1995 SL320 Daily Runaround ?

[Jimbo39]

Hi great forum, well done guys.

Been looking at a 1995 SL320, 60,000 miles, Full MBSH, £8500.
Sounds a good buy. Gorgeous looking car. But could I afford to run it on a daily basis ? 3.2 Thats got to be thursty !!
Been looking for something a bit special, convertible, could this be it ??

Any help and advice, greatly appreciated.......Jimbo

 

[l5foye]

The price is fair if car is in good condition.
As regards mpg, a lot depends on how you drive it and road/traffic conditions. With a gentle right foot, it is possible to get 29 mpg. It is of course possible to get mpg in the sub 20 category! It is not really a car to buy if economy is a major consideration.

 

[imadoofus]

I use my W124 E320 coupe most days, and much of my driving is urban. I get 18mpg

PJ

 

[andy_k]

I use my W124 E320 coupe most days, and much of my driving is urban. I get 18mpg

PJ

I use my E320 estate most days and get an average of 31 mpg with a mixture of very light urban and country roads. Even if I drive it like I've stolen it I still get 20 mpg

Andy

 

[imadoofus]

I use my E320 estate most days and get an average of 31 mpg with a mixture of very light urban and country roads. Even if I drive it like I've stolen it I still get 20 mpg

Andy

That's traffic for yer!

PJ

 

[Rose Chap]

Welcome Jimbo, this is a great forum with lots of helpful people, so I'm sure you'll get some great advice.

You ask whether you could afford to run an 11/12 year old SL320 on a daily basis. Unless you're wanting to share details of your household income that's a tricky question to answer!

Obviously its not going to be especially fuel efficient, with high teens mpg around town, and servicing and maintenance is not going to be cheap. However, if done properly then you will be driving round with all the satisfaction gained by knowing your car cost £50K+ new for considerably less.

A mistake too many people make is they only see a car purely on the price they pay for it. Running a 12 year old high end Mercedes-Benz bought for £9,500 is a completely diffferent ownership proposition to a new VW Polo costing £9,500.

Depending on the mileage you do, and where you plan to get it serviced (many MB dealers offer discounts for older cars), you should probably budget around £1,000 to £1,500 a year for servicing and maintenance, and 20 mpg average driving.

Good luck with your decision.

RC

 

[mjrennie]

good, solid mercs.

 

[Jimbo39]

Thanks Guys for your help, No Closer to a decision.
It all falls back to the SL being such an amazing looking car.
Maybe i need to consider a smaller engine, a 230 for instance. Will keep looking. I think I will also do some calcs to see what it would cost me on a weekly basis fuel wise (thats my concern). No point having an amazing car, if you cant enjoy it !!!

 

[BTB 500]

Welcome to the forum

If you can afford one, a '97 (facelift) SL would have the better 5 speed gearbox. The official fuel consumption for a '97 model SL320 is 15.4 urban / 30.7 extra-urban. Not a lot better than an SL500 (12.9 / 28.5). I don't have figures for the 4-speed but probably not much different. The 320 would probably be a bit cheaper to insure though, and cheaper to buy.

This is a heavy car (nudging 2 tonnes) so you have to expect bad stop/start fuel consumption.

As already commented, whether you can afford it or not depends on how much money you have!

You need to look at a few really, don't recommend buying the first you see.

 

[BTB 500]

It all falls back to the SL being such an amazing looking car.
Maybe i need to consider a smaller engine, a 230 for instance.

There's no SL230, are you thinking of the SLK by any chance?

 

[Jimbo39]

Sorry Bill, I was speaking generally about Mercedes, when I mentioned the 230 engine. The SLK has only 2 seats so a bit restricted.
What about the later SL280 V6 ?

 

[BTB 500]

Sorry Bill, I was speaking generally about Mercedes, when I mentioned the 230 engine. The SLK has only 2 seats so a bit restricted.
What about the later SL280 V6 ?

The R129 SL only has 'child seats' in the back, and they were an option on many models (depending on year and engine size). They're not legal for kids now anyway (only lap belts, so you can't use a booster) and there's only enough room for (small) adults if you wind the front seats forward.

The SL280 was only marginally better on fuel: 16.1 urban, 31.4 extra urban.

 

[Mr Nicey]

The only SL320 that does 35mpg is one thats for sale.

 

[Sp!ke]

I can crack 30mpg in my SL500 if I drive like a nun, but its much more fun driving it like a thief.

I console myself by thinking that I could be driving a 1.8 petrol Mondeo and not really get an awful lot more to the gallon.

 

[MD5]

I can crack 30mpg in my SL500 if I drive like a nun, but its much more fun driving it like a thief.

I console myself by thinking that I could be driving a 1.8 petrol Mondeo and not really get an awful lot more to the gallon.

Missed a few subtle clues there, Spike!