Buying SL280 R129 - No Hardtop??

[SL2015]

Hi all,

First post here as hopefully a soon to be owner of an R129 SL. I've seen what appears to be a cracking 2001 SL280 special edition in dark green with beige leather. It's being bought from a trader and the only downside is there is no hardtop with the car. Is this a big issue? I presume the soft top is useable all year round and the hardtop is a nice to have but not necessary or am I missing something?

The cars done 86k with FSH and loads of paperwork from over the years, last owner had it for 11 years and it will come with a years MOT. Priced at £6,000 due to missing hardtop, does this sound like a good deal?

Any thought appreciated,

Thanks,
Mike

 

[E55BOF]

Others will advise on the price of the car you are buying, and whether doing without a hardtop is much of a problem, but there are loads of R129 hardtops on eBay at prices from about £250 up to 'silly sod', so acquiring one should not be too much of a problem.

 

[Parisien]

The presence or absence of a hardtop would not be a deal breaker in any way for me.

Does it look well, does it drive well, do all electrics work, does the roof work, does it have a whole host of invoices?

If so, the hardtop doesn't truly make a big difference!


P

 

[Doodle]

Relatively easy to replace (if a bit faffy to get the alignments right), it makes a fair difference for winter usage, makes the car much quieter and feel more solid, heated rear screen etc

It's a standard part and it should be there...if someone offered you a car with half the interior missing you'd give the price a severe kicking. Same applies here.

It needs to be a top quality car otherwise for £6k, 280s are relatively unloved in the 129 world.

 

[SL2015]

Hadn't realised they were that cheap to buy on eBay.... I guess I could always buy one and have it sprayed to match.

Currently deciding between this 280 and a 320sl Heritage Edition (aparently only 50 ever made) same colouring different wheels and a few more extras, 70k miles but up for 9,000 so quite a bit more albeit it does come with a hardtop! Are the special editions worth the extra in terms of investment etc? Is the 320 that much better than the 280?

Thanks again for all the advice!

 

[SL2015]

And the 280 is very clean, tons of bills, full service history and looks like it's been garaged. Read window split and ac not blowing cold all of which the garage have said they will fix before purchase. I had thought 6k was a good price but didn't realised the 280 was unloved in terms of sl engines. Seemed fast enough to me.

 

[grober]

Me---- buying a 2001 R129 I would want all my ducks in a row thank you. A fastidious previous owner would have a hard top -- the cars came with one from the factory. - If for some reason it was missing and they are so cheap to replace why hasn't this been done? This screams previous skimping on costs somewhere along the line as also evidenced by the rear window split and N/O aircon - so what else wasn't done in the way of servicing and maintenance? Altho 280 s are the least popular of the R129s good clean examples with solid history still command all the money. It is cheap for a reason and its not the missing hard top .

 

[219]

In addition , if you do go for it and end up shopping for a hardtop , since it is a late car , get the panoramic roof .

 

[BTB 500]

didn't realised the 280 was unloved in terms of sl engines. Seemed fast enough to me.

When new the 280 took almost 10 secs to do 0-60, so the engine has to work pretty hard in normal driving compared to the other versions.

As mentioned the hardtop was standard ... presumably it got sold off separately, which wouldn't be a good sign for me. Has it still got the wind deflector (which was also standard)?

 

[IMD]

In terms of future re-sale, then yes, the hardtop is preferable. I put mine on each winter, but it not necessary. With heater on, the soft top is perfectly warm enough. Just don't be tempted to put the roof down on a frosty, blue sky winter day! Unless you do it after the plastic windows have warmed sufficiently! They may crack otherwise, especially if older.

We have to remember that not everyone has a garage or facility to store a hardtop, especially those who live in apartments or cities and these things are quite large. The previous owner may have serviced it perfectly, but didn't have the room.

Just do all the usual checks and make sure that the roof is working perfectly.

Good luck and enjoy the car if you buy it

 

[SL2015]

Thanks ! With all the history available it doesn't seem like maintenance was skimped on but you have got me thinking, I'm going back this afternoon with a mechanic who will hopefully be able to spot any potential issues!

It does still have the wind deflector, aparently the owner who part exchanged it still has the hardtop but didn't have it on the car when he came to swap and they held back a £1000, it's now 2 months on and he still hasn't bought in the hardtop to get the extra. Seems odd to me but some people have more money than sense I guess. Aparently it's a panoramic roof, he may have sold for more on eBay!

I'm off to see this Heritage Edition 320 shortly so at least I'll have something to compare it to.

 

[BTB 500]

not everyone has a garage or facility to store a hardtop

We lived in a small rented house for a year before we got married and kept the hardtop in a bedroom upstairs!

 

[BTB 500]

I'm off to see this Heritage Edition 320 shortly so at least I'll have something to compare it to.

Make sure you try a 500 too

It's far from being a fire-breathing monster ... sure it has performance there when you want it, but it's a nice relaxed drive with plenty of torque on tap.

 

[E55BOF]

Think carefully about what you actually want from the car. The 280 will look just as good, and be just as well-appointed inside, as the more powerful versions. If you want the rumbling V8 and the easy torque, then the 280 is not for you; if not, it might be. Of course, you don't tell the dealer that; you stress how unloved the 280s are compared to the faster ones, which makes them worth much less...

Buy on condition and history, not mileage.

So far as the hardtop is concerned, if you buy the 280, it would be worth trying the previous owner to see if he/she still has it, and if so, try to make contact to ask please can you have it and at what price? Regarding summer storage, it takes up a lot less floor space standing on end, and there are lots of aftermarket stands on eBay to do just that from about £100 upwards.

Let us know how you get on.

 

[Simon_M]

We lived in a small rented house for a year before we got married and kept the hardtop in a bedroom upstairs!

Then when you got married she chucked it out?

 

[219]

Think carefully about what you actually want from the car. The 280 will look just as good, and be just as well-appointed inside, as the more powerful versions. If you want the rumbling V8 and the easy torque, then the 280 is not for you; if not, it might be. Of course, you don't tell the dealer that; you stress how unloved the 280s are compared to the faster ones, which makes them worth much less...

Buy on condition and history, not mileage.

So far as the hardtop is concerned, if you buy the 280, it would be worth trying the previous owner to see if he/she still has it, and if so, try to make contact to ask please can you have it and at what price? Regarding summer storage, it takes up a lot less floor space standing on end, and there are lots of aftermarket stands on eBay to do just that from about £100 upwards.

Let us know how you get on.

My hardtop is currently residing in my mum's garage ( she's nearly 85 and long ago gave up driving , so no car ) . I just put a piece of carpet on the floor and leaned it against the wall with a dust sheet over it .

 

[SL2015]

Ok so the 320 was no good. Lots of things needing doing so not half as pristine as the dealer had me believe.

I am now the proud owner of the 280 I went to see first, went back with my mechanic who said all seems in good condition. I paid 6k, 2001 y reg, will be serviced (oil service), have a New Years MOT, air con re-gassed, hood windows replaced. It has a FSH and pretty much every receipt, stamp, old mot from the last 10 years plus. It does seem very good condition.

Question - I've been offered the panoramic hardtop from the original owner for £1500 along with wind deflector. Is it worth it? Will bring the price to £7.5k for the car but it may be worth it in the long run. I hear the panoramic roofs are quite special.

 

[219]

That does seem to be about the going rate for the panoramic roof .

One advantage of getting the original one from your own car is that it will fit without a lot of fiddling to get the latches adjusted right , not to mention that it will already be the right colour and won't need repainting as would a random roof from another car .

 

[Doodle]

They're chuffing heavy, that much I do know.

If you like it, and the car is a keeper then go for it. Otherwise I wouldn't bother, it's not going to add even close to £1500 value to the car.

 

[BTB 500]

Question - I've been offered the panoramic hardtop from the original owner for £1500 along with wind deflector.

So he's aiming to make a £500 profit if the dealer held back £1000 when buying the car.

I thought you said it was being sold with the wind deflector? What about the trim panel for the boot that covers the wind deflector - is that present?

Any other standard items removed from the car - spare wheel, first aid kit, handbook, toolkit?

The latter is important because it contains a special tool to operate the roof manually in an emergency.