Which SL - 107 or 129?

[d215yq]

There seems to be a lot of debate regarding the benefits of the w124 v w210 but after a quick search I can't seem to find anything regarding the r107 v r129.

I notice that a good '84-88 r107 is about the same price as a good '90-94 so wondered what everyone's thoughts would be regarding this?

I'm guessing the 107 will cost more in repairs but is probably a better investment. I'm also guessing its slower and thirstier but if anyone could give me an opinion on how big these differences are and particularly the difference in running costs then I'd be grateful as I'm after one as a second car but genuinely cant seem to decide what to get with a budget of £6-7k.

 

[Ellsy Tanners]

I am not a fan of the 107 at all. Terrible looks and appalling handling are typical of 70,s design car. They are like boats. They still fetch incredible money which i cant understand personally.

The 129 was a sports car revelation in every sense, I know where my money would go.

This is my opinion so dont shoot me down, you can say what you think as well!!!

 

[roofless]

the 107 has the classic mercedes looks & thats why it hold its value the 129 is a bit bland looks wise like most cars of the 90s on they all look the same

 

[hairyg]

The 129 is to all intents a modern car, ABS, airbags and so on. The 107 is more of a classic, less power, not nearly as comfortable and harder to drive fast.

If you intend to drive more than a very few thousand miles a year the 129 is a much nicer car to drive but the 107 seems to be a better investment option at the moment.

I suggest you test drive examples of both and make up your own mind.

I'm biased anyway, my 129 is my daily transport

 

[Alex M Grieve]

I set out to buy a 107 which I had been stalking on-line at Silver Arrows. The day I decided to pounce was precisely the morning after someone else had bought it, sight unseen, by telephone - rats!

However, he had a 129 with modest mileage which had been on his books for a while, so a deal was struck. I have had it for 3.5 years now and am sure I made the correct choice. A friend of mine bought a pristine 107 from Autobarn and is very pleased with it, but it is a whole different car. So either is great if it is what you want.

I think his car looks nice, but it cost much more than mine. He would prefer his car if it had my powered hood, climate control, performance, fuel economy (yes, my SL500 uses less petrol than his 300 SL, driving in convoy around France), powered heated seats with memory, and lots more.

As an investment opportunity, his is probably good, although he paid a high entry premium for a car with very low mileage. He will therefore have to work harder to see much appreciation, as there are lots of nice cars out there. 129s at present represent excellent value. There are lots of cars with modest mileage, excellent specification, no rust and good performance. Full service histories are easily found. The prices are really quite soft at present, so you could buy a really good car for £10,000 and possibly less if you are a cash buyer and haggle well.

The 129 is for sure a classic of the future, but not quite yet - so the time is right to invest. The 107 is already a classic, so commands that price premium.

The 129 is a car you could use everyday, and would probably benefit from so doing.

As to budget, you could by an example of either for the figure you suggest. If you really know your cars, or have a friend who can help. you might get a really good 107 for £6-7K, but I would be nervous about that. You could, however, find someone who just wants to sell a car to clear an estate, or an older person who now has to give up driving and just wants to sell privately for the price a dealer has offered.

129s on the other hand are still around the bottom of what will be a U shaped depreciation curve. Low mileage, one owner examples are available with FMBSH, and some dealer warranty too.

I would go for a 500. They are much quicker, but not much thirstier (I get 25.5 start to finish on touring holidays). For me the insurance costs are the same (live in the country, car garaged), but it may be a factor if you live in town. So you might enjoy using it more and there might be more upside on the investment. I will be fascinated to hear of what you choose.

 

[kth286]

................. He will therefore have to work harder to see much appreciation, as there are lots of nice cars out there..................

Alex

Good post.

Disagree with above though for two reasons:

1. 107 was considered a classic whilst still in production - a rare feat.

2. If both cars increase in valve at say 10% each year, based on his price of say £20k,
and your price of say £10k now, clearly his will increase by £2,000 and yours only £1,000.

And so the gap has already widened in just one year. Looking 10 years hence the gap will be considerable and will prevent entry to that 107 model for many people.

Just as entry to the gullwing is precluded to all except the very wealthy.

It will be those excluded people that will be your target market for the 129.

 

[Alex M Grieve]

David,

I like your thinking, but .............

I agree that the 107 was a classic even before production ceased - this is verified by the occasional car being brought out of mothballs with almost no mileage on it and being paraded as a novelty before being sold for a pretty price. The owner clearly bought it and locked it away on the sure assumption that it was a good investment.

However, I think the assumption that both models will enjoy the same percentage increase in price is probably flawed. Appreciation curves are not linear. I would contend that 107s (especially the nicer and pricier ones) are further up a curve wich is probably sigmoid and is flattening off. 129s, once they get going, will enjoy quite a steep appreciation curve and do a bit of catching up.

It wll be interesting to see how this pans out, but I suspect that there are too many 107s about to fulfill your analogy with the gullwing.

 

[kth286]

David,



However, I think the assumption that both models will enjoy the same percentage increase in price is probably flawed. Appreciation curves are not linear. I would contend that 107s (especially the nicer and pricier ones) are further up a curve wich is probably sigmoid and is flattening off. 129s, once they get going, will enjoy quite a steep appreciation curve and do a bit of catching up.

It wll be interesting to see how this pans out,

It would be interesting to see how it pans out BUT unfortunately I think I'll be dead by the time that happens with 129.

You have only to see how the 230 models are dropping like a brick to realise that the 129 will probably end up being the forgotten model, just like the SLC which of course is based on the 107 but hardly has any value, and it is a rare car as well, so you would think values would be boosted - but no.

 

[Alex M Grieve]

It would be interesting to see how it pans out BUT unfortunately I think I'll be dead by the time that happens with 129.

You have only to see how the 230 models are dropping like a brick to realise that the 129 will probably end up being the forgotten model, just like the SLC which of course is based on the 107 but hardly has any value, and it is a rare car as well, so you would think values would be boosted - but no.

Sage words, and probably prophetic. Who said life was fair?

 

[100%Bitch]

I think it's 6 of one, half a dozen of the other. The 107 drives like a bus, although a good one may hold a better price, and the 129 drives much better but I don't think will be worth anything, even in a few years.

UNLESS, you buy a special one, like an SL60 or 73 or a newer 129 55.

This, of course, is only my opinion.

 

[d215yq]

Cheers for the replies.

I think I was always leaning towards the 129, particularly having test driven a 190k miler sl500 which still drove like nothing I've ever driven before, but the only thing that was nagging at me was that it does look a bit similar in age and styling to my w124 which i'll keep as the daily commuter and perhaps a "classic" car would be better for the weekends.

I think you guys have made my mind up as if the 129 really is a huge improvement in performance, comfort and design, I will probably go for that one.

Last month I test drove a 190k miler on sale for £4,500 and couldnt fault it, but just couldnt put the money down as although it had fsh it seemed to have no evidence of suspension or head gaskets ever being changed and couldnt help but think something expensive would go. Is this a fair assumptiom or not as I know that the early 90s were a period of great merc build quality? and if things do go is it a lot more expensive to replace things on a sl500 as opposed to one with a smaller engine?

Sorry if these are obvious questions but never had anything with an engine over 2.3L before and not sure if the big engine makes up keep a lot more.

 

[Alex M Grieve]

I think it's 6 of one, half a dozen of the other. The 107 drives like a bus, although a good one may hold a better price, and the 129 drives much better but I don't think will be worth anything, even in a few years.

UNLESS, you buy a special one, like an SL60 or 73 or a newer 129 55.

This, of course, is only my opinion.

Breathtaking, and totally unjustified modesty. And you want your "55" to go faster?!

 

[100%Bitch]

Breathtaking, and totally unjustified modesty. And you want your "55" to go faster?!

Why not, it would be nice. I've only had it lose grip and snake up the road in second so far when pulling away

 

[RGubbioli]

I was very close to purchasing an R129 a few months back. I looked at both 320 (straight 6) and 500 and both were great cars even though, as it happened, the examples I tested were not in great condition, still felt 'a million dollars' driving in them.

However, in the end I went for something totally different for a few reasons (mainly that I wanted something more of a sports car than a cruiser). Another reason was that, in my view and from the evidence I have seen, they seem all but impossible to sell on! One guy dropped the price from £12k to £6k over 6 months, another had to trade it in at a dealer (who promptly added £5k to the price, just for washing it one presumes). I know that at the moment any luxury/large engined car is difficult to sell, but my experience was at the start of the year when there was less of a crisis. I also recalled that Jib (also on the forums) took forever to sell one of these and gave up eventually. Anyways, keep this in mind in case you may want to sell it eventually.

By the way, still convinced the R129 is amazing value (aren't all old Mercs) and would love to get one eventually, so happy to hear any contrasting views regarding the saleability.

Cheers

 

[100%Bitch]

On a serious point, if anybody is thinking of buying an SL320 then they could do much much worse than buying the one at DJ Sargent (just do a search)

The car for sale was mine and was cared for without regard to cost and always at a main dealer.

 

[d215yq]

I was very close to purchasing an R129 a few months back. I looked at both 320 (straight 6) and 500 and both were great cars even though, as it happened, the examples I tested were not in great condition, still felt 'a million dollars' driving in them.

However, in the end I went for something totally different for a few reasons (mainly that I wanted something more of a sports car than a cruiser). Another reason was that, in my view and from the evidence I have seen, they seem all but impossible to sell on! One guy dropped the price from £12k to £6k over 6 months, another had to trade it in at a dealer (who promptly added £5k to the price, just for washing it one presumes). I know that at the moment any luxury/large engined car is difficult to sell, but my experience was at the start of the year when there was less of a crisis. I also recalled that Jib (also on the forums) took forever to sell one of these and gave up eventually. Anyways, keep this in mind in case you may want to sell it eventually.

By the way, still convinced the R129 is amazing value (aren't all old Mercs) and would love to get one eventually, so happy to hear any contrasting views regarding the saleability.

Cheers

Surely if you buy privately and sell privately, and are reasonable at haggling then you will pretty much be able to sell for the same price as you buy if youve kept the car in the same condition, unless of course the market crashes. On a car thats already depreciated to 5k or 6k I cant see it suddenly being worth a lot less than that as the amrket has already adjusted for credit crunch/fuel prices.

I will be looking to buy one thats offered for a reaosnable price, is sound mechanically (as far as i can tell with my limited knowledge!!!) but will accept higher than average miles (particularly if major things have been replaced), a few extra owners and also a few small scuffs on the body. That way if one or two small scuffs/car park dents appear and the mileage increases as i drive the car it should still have saleability at a similar price to what was paid. Also atleast then if it does go wrong i'll have a bit of spare cash to repair it rather than pay top whack for a lower mileage cosseted one which, at 15 years old, could still go very wrong!

 

[roofless]

some cars are a fad & some classics ie audi tt a fad audi ur quattro a true classic

 

[RGubbioli]

Surely if you buy privately and sell privately, and are reasonable at haggling then you will pretty much be able to sell for the same price as you buy if youve kept the car in the same condition, unless of course the market crashes. On a car thats already depreciated to 5k or 6k I cant see it suddenly being worth a lot less than that as the amrket has already adjusted for credit crunch/fuel prices.

I agree (all my purchases are private).

In fact, what I was trying to say, is that the hard part is finding the willing private buyer in the first place. It seems the R129 (along with some of the other big engined 80s and 90's Mercs) is very difficult to get rid of.

More than happy to hear differing views though, as I said before, I still want to own an R129 and it would go a long way towards making me feel more comfortable spending 12k on one.

 

[Alex M Grieve]

I agree (all my purchases are private).

In fact, what I was trying to say, is that the hard part is finding the willing private buyer in the first place. It seems the R129 (along with some of the other big engined 80s and 90's Mercs) is very difficult to get rid of.

More than happy to hear differing views though, as I said before, I still want to own an R129 and it would go a long way towards making me feel more comfortable spending 12k on one.

I entirely agree with what is being said here but, given fuel prices, VED threats and a generous supply of cars in the market, I think the price of 129s is already discounted. This means that, whilst someone selling at present will suffer, for a cash buyer the situation could not be better.

These cars are superbly engineered and built, cost a huge amount of money when new and are now selling in the aftermarket for family hatchback prices.

There are good ones about. Anything you buy today will be worth less tomorrow, but if you keep it and enjoy it and look after it, it will still be saleable in due course. There is a limit to what you can lose. Given that a SL500 may have started life @ £80K and can now be got for £10K from a dealer, even if it loses 10% per year, that ain't much. And some authorities do feel that serious appreciation will happen in due course (whenever that proves to be). I think they are probably as cheap as they will be. I heard the comparison with the SLC of the 107 era, but that is a car which the trade never loved and was never understood or appreciated by the markets. Many of them are now blighted by rust and all advisory articles on them recommend extreme caution.

The 129 is not of that ilk. I still recommend a 500. When fine tuning your choice, there must be a watershed around the end of the pre VED (March 2001) products which will have lots of goodies (including Xenons) but will not be subject to future (currently announced) VED issues. From there it is just a question of tracking back to the price you want to pay and striking the best deal.

 

[Myros]

Late in the day

but it's quite simple for me. I like 129s but i love 107s. That's the difference. Not for investment, not for "chic" appeal, just good old-fashioned pride of ownership and fun to drive. It still has to be a 500 though, that makes it some kind of bus Helen.
Mine isn't a concours car, I'm not afraid to drive it every day and it didn't cost the earth. Nuff said.