Considering purchasing a SL550 What are the pros & cons of this model Also what is considered high mileage
A 15 year old German luxury car will be very, very expensive to maintain and repair. If the engine or transmission goes it may be close to $10 grand each to deal with and there are about a million small things that can and will go wrong that will make you rue the day. The purchase price is just the entrance fee to a world of hurt!
If it is low mile (well under 100K) and has really complete maintenance records from a top notch shop and is super clean and you have a Mercedes specialist check it out and you have the budget to keep it up and you use it as a weekend driver you can get a lot of fun out of it. Notice all the Ands?
I have had a 2007 and 2009 SL550. Different body styles, but the mechanics are similar. Both of which I bought used. A majority of SL's have less that 10k miles per year on them. Many have less than 5k miles per year. This is good, EXCEPT, that MB's need to be driven on a regular basis. The only two ways to kill an MB is not to drive it and/or not perform the MB recommended maintenance. As others have said - when something breaks, it can be very expensive. There are many good German auto repair shops that do great repair jobs at a fraction of the MB dealer cost. How about the CarFax? Funny thing about SL's. If they have even a fender bender - it just kills the value. This can be a good bargaining chip for an otherwise good car. Another possible clue is what type of dealer is selling the car. A buy here/pay here dealer is a good clue that no one else wants that car - stay away from it. With all that being said - if you find a good dependable SL, get it, drive it and have fun.
Best year to buy sl550
170/715. WOW, how true thank you. As Wide World of Sports us to say The “The Thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.” Defeat being a bug fat repair bill
I am buying 2003 sl500 with 22600 miles on it.. Yes 22600 My 1st one sl.. To all my friends out is sl land.. HELP ME OUT AND TELL WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN BUYING IN THIS OLDER 03 LS500
Record's for maintenance
the seals on the hydraulic cylinder that lift the top sup if not use may drry up and replacing the them can cost up to $6000.00. Also the four struts need to be checked, the rubber seals may be torn. Batteries maybe down from lack of use. Please check these. I didn't and had to replace them. Good luck
