I was browsing the local Mercedes dealer's lot and noticed a a 2003 SL with 17,000 miles.
The saleperson quoted a surprising high price.
My thought was that the price should be much less.
Do SL's hold their value well? Data appear spare on this subject.
At least here in Germany they do - but as always in life it depends on, which in this case means thing like engine and body colour.
Juergen
I see them around high $70000 range in auctions to mid 80's
"Juergen ." haute in die Tasten:
Yesterday I read in a german car magazine, that R129 SLs seem to have arrived at the best point for buying them. They stated that good cars from after the '95 facelift are available in considerable numbers for approx. 20.000 Euro (some 25.000 US$). They also pointed out that the new SL second hand is only available in very small numbers at very high prices.
Frank
Thank you all for confirming the price I was quoted.
It seemed to me that with a price that high most people would choose to buy a new one for not that much more and therefore the price would be less.
Oh well.
Maybe the R129 is the way to go.
.
At the end of last year I convinced a friend not to buy a brand-new Audi A4 Cabriolet for
46.000 Euro minus rebate = 41.000 Euro but a R129 SL320 from the 1999 modelyear with 60.000 km on the clock (ca. 37.500 miles) for 31.500 Euro - the 1999 modelyear already has the last face-lift (bumpers, lights etc.) and the V6 engine. As the car once cost ca. 75.000 Euro and was accident-free with full service history etc. blah-blah I think he made a good deal; especially if considered he might sell the car in two years or so to get another toy, because most of the value of the SL is already lost which would not have been the case with the Audi - so he would lose much more money with that (up to 10.000 Euro higher depreciation).The late R129 gives a superb feeling of quality and maybe it has the/some of the best MB built- uality of the last 30 years or so.
Clear advantage of successor R230 is the folding steel roof - and the design is very nice...
Juergen
Not a bad idea - see my other post in thsi thread replying to Frank.
Juergen
At the end of last year I convinced a friend not to buy a brand-new Audi A4 Cabriolet for
46.000 Euro minus rebate = 41.000 Euro but a R129 SL320 from the 1999 modelyear with 60.000 km on the clock (ca. 37.500 miles) for 31.500 Euro - the 1999 modelyear already has the last face-lift (bumpers, lights etc.) and the V6 engine. As the car once cost ca. 75.000 Euro and was accident-free with full service history etc. blah-blah I think he made a good deal; especially if considered he might sell the car in two years or so to get another toy, because most of the value of the SL is already lost which would not have been the case with the Audi - so he would lose much more money with that (up to 10.000 Euro higher depreciation).The late R129 gives a superb feeling of quality and maybe it has the/some of the best MB built- quality of the last 30 years or so.
Clear advantage of successor R230 is the folding steel roof - and the design is very nice...
Juergen
Not a bad idea - see my other post in this thread replying to Frank.
Juergen
Was this a private sale or a dealer?
Can you still get a 1999 Starmarked?
.
Private sale from a dentist - times are bad here in Germany so even dentists have to sell their old SLs before the new one arrives... ;-))
Identical cars (as far as one used car can be identical to another) were being sold by MB dealerships at that time for up to 4.000 Euro more - of course with a private sale you do not have any warranty. Before buying the car was checked thoroughly by an independent vehicle engineer and no problems were found, still no problems some 7.000 km later.
We don't have any Starmark program here in Germany - what we have here is the _Europe-Warranty_ for up to 24 months, but most used MBs come with a 12 month warranty only (which is stipulated by European laws).
Juergen - 1982 W123 _already_ out of warranty ;-)
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