Comments on '97 through '02 SL1 & SL2?

My 19+ year old son has driven a '96 SL1 for the last 3 years. It had 112K miles on it when he got it and we did all preventive maintenance at that time. It now has 140K miles and has been good to him. It was a good car to travel to/from college since it had adequate space, got very good gas mileage, and was easy to maintain.

Unfortunately, he was involved earlier tonight in a minor fender bender (thankfully everyone is OK), but the car suffered passenger side headlight, superficial bumper, hood, a leaking radiator and A/C condenser damage. Since we dropped collision on it, I am thinking it could be time to let go and just replace it with a newer vehicle.

My question is are the newer SL1's and SL2's as reliable as the old '96 he had? What known problems are there to be on the lookout for in say, a 2000 or newer SL2?

Feedback is appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Bob

Reply to
Bob Shuman
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IMHO you should try to find a 96 and up S1 (not S2) series close to the year you have and preferably the same color. (I am really a fan of the SW1 as it has GREAT utility.) If you have another the same as what you have everything on the second car will be safe except the RF headlight / hood area. If you do damage another part of the car or the doors, the older paint will match. The older car will be cheaper to purchase, I have heard of them selling for a song. You can probably find one selling for not much more than the wheels / tires and battery are worth.

Reply to
Private

Out of curiosity, was the transmission that developed the leak automatic or manual? I'm guessing auto, but just wanted to verify.

Looks like we will be trying to save the old '96. had it towed to our house and looks like I need a radiator, passenger headlamp assembly and new hood. The rest looks like it can be salvaged. Will know more when we get it apart.

Thanks for the comments.

Bob

Reply to
Bob Shuman

Glad to hear that your car is repairable. You can probably find a hood from a wrecking yard and if you look hard may even find one the right color. When you find the hood you may have also found the headlight and a rad.

Since you indicate that the right fender is still usable I am guessing that the steering and suspension were not involved. I would caution you to be sure that the steering was not involved as it does not take much of a hit (or hard curb or pothole) to bend something and result in a car that will skin off a few tires and a lot of work and money to get straight.

Good luck, YMMV

Reply to
Private

Manual thankfully. Had it changed in January and didn't have a garage I could use so I had to pay someone else to do it. When I called for an estimate they hummed and hawwed and didn't seem too eager to tell me, then I told them it was manual and they said "Oh, seven hour then" They told me their manual that estimates repair time said 14 to 18 hours to swap an automatic in the S series. Wondering if anybody here knows why swapping the auto takes twice as long?

Reply to
Roy

Started taking the old SL apart. Passenger headlamp assembly cracked at the top alignment screw. Radiator is leaking at the seams. Front bumper and cover is still in pretty good shape. Hood definitely needs replacing. Still locks closed on the latch, but started to crumple in the center on one side. yes, if we are lucky we will find the parts locally. No structural damage although there is a minor indent in the welded front support near the hood latch. Total deformation is about 1/4". Not worth replacing. No steering, engine, or wheel issues. Wish us luck.

The auto transmission cooling lines going into the radiator are a Pain in the rear to get off. I am soaking tonight in penetrating oil hoping that will help when I try again tomorrow. I am using a 1/2" flare wrench, but am afraid to pull too hard since I do not want to round off the compression nut on the feed tubes.

Bob

Reply to
Bob Shuman

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