High mileage SLs

[rickjordan]

I don't own a SL, YET, but we do have 2 TDs. Anyways, looking at E-Bay, I noticed that nobody seems to want high mileage SLs. I base this on the low asking/bidding prices on the high mileage cars. Is there an issue here, or is just everyone wants a pristine example? Personally I would rather have a car that has been used regularlly, vs a garage queen. MB engines, be it diesel or gas, are meant to run. I have read that MB V-8s can see 300-400,000 miles. SO why the fear of a 150,000 car? Or am I not seeing something here? My wife has finally caught the MB fever. She sat in a 107 and said she wants one. Now, if nobody wants a SL with over 100,000 on it, I'll take it.

[bwheitman]

I have noticed that low mileage SL's usually command a higher price too, I think it is just the type of car. Most people that buy them keep them as a second car and they are not driven daily. My 129 hauls my butt to work every day and I don't want it any other way. There is no other car ever built that has the power, handling and capability of the SL that can be driven every day. It is truly a useable sports car. Enjoy the fact you can get one for less with high miles, just not too high, I usually look for those with 12-15 thousand miles a year, this tell you the car is usually driven regularly. Good luck in finding an SL. The 107's are great, but the 129's have a lot more toys with the automatic soft top and hard top. Happy Benzing,
Brian

MBCA member

[Boudreaux]

I love my car despite it's high repair costs (when they happen)! It now has 115K miles on it and runs like a charm. And if you notice, regardless of mileage or years, all of them have problems sooner or later. It really depends on how the previous owner (PO) maintained the car. Right now my car needs an A/C evaporator but I'm holding off until I get a few more $$ In the meantime I'm using nature's A/C (top down). And despite being 10 years old, it still turns heads and tears up the road.

[henryk1]

As with any high mileage car, they WILL need repair!!!!!!!! One with very high mileage will need even more!......thus the fear, and lower prices. With all the electronic controls on this car, it is NOT for the average buyer of a used car.

I bought my 97 SL 320, with 34K miles and in mint condition, for about $26K. It is my everyday car...........except in Winter, when I plan on putting it away. Remember, someone paid $82K for this car, when new!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The car now has 42K miles on it, and I had to recharge the A/C (seal leaked), for $170........note: non-MB repair facility.

Keep in mind, that you cannot get service manuals for this car........hence the lower price, as the miles climb. If you don't do the service yourself, and have to take it to the MB dealer, then DON'T buy the car, at ANY price.

I am now contemplating getting the 38-pin connector, and proper scanner, to read all the MB codes............this will cost $2500.

I do the work on all my cars, and this is my first MB. I know one thing............I would NEVER buy a new one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yet, I plan on keeping this one for a long time..........until it gets where I can't repair it myself.........then, it is GONE!!!!!!!!!!!!

[cbdo]

My 560SL has 154K (bought 12/02 at 145K) and feels strong, solid and quiet; I really don't find mileage an issue, excepting only that it tells you what maintenance should have been done. (Key example: Knowing what I know now, I would have asked if timing chain work had been done. It hadn't, and I got to it in the nick of time--one upper rail was broken but hadn't trashed anything yet!)
I bought the car for driving, and would have more anxieties about a low-mileage car as far as what's getting old, deteriorating or degrading; when the car's used regularly, you know when something starts needing attention.

[G-Benz]

henryk1 said it best!

Wait till the high-mileage R230s hit the scene!

[mottgrand]

I think it is mostly quality of interior that attracts sl buyers to low milage cars. It is hard to find a car with high miles that looks goodd inside, lather seats in particular tend to suffer from daily use. Also a potential need to replace air conditioner or transmission would scare me. Engine will probably run to 500k without much trouble.

[ctaylor738]

The 380's in particular don't wear well. Injection, emissions, transmission, climate control, and suspension all start needing major work after 100K. Interiors also start looking tired.

The market prices reflect this. I think the best deals are the cars in the 70-90K range.

[LeaUK]

Henry

Be careful with the scanner purchase. I have access to one costing over 2500 and it still doesn't read all the module information. Makes a fine job of the LH systems but other modules (so called analogue, or more accurately pulse codes) it just ignores.

CarSoft is maybe an alternative which will count pulses and 'should' read all the LH info but I've never tried it

As your car is a '97 model I believe the diagnostics is fully digital and so you may have more luck than me. Let me know how you get on..

[HitParader]

The other thing to keep in mind in terms of pricing is on the West coast at least there is a good supply of used 129 cars now given the volume of trades for the newer 230 cars. So it's also a simple matter of supply and demand. If you can afford the maintenance you can get a late 90's 600 for almost 100k less than what it sold for new 6-7 years ago.

[jjrodger]

There is a lot to be said in favour of higher mileage cars.

1. In general, nothing is bad for a car like lack of use. Cars were made to be driven; so long as regular and preventative maintenace has been carried out, with parts replaced where appropriate, a higher mileage car will often be a better bet than a garage queen, especially if you intend to subject it to heavy use.

2. Higher mileage cars are cheaper. If you are going to pile miles on the car, there is no point paying a premium for a low miler: you're going to turn it into a high miler by using it. When I bought my R129, I knew I would be doing 20-25k miles a year. There was approximately a GBP7k price difference between a pristine 1999 SL500 with 15k miles and a pristine SL500 with 40k miles. Guess which one I bought; it now has 82k miles on it and is worth no less than the same car with 57k miles on it.

3. With older cars, the fact that the car has made it so far must tell you something: it wouldn't have done 115k miles if it was a pos.

[KirkVining]

Originally Posted by ctaylor738

The 380's in particular don't wear well. Injection, emissions, transmission, climate control, and suspension all start needing major work after 100K. Interiors also start looking tired.

The market prices reflect this. I think the best deals are the cars in the 70-90K range.

I absolutely agree. It really is a question of risk - the lower the mileage, the less the risk. How it really turns out is anyone's guess. I bought my 83 280SL with 91k on it. I decided to buy it because I got to know the owner, who was a retired pilot, well enough to know the car had been maintained like an airplane, lots of preventive and and scheduled maintenance, and that and the cost savings justified the risk. 8,000 miles later I still have not had a single problem other than some worn throttle bushings that cost about 20 bucks to replace. If I was buying one I couldn't get that kind of information on, I would want lower mileage to lower the risk in owning it.

I also think how much you work on your own car plays in as well. The more confidence you have in your own mechanical abilities, the less risk in owning a high mileage car as well.

In addition, experience really helps. I'm 50 years old and have been buying and driving MBs since I was 30, and as part of the hobby got to know many other drivers as well. Over that time I have found that you can buy an taken-care of MB gasser built between 1977-1990 with around 90k and expect to have only minor trouble up to about 190,000 miles. At that point the car becomes about as risky to drive as a typical American car of that vintage with around 100,000 miles, and things start to break. So I give it to my kid, of which I am blessed with five. They will drive the car to about 250,000 and during this time you will have to rescue them a few times. At 250,000, you sell it to the junk dealer. The junk dealer will either make a killing on the car selling the parts, or will put a new set of plug wires on it and give it to his kid, and you will see it on the streets some day and say "hey - thats my old car!".

When I inherited My 83 380Sl it had about 211,000 drove it from P-Cola Fl to Waco Texas and it ran like a top all the way. I know have 216,000 on it after a few minor mechanical repairs, rebuilding of the rear braking system it still runs fine. now the Body work issue is another story. Front valanace was a mess and the front jack points were rusted. After sevearl months of sanding grinding welding and replacing it is starting to come around. The valance now looks great and the lower rockers have been replaced. Still figure on about a year before it is ready for paint since the back end is not in much better condition, but it has kept me out of the bars and off that dangerous dirt bike I race. What can I say I inhertited the car when my father passed away and he figured I was the only one in the family that had the ability and devotion to his favorite car in his collection. It was also the only collectable car he had not got around to restoring. Needless to say me and my 2 boys pour just about every spare minute into it. However it is starting to task my abilites

Pete Odegaard
Waco TX

[Strife]

It was mentioned that a car was maintained like an airplane. I like to point out to people that if cars were maintained like airplanes we'd all be driving cars built in the 50's to 70's! (the latter because there would not be enough cars to go around). I would not be afraid of a high-mileage car if I had the maintenance records and they were complete, reasonable (as one would expect) and better yet preventative. I'd look for a car privately purchased (NOT leased) and owned by wealthy people - that's the history of my car. I have heard from a few MB/Lexus/Porche mechanics to NEVER buy an off lease car w/no service records (especially recently), because a lot of people who buy them can't afford them and don't maintain anything, hoping that nothing breaks until after they turn it in (this is why a lot of these cars now come with "free scheduled maintenance"). Since I bought my 560sl I've been keeping exhaustive, meticulous records of even the smallest things, and in fact I HAVE replaced things before they failed-considering my checkered past with cars (partly due to a lack of money), phenomenal. I regret not keeping receipts but this was partly so that I would not get a hemmorage and/or get the **** kicked out of me by my wife!

[KirkVining]

I'll tell you the best place I've found to locate Mercede's owned by pilots: If you look around the small general avaition airports where these guys fly their hobby planes, or around the National Guard or Reserve airbases where they do the weekend warrior thing, there always seems to be an independent Porsche/MB shop that caters to those guys. Great places to ask around or drop off a business card.