New to Mercedes, and delighted so far !

[simon45089]

I have finally bought an SL, having admired them for a long time. I went through a bit of a Porsche phase owning a couple of Boxsters and more recently a 911 (997.2) . but will now make amends!
I have always loved the looks of the Pagodas, but cost and practicality ruled them out. Following a bit of research I felt that the R231 SL400 offered excellent value, being almost half the price of a similar aged 911, and certainly had the presence of the earlier SLs.
I have not been disappointed, and am thinking the SL beats the 911 for me personally. The quality and luxury are outstanding, and Im loving the car. I am taking a trip over to Spain in it in the New year and cant wait ! I look forward to learning much more about the brand on the forum, and feel I will be in a Mercedes for a while now.
Thanks, Simon.

 

[Tonye]

Hi Simon, great choice, welcome to the club.
I had an R129 sl320 for a while, all the SLs are great in my opinion.

 

[SmartAmg]

Simon, lovely motor!

 

[Sweetooth]

Hi and welcome

 

[BoristheBounce]

View attachment 150714
I have finally bought an SL, having admired them for a long time. I went through a bit of a Porsche phase owning a couple of Boxsters and more recently a 911 (997.2) . but will now make amends!
I have always loved the looks of the Pagodas, but cost and practicality ruled them out. Following a bit of research I felt that the R231 SL400 offered excellent value, being almost half the price of a similar aged 911, and certainly had the presence of the earlier SLs.
I have not been disappointed, and am thinking the SL beats the 911 for me personally. The quality and luxury are outstanding, and Im loving the car. I am taking a trip over to Spain in it in the New year and cant wait ! I look forward to learning much more about the brand on the forum, and feel I will be in a Mercedes for a while now.
Thanks, Simon.

Cant agree with you more I love my SL400 R231.
Where are you Simon

 

[woodysl]

View attachment 150714
I have finally bought an SL, having admired them for a long time. I went through a bit of a Porsche phase owning a couple of Boxsters and more recently a 911 (997.2) . but will now make amends!
I have always loved the looks of the Pagodas, but cost and practicality ruled them out. Following a bit of research I felt that the R231 SL400 offered excellent value, being almost half the price of a similar aged 911, and certainly had the presence of the earlier SLs.
I have not been disappointed, and am thinking the SL beats the 911 for me personally. The quality and luxury are outstanding, and Im loving the car. I am taking a trip over to Spain in it in the New year and cant wait ! I look forward to learning much more about the brand on the forum, and feel I will be in a Mercedes for a while now.
Thanks, Simon.

Great choice, I've had an R230 sl 350 for 17 years now and its been a brilliant car. Just keep on top of the regular maintenance and it will repay you in spades.

 

[pioneercollector]

Excellent choice! I to own an R230 SL500, best looking car of its type.... period!

 

[simon45089]

Cant agree with you more I love my SL400 R231.
Where are you Simon

Currently in Northumberland. Some nice roads here but weather not so great ! I plan to take the car to Spain for a few months next year now retired.

 

[Fastcar155]

Hi Simon ,

Really nice car. However , please check up how long you can take your car to the EU.

I live in Portugal for half the year and what the Spanish Police and government appear to be poles apart on the legal requirements for motoring.

Take an International Driving permit with you for all countries you will be traveling through.

Speed checks are common , being inforced particularly in towns and villages.

On the spot fines are high.( Require payment or car seized )

I live on the Portuguese Spanish boarder and the two countries have reciprocal arrangements for law enforcement. Spanish Police regularly patrol in Portugal and will pull over cars for motoring offences and if an offence starts in Spain can end in Portugal.

Please remember that being pulled over by foreign law enforcement agencies within the EU is nothing like the good old British Bobby having a word !

Are know you said you are going to Spain but in Portugal it's the driver that insured and not the car for road use.

Putting all my doom and gloom to one side it's a fabulous country to drive in , get yourself a toll pass for countries you will be visiting.

PS

I love your car and I came so close to purchasing one.

 

[BoristheBounce]

Currently in Northumberland. Some nice roads here but weather not so great ! I plan to take the car to Spain for a few months next year now retired.

Thought you must be up North somewhere
When are you heading to Spain. We are just looking at going Portsmouth/Santander in May and taking in the Pau classic GP at the same time.

 

[simon45089]

Thought you must be up North somewhere
When are you heading to Spain. We are just looking at going Portsmouth/Santander in May and taking in the Pau classic GP at the same time.

Thinking April or May. Slightly inspired by my 85 year old father in law, who regularly makes the trip in his white C250D Cabriolet ! I Am thinking of going through France and will end up in Centro Alicante. Still in the planning stage.

 

[TrueSpirit]

View attachment 150714
I have finally bought an SL, having admired them for a long time. I went through a bit of a Porsche phase owning a couple of Boxsters and more recently a 911 (997.2) . but will now make amends!
I have always loved the looks of the Pagodas, but cost and practicality ruled them out. Following a bit of research I felt that the R231 SL400 offered excellent value, being almost half the price of a similar aged 911, and certainly had the presence of the earlier SLs.
I have not been disappointed, and am thinking the SL beats the 911 for me personally. The quality and luxury are outstanding, and Im loving the car. I am taking a trip over to Spain in it in the New year and cant wait ! I look forward to learning much more about the brand on the forum, and feel I will be in a Mercedes for a while now.
Thanks, Simon.

Congratulations, nice car ! funny I was walking to work this morning in belgravia, london and distinctly noticed a black SL400 like yours, stopped to admire it and thought it had a great rear end lol , enjoy! I wish I could do a road trip to Spain !

 

[BoristheBounce]

Thinking April or May. Slightly inspired by my 85 year old father in law, who regularly makes the trip in his white C250D Cabriolet ! I Am thinking of going through France and will end up in Centro Alicante. Still in the planning stage.

Enjoy, you will love it I've done a lot of European touring on my bike (Motorcycle) over the years, doing the same thing now only in the SL.....much more civilised

 

[RichardF]

I'd love another SL, and have an R231 like a shot .......except I need 4 seats.

 

[SeagullFan]

i’ve had R231 SL400 for just under 2 years. I love it.
Previous cars have been 911 S cabrio wide body - suffered bore score
RS40 Boxster and F Type convertable.
To be honest I think the F nailed it on looks, but the SL is by far more comfortable and a much better ride for long drives.

 

[Bazooka-Joe]

Lovely car. I had an R231400 and it was a lot of fun