How much do you drive your SL?

[Vinalf]

I have followed many posts here and am intrigued at the mileage that some people have on their cars. They vary from just a few thousand to hundreds of thousands.

So I thought I would ask the question, how many miles/kms do you put on your car in a year, and how many miles does it have?

I have only owned my 92 SL500 for 14 months but put up 10,000 kms (6000 miles), and it now has 58,000 KM (35,000 miles)

FYI I am in the process of changing this over for a 94 SL600. I know fuel prices are a concern but this car will be my main drive because
1) I LOVE driving the SL and
2) I cant see the logic in owning another car just to keep
one car younger.

[cbdo]

I've called it 2-5K, though it might go a little higher depending on the year. It's my main drive in the summer. I'm absolutely with you--it's too good to leave in the garage--but I won't expose it to our winter salt around here.

[affab]

I store my "87 560 in the winter. In the summer I drive it only in nice weather on weekends or weekday evenings. This car is our toy,and we do take it for a ride in the countryside on occasion.It's fun going topless in the summer breeze.

[95benzman]

Hi All
I put about 4k a year, mostly in the spring and summer.
I have 88k on the clock. So far only had two decent top down days and I spilt the driving between the SL and the E Cab-63k
The daily driver is a 94E320-64k. Happy driving.

joe moon

[Bruce Hat]

Just got the SL inspected. I drove just over 4000 last year.

[KenSilver]

Originally posted by Vinalf
...I cant see the logic in owning another car just to keep
one car younger.

A lot of owners do - me included. I've found the secret to keeping cars in good order and low miles, and it has nothing to do with self-deprivation. It is by having a number of equally good quality vehicles.

We have 3 between my wife and I, and each time we go out it's for a different purpose.

- The SL500 is mine for solo city trips (non rain only).

- The Jag is when we both go out and take someone else out as well (all weather) or when I need to go out in rain.

- My wife drives her SLK to work each day (all weather), which is only a couple of kilometers away.

We mesh quite well, and probably put on only 20-100kms a car each week.

Now all we need is an SUV for when it rains or for carrying something big home, or for lending out. I had a 91 Honda Accord station wagon for that purpose which I lent out to close friends and family on odd occasions. That's gone to my daughter now.

And I have a friend--an exMercedes dealer who is now a property investor--who bought a couple of cheap Japanese cars so he can lend to his friends when they visit from overseas. It saves them hiring a rental car. What a nice thought!

Ken Silver
--------------
~1993 SL500, glistening triple black, xenons: http://www.kensilver.com/SL
~1999 SLK 230 Kompressor, silver /black, CD, immaculate (my wife's)
~1991 Jaguar Daimler, shiny grey / grey leather, best in country!
~ex 350SL, 230E, 280E, MX5 and a lot of other makes not nearly as nice.

[Pili380SL]

I now drive our '83 380SL daily to work (except during snow season) as my wife has fallen in love with our '95 C280, leading to our "swapping " vehicles, which is perfectly fine with me . I'll probably put about 5K miles on it yearly since work is near and we usually drive the C class when we go out. The SL now has 160K on it and is a joy to drive.

[David Langsam]

When the 560sl was my only car, I put about 12k on it per year. Now that it's the second car, it only gets 2k, but they're the best miles of the year.

David

[Pete Geither]

Would have to agree with Ken. I consider myself very fortunate to be the owner of three Benzes at the same time. I love all three and use the TE for the daily driver. My wife only puts around 5 to 6 K a year on the 400,,, my old car,,, and I put around 5 to 6K on the wagon. The SL might get the most use, as I drive it when the weather gets better and put it away in November or so. I don't like driving the SL when bad weather threatens, and use a car cover at work to keep the UV's from getting to it. The Ram pickup does an excellent job of hauling whatever.

[Boudreaux]

I drive "Dieter" every seven days alternating with the Volvo V70 Cross Country. I love both cars and both have very different characteristics, however, I noticed that the SL has virtually no squeaks, rattles, scraping sounds whenever I drive it as compared to the Cross Country. It just goes to show the great quality in a ten year old car that cost about as much as a townhouse back in 1994.

The driving average is about 5-6K per year for each vehicle.