SLK Secondhand or new?

[Colin_b]

An SLK it is, after much test driving and head scratching. And a 350, it has the required smile factor.

I was planning to buy a 2 or 3 year old one, but the economics don't seem to add up.

There are a few extras I need - mostly as recommened by the august people here Plus a few others (folding mirrors, xenon lights and dual zone climate control).

I don't want the posh sound system or satnav. And either red or black -not silver and not metallic... But for 2nd hand I'm not that bothered...

Brings the total list price to about 41k

It would appear that I can get around 2.5k discount by using a broker such as broadspeed, so I assume a dealer will match that, so I'd pay around 38.5k

Fine, I really would prefer to pay less, so looking as 2-3 year old ones ( and excluding imports, intergalactic mileage and 'only 6 previous owner ones'), I'd be looking around 27K for an 05/05 car from a non-MB dealer
or 30k from an MB dealer.

Am I looking in the wrong place for used, or do these cars really not depreciate that much?

It looks like buying new isn't the lunatic move it usually is with most other makes.

I am, I must confess confused. Please help

Colin

 

[portzy]

An SLK it is, after much test driving and head scratching. And a 350, it has the required smile factor.

I was planning to buy a 2 or 3 year old one, but the economics don't seem to add up.

There are a few extras I need - mostly as recommened by the august people here Plus a few others (folding mirrors, xenon lights and dual zone climate control).

I don't want the posh sound system or satnav. And either red or black -not silver and not metallic... But for 2nd hand I'm not that bothered...

Brings the total list price to about 41k

It would appear that I can get around 2.5k discount by using a broker such as broadspeed, so I assume a dealer will match that, so I'd pay around 38.5k

Fine, I really would prefer to pay less, so looking as 2-3 year old ones ( and excluding imports, intergalactic mileage and 'only 6 previous owner ones'), I'd be looking around 27K for an 05/05 car from a non-MB dealer
or 30k from an MB dealer.

Am I looking in the wrong place for used, or do these cars really not depreciate that much?

It looks like buying new isn't the lunatic move it usually is with most other makes.

I am, I must confess confused. Please help

Colin

Hello Colin.

You've probably guessed by now that I have an SLK 280 which I'm 99 to 1 going to be trading in the nest couple of months, (due to a start from scratch build). I've done a shed load of research, again, and I'm happy and more than willing to share it with you and I think it will help answer most of your concerns, would you mind if I re-posted tomorrow?, I've had a longggggg day today

Portzy.

 

[Dryce]

Fine, I really would prefer to pay less, so looking as 2-3 year old ones ( and excluding imports, intergalactic mileage and 'only 6 previous owner ones'), I'd be looking around 27K for an 05/05 car from a non-MB dealer
or 30k from an MB dealer.

Am I looking in the wrong place for used, or do these cars really not depreciate that much?

SLK traditionally holds quite well compared with the other models. The R170 only really took a hit once the R171 appeared on the immediate horizon. So barring any major model change ...

 

[portzy]

Hello again Colin.

A few things about buying 2 year old plus R171 SLK's:-

Some, not all, owners reported problems with exessive oil consumption on the 350 engine and in a few cases they had their engines changed.

The 7 speed auto box in these early cars were, in some cases, problematic with harsh and jerky up and downshifts. Re-programming seemed to fix most, but not all. Again the odd gearbox change was needed. Mines been ok btw.

If you find one with COMAND there were issues with this also. For some reason when either the AGW or COMAND itself became overly warm the system would shut down. The only way to re-set it was to either leave it turned off for about and hour or pull a fuse somewhere, Scumbag knows which one, and this would re-set it. The fix I believe was a modified AGW which had a cooling fan and a re-flash of the head unit. Mine did this, had the updates, and now only very occasionally calls it a day.

Some of the trim was a pain to keep clean. The dash, door tops, centre console etc was made from a rubbery material which marks very easily. This was changed to a similarly rubbery material round about late 2005/early 2006 and is less prone to, (finger and hand), marking.

All in all, do your homework with a 2 YO car, full MBSH etc and see if you can access its warranty repair history.

The 2.5K discount, about 5.5%, is easily acheivable at a main dealers, (Fact), so dont think that you have to go through a broker. There is no waiting list at the moment which there was way back when I got mine and paid RRP. The waiting list, btw, is opten blamed for occasional poor quality build on the early models.

After all that, I would say buy new if you can.

Spec wise I think you know what your after by now although, and I stand to be corrected here, dealers dont seem to be overly impressed that a car has zenons. At least mine doesnt and he's advising me to either save my money, (£700+), or put it into other ''essentials''. I'm just about ''specced'' out anyway and, to be honest, I cant say I noticed anything remarkable about zenons when I've used them but thats just my personal view, for some they are a revelation.

Colours?, thats personal but I've only ever seen one red one and I've seen dozens of SLK's in other colours. Black's nice but a pain to keep clean, silver? you cant go wrong with at the moment but, dealers are reckoning there is a detectable shift towards darker colurs in the SLK, the dark blue being very nice.

I think I've covered most of your Q's but feel free to ask some more if you like, I feel that I've lived - breathed - eaten SLK's for the past few months of researching them but, they are a lovely diet though .

Regards.

Portzy

 

[crockers]

What's your views on white --- "the new black" -- I like it in Silver - but they nearly all seem to be silver or black...

 

[portzy]

I've seen a couple of white ones on US sites and I dont think that it quite ''works'' somehow but each to their own I guess.

This, I think does?.

Portzy.

 

[BTB 500]

Problem with all the dark colours (esp. black) is they show the slightest scratch / swirl / chip in the paintwork (as well as looking dirty very quickly).

I personally hate white, and our Vito is ordered in Jasper blue. But have to say we saw a white one the other day with colour coded bumpers and side strips plus tinted glass and it looked fantastic. Didn't look anything like a normal 'white van' ... wonder if it was special paintwork.

 

[portzy]

Yes, got to aggree on that one, I've seen the Jasper Blue a few times lately and its quite impressive. All SLK colours, including solids, now come with the Nano paintwork finish which is quite tough.

Portzy.

 

[Mactech]

I have to say I agree with most of the things Portzy says. So much so that I bought a new black SLK about a year ago. I was really looking for a used one, but finding a stock car at the end of the quarter with the right spec. made more sense. I managed 7% off and a decent trade in.
The car was lovely, but black outside and light grey inside was a challenge to keep clean!
Only had the car for 10 months, no problems at all and yes, they do hold their money well.
I never missed the xenon lights in that car and COMAND is less of a 'must have' as the cars are not seen as long distance business tools.
The V6 sounds great with the top down, but still just a little too loud with it up to be considered an executive car. Enjoy the sun!

 

[scumbag]

Fuse 15 in the fuse box at the side of the glovecompartment. Or is it 19. resets the COMAND. the list of fuses is in the compartment with them.

As for Xenons. My 200 didnt have them and the AMG did. As Portzy says, if where he lives, you had them you would be hard pressed to tell the use of them. Anywhere you have low or, better still, high pressure sodium lamps lighting up the road, you dont feel the effect.

On a unlit country lane however, they are by far worth more than the money you pay for them. Round by me, on my way to work now, I travel 4miles on unlit A road. I made sure this car I have now, came with Xenons due to the sheer ability to illuminate the road far better than Halogens. And SLK's come with Bi-xenons so that means you full beam is produced with the same intensity.

I turned down a different model of car just because it didnt have xenons on it.

And with the SLK you get a little button to press that washes the lamps. So if its bad rain etc, you can keep them clean without having to wait for 15 washes, or holding the wash lever for more than a second or whatever.

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

On a unlit country lane however, they are by far worth more than the money you pay for them.

I'm with him!! ^^^

On unlit roads they are superb, but I could quite easily live without them as most of my driving is urban, and save a few quid in the process. Mrs D sees no benefit in Xenons at all - as it's lit all the way to the shopping mall, her parents house, and the school!!

I would also add that they are great when the car is new and under warranty, but I would be reluctant to have them on an older car. All parts associated with Xenons are horrendously expensive, and you have to replace the capsules in pairs - which the manual says is a dealer job rather than DIY.

I would also say that if there's a chance youy may want to retrofit them at a later date, it's probably best to bite the bullet at the outset. Whilst an expensive option it's much cheaper than retro-fitting using new OEM parts. You could fall lucky with second hand units, but even so the likely saving would be small.

PS One final point, they do look great when they first come on with the extra blue tint and the little dance they do to say hello. This feels like the second time in as many hours I feel the need to say before anyone else does: Simple things, and simple minds...

 

[C240Sport97]

Xenons also make the cars on the motorway move over quicker

 

[jeremytaylor]

Having driven an R170 230k and a an R171 200, I would definitely go for the newer model. It feels more alive and less 'heavy' IMHO, more like how a sports car should feel, rather than a 2-door saloon with a folding roof.

 

[Colin_b]

Hello again Colin.

A few things about buying 2 year old plus R171 SLK's:-

Some, not all, owners reported problems with exessive oil consumption on the 350 engine and in a few cases they had their engines changed.

The 7 speed auto box in these early cars were, in some cases, problematic with harsh and jerky up and downshifts. Re-programming seemed to fix most, but not all. Again the odd gearbox change was needed. Mines been ok btw.

If you find one with COMAND there were issues with this also. For some reason when either the AGW or COMAND itself became overly warm the system would shut down. The only way to re-set it was to either leave it turned off for about and hour or pull a fuse somewhere, Scumbag knows which one, and this would re-set it. The fix I believe was a modified AGW which had a cooling fan and a re-flash of the head unit. Mine did this, had the updates, and now only very occasionally calls it a day.

Some of the trim was a pain to keep clean. The dash, door tops, centre console etc was made from a rubbery material which marks very easily. This was changed to a similarly rubbery material round about late 2005/early 2006 and is less prone to, (finger and hand), marking.

All in all, do your homework with a 2 YO car, full MBSH etc and see if you can access its warranty repair history.

The 2.5K discount, about 5.5%, is easily acheivable at a main dealers, (Fact), so dont think that you have to go through a broker. There is no waiting list at the moment which there was way back when I got mine and paid RRP. The waiting list, btw, is opten blamed for occasional poor quality build on the early models.

After all that, I would say buy new if you can.

Spec wise I think you know what your after by now although, and I stand to be corrected here, dealers dont seem to be overly impressed that a car has zenons. At least mine doesnt and he's advising me to either save my money, (£700+), or put it into other ''essentials''. I'm just about ''specced'' out anyway and, to be honest, I cant say I noticed anything remarkable about zenons when I've used them but thats just my personal view, for some they are a revelation.

Colours?, thats personal but I've only ever seen one red one and I've seen dozens of SLK's in other colours. Black's nice but a pain to keep clean, silver? you cant go wrong with at the moment but, dealers are reckoning there is a detectable shift towards darker colurs in the SLK, the dark blue being very nice.

I think I've covered most of your Q's but feel free to ask some more if you like, I feel that I've lived - breathed - eaten SLK's for the past few months of researching them but, they are a lovely diet though .

Regards.

Portzy

Thanks indeed for that most comprehensive reply, most useful

Xenon lights are a must for me - my current Clio has the, and they ar e excellent ( I live in the middle of nowhere... nearest motorway 55 miles, nearest dual carriageway 15 miles, all low quality A (A595!) & B roads, dark, windy ind infested by sheep, tractors, drunken Cumbrians and the like, hehe...

Colours.. I like Black - a pain to keep really shiny, but after a couple of days it tends go get uniformly grubby, and not offend me. The chief prefers red (or possibly blue), neither of which bother me. I'd rather save the money and have a standard colour, tbh.

The command thing seems to be extremely poor value, I've a stick on tom-tom, which does a better job (cameras as well), for rather less money!

I'm becoming convinced that new is the way to go, the additional depreciation seems to me almost cheap compared to a 2year old model
I''m planning to keep it for around 5 years.

I've just got an insurance quote which made me grin, a lot less than I expected (£428), that was the last obstacle!

So, Portzy, do you feel rested & recovered - hope so - and why are you getting rid of your 280? What is to replace it?

Time to talk to some dealers, I think...

Colin.

PS SWMBO has been studing the brocure and discovered you can pick up the car from 'the factory' rather than the dealer. Anyone know what this means - I assume that means Germany rather than North Carolina...

 

[BenzComander]

Colin, have you considered a lease deal? Saw a £450 + Vat for two years deal on a 350 the other day, not sure how that works out taking your depreciation into account??

 

[portzy]

Thanks indeed for that most comprehensive reply, most useful

So, Portzy, do you feel rested & recovered - hope so - and why are you getting rid of your 280? What is to replace it?

Time to talk to some dealers, I think...

Colin.

PS SWMBO has been studing the brocure and discovered you can pick up the car from 'the factory' rather than the dealer. Anyone know what this means - I assume that means Germany rather than North Carolina...

Your welcome regarding the info, as I said, anything else? just ask away.

Yep, Im well rested now, a friend at work loaned my a couple of DVD's at the weekend and I've been up 'till 3am Saturday and Sunday watching them, (Cream and Led Zep in case you were wondering ).

A warranty repair too far I'm afraid so I'm cutting my losses but that hasnt put me off another one though and I'm happy with the deal I've struck/striking on another 280 but, I'm going for a different ''look'' this time round.

Instead of picking her up at the dealers, you can go to Germany, have a factory tour, watch them being bolted together, get a detailed handover of your new pride and joy, and drive back to the UK for the same price as standard delivery to the UK. Its all on the website.

Regards.

Portzy.

PS If you want the plexiglass windstop, order it as an option from new, its sixty quid or so cheaper, and post your spec as soon as youve decided.

 

[Goldfish11]

I made a big mistake in trying the new SLK rather than the R170. Mrs Goldfish fell in love with it so my original R170 budget has been doubled. I am also in the process of doing research and will start making big effort after the holiday season. So thank you for this post.

I am thinking you are better off gettting a 350 or 280 a few years old than a newer 200.

Mrs Goldfish has loves the Dark Blues (Bentoinite?) with Cream or White leather which confirms the dealers thoughts so I am keeping an eye out for this combination with as many options as possible. Not worried about mileage as I anticpate doing between 6 to 8K per year.

Can anyone give me any service cost estimates (or actuals)?

 

[portzy]

I made a big mistake in trying the new SLK rather than the R170. Mrs Goldfish fell in love with it so my original R170 budget has been doubled. I am also in the process of doing research and will start making big effort after the holiday season. So thank you for this post.

I am thinking you are better off gettting a 350 or 280 a few years old than a newer 200.

Mrs Goldfish has loves the Dark Blues (Bentoinite?) with Cream or White leather which confirms the dealers thoughts so I am keeping an eye out for this combination with as many options as possible. Not worried about mileage as I anticpate doing between 6 to 8K per year.

Can anyone give me any service cost estimates (or actuals)?

With similar low mileage, like youre anticipating, mine went straight to Service B after about 16 months and it was £325'ish from memory.

Its saying something like 8956 miles to service E as we speak which isnt bad considering thats two years motoring/servicing for just over 300 quid.

Portzy.

 

[Goldfish11]

Portzy an other question.

What would be your SLK dream specification for a used vehicle?

I definatly want heated seats I am not fused about airscarf (Mrs Goldfish hair pigtail/bun blocked it up so is a bit shorter so it is not a scalf but a headband). The wood option looks great and of course Leather and Auto.

You seem to be able to get well specified 04 SLK350's for under £30K with Comand, parktronic etc and I was thinking of going for one of these. But would it be safer to go for a newer 200 (Sadly not as much fun but maybe more sensible and less hassle?)

Your thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[Colin_b]

I hadn't considered leasing - I did lease a subaru a few yeras ago which worked well...

My thinking on figures is depreciation & loss of capital on a new one (assuming running costs the same for owned/leased) are 7K pa over 3 years, which equates to around 600/month.

A few minutes on google seems to indicate thisd is achieveable, but I need to do more searching

Colin.