Opinions please. R170 purchase.

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pauly73

New Member
Joined
Nov 17, 2019
Messages
2
Location
West London
Car
A borrowed Focus
I am looking to buy an R170 SLK. It will be my daily driver, approx 15 miles per day 4 days a week. I have seen (advertised, not in the flesh yet) a 2001 230SLK Auto with 65K. It looks in pretty good condition cosmetically compared to others out there and has had only 2 adviseries in its MOT History. The mileage looks consistent with previous ownership too. Will hopefully view it ASAP.

I appreciate that as with any car of that age will come the running and maintenance costs but other than checking the body work for rust, roof operation, service history, transmission service and general condition checks what should i concentrate on? I'm not fully aware of the service intervals but have seen that Mercs arent the standard 12K or 12 months intervals. How many services would a car of this type and age be expected to have? 65K is about water pump time, not sure about the timing gear replacement?

Any advice greatfully recieved! Thanks
 
You pretty much have it covered. They do rust so check thoroughly. I have heard that water leaks can be a problem especially if badly repaired in the past. The servicing varies depending on use. Our 2003 CLK can go up to 2 years before requesting a service but our 2005 SLK hardly ever gets beyond 12 months. The regime changed sometime in 2004/5. On a low mileage car of that age it would not be unusual to have a service every 18-24 months.
 
I appreciate that as with any car of that age will come the running and maintenance costs but other than checking the body work for rust, roof operation, service history, transmission service and general condition checks what should i concentrate on?

Look for water or any signs of dampness at the boot on of the boot. Lift up the lower cover and check no water pooling - if there is then it can affect the electrics. Check the seals on the boot and the roof.

If you get a chance to run the car check the supercharger is being clutched in. There's a distinct change in the engine character as it goes above 3000 and the supercharger kicks in.

Check the alloys if they are original. We found they lasted about 3 years before corroding with white areas under the lacquer.

MAF sensor needed a clean every couple of years. If the MAF was needing a clean we would get the odd 'glitch' in the engine - sometimes quite subtle - and eventually the engine check light would come on.

Speed sensors needed changing after about 5 years. If these failed then the ESP and ABS warnings would come on. While being driven to get these sorted the car went into limp mode on the way. Also water ingress in the boot can cause similar warnings.

Servicing was variable. My recollection is that it was up to about 13000 miles depending on how it was driven or annual.
 

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