R129 for sale at dealer, opinions please ?

[Pcn1]

Ive seen this car, its well presented, nice service history, few extra toys fitted etc

MERCEDES SL CLASS SL320 for sale from Adrian Blyth Surrey

Assuming it passed a closer inspection, how does the forum feel about the asking price in todays market ?

Thanks

 

[Darrell]

I like it very much and if it was April or May I would be on my way to look.

 

[merc85]

This is my Fav r129 at the minute

1992 MERCEDES SL500 500 SL-32 CONVERTIBLE PETROL | eBay

 

[Darrell]

This is my Fav r129 at the minute

1992 MERCEDES SL500 500 SL-32 CONVERTIBLE PETROL | eBay

It’s been for sale for a while.

 

[zipdip]

Well I like the fact it is blue,always like blue cars,it looks in great condition,go for it.

 

[Pcn1]

Ive watched the market, and seen just a few cars over the last 6+ months.
All I can gather is prices are all over the place, lots of cars sit for 6 months plus on forcourts and never seem to sell, and you really never know what condition the car is untill you see it in the flesh.
But Ive been caught out on this one so many times I dont know why I have not learnt my lesson, when I view the higher priced but, "very low miles" cars they allways turn out to be the worst examples for sale !!

 

[Eddy77]

Looks lovely. Adrian Blyth has a good reputation round here (I live nearby). If the condition checks out I’d say the price is very good.

 

[Darrell]

You’re so right. Prices are everywhere.
A member on here told me that to get a pukka 500 I wouldn’t get much change out of £15000.
There is another member called Gamey who is selling a 320 in the classifieds.

My head is sore because of looking and so I’ve actually been looking at
E46 convertibles.

 

[Vintage Racer]

I'd grab that, but try to keep the miles off it afterwards!

Adrian has a decent reputation.

Good luck!

.

 

[leef44]

It's worth getting ATF changed on it if this hasn't already been done in the last two/three years for that age of car. The gearbox can get stroppy otherwise. This should be less than £300 from an indie, maybe closer to £200 (?)

 

[Gbrowncls55]

Looks very nice. Good colour lovely interior and pan roof (I would not buy one without it) good dealer. I owned an sl320 S reg facelift R129 for six years before swapping it for an r230. The R129 was far more comfortable. Apart from overall mechanical health, the main thing to check for is electric hood operation and rust on the bodywork, particularly the front bottom edge of the front wings where they meet the plastic front bumper. There is a plastic stud between the two that with movement wears away the paint and lets rust it. Bubling paint is the tell tail sign. That said not a particularly difficult fix. The other area is the leather on the front seats which wears very badly particularly on the drivers bolster, but looking at the photos this one's interior looks mint. Check then go for it ...great looking car and soooo much better than silver or black imho.

 

[gramey]

You’re so right. Prices are everywhere.
A member on here told me that to get a pukka 500 I wouldn’t get much change out of £15000.
There is another member called Gamey who is selling a 320 in the classifieds.

My head is sore because of looking and so I’ve actually been looking at
E46 convertibles.

It's horses for courses as they say, that car does look very nice and a panoramic roof is a nice option to have but it certainly wasn't a deal breaker for me. As others have said R129 prices are all over the place and a dealer will always get away with asking more especially for a low mileage car but that only retains it's value if the mileage remains low.

I can't wind the odometer back on mine, and nor would I want to, I bought mine as £5,500 car and I've spent in excess of £6,000 on it, but due to the mileage that still doesn't make it an £11,000 car. That said there are people such as myself who won't have an £11,000+ budget but want a good honest car so there are variations in the market. I honestly think somebody would get a very good value for money R129 in mine but as I said in my advert it's not a concurs show car.

As for E46 convertibles short of the M3, which can also be a minefield, I seriously doubt they will ever be a classic, which I think the R129 will become, due to the sheer volume and number of variations from 318's to 330's.

 

[Darrell]

It's horses for courses as they say, that car does look very nice and a panoramic roof is a nice option to have but it certainly wasn't a deal breaker for me. As others have said R129 prices are all over the place and a dealer will always get away with asking more especially for a low mileage car but that only retains it's value if the mileage remains low.

I can't wind the odometer back on mine, and nor would I want to, I bought mine as £5,500 car and I've spent in excess of £6,000 on it, but due to the mileage that still doesn't make it an £11,000 car. That said there are people such as myself who won't have an £11,000+ budget but want a good honest car so there are variations in the market. I honestly think somebody would get a very good value for money R129 in mine but as I said in my advert it's not a concurs show car.

As for E46 convertibles short of the M3, which can also be a minefield, I seriously doubt they will ever be a classic, which I think the R129 will become, due to the sheer volume and number of variations from 318's to 330's.

I’m still looking for the 129 and it’s still top of the list.

I do like a classic though, especially a modern and I reckon the E46 is going to be a good bet. The M3 convertible will be a £50000 car in 5 years.

 

[gramey]

This is my Fav r129 at the minute

1992 MERCEDES SL500 500 SL-32 CONVERTIBLE PETROL | eBay

That is a nice looking car although it took someone 3 attempts to get it through the MOT last year but overall looks alright.

 

[gramey]

On the face of it this looks nice but the ad definitely appears misleading. It says only 1 previous keeper but a check shows last change of keeper was April 2017. It's a 1992 car but you have to read the ad carefully to see it was registered in 2003 so is presumably an import. There are big gaps in MOT history and the split rim 'AMG' wheels appear to be replicas rather than genuine.
So it looks nice and shiney with a nice colour combination but all that glitters is not gold - MERCEDES SL500 R129 AUTO 1992 88,000 MILES TRULY STUNNING EXAMPLE | eBay

 

[Darrell]

On the face of it this looks nice but the ad definitely appears misleading. It says only 1 previous keeper but a check shows last change of keeper was April 2017. It's a 1992 car but you have to read the ad carefully to see it was registered in 2003 so is presumably an import. There are big gaps in MOT history and the split rim 'AMG' wheels appear to be replicas rather than genuine.
So it looks nice and shiney with a nice colour combination but all that glitters is not gold - MERCEDES SL500 R129 AUTO 1992 88,000 MILES TRULY STUNNING EXAMPLE | eBay

This particular car has been for sale since the summer. I recognise the surroundings.

 

[gramey]

This particular car has been for sale since the summer. I recognise the surroundings.

Darrell there are several cars out there for sale that have been so since before I bought mine (July 2016) as I remember looking at or enquiring about them. It amazes me that some of these traders want or can have a car sitting around for so long, is there some sort of tax write off for them if they do?
I agree with you re the price of E46 M3's but the standard cars are unlikely to ever make it to classic status as they're just too common. I dare say that I'll sell my R129 and regret it in less than two years if the forecast for them achieving classic status happens. I had the same thing happen with a Porsche 928 GTS manual that I owned, sold for £12,000 in 2011 (enforced by divorce) now you try finding a manual GTS anywhere south of £40,000.

 

[rockits]

Looks like a nice example but I would always want a 500. The V8 in the R129 suits the car so well. It is priced towards the top end I would say.

I have a nice T/99 SL500 with 72k miles (I think!) that Olly/Jack have looked over recently & done a fair bit for me like arms/bushes etc. to get it nice. Couple of little bits to do to get it were I want it. It is a £15k car I would say in comparison. I think I'm the 3rd owner.

Just gives you an idea as a comparison.

 

[gramey]

Rockits, nice looking car, have you owned that long, I saw similar car advertised autumn time I think last year and at the time it had a set of horrible Carlsson style replica wheels on, exactly the same as my 320 had when I bought it. Just curious if that's the same car, probably not, I wanted to buy the black SL500 but they offered me an insulting price for car, which I wasn't prepared to accept.

 

[rockits]

Thanks. I went searching through a few before I found this one. There are some poor examples out there for sure. I've had it 2 years or just over I think. It is all very original as it left the factory.

It was bought new & owned by 1st older gentlemen owner in Berkshire. Supplied & services for some years with the main dealer in Sunningdale. His friend a car dealer bought it off him & had it a few years then I bought it off the dealer.

It is not perfect will be as only needs a few little bits done now. Had Olly @ PCS go through it so we replaced a bit of worn suspension components & it drives really well now.

I don't think it will be the car that you saw from the sound of it. The dealer advertised it on AutoTrader I moved & snapped it up pretty quickly!