considering an SL55AMG - opinions on this one

[Zippee]

Hi all, I'm currently driving a TVR T350 but am giving very serious consideration to the big SL55 - in particular this one has caught my eye - http://www.dovehousecars.com/vehicles/vehicle.asp?...

What are your opinions of the car and price? Any must have options it should have? I had an initial look yesterday, drivers seat is a little squeaky when adjusting it (seat base), rear tyres are down to 3mm, front pads have very little life left in them. It has a starter button on the gearstick but this didn't work, it would only start from the key. Air suspension seemed to come up fine - whats the 3 levels for as the highest is pretty high? The electrics all seemed to work, though obviously I didn't have time to go through the rather thick instruction manual.
Is there anything in particular I should look for on these cars? What should I concentrate on when test driving? I'm going back on Saturday for a closer look and test drive. I know they'll be expensive to run but I'm kind of used to that from the TVR - any good warranties you'd recommend? What sort of service costs and common problems can I expect?
Also - what are the odd little round buckles for behind the seats (they have the seatbelt webbing on)? And under the roof button is a button to lift a bt of trim that houses the wind deflector - again what is this?

Edited by Zippee on Sunday 20th February 19:31

[benzito]

I would suggest searching through the forum and you will find most of the answers you are looking for, the car advertised looks good actually, mileage is low and a later model which is good, remember most of the spec listed is standard on sl55's, extras on this I think were linguatronic and the wind deflector which isn't expensive to add (about 170 pounds) but still nice to have,

you need to factor in the tyre and brake replacement costs and also the keyless go probs which without inspection, etc would be difficult to estimate repair costs, also the silver colour is less desirable so will reduce price, however the wheels are nice and would have cost a bit aswell, i don't think the seat squeak is anything major but not sure,

on test drive, check obviously for any warning signs on dash, make sure the car is revved fully and driven reasonably hard for 20mins or so to see if any power loss issues (intercooler pump probs), try and press every single button to make sure electrics are working ok, also try somehow to check no leaks in roof as this can be a prob (not sure how you will check though, take some water with you or pray for rain )

best advice is to inspect more than one available sl55, bargain hard, and consider a private inspection at a cost for piece of mind,

[s3th]

my advice from experience would be to look at a few more and if 1 really catches your get it checked,
i recently brought 1 from main dealer and withing 5 minutes i had problems and im now getting a refund they can be tricky the most common problem and 1 that i had was the supercharger water pump fails and can be costly depending were you go most people replace them with the Johnson c 30 pumps which solve the problems.

considering this guys a trader he should really replace the rear tyres and pads.
if the cars already got small issues find out how much is to get it fixed these cars aren't easy to work with

if silver is your color than look more into it iv noticed that the re-sells on silver SL's are not really that good

personally for that price you will find a better i was looking for months and after researching i thought its best to buy from main dealer as having merc warranty on these cars is the best and worth having especially on this model as its an earlier 1 baffles in the petrol tank fall of and can be a price fix there are other things

hope this help and good luck

Edited by s3th on Monday 21st February 03:02

[Jonny 4200GT]

Dpending on the age and mileage, a lot of Merc warrantiers are actually an insurance based product, in fact very similar to the Warranty Direct type. I shall leave you to work out the cost/benefit analysis on the two types ;-)

if you're looking for a REALLY nice car which has the facelifted sat nav/COMAND, bluetooth, everything working, then look no further http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/list.asp?s=326&...

Cheers

Jonny

[DSLiverpool]

OP If the car has a full service history you can get a MB warranty if you feel you need it, I would also think about getting one with the latest bluetooth, sat nav and wouldnt accept one that needs anything mechanically as its a sign its been skimped on, I can vouch for Jonnys car above hitting those criteria, if it would have been blue I would have had it myself - happy looking.

[Zippee]

Thanks everyone for the advice. I'm going to still pop along on Saturday - at the very least to get a feel for what its like to drive (kind of important as its a weekend toy). My main worries are the sheer number of expensive bits to go wrong (along with the frequency of bits going wrong - though I'm hoping a lot of that is hearsay like with TVR) along with entering into the world of the Mercedes customer service experience.
Jonny - your car looks amazing though it is over my budget. TBH if I decide I do like the car enough to want one I may well wait a little while longer and increase my budget by 5-6k but we'll see what happens Saturday.