SLK55 buyer’s guide

SLK55 buyer’s guide

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Discussion

595Heaven

Original Poster:

2,601 posts

85 months

Monday 6th January 2020
quotequote all
Autocar have published a good buyers guide on their site today.

Hopefully I’m not breaching any rules by posting a link to it: https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/used-cars/used-...

It covers the main care points, and the pricing seems reasonably accurate based on the research and price tracking I did when I was looking for mine.


Mr M

1,275 posts

209 months

Wednesday 8th January 2020
quotequote all
Interesting. Thanks for posting. The guy doesn't seem to know what he's on about on one point though

> Service history is a mix of main and specialist garages but is not described as full, which is a concern and may explain the price

I think you're more likely to get the best service from a good independent garage than you are from a Merc main dealer

Edited by Mr M on Wednesday 8th January 20:04


Edited by Mr M on Wednesday 8th January 20:12

595Heaven

Original Poster:

2,601 posts

85 months

Wednesday 8th January 2020
quotequote all
Mr M said:
Interesting. Thanks for posting. The guy doesn't seem to know what he's on about on one point though

> Service history is a mix of main and specialist garages but is not described as full, which is a concern and may explain the price

I think you're more likely to get the best service from a good independent garage than you are from a Merc main dealer
I think the point he was making was that there were gaps in the service history, rather than marking it down for some work being done by independents. I’d agree that on this age of car, it would be rare to get full main dealer service history.

Main thing you want to see is a lot of paperwork with the car!

Mr M

1,275 posts

209 months

Wednesday 8th January 2020
quotequote all
Yes "is not described as full" but I was assuming it was full. I should perhaps of stated that. Agreed on the paper work.

buzzer

3,559 posts

247 months

Friday 10th January 2020
quotequote all
Have to say we love ours...

some details on my blog... https://jtccc.wordpress.com/our-cars/mercedes-slk/






Mr M

1,275 posts

209 months

Friday 10th January 2020
quotequote all
Very nice indeed - Good to see you're still enchanted with it :-). Love mine too - they are such a great all rounder.

juice

8,867 posts

289 months

Friday 17th January 2020
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There's a buyers guide in February's 'Mercedes Enthusiast'. Good time of year to pick one up !

https://www.instagram.com/p/B7YjttdFNVg/?utm_sourc...

jmn

910 posts

287 months

Wednesday 22nd January 2020
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Looking for a facelift car. There is one on Auto trader in Carlisle which seems nice but MOT history shows 3 broken coil springs in 28k miles. I am wondering if this is suggestive of other corrosion problems such as subframe etc?

G16GAM

8 posts

156 months

Friday 24th January 2020
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I very nearly bought it! Lots seem to have had broken springs and I put it down to poor roads. Was once owned by Theo Walcotts wife. It is on YouTube being described by a former dealer - stunning car. I ended up with a slightly newer one with 24k miles. I believe Carlisle one has just been serviced and has had 10 services in 12 years!

G16GAM

8 posts

156 months

Friday 24th January 2020
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And if you check MOT’s for other SLK55’s you’ll notice quite a few have broken springs. Quite common and a known Achilles heal of MB’s

jmn

910 posts

287 months

Friday 24th January 2020
quotequote all
Thanks for the info. Did you get a chance to look underneath the car?

G16GAM

8 posts

156 months

Friday 24th January 2020
quotequote all
No. I was in manchester on business and ended up getting one near York, by train. Seller was so helpful with the 08 one and sent through all receipts for services - clearly been looked after. They are stunning cars as you probably already know.

jmn

910 posts

287 months

Friday 24th January 2020
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Yes-I did have an SLK 32 many years ago and have always liked the concept of a big engine in a small car.

G16GAM

8 posts

156 months

Friday 24th January 2020
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Me too. The SLK55 fits that bill perfectly. A world away from my V8 TVR!

B'stard Child

29,265 posts

253 months

Sunday 4th July 2021
quotequote all
buzzer said:
Have to say we love ours...

some details on my blog... https://jtccc.wordpress.com/our-cars/mercedes-slk/

Old thread I know but the blog was very useful in my research - so thanks for sharing

buzzer

3,559 posts

247 months

Monday 5th July 2021
quotequote all
B'stard Child said:
Old thread I know but the blog was very useful in my research - so thanks for sharing
no problem! I get quite a few hits on the page... about 1% of those I have on the Jeep page !!

CoolHands

19,463 posts

202 months

Saturday 7th August 2021
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buzzer said:
no problem! I get quite a few hits on the page... about 1% of those I have on the Jeep page !!
Do you mean the jeep page is more popular? Or the merc page is more popular? Anyway yes it’s interesting reading and looks lovely.

buzzer

3,559 posts

247 months

Sunday 8th August 2021
quotequote all
CoolHands said:
Do you mean the jeep page is more popular? Or the merc page is more popular? Anyway yes it’s interesting reading and looks lovely.
the Jeep page is the most popular one on my blog! it gets more hits than any other!

clarki

1,326 posts

226 months

Wednesday 11th August 2021
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Mine is nearly 6 now. Wow, where does the time go??!!
Mod edit, rule 17a

GTRene

17,788 posts

231 months

Wednesday 11th August 2021
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clarki said:
Mine is nearly 6 now. Wow, where does the time go??!!
nice one.
what I always wondering about, I like the facelift R171 55 better, but the interior of the R172 55,
But then the engine... both nice, the later one some more horsepower.

but how do they drive, whats the difference between de R171 and R172 for driving, say both have the p30 package, the R171 is a bit lighter, I guess you can tune both, although its more done on the R171.

anyways, how is the drive between those 2 is the R172 that much better so you forget the outside look a bit compared to the R171 looks (which I think is a bit more classic/nice, also famous as the F1 front runner car for some years.