[AussieMark]

Hi All,

I live in Singapore and am thinking of getting a late 2002 (registered Jan 2003). The car has 65Kms on the clock and is stock standard with panoramic roof. Colour is silver with slate grey interior.

The car has always been agent maintained and has recetly had the suspension done. I read many posts that you should only buy with an extended warranty. Taht is not possible here as these tyes of warranties are not available. I will be shipping the car back to Australia in a year's time and the extended warranty is not avaiable there either as the carmust be purchased througha dealer and be originally sold in australia.

So the questin is would you take the plungeif you could get the car for about AUD45K. That is less than half the price of the car in Oz.

Thoughts, tell me i am crazy. I know high end is expensiveto fix having just replaced my 2004 7 series gearbox at 78kms on the clock.

cheers
Mark

 

[krx]

Hi All,

I live in Singapore and am thinking of getting a late 2002 (registered Jan 2003). The car has 65Kms on the clock and is stock standard with panoramic roof. Colour is silver with slate grey interior.

The car has always been agent maintained and has recetly had the suspension done. I read many posts that you should only buy with an extended warranty. Taht is not possible here as these tyes of warranties are not available. I will be shipping the car back to Australia in a year's time and the extended warranty is not avaiable there either as the carmust be purchased througha dealer and be originally sold in australia.

So the questin is would you take the plungeif you could get the car for about AUD45K. That is less than half the price of the car in Oz.

Thoughts, tell me i am crazy. I know high end is expensiveto fix having just replaced my 2004 7 series gearbox at 78kms on the clock.

cheers
Mark

On used MB, you must put at least 15-20% of the purchase value to beef the situation up. If it is very cheap, when compared to the other market comparable alternatives, prepare to meet some hidden issues. This is not what you would want with Mercedes, trust me ;-)

If I were you, I would choose a bit more newer SL in terms of "years", like 2004+, as there are good upgrades, like 7speed gearbox, smart headlights. Of course, everything depends on money ;-)

 

[Von Dutch]

yes, IF the work has been done and it checks out OK

While I agree in general with the above advice to buy as new as you can...
if the work you mention has been documented on the 2002/2003 car that you are considering I would say yes consider the 2003 you mentioned...yes as mentioned it is nice to have the 7 speed in the newer models but having driven all the different and newer SL models I can barely tell the difference between the 5 or 7 speeds so if the price is right I would consider it because the ABC suspension is usually the expense repair issue...but if maint. issues have been changed and everything checks ok by a mechanic then yes. These cars are too complex for the average backyard mechanic to check so pay to have it checked by a trusted MB dealer. Unfortunately these and all high end cars have taken a hit in a loss of value lately...