Hi,
I am in the market for a used 1995 SL320. A lot of these cars have in excess of a 100,000 miles on them. What kind of maintenance should I expect to perform on a 100k car? At what point should I worry about engine rehaul?
TIA, reply to NG
Lots of oil-changes and filter-changes an engine haul should not be needed in your lifetime.
Depends on how the car is/was driven.
A diesel I think should be counted in how many hours the engine was driven - not miles. A 100.000 mile car has roughly been running for 100 days non-stop theoretically - not much.
Well, a new exhaust pipe now and then. And a new watercoler-thermostat. Etc. Otherwise just keep your engine top condition by frequent oil-changes and also filters.
I'd be very surprised if an SL were found with a diesel engine.
DAS
For the 320, check to make sure the A/C condenser/evaporator has been replaced at some point in the recent past. These have been known to go out at around 75k-80k, and are very expensive (like $5000) to replace. If the car has 100k on it, and has never had this done, then you may be setting yourself up for a big repair bill sometime in the near future.
As for an engine rehaul, I wouldn't worry about it if the car has been otherwise properly maintained. These motors can easily go for 200k-300k with basic scheduled maintencence and the occasional small repair.
Those are some of the better engines Mercedes ever made and can go over half a million miles, may be much more. Expect some kind of maintenance. Also, it depends on how well it was and it will be serviced.
They were designed to last--and show off Mercedes engineering as Japanese luxury cars were being introduced--unlike the current noisy SOHC with a torque curve of cheap thrills. If any consolation, they do give you more spark plugs.
While its good enough as leasing became popular and such people dont care about ownership or how long it will last.
Regards, Jay Bala.
The engine, transmission and differential will last for hundreds of thousands of miles. The problems will be in the AC system and all the uneeded whistles and bells that MB loads on the car.
But which most customers seem to want...
DAS
Gee, I thought that the advantage of Japanese cars over MB was due to a lack of cup holders.... Now that MB finally has those there's no contest!
:-)
The extraordinarily expensive repairs will be things like the A/C as the whole dashboard must be removed to get to it. The other thing on this car is its otherwise fine engine; it's prone to long term headgasket failure. The block is cast iron and the cylinder head is aluminum; these expand and contract at slightly different rates and after about 150K miles the head gasket has had enough of that and fails. The engine's front cover and valve cover are also prone to small oil leaks.
My '97 has the same fine engine, smoother than later V-6s.
Owning a car like this is like having a trophy wife, beautiful but no fun if cost is a consideration.
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