Should I avoid a car which has hardly been used?

[kth286]

I think you will find the older the car gets the less significant the mileage, and the more significant the condition.

Merc used to have an old imaculate taxi in their museum with over a million miles - priceless !

I guess you could drive that car to an unlimited mileage, providing you kept up the condition with
genuine Merc parts replacements (that's the key and they are still available) and the price
would not be adversely affected.

 

[dan1502]

I'm not aware of that one. I concentrated on post 96 facelift cars and only viewed a couple of pre-facelift examples, one being a Mille Miglia and the other a very low mileage import. My understanding is that they don't really like being sat around, especially parts like the roof mechanism. That's a long time to have done very little mileage. I'm no expert on this and others can probably help but I guess it depends how it's been stored. Certainly check it very carefully and make sure you've read up thoroughly on what to check first.

 

[BTB 500]

But equally the same parts are subject to wear & tear whenever they are used, and things like interior are likely to be in a worse condition in a high-mileage car. So there's probably a 'sweet spot'.

Having said that my SL doesn't get used much (10k miles in the 8 years I've had it ), and touch wood I've had zero issues other than slight flat-spotting of the tyres after it's been standing ... which clears after 10 mins or so of driving. I do keep it on a maintenance charger though as the electrics don't like low voltage, and it' lives in a well-ventilated garage (which may or may not make any difference!).

Edit - of course a high-mileage car may have been mostly driven with the hard top on anyway, in which case the roof will have seen little action!

 

[mhcrichton]

Thanks guys. My main concern is the roof obviously. Apart from making it go up and down, is there any good way to check it? Does it go slower if getting tired? On one of the MOTs it said as an advisory item there is slight play in the steering and front wheel bearings. Is that normal for a car of this era? I know my 450SL back has vague steering and needs the bushes replaced however is it normal on the R126? Drove a horrible, horrible silver car today. Sad to see such beautiful cars in poor state of repairs. Am hoping this weekend brings better luck!

 

[dan1502]

It's common for wheel bearings to need adjusting. Regarding the roof, if you do a search you will find (Benzworld and others) you should find a diagram showing where all the hydraulic rams are. Some you can see, some you can't but check all you can for leaks. If those in the frame above the windscreen leak then fluid will drip down around the interior mirror and/or sun visors. I was told to do the roof up and down cycle at least four times before checking. Stopping part way allows you to inspect quite a lot of the mechanism. I also removed the spare wheel then removed the plastic cover (three plastic nuts) underneath which reveals the pump and fluid reservoir. Check for leaks here too but also observe the level. It should be at the maximum when either up or down (I forget which but if you try both, one will be higher than the other and it should then be at the maximum) - if not then the fluid must have gone somewhere.

And yes, unfortunately there are lots of horrible examples out there though some of the owners seem to disagree!