Dryce
Hardcore MB Enthusiast
- Joined
- May 17, 2006
- Messages
- 11,526
- Car
- GLE
We said goodbye to our 04 SLK230 today.
We bought it at 10 months old/11400 miles and kept it for almost exactly 6 and a half years and 57000 miles.
At almost 7.5 years old it's the oldest car we've ever had and the 6.5 years is the longest we've had any car.
Issues/problems. Well driving it today for the last time it felt pretty good. Rattle free and solid. The roof trim creaks a little from time to time.
Unscheduled items? Both rear speed sensors. And the MAF has been cleaned twice. The nearest it has ever been to letting us down was going into limp mode on the way into the workshop to get the first speed sensor dealt with. In the overal scheme of things - trivial. Costs have been lower than colleagues who have the likes of Renault and Citroen. And the R170 is rather more sophisticated.
No rust apart from some small chips. I'm assuming as an 04 it was galvanised.
It's passed every MOT.
Alloy wheels don't look so good. The first set were replaced under warranty due to white marks under the lacquer. The second set started dioing exactly the same. Good on MB for the no quibble replacement. Not so good that it happened again.
Depreciation of 6.5 years has averaged £2.6K / year. That's from MB dealer used price to P/ex price. Service costs were reasonable. And the unscheduled items were minor.
Owning it has been a pleasure. It feels solid and traditional - old fashioned - but then the model dates to 1996. The steering, brakes, and accelerator always felt weighted with the MB smooth long travel on the pedals.
The R170 doesn't have a reputation as a drivers car and to be sure even my W211 feels more tactile in the steering department. OTOH as a small GT it always felt unstressed and relaxing to drive long distances. The 5 auto speed box is reasonably modern. The engine while feeling a bit coarse is tractable and if you keep the revs up with the kompressor active it always felt as if it had more to give. Brakes were excellent.
We did seriously consider investing in smartening it up and keeping it longer. And that's the one aspect of the decision we may regret in a few years. The R170 feels 'old school' MB in terms of ruggedness and looks. But still feels reasonably sophisticated too. And compared with later MBs and other alternatives feels as if it would last a long time - and may be worth looking after as a prospective classic.
For us the R170 was a very very good ownership experience. Nice one MB.
We bought it at 10 months old/11400 miles and kept it for almost exactly 6 and a half years and 57000 miles.
At almost 7.5 years old it's the oldest car we've ever had and the 6.5 years is the longest we've had any car.
Issues/problems. Well driving it today for the last time it felt pretty good. Rattle free and solid. The roof trim creaks a little from time to time.
Unscheduled items? Both rear speed sensors. And the MAF has been cleaned twice. The nearest it has ever been to letting us down was going into limp mode on the way into the workshop to get the first speed sensor dealt with. In the overal scheme of things - trivial. Costs have been lower than colleagues who have the likes of Renault and Citroen. And the R170 is rather more sophisticated.
No rust apart from some small chips. I'm assuming as an 04 it was galvanised.
It's passed every MOT.
Alloy wheels don't look so good. The first set were replaced under warranty due to white marks under the lacquer. The second set started dioing exactly the same. Good on MB for the no quibble replacement. Not so good that it happened again.
Depreciation of 6.5 years has averaged £2.6K / year. That's from MB dealer used price to P/ex price. Service costs were reasonable. And the unscheduled items were minor.
Owning it has been a pleasure. It feels solid and traditional - old fashioned - but then the model dates to 1996. The steering, brakes, and accelerator always felt weighted with the MB smooth long travel on the pedals.
The R170 doesn't have a reputation as a drivers car and to be sure even my W211 feels more tactile in the steering department. OTOH as a small GT it always felt unstressed and relaxing to drive long distances. The 5 auto speed box is reasonably modern. The engine while feeling a bit coarse is tractable and if you keep the revs up with the kompressor active it always felt as if it had more to give. Brakes were excellent.
We did seriously consider investing in smartening it up and keeping it longer. And that's the one aspect of the decision we may regret in a few years. The R170 feels 'old school' MB in terms of ruggedness and looks. But still feels reasonably sophisticated too. And compared with later MBs and other alternatives feels as if it would last a long time - and may be worth looking after as a prospective classic.
For us the R170 was a very very good ownership experience. Nice one MB.
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