[FLMBenz]

Hi all


First of all, many thanks in advance for those who take the time to read and answer.


I’m in the market for my next car and after a test drive yesterday, the choice for lucky me is an SL55 . I’ve not settled on a specific car and I’m looking nationwide, but I wanted to get a few thoughts from the worldly wise who already purchased and own this model:

• Mileage on my ‘candidates’ varies between 30-70k – what are your thoughts on low vs. higher mileage? I can argue both ways – if mileage is too low, the car sat too much which has its own set of problems such as decay of rubber, corrosion and moisture related issues, mustiness, critter invasion, etc. With higher mileage cars, you risk getting into ‘high cost things are ready to break’ territory.
• I’m a big fan of the M112/3/722.6 for the reliability, but if the AMG versions are significantly different, please let me know.
• How DIY-able are these cars? I do about 80% of of the maintenance on our current fleet of Benzes, so I’m just wondering where these fall on the easy (60’s Muscle Car) to damned near impossible (mid-engine Ferrari) DIY repair spectrum.
• I’m looking at cars from coast to coast and have never bought a car without looking at it first. Any advice, experiences, thoughts, etc. on buying sight unseen versus seeing it in person?

The TLDR stuff:

I currently work from home a lot, so this next car can be more of a ‘fun’ weekend and vacation getaway car than a practical commuter car. I see myself driving it on the weekends and for an occasional errand. The rest of the time it would sit in the garage on a battery tender. I have an old but beloved Saab ‘beater’ I can use in the rain and snow. We generally hop in my wife’s 2015 ML350 for around town errands. We are giving our other two Benzes (both 2003’s) to our sons since they recently graduated from college. And yes, you can certainly judge me for ‘selflessly' giving my cars to my sons in order to get an SL55 (personally, I prefer to think of it as ‘optimizing the situation for everyone involved’ ). Aside from a Jag XKR, the only other options I'd consider are a C215/C216 or a newer E-class coupe. I've even thought of an R129, but it's a little old for a long drive weekend getaway....

I settled on the SL55 mostly because I have an Indy who can do the stuff I cannot or do not wish to do (and yes I like the power, exhaust note, and ride of the AMG). I also like the idea of sticking with the M113/722.6 series engine/transmission series since they are reasonably reliable, tough and a known quantity – again, if I’m wrong here for the AMG variations, please let me know.

I am aware of the high cost of maintaining a German luxury car since we have 3 Benzes in our immediate family. I do the majority of the work on our cars and only farm out things that I hate to do, need a lift or require a Star tester (and I’m not opposed to getting a lift or a Star ). If I bought the car and the ABC failed, I would be tempted to DIY; if the SBC went out, the car would go to my Indy (did this for my E500). Brakes, oil changes, water pumps, fuel pumps, etc. 100% me. I only mention this because I see lots of gripes about the high cost of maintenance, but like most people on this site, I’m pretty handy and can avoid the labor costs. For repairs that I can’t DIY, I just like to know what to expect.

Again many thanks - I know these questions get asked a lot and trust me, I've been lurking on the R230 board on and off and this seems to be a really good branch of Benzworld.

 

[Zephyr411]

On buying site unseen, there are services that will go to the seller and do presale inspections with a report and pictures on what they find. You will probably want to put down a deposit so the car isn’t sold out from under you.

The presale inspection will also include a test drive it if the seller allows it. I used one once (cost about $150-$200) and they advised NOT to buy the car unless I was a professional mechanic with the means to do some major work that wasn’t obvious.

For another one, I flew out myself on a discount airline because two one way tickets were only slightly more than the pre-inspection service - in hindsight, I should have done the pre-sale inspection. I bought the car and had to do some spendy fixes shortly after...

Hope this helps!

 

[FLMBenz]

Thanks - so now what I'm thinking is: 1) see if the salesman will do a FaceTime or take detailed photos of high wear areas (window buttons, DS seat bolster, door pulls, etc.) 2) local PPI, and then 3) flying to look at it if the first 2 steps check out and the tickets are cheap. On site inspection needs to make sense - why spend $1k on tickets to uncover $250 of unknown repairs?

I know no 15-20 year old used car is going to be perfect - I'm just trying to avoid the shady salesman tactics of covering up the examples that have been rode hard and put up wet.

 

[rudeney]

Just a note - SBC is now warranted for 25 years, so it will be a while before you have to worry about that. And do invest in SDS.

 

[Zephyr411]

FaceTime is a good idea - It helps with the appearance inspection, seeing any malfunction messages, and you may be able to hear squealing bearings or power steering issues.

Here are some other thoughts (mainly non-mechanical since I’m not familiar with the V8):

Have them take everything out of the trunk so you can look for signs of water - the PSE pump and hydraulic pump are in the trunk and susceptible to water damage. The foam enclosure around them is just a big sponge, so if it gets wet it can/will corrode contacts and circuit boards over time.

Also, if you really want to know what’s going on with the car, an Indy or dealership can do an SDS scan of the car that will give you much more specific detail than the pre-sale inspection service I mentioned before. Of course, this all adds to the expense before you actually buy the car, but if you think of it as “insurance” it might help you offset the costs in your mind.

Test drive: accelerate hard, brake hard, corner hard to exercise the ABC system and see if it throws a “drive carefully” code.

Make sure the car is cold when you start it up for the test drive - check for exhaust smoke, rough idle, and a clean quick start with no malfunction codes or CEL.

Check the trunk soft close feature- those tend to fail eventually (I personally wouldn’t pass on an otherwise good car if that wasn’t working, but good to know.

Look for rust at the base of the rear window by the trunk seal - light rust is not a dealbreaker and you can address it later, but you want to make sure it’s not badly rusted.

Maybe even run through a car wash to see if any water leaks in from the windows or top - pay special attention to the front corner of the windows where the triangular leather trim pieces are - and check the trunk again, but dry the trunk lid first to be sure you don’t mistakenly introduce water when you open the trunk lid.

I’m excited for you! Good luck!

 

[FLMBenz]

Thanks guys - I was aware the SBC warranty, but forgot for how long it was extended.

Any thoughts on higher versus lower mileage or DIY?

 

[sivikvtec]

I would prioritize maintenance history and a clean (never driven in snow) undercarriage over mileage.

 

[FLMBenz]

Just to close the loop on this (post #451):

R230 SL Picture Thread

 

[WurlitzBurg]

Get the CarFax. Not always complete or accurate but worth the cost. It reports accidents

 

[FLMBenz]

Lucky for me, the car I purchased came with a CarFax from the selling dealership. It had a full maintenance Mercedes maintenance history through 2 different MB dealerships. What was unusual was that dealer #1 was very detailed, but dealer #2 did lots of very ambiguous 'check and service' type repairs - example, check and service battery - which one and what exactly did you service? Did you just look at it for visual defects? Or was it tested with a battery tester? Or did you replace it as part of your 'service'? I suppose if I knew MB's service procedures this would be helpful, but CarFax doesn't really say a lot at times even when you have service records. FWIW, I generally take what's on a CarFax with a grain of salt and use it as a 'go-no-go' signal : if a dealer does not have it, they are either 1) too cheap to pay for it (which probably says a lot about what they sell) or 2) know they should not provide one for the car.

I did a Facetime tour, a distance PPI (bought the car remotely) and then had my local MB Indy take a look at it once it was delivered - fortunately, when all was said and done, a pretty clean bill of health with only minor issues and 'you'll want to plan for replacing X in the next couple of years.....'