Hello Benzworld...I am looking to purchase a 2003 SL500 this week. The car has approx 36K miles and is out of warranty. I have a few questions to ask you folks...
1) Warranty: Well reading some of these threads seems like the Daimler-Chrysler warranty is well liked, correct? Are there others? heard some things about exclusionary policies as being desirable as well. How about an extended warranty from the dealer (our local one in Maryland is EuroMotorcars)...it's pretty expensive at close to or above $4K and is available on CPO and used out of warrnty cars it seems (PLUS deductable)... Here's what the dealer said:
PLATINUM COVERAGE (ESSENTIALLY BUMPER TO BUMPER) WITH A $200.00 DEDUCTIBLE PER OCCURRENCE
3 YEARS FROM TODAY UP TO 75,000 MILES - $3733.00
3 YEARS FROM TODAY UP TO 100,000 MI - 4492.00
4 YEARS FROM TODAY UP TO 75,000 MILES 3862.00
4 YEARS FROM TODAY UP TO 100,000 MI - 4645.00
2) What to look for: I drove the car and it felt very good and the functions (roof, leveling, sport mode, etc...seemed to work fine) ...but are there areas that I should be concerned about. Doing research here on the R230 forum seems like gass tank baffle, seat belt, brake recall are some of the things I've run accross...how do I check for those, and how do I make sure that I'm ready if they happen?
3) Anything else that I've missed in terms of the used SL500 buying woes,...any other advice good or bad. This is my first MB so I'm hoping to have a good experience. I've always found this car to be one I wanted to own and enjoy for some time and am looking forward to driving it. I appreciate in advance any helpful information you folks can provide.
Thank you very much and I look forward to learning a lot from everyone here...
Sunir