if you decide to buy he's close by to get work done before you head home.

 

[SL63 Mark]

That's a lot of money for such an early car. Typically they have been £5k or £6k. I would make sure the ABC suspension raises and lowers properly with no warning signs in the dash. Also make sure the roof works properly, those are the big ticket items.

 

[Koopz]

Thanks for the info Dave, that's not a bad price for a transmission service at all.

Great shout on giving Stevenson's a call to maybe inspect it, that's definitely something I'll look into! Thanks Chrishazle

SL55 Mark looking around at the moment I haven't seen anything (with similar miles) much below £8k. Granted this is probably the worst time of year to be buying a convertible! If I could find a good one at £5/6k I'd be over the moon! I really like the spec of this car (keyless entry/go, ventilated seats, distronic) - £11k is high though and if I decided to go for it I would be looking to haggle down closer to £9.5k considering the work that would need done.

Thanks again for all the replies, been very helpful

 

[Chrishazle]

Classic Car Auctions London 26 June, this might interest you :

1992 Mercedes-Benz 500SL 32v (R129)

Well presented and lightly used, 5-litre R129 in a popular colour.

www.classiccarauctions.co.uk

 

[Koopz]

Classic Car Auctions London 26 June, this might interest you :

1992 Mercedes-Benz 500SL 32v (R129)

Well presented and lightly used, 5-litre R129 in a popular colour.

www.classiccarauctions.co.uk

Lovely motor but it's definitely an R230 I'm looking for

 

[Wighty]

Hello Koopz and welcome...

You're right about an auto transmission service - there was a lot of confusion about MB boxes being "sealed for life" - which they certainly are not - and the box should be done every 40K-miles. It's almost certain yours won't have been done so it's a good investment although it's unlikely you'll feel any differemce = but you'll be safer knowing it's been done. A good MB independent (Indys we call them) will charge around £80 - 90 which is a lot less than an MB Dealer's price - but I mean a known Indy - don't trust it to jusr anyone! The box not having been serviced might also help with a lttle bit of price haggling so good luck on the purchase!

Dave

I think transmission service will be around the £200 mark .

 

[SL63 Mark]

Thanks for the info Dave, that's not a bad price for a transmission service at all.

Great shout on giving Stevenson's a call to maybe inspect it, that's definitely something I'll look into! Thanks Chrishazle

SL55 Mark looking around at the moment I haven't seen anything (with similar miles) much below £8k. Granted this is probably the worst time of year to be buying a convertible! If I could find a good one at £5/6k I'd be over the moon! I really like the spec of this car (keyless entry/go, ventilated seats, distronic) - £11k is high though and if I decided to go for it I would be looking to haggle down closer to £9.5k considering the work that would need done.

Thanks again for all the replies, been very helpful

I wonder if prices are going up. That would be good news for us R230 owners, not so good if you're trying to buy one. I am going on prices about 18 months ago pre covid, so am probably out of date. They were really in the doldrums, (£4k bought you a driveable car with MOT) so good news they are being appreciated at last.

 

[Koopz]

Well I decided to go ahead and put a deposit down this morning. I'm getting the AA 128 point inspection sent over (don't know how good they are - any experience?) And I'll be getting someone to go look at the car for me as I won't be able to see it myself before purchase. They also assured me any ABC faults would be covered under their warranty were they to crop up, but I'll check over the paperwork to make sure it all looks ok. All being well though I'll be collecting her in a few weeks time!

 

[Wighty]

Well I decided to go ahead and put a deposit down this morning. I'm getting the AA 128 point inspection sent over (don't know how good they are - any experience?) And I'll be getting someone to go look at the car for me as I won't be able to see it myself before purchase. They also assured me any ABC faults would be covered under their warranty were they to crop up, but I'll check over the paperwork to make sure it all looks ok. All being well though I'll be collecting her in a few weeks time!

I would get that ABC warranty promise in writing buddy

 

[Koopz]

I would get that ABC warranty promise in writing buddy

Absolutely

 

[mioba]

I think transmission service will be around the £200 mark .

As above, The parts alone (oil, filter and gasket) will be near 80 pounds.
I pay 230 for gbox service.

 

[LostKiwi]

Also make sure their warranty doesn't require you to take it back to them (and get it in writing!)

Also I note it comes with 2 keys - there should be four. Two key cards and two standard keys. Key cards are no longer available. I would strongly recommend having 2 standard keys.

The Command system in it is the early fibre optic system. It's a complete pain to change the head unit if you should want to do so and requires the entire system to be replaced - amplifiers, head unit and speakers are all unique. Speakers are very low impedance.

Satnav disks are no longer available post 2014 (but frankly it's pretty rubbish anyway).

At that mileage SBC should be ok - they normally start to flag errors around the 100k mile mark but can do so at lower mileages if used extensively in towns. Longer if used on motorways.

 

[Koopz]

Good to know about the keys, I will say to them about getting me another standard key. I've read a bit about the command system, it's probably the first thing I will change - prepared for it to be a complete pain to do but using the old system would drive me nuts! Good to know about the SBC too, hopefully there's a good few years life left in it yet! Thanks for the reply