SL R129

[Pcn1]

Personally I'd look elsewhere, but my budget was around £10K. For that I bought a super straight car with no "to do" list when I collected it.

You could end up putting thousands in this car plus your time if you wanted to sort it out as a keeper. Or has been said, just drive it about to scratch the itch and sell it on later.

Your cash, your choice

 

[BRN9121]

1. Top hydraulics. If they don't work, get them all rebuilt, all 12 of them.
2. Make sure you have more than one key fob and that they both work.
3. Check front lower control arms and bushings.
4. Cats should be good. If your country allows you to go catless, then not a worry.

Everything else is straight forward. The only niggling issue is sourcing and paying for interior plastic parts

 

[grober]

Holy thread revival! 4 freaking years down the line and I'm still SL-less, I've had a kid in 2019 so that's stopped the purchase of a highly practical 2 door convertible LOL!

Anyway here we are again, been in touch with lovely chap whose looking to sell his 320. It's a 2001 plate, car seems pretty straight MOT history is great and the seller seems super genuine. 109k on the clock. Main issues he has mentioned is that the car has had a respray prior to his ownership that he says is less than perfect and that the central locking is hit and miss.. i seem to see this a lot, common issue? Whats usually the cause ? He's has mentioned a there are a few small areas of rust around the soft top but nothing major, and a few small cracks appearing on the rear soft top platci panel.

Think he may want around the £5.5k, going to go see it this week as its local.

As mentioned prior im happy to sink some time and effort into the car to being it bring to glory, won't be a daily driver so its OK, nice project of sorts.

Any thoughts?

TOO CHEAP for a 2001----expect to spend at least as much again post purchase- a respray is bad news if fairly recent- check the price of good ones from reputable specialists

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[Hosh85]

1. Top hydraulics. If they don't work, get them all rebuilt, all 12 of them.
2. Make sure you have more than one key fob and that they both work.
3. Check front lower control arms and bushings.
4. Cats should be good. If your country allows you to go catless, then not a worry.

Everything else is straight forward. The only niggling issue is sourcing and paying for interior plastic parts

Thank you all for your input here, I know its a car that needs a bit of work and the seller made that clear hence the price, he has 2 of them and is keeping one of them hence the sale.

He has done an MOT on the car a few wks ago and it apparently flew through, no advisors apart from a note that the exhaust has been previously repaired but I plan on changing this anyway. If he allows me to i will be taking the car to my mechanic and do another MOT and ask him to check the above list and other key things on the car etc

Thanks for this list aswell, it's a 2nd or 3rd time that someone has mentioned hydraulics, he has said there are no issues with the softop top operation to be fair but what does this job cost to do roughly speaking, what's involved ?

 

[colinallcars]

Thank you all for your input here, I know its a car that needs a bit of work and the seller made that clear hence the price, he has 2 of them and is keeping one of them hence the sale.

He has done an MOT on the car a few wks ago and it apparently flew through, no advisors apart from a note that the exhaust has been previously repaired but I plan on changing this anyway. If he allows me to i will be taking the car to my mechanic and do another MOT and ask him to check the above list and other key things on the car etc

Thanks for this list aswell, it's a 2nd or 3rd time that someone has mentioned hydraulics, he has said there are no issues with the softop top operation to be fair but what does this job cost to do roughly speaking, what's involved ?

Has two, keeping one? Make sure the one he’s selling wasn’t the parts car!

 

[Hosh85]

J

Has two, keeping one? Make sure the one he’s selling wasn’t the parts car!

Good point, did cross my mind when inswe rhem both, told me the fstory as to why he has 2 and so no, it hasn't been butchered thankfully

Just seen another pre face lift with less mileage and the pano hard top also in Blue, looks lovely with the beige interior also.

 

[DrNick]

TOO CHEAP for a 2001----expect to spend at least as much again post purchase- a respray is bad news if fairly recent- check the price of good ones from reputable specialists

It’s only too cheap if you want to bring it up to a high standard. If all the important bits work ok it may not cost anything at all extra and you can unload it later at a similar price. Not all of them are investment grade and prices are all over the place! But it’s important that things that are important to you work, because fixing them will cost!

 

[grober]

It’s only too cheap if you want to bring it up to a high standard. If all the important bits work ok it may not cost anything at all extra and you can unload it later at a similar price. Not all of them are investment grade and prices are all over the place! But it’s important that things that are important to you work, because fixing them will cost!

The idea of quoting pristine or fully restored examples was to produce a value or condition calibration curve for the OP. That way he can derive his own conclusions about what his perspective purchase is like. I place no value on it myself as I don't know what he wants to use it for and what his financial position is. Values are all over the place as are the condition of cars for sale.

 

[Hosh85]

The idea of quoting pristine or fully restored examples was to produce a value or condition calibration curve for the OP. That way he can derive his own conclusions about what his perspective purchase is like. I place no value on it myself as I don't know what he wants to use it for and what his financial position is. Values are all over the place as are the condition of cars for sale.

Well articulated

Fact is I've always loved the 129, whether it appreciates or not is not really relevant, I want to enjoy the car now, I want to share it with my father who, had to give up his prized car many moons ago for my education, so the value in this is sentimental and the "work" the car needs will be done my both my dad and I, again sentimental time being spent together. This is the reason I want one and don't mind a fixer upper, we know our eat around tools etc but nothing that requires major mechanical engine work or intricate work relating to the soft top operation etc, bur general stuff like servicing, brakes, suspension, rust management etc no issues..

So in theory I could double or even triple my budget but that's not quite the idea. Appreciation in time could be nice but personally I think the 500s may be the only ones to do so, if at all.

 

[grober]

I just want you to get one that's basically sound and not a money pit--good luck with your search.

 

[Hosh85]

I just want you to get one that's basically sound and not a money pit--good luck with your search.

Thank you Sir, appreciate it. I do hope I get a decent one, otherwise the sentiment and work required may turn to heart ache very quickly !

 

[DrNick]

Check here OctoClassic - Re-engineered spare-parts for classic cars for parts that can be remanufactured. These are the sort of trim thing that have gone out of production and so give you clues as to the sort of thing you should be looking at cosmetically. You'll note that there is a kit of seals for the hydraulic roof system if you ever need them! Apparently you can get refurnished rams from the states but I haven't had to do that yet.
Note there are other things that are out of production that I haven't managed to find replacement suppliers for, so its not an exhaustive list. Basically check everything for operation and physical robustness because its surprising what is difficult to replace (part of the fun I guess!).
Mechanically they are well understood and parts are available if necessary.
If you do your research you will find that they are actually well made and reliable and even the faults listed on this thread are not endemic (other than time will eventually cause issues) if they have been sensibly looked after.
I think they are all probably works-in-progress. Its like trying to halt the tide. Let us know how you get on!

 

[Hosh85]

Check here OctoClassic - Re-engineered spare-parts for classic cars for parts that can be remanufactured. These are the sort of trim thing that have gone out of production and so give you clues as to the sort of thing you should be looking at cosmetically. You'll note that there is a kit of seals for the hydraulic roof system if you ever need them! Apparently you can get refurnished rams from the states but I haven't had to do that yet.
Note there are other things that are out of production that I haven't managed to find replacement suppliers for, so its not an exhaustive list. Basically check everything for operation and physical robustness because its surprising what is difficult to replace (part of the fun I guess!).
Mechanically they are well understood and parts are available if necessary.
If you do your research you will find that they are actually well made and reliable and even the faults listed on this thread are not endemic (other than time will eventually cause issues) if they have been sensibly looked after.
I think they are all probably works-in-progress. Its like trying to halt the tide. Let us know how you get on!

Thank you Dr Nick ! From the Simpsons?! Sorry I couldn't resist haha

 

[DrNick]

Thank you Dr Nick ! From the Simpsons?! Sorry I couldn't resist haha

No, from Shark Attack 2. You’ll have to google it. I wouldn’t bother watching it. Apparently I’m noted for my shark wrangling skills.

 

[Hosh85]

No, from Shark Attack 2. You’ll have to google it. I wouldn’t bother watching it. Apparently I’m noted for my shark wrangling skill

 

[Hosh85]

Hi guys

By way of an update I went to see this car again and must say it ran far better than expected, needed a jump but everything works inside,engine and box felt nice and smooth and the ride was great

Soft top works fine also, albeit the material not being the prettiest, the internal metal parts did have some surface rust on them, nothing major, all was fully operational. One Q on this is that when you close the soft top, inside the car you can clearly see all the metal workings etc, is this normal? I'd have thought this would have somehow been covered, anyone got an pics of the car from inside with a closed soft top as comparison?

Last Q is around Central locking which on this car doesn't work, turning the key operates the drivers door and not the passenger door, he has changed the batteries but nothing, you hear absolutely nothing when you press the button. He reckons the key is defo programmed properly. So if this is not the case what else causes this issue, been told about the vacuum pump above the battery, does this pump work the soft top aswell as central locking(?) which given the soft top works I could eliminate? Or have I got this wrong and its a different pump? He says it's intermittent but the couple of time ive been there we have had no luck on getting an response from either fob

Sorry for thr essay and TIA chaps!

 

[DrNick]

Central locking is vacuum operated. Hood is hydraulic, so different systems.

You can see metal internally on the hood in mine, above the doors as the inner hood material is not fixed at the edges. I think this is normal. Its shiny but has rust spots on it

 

[DrNick]

The central locking should also activate the bootlock. I think it also activates the fuel filler (not completely sure) but check you can open the fuel filler anyway! Be a bit awkward if you can't fill it up!

 

[RichardF]

If you're still looking mines up for sale. Most of the works done but needs some cosmetic love.

E Bay 175277240592

 

[Tonye]

CL does doors, boot, fuel flap, glove on top of dash and arm rest lock for when the roof is left open, the metal on show is normal. The hydraulics for the roof are under a cover under the spare.