SL 55 - Looks Interesting, But...

[E55BOF]

This: 2003 03 MERCEDES-BENZ SL 5.4 SL55 AMG KOMPRESSOR AUTO 493 BHP 2DR CONVERTIBLE | eBay

It may not be all it seems, though. Never had an MoT test, seller/second owner has had it since 2016 but hasn't applied for a registration document yet, sold as seen. I wonder where it has been all its life?

Hmmmmmmmmmm....

STOP PRESS: I spoke to the owner. It was on M15 ABV until he bought it in November 2016. No service history, of course, but no BS about how he had it but lost it either. The MoT history looks OK, but until there's a V5 document ref no. it can't be checked to see if it was all in the same area/same garage. In an ideal world, it would have been serviced and looked after by a registered Mercedes indie, who would immediately recall it. (Don't laugh; my SL has a very dodgy-looking five years in a duplicate service book, but once I found out what reg it had been on, the indie concerned confirmed it was all correct).

He bought it as an investment, but now he's bought something more valuable as an investment and needs the garage space. He says he can't sell it without it being registered in his name because he's not a dealer.

Still Hmmmmm, but perhaps now with a rather different intonation.

 

[BaldGuy]

Awful add....screams walk away... sooooooo many questions to be asked....

 

[Deleted member 37751]

Dennis, you don’t half brighten my day up with your gung-ho pursuit of your latest desired car!

 

[E55BOF]

Yes, it's an awful ad, but that's not a backstreet garage or cheap crap gaff it's pictured in. Check his eBay business feedback, too, since 2007. Still interesting...

I've done a Cazana history check, and it says it had eight - yes, eight - previous owners. However, the detailed check records only two owner changes after initial purchase, in June 2010 and March 2016 (presumably the dealer the current owner bought it from).

The registration history is confusing! It went from FD03 ZVS to M15 ABV in June 2003, then in January 2007 from M15 ABV to G8 OST, then in March 2014 from G8 OST back to FD03 ZVS then to M15 ABV again; the first owner bought it back again, perhaps? I suspect there are really only three previous owners, with the change of registered owner while it was G8 OST being within the same family.

If it was originally FD03 ZVS, does anybody have any idea why it would/will now be on LK03 NWT?

The car is HPI clear. It has only done 1500 miles since the last MoT in March 2016. The wheels are probably quite nasty, but they can be changed (and sold on to somebody with different taste...). Obviously, courtesy of Oscar Shah's R129 (don't ask...), not a penny would change hands until I'd seen the car and heard it run.

Worth a punt?

 

[french]

Hmmm sounds cushdy don't you fink Boycie...

 

[E55BOF]

Dennis, you don’t half brighten my day up with your gung-ho pursuit of your latest desired car!

Well, I like the SL500; all it needs is an M113K engine...

And that car does look rather nice in silver with the red interior. I'm not a huge fan of either silver cars or red interiors, but they seem to go well together in the R230.

 

[E55BOF]

Hmmm sounds cushdy don't you fink Boycie...

Oh ye of little faith... And that's spelt cushty, I fink.

 

[Codger49]

Have you done a Google Streetview on the road alongside/behind the sellers address - I've never seen so many back street garages in one place.

Google Maps

 

[flowrider]

I would look elsewhere if i were you, there are other SL55's around.

 

[french]

Oh ye of little faith... And that's spelt cushty, I fink.

Showing orft ya mensa again i see...

 

[alabbasi]

That's exactly the same color scheme as my car which is a 2005. I'm not sure how important the service history is as most scheduled service items involve oil and filter changes with tire rotations. As I do my own work, i have some receipts for parts like oil filters , belt, hoses or whatever else my cars need so nothing is stamped.

You might be able to contact the dealership and ask if they have any records. I buddy mine who works at a dealership was able to pull a comprehensive list of work done on my CL65 when it came up for auction. All the dealers nationwide are connected up so he was able to get the info even though the car was in another state.

 

[E55BOF]

Have you done a Google Streetview on the road alongside/behind the sellers address - I've never seen so many back street garages in one place.

Agreed; a suitable place for a tyre shop. Look at the pictures of the car, though; that's not Willoughby Lane, is it?

I'd want to view the car in the storage location shown in the pictures, not the business premises in Willoughby Lane. If that were not possible, I'd not buy it. I'm daft, but I'm not that daft...

 

[E55BOF]

That's exactly the same color scheme as my car which is a 2005. I'm not sure how important the service history is as most scheduled service items involve oil and filter changes with tire rotations. As I do my own work, i have some receipts for parts like oil filters , belt, hoses or whatever else my cars need so nothing is stamped.

You might be able to contact the dealership and ask if they have any records. I buddy mine who works at a dealership was able to pull a comprehensive list of work done on my CL65 when it came up for auction. All the dealers nationwide are connected up so he was able to get the info even though the car was in another state.

The UK dealer network wasn't connected up nationally when the car was first registered, or for a few years after that, so I'd need to know which dealer(s) serviced the car before network computerisation, and if independents (who probably did the servicing after the first few years) weren't on the network nothing would show up anyway.

I'm not too fussed about the service history tbh; a test drive will show up any serious faults, the M113 is a very strong and reliable engine anyway, and at that mileage the usual expensive mileage-related suspects (SBC and ABC mainly) would probably be OK. The boot seals might well be another matter, though...

 

[alabbasi]

The UK dealer network wasn't connected up nationally when the car was first registered, or for a few years after that, so I'd need to know which dealer(s) serviced the car before network computerisation, and if independents (who probably did the servicing after the first few years) weren't on the network nothing would show up anyway.

I'm not too fussed about the service history tbh; a test drive will show up any serious faults, the M113 is a very strong and reliable engine anyway, and at that mileage the usual expensive mileage-related suspects (SBC and ABC mainly) would probably be OK. The boot seals might well be another matter, though...

Maybe they weren't, but it does not mean that the data was not centralized once they were so it's worth a check. I agree about their robustness. but given the odd history, a thorough inspection is in order. If the seller gets weird about it, pass on it.

 

[E55BOF]

Now here's a VERY odd thing: the seller is adamant, and I believe him, that the VIN is WDBSK7 4FX3F 026003, and putting that into the Ukrainian CARInfo site brings up a 2003 SL55, as I expected. It also brings up a VIN in the format I expected, namely WDB230 4742F 026003.

However, the car it brings up is a US version, silver with black leather, with the steering wheel for right-hand traffic! I don't believe for one moment that the car has been converted, and it has been in the UK all its life. Has anybody had this sort of problem with duff data from the Ukrainian site before?

 

[flowrider]

There is something very strange about this car. The VIN shows that some recalls were done on the car at 2600 and 22000 miles in New York and New Jersey.

Issue ID Failed Affected Component Miles City/State VIN Pattern
428706 25/06/03 VISIBILITY DEFROSTER/DEFOGGER SYSTEM:WINDSHIELD:HEATER CORE 2600 VALLEY STREAM, NY WDBSK74FX3F
674931 17/08/07 SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC 22000 MORRISTOWN, NJ WDBSK74FX3F

 

[alabbasi]

When i doubt about the authenticity of the car, I ask a Ukranian. The vin format does look like a US vin . The WDB230 would be the internal vin for Mercedes Benz.

I don't know if the car is a US model but the vin certainly appears to be. It might be worth doing an autocheck or US carfax to see.

I think you might want to let this pass, but you could of course call a dealer up and ask them. They'll know.

 

[flowrider]

Another issue.....the VIN states the interior colour is black/anthracite but the car is black/red. Everything about this car says walk away to me.

 

[E55BOF]

Al, the format of the second VIN (what you guys call the Identification Number) is the same format as the UK VINs on all the (ten at last count) UK-spec Mercedes cars, the earliest a 1994 and the latest a 2014, I've had since 2013. The number is stamped into the bodywork and visible under the LHS of the screen.

David, the whole thing is very odd, nay bizarre, indeed. On the face of it, the car is a US model, first registered in the UK, which had some recall work in the States in 2003 and 2007, yet had all its MoTs in the UK since 2006, and has had the interior trim replaced and been converted to RHD...

I don't think I'm going to bid after all.

 

[flowrider]

Al, the format of the second VIN (what you guys call the Identification Number) is the same format as the UK VINs on all the (ten at last count) UK-spec Mercedes cars, the earliest a 1994 and the latest a 2014, I've had since 2013. The number is stamped into the bodywork and visible under the LHS of the screen.

David, the whole thing is very odd, nay bizarre, indeed. On the face of it, the car is a US model, first registered in the UK, which had some recall work in the States in 2003 and 2007, yet had all its MoTs in the UK since 2006, and has had the interior trim replaced and been converted to RHD...

I don't think I'm going to bid after all.

Wise decision. Just think of the hassle you would have when you came to sell it!