What to look for on an R172 SLK?
Discussion
I'm going to look at an R172 SLK200 AMG later this week. Is there anything special I should be looking for on this? Beyond the usual bits and pieces, anything model specific?
I've seen reference to issues with exhaust manifold, issues with roof operation, so will try and look at those, what else?
I've seen reference to issues with exhaust manifold, issues with roof operation, so will try and look at those, what else?
Well worth having a browse of the SLK world website, granted it's largely US based but there is lots of good info there
https://www.slkworld.com/threads/r172-slk200-2012-...
https://www.slkworld.com/threads/r172-slk200-2012-...
Beware of 'Fire Opal' paint (red to you and me) as its well known for blistering - check the boot lid and front wings in particular. MB resprayed mine and it looked magnificent subsequently. I believe they will still do this under the paintwork warranty.
The only other thing that broke with mine was that one of the DRLs was holed by a stone - however it still worked and I never bothered replacing it.
I had a 350 with the V6 - it was blooming lovely!
The only other thing that broke with mine was that one of the DRLs was holed by a stone - however it still worked and I never bothered replacing it.
I had a 350 with the V6 - it was blooming lovely!
Mrs Phil Dicky has the exact same model.
Watch specs as they are all over the place.
Look for airscarf and parking sensors and heated seats as all are extras. Check the wheels as always a Merc weak spot for corrosion.
We love ours, it's quite quick, and really a mini cruisers it does hustle but that's not its main USP. We recently drove from Wakefield to South Wales with the roof off in perfect comfort.
Watch specs as they are all over the place.
Look for airscarf and parking sensors and heated seats as all are extras. Check the wheels as always a Merc weak spot for corrosion.
We love ours, it's quite quick, and really a mini cruisers it does hustle but that's not its main USP. We recently drove from Wakefield to South Wales with the roof off in perfect comfort.
Phil Dicky said:
Mrs Phil Dicky has the exact same model.
Watch specs as they are all over the place.
Look for airscarf and parking sensors and heated seats as all are extras. Check the wheels as always a Merc weak spot for corrosion.
We love ours, it's quite quick, and really a mini cruisers it does hustle but that's not its main USP. We recently drove from Wakefield to South Wales with the roof off in perfect comfort.
As PD said spec is very important - heated seats and air scarf are (IMO) essential. Magic sky is nice, but ultimately, a gimmick (I liked our's though).Watch specs as they are all over the place.
Look for airscarf and parking sensors and heated seats as all are extras. Check the wheels as always a Merc weak spot for corrosion.
We love ours, it's quite quick, and really a mini cruisers it does hustle but that's not its main USP. We recently drove from Wakefield to South Wales with the roof off in perfect comfort.
The side bolsters seem to wear so cheek that. The BIG item to check is the roof - and potential leaks (SLK World has a checklist which is worthwhile)
Phil Dicky said:
Mrs Phil Dicky has the exact same model.
Watch specs as they are all over the place.
Look for airscarf and parking sensors and heated seats as all are extras. Check the wheels as always a Merc weak spot for corrosion.
We love ours, it's quite quick, and really a mini cruisers it does hustle but that's not its main USP. We recently drove from Wakefield to South Wales with the roof off in perfect comfort.
Very good point re. the wheels - my two R172s had two replacement sets of wheels each - water gets under the diamond cut lacquer and it's game over.Watch specs as they are all over the place.
Look for airscarf and parking sensors and heated seats as all are extras. Check the wheels as always a Merc weak spot for corrosion.
We love ours, it's quite quick, and really a mini cruisers it does hustle but that's not its main USP. We recently drove from Wakefield to South Wales with the roof off in perfect comfort.
(I once had an MR2 Roadster from new - four sets of wheels under warranty!)
Dog Star said:
Dislip2001 said:
Crikey! That’s shocking. DodgyGeezer said:
Dog Star said:
opal red isn't it?Just come across this thread; my wife's SLK is Fire Opal on a 61 plate. I detailed it when we first got it 4 years ago and polished it to a mirror shine, then after 2 years it started showing small blisters in the surface on the roof and other horizontal surfaces. We tried to get it looked at during a service but 'the paint man' wasn't available that day and we intended to make an appointment for another day, but of course Covid hit.
The car has been serviced by MB (my wife took out some servicing package as she wrangled a car allowance at work not long after we bought it, even though she always worked from home anyway). I'm guessing we've probably left it too late to sort out now, but had many other priorities with ageing parents and the loss of my Dad, so haven't got round to it.
We're planing on getting rid of it this year anyway, but if there is anyway to get it sorted then it might save us getting even more shafted on selling it than we probably would. We will probably us we buy any car as I plan to buy something privately beforehand to replace it as I'm leaving my job and company car mid April. Would be good if we could get this paint sorted out then sell it in early summer looking it's best.
It's a 125 Edition 250 (petrol) AMG line, with about 45,000 miles on it, so hoping not to have to give it away as I'd like to replace it with something like a 2015 A Class A200 or A250 petrol without putting too much more on top.
Hard to believe it looked this good in summer of 2019, though it's not as bad as the car above, you have to look 'at the surface' to see the blisters:
The car has been serviced by MB (my wife took out some servicing package as she wrangled a car allowance at work not long after we bought it, even though she always worked from home anyway). I'm guessing we've probably left it too late to sort out now, but had many other priorities with ageing parents and the loss of my Dad, so haven't got round to it.
We're planing on getting rid of it this year anyway, but if there is anyway to get it sorted then it might save us getting even more shafted on selling it than we probably would. We will probably us we buy any car as I plan to buy something privately beforehand to replace it as I'm leaving my job and company car mid April. Would be good if we could get this paint sorted out then sell it in early summer looking it's best.
It's a 125 Edition 250 (petrol) AMG line, with about 45,000 miles on it, so hoping not to have to give it away as I'd like to replace it with something like a 2015 A Class A200 or A250 petrol without putting too much more on top.
Hard to believe it looked this good in summer of 2019, though it's not as bad as the car above, you have to look 'at the surface' to see the blisters:
Edited by OldSkoolRS on Tuesday 1st February 17:41
OldSkoolRS said:
Just come across this thread; my wife's SLK is Fire Opal on a 61 plate. I detailed it when we first got it 4 years ago and polished it to a mirror shine, then after 2 years it started showing small blisters in the surface on the roof and other horizontal surfaces. We tried to get it looked at during a service but 'the paint man' wasn't available that day and we intended to make an appointment for another day, but of course Covid hit.
The car has been serviced by MB (my wife took out some servicing package as she wrangled a car allowance at work not long after we bought it, even though she always worked from home anyway). I'm guessing we've probably left it too late to sort out now, but had many other priorities with ageing parents and the loss of my Dad, so haven't got round to it.
We're planing on getting rid of it this year anyway, but if there is anyway to get it sorted then it might save us getting even more shafted on selling it than we probably would. We will probably us we buy any car as I plan to buy something privately beforehand to replace it as I'm leaving my job and company car mid April. Would be good if we could get this paint sorted out then sell it in early summer looking it's best.
It's a 125 Edition 250 (petrol) AMG line, with about 45,000 miles on it, so hoping not to have to give it away as I'd like to replace it with something like a 2015 A Class A200 or A250 petrol without putting too much more on top.
Hard to believe it looked this good in summer of 2019, though it's not as bad as the car above, you have to look 'at the surface' to see the blisters:
Take it to a Mercedes dealer. The car has been serviced by MB (my wife took out some servicing package as she wrangled a car allowance at work not long after we bought it, even though she always worked from home anyway). I'm guessing we've probably left it too late to sort out now, but had many other priorities with ageing parents and the loss of my Dad, so haven't got round to it.
We're planing on getting rid of it this year anyway, but if there is anyway to get it sorted then it might save us getting even more shafted on selling it than we probably would. We will probably us we buy any car as I plan to buy something privately beforehand to replace it as I'm leaving my job and company car mid April. Would be good if we could get this paint sorted out then sell it in early summer looking it's best.
It's a 125 Edition 250 (petrol) AMG line, with about 45,000 miles on it, so hoping not to have to give it away as I'd like to replace it with something like a 2015 A Class A200 or A250 petrol without putting too much more on top.
Hard to believe it looked this good in summer of 2019, though it's not as bad as the car above, you have to look 'at the surface' to see the blisters:
Edited by OldSkoolRS on Tuesday 1st February 17:41
W201_190e said:
Take it to a Mercedes dealer.
As it's 11 years old, I was asking the question if we'd left it too late rather than waste my time taking it to a dealer. (The same dealer who wanted £2k to replace rood rubbers/seals and couldn't guarantee it would sort out a leak that they should have been replacing the plastic roof panel for with a glass one because it's also a known fault like the red paint. They refused to change it).
Hi all
Anyone had this problem before?
SLK200 2012 R172
Noticed a bit of paint wearing around the edge of the roof about two weeks after I bought it. Had it about two months now and saw this after a wash!
Is it a common problem and how to fix? Atm I have used some black nail varnish.
Also another niggle is the bum indent marks on the leather seats.
Just a couple of things that anyone else might want to be aware of.
Other than that I am enjoying it although mine is without auto fold mirrors, no closing windows or roof by holding remote button and middle rear speaker doesn’t work - apparently these are all extras that I never thought about as assumed they were standard features on most decent cars nowadays.
Having said all this I suppose the car is 12 years old and have to accept it for what it is.
Love the look of it though with the long front end.
Take care and enjoy your cars folks.
Regards
Danny
Anyone had this problem before?
SLK200 2012 R172
Noticed a bit of paint wearing around the edge of the roof about two weeks after I bought it. Had it about two months now and saw this after a wash!
Is it a common problem and how to fix? Atm I have used some black nail varnish.
Also another niggle is the bum indent marks on the leather seats.
Just a couple of things that anyone else might want to be aware of.
Other than that I am enjoying it although mine is without auto fold mirrors, no closing windows or roof by holding remote button and middle rear speaker doesn’t work - apparently these are all extras that I never thought about as assumed they were standard features on most decent cars nowadays.
Having said all this I suppose the car is 12 years old and have to accept it for what it is.
Love the look of it though with the long front end.
Take care and enjoy your cars folks.
Regards
Danny
Picture isn't working for me, but is it small flakes of paint missing next to the 'join' on the roof? Our Opal Fire red one started doing this recently as it hasn't got the glass roof that newer ones had (and some older ones had replaced under warranty apparently). As it's a plastic panel I think it moves more than metal/glass and the edge of the paint lifts, especially if caught with a pressure washer (I think that's how ours happened).
Rather strange timing that this thread popped back up on 'My Stuff' this morning as I'm driving our SLK to the dealers today to trade it in: I've driven it a lot more than usual lately going round various garages to look at 4/5 seat replacements (we're going down to having one car since I retired). We had a short break down in Sussex when I finished work and just taking it steady was getting around 40mpg (250 Petrol Auto). I suspect I'll get a bit less than that today driving into London with the train strike traffic!
Rather strange timing that this thread popped back up on 'My Stuff' this morning as I'm driving our SLK to the dealers today to trade it in: I've driven it a lot more than usual lately going round various garages to look at 4/5 seat replacements (we're going down to having one car since I retired). We had a short break down in Sussex when I finished work and just taking it steady was getting around 40mpg (250 Petrol Auto). I suspect I'll get a bit less than that today driving into London with the train strike traffic!
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