Thinking of buying an old SLK 230

[Miguel Alvarez]

Hi Guys.

I'm thinking of buying an old shape SLK 230 for some country lane driving to work.

Apart from the usual rust signs what else is there to look out for on these cars? Obvious problems etc.

[Big Brin]

I had a 1998 SLK....and enjoyed it. Nothing ever went wrong..., other than the car alarm stopped working. Or rather would not stop sounding, so I had to disconnect it. Mine was the 230 kompressor, so had some grunt, but I never cared much for the noise. The possible reason you have not had any responses to date, could be that apart from the 'rust issues' there's nothing that goes wrong?? Evidence of service history is important, and go for condition rather than spec.

Good luck. They're decent cars.

Rgds, Brin

[Dog Star]

Rock solid. Great cars. Still look the business.

[Miguel Alvarez]

Cheers guys. I ended up buying it. I got a 99 230 Kompressor. The price was pretty good. It's got a little surface rust on the arches but other than that its really nice. Loving driving it about. The missus has already asked to borrow it for the weekend.

[sanguinary]

Our 2002 230k is a cracking car. It too has rust starting to come through, but I'll be sorting that before too long.

The only thing I've had to replace, aside from service items, was a thermostat.

[Miguel Alvarez]

sanguinary said:

Our 2002 230k is a cracking car. It too has rust starting to come through, but I'll be sorting that before too long.

The only thing I've had to replace, aside from service items, was a thermostat.

How are you planning to sort the rust? I'm in two minds of getting it done at a body shop or getting the paint, sandpaper, lacquer etc and attempting it myself. I spray painted my old BMX once and it has always struck me as a black art.

[sanguinary]

Miguel Alvarez said:

How are you planning to sort the rust? I'm in two minds of getting it done at a body shop or getting the paint, sandpaper, lacquer etc and attempting it myself. I spray painted my old BMX once and it has always struck me as a black art.

I'm going to do it myself, although I may get someone in to paint the car after I've prepped it.

I've been watching this thread closely: http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

[Miguel Alvarez]

That's a good read. I'd have to find someone who's got some of the tools. Might be a bit easier for me to pay someone to sort it out. Interesting none the less.