Mercedes SLK350 v SL500 - thoughts?

cymruchris

HHarry said:

I had a 2004 SLK350 that I sold last year - in hindsight a terrible move.

it was a great car, one of my favourites.  Plenty quick enough, with good (but not Boxster) handling and not stupid running costs. (The earlier 350’s are £300 a year to tax, later rising to £500).  I didn’t think fuel consumption was that bad - easy to get 33mpg on the motorway, or 27mpg generally.  We drove all of the UK, and ran down to the South of France in it.

There are some common issues - like rusty rear subframes - but the online forums can point you in the right direction and they are pretty much all DIY solveable.

The SL is going to give you a couple of rear seats - but I can’t see the bigger engine in a bigger car giving any advantage.

But if you’re talking about bucket list cars, you want an SLK55!

Subframes come up a lot on the SLK's - that's one of my worries - as they tend to rot from the inside out - and by the time you actually see the rust it's too late. 

The SLK55's are holding their value very well - and probably beyond my budget for a 'good' one. Otherwise it'd be in my list too!

cymruchris

daveyjp said:

If you haven't done so have a look at the Merc owners club forum.

When I had a Merc they were excellent at providing advice, even sending me pdfs of technical manual pages when I had an issue to fix.

It may also be the place to pick up a good example of what you are looking for.

I've been keeping an eye on forums and various fb groups - I've found a nice example SL500 (typically on the other side of the country) that I've started talking to the owner/seller about - but he's probably just a touch overpriced at the moment - so will see how it progresses.

HHarry

There are friendly dealers who are still replacing subframes under warranty - even on early cars without a full MB service history.

cymruchris

HHarry said:

There are friendly dealers who are still replacing subframes under warranty - even on early cars without a full MB service history.

Yes I'd heard that - although a bit of a lottery by the sound of it - it's a known fault, so should apply to everyone.