Which One?

Author
Discussion

MustangGT

Original Poster:

13,055 posts

294 months

Thursday 5th June
quotequote all
I am thinking of choosing between the 2 following models, which would you have?

2012-15 SLK 55 AMG
2012-19 SL500

BEARDYB0Y

145 posts

55 months

Thursday 5th June
quotequote all
SLK = Small sporty GT
SL = large Luxo GT

Personally I feel the SLK is showing its age a little and the interior quality is certainly not quite up there with the SL... especially the facelift SL. However the 5.5l v8 element of the SLK is a LOT of engine in a small car!

Depends on what you want I guess. Any further questions please let me know! BB

MustangGT

Original Poster:

13,055 posts

294 months

Friday 6th June
quotequote all
Thanks BB, I have an SLK 250 for commuting at the moment (along with the C250 coupe) and would agree that is is a bit dated. The 5.5 is a great engine, for sure, but maybe an SL suits me better as I head towards retirement. It has to be a V8, V6s do not do it for me.

Any areas likely to cause issues?

BEARDYB0Y

145 posts

55 months

Friday 6th June
quotequote all
You are looking at what I feel is the peak age of modern Merc. Modern e ough not to feel too dated but old enough not to have fallen down the route of "value engineering". Ive driven a lot of SL400 and a few SL500 but they are rarer than most mercs so I didnt really see anything commonly go wrong.

The cream nappa leather can show wear on the bolsters but thats about it.

The front end is fairly low so it can attract scrapes. The boot is MASSIVE with the roof up and there are a fair number of clever cubbies about the cabin. The 500 sounds pretty good as well! (Even the 400 isnt a bad sound but agree wholeheartedly about the V6 or V8 thing)

Id say go and have a look at an SL, even if its a 400. You will notice the difference between your SLK and the SL... then go looking for a nice 500. If the budget stretches to an S500 cabrio then thats well worth looking at as well but they are a fair bit more money and not a hard top if thats what you want.

Again, any more questions let me know! BB

MustangGT

Original Poster:

13,055 posts

294 months

Friday 6th June
quotequote all
Thanks again, yes, I think an SL is the likely route.

DodgyGeezer

43,746 posts

204 months

Friday 6th June
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just a quick one with regard to luggage in the SLC... this was us on 2 weeks round the NC500. Surprisingly decent amount of luggage will fit in - given that (at that point) we were in our mid/late 50's it was still (IMO) a comfortable place to be