My wife has decided she doesn't want the 350SDL any longer and wants to get rid of it and buy a 1999 230SLK. The car appears to be beautiful and is at a dealership that states we can get an extended warranty on the car. Since I don't know anything about these little cars I am looking for advice on any gotchas that might exist with this model. It is a 4 cylinder automatic and has 51k miles on it. The asking price is $22500 which is in our price range. The car is in Tampa Fl. and seems to be the most reasonable price we have found for comparables. I am not interested in paying more than 25k out the door so I am not really not considering other higher end models. She will put about 20-25k miles a year on this car so do you folks think first this is a good deal and second will the car live to see a 150-200k miles with normal maintenance etc.? We are middle aged so we will not be racing this auto or doing any high perf mods etc. Thank you in advance for all advice and insight.

Phil

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91 350 SDL - 155k and still purring
95 SL 500 - 88k Wife thinks its hers
05 F350 XLT FX4 4x4 Super Duty Crew Cab - Yea Baby

Hi Phil,

I bought my SLK230 last October up here in MA. It had a clean car-fax, 25,500 miles, auto, heated seats, Bose CD player with changer, and was just about perfect when I bought it. I paid $27,900 for it which was not the cheapest price around, but he car was exceptional and came from a dealer that does top-notch restorations as well as late models.

I have since put 10,000 miles on my SLK and have not had a single problem. The car is fun to drive and quick enough to be exciting, but it is not too aggressive and drives like it is much bigger than it looks. I had to replace the original Dunlop tires and chose Michelin Pilot Sports at the advice of the dealer I bought the car from. They make the car ride and handle much better than the original tires and I recommend them regardless of the price.

Love dropping the top and taking a ride along the coast, but when you stop for groceries, you have to put the top up because there almost no room in the trunk with the roof folded up in it.

If you haven't already bought an SLK, go get one! My wife and I love ours and plan to keep it forever. (Or at least until some jackass drives into it and smashes it on us)

Jim