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Possible SLK Purchase

More seriously, that does look like a very clean sound motor. My only concern would be that the MOT is very short dated; but on a four year old car with FSH it's probably not going to be a problem. If you get happy with the deal and the car, I'd just suggest to the owner that he perhaps shouldn't mind if you pop it round to a local drop in MoT station - very little money in the context to ensure it's all OK.
 
The 350 is very nice, but if you're looking to put that much into a car at least test drive a 55 before you make your decision ;)

Cheers,

Gaz
 
make sure you hpi it... seems an odd car to be on ebay.
 
I wouldn't buy a car of that value / complexity off ebay... there are plenty of approved used cars to choose from at dealers.. as for the price - the one indicated is irrelevant as it is the starting not the finishing price.... :)
 
I don't think where you find the car is that important. Presumably the opening bid is a bit more than they have been offered as a trade in. That should be easy enough to check by looking at wisebuyers/parkers/glasses etc. I think you should go and look at it.

You can then decide for yourself if the price is fine.

I find it hard to believe that the larger engine versions are going to be easy to sell on. It looks like the right engine size compromise to me.
 
Geezer said:
What's the 'real' fuel consumption on these?
Click to expand...
My wife's 2009 SLK350 has averaged 25.8mpg over the last 3 years and 20k+ miles. If you're gentle with it (ha, ha!) it'll return 30+ mpg at legal speeds on a run. A combination of booting it and urban driving will get it down to low 20's. Another consumable worth thinking about is rear tyres, which last 10k - 12k miles of normal(ish) use.

The particular car on fleabay is very well spec'd, and high spec 350's don't seem to last long on a dealer's forecourt so you may have to wait / be lucky to find something similar from a main dealer.

I agree with Gaz that you should at least try out a 55 before making a decision as they achieve their performance in quite different ways, with the 350 really needing to be wound up to deliver the goods. The howl of the V6 at the redline is pretty addictive though :devil:
 
I'm going to look at this on Friday. I'm not paying the asking price though and will want a new MOT.:)

What should I be looking for on this car? I have had a 171 before but it was only a 200K and this is a different beast.

Thanks for your help. :thumb:
 
As you've had an R171 before, I'd say just the normal stuff e.g. does everything work? As it has the memory pack, the nearside mirror can be set for reversing but on Angie's car it didn't reliably return to its home position (replaced under warranty). Other than that, the rear tyres will cost you close on a couple of hundred a pop so check them for tread. Make sure the seat heaters and airscarf all work.

Take it for a drive and cane it. The engine is silky smooth at lower speeds but may not feel as though it pulls that strongly below 3,500rpm. From then on it'll get more interesting. There'll be some light engine vibes at higher revs, and once it gets above 5,000rpm it should pull hard to the redline (almost 7,500). In manual or sport mode on the transmission it will pop and burble through the exhaust at higher rpm when on the overrun, and will give a throttle blip on downshifts. Under hard acceleration the rear end can feel a bit "loose", but that doesn't indicate any problems. The gearbox should give imperceptible upshifts and downshifts under moderate load when hot, and there shouldn't be any harsh shifts when driving it hard.

If the car is as good as the spec, it'll be a nice one.
 
Make sure you can get on with the scratchy plastic dashboard and centre console housing - quite a come-down if your previous SLK was a pre-facelift model with the spongiform dash.
 
Thanks to the pair of you. Luckily it has a Tier 1 warranty so if there is anything wrong it should get fixed.
 
st13phil said:
My wife's 2009 SLK350 has averaged 25.8mpg over the last 3 years and 20k+ miles. If you're gentle with it (ha, ha!) it'll return 30+ mpg at legal speeds on a run. A combination of booting it and urban driving will get it down to low 20's. Another consumable worth thinking about is rear tyres, which last 10k - 12k miles of normal(ish) use.

The particular car on fleabay is very well spec'd, and high spec 350's don't seem to last long on a dealer's forecourt so you may have to wait / be lucky to find something similar from a main dealer.

I agree with Gaz that you should at least try out a 55 before making a decision as they achieve their performance in quite different ways, with the 350 really needing to be wound up to deliver the goods. The howl of the V6 at the redline is pretty addictive though :devil:
Click to expand...

Interesting reading from Phil - I have to admit I've not driven a 350. The 55 is all about torque - it rides on a huge wall of it from about 1500 rpm upwards. No replacement for displacement, as our colonial cousins say.

Fuel & economy are not two words you really string together if you own a 55. I've never seen 30 to the gallon, and over 25 requires nun-like driving. Actually, make that a nun with 9 points on her licence. Around 20 is the norm, and I got down to 8 on the track.

I'm not heavy on tyres and don't do a lot of miles - I changed the whole set a few months back and paid £630 IIRC for Conti SC3's - those were on 18" rims.

Enjoy the viewing/test drive and let us know how you get on.. :)

Cheers,

Gaz
 
If I was to consider spending £20k on an SLK I would think long and hard about going an extra £7k and getting the latest model.

The front grille looks 100X better as far as I am concerned.
 
gaz_l said:
Interesting reading from Phil - I have to admit I've not driven a 350. The 55 is all about torque - it rides on a huge wall of it from about 1500 rpm upwards. No replacement for displacement, as our colonial cousins say.
Click to expand...
The 55's peak torque is achieved at 4,000rpm and is just over 40% higher than the 350's at almost 1,000rpm lower. I'd suspect that it produces most of that torque from about 2,000rpm, too.

I find the 350 great fun to drive, but to access the performance you do have to be in the right gear and you do have to rev it - hard! In some respects it's a bit like driving a bike engine, with peak torque at 4,900rpm, peak power at 6,500rpm, and the redline 700 rpm later. It sounds great though, and with the top down I find myself slowing down for no other reason than it allows me to wind it up through the 'box again :D
 
lewyboy said:
If I was to consider spending £20k on an SLK I would think long and hard about going an extra £7k and getting the latest model.

The front grille looks 100X better as far as I am concerned.
Click to expand...

The sums don't add up, though. A decently-specced R172 SLK 350 costs well in excess of £40,000 second hand. Anything under £30,000 will be a poverty-spec 1.8 litre.
 
MOCAŠ said:
The sums don't add up, though. A decently-specced R172 SLK 350 costs well in excess of £40,000 second hand. Anything under £30,000 will be a poverty-spec 1.8 litre.
Click to expand...

Maybe...

But that grille.
 
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