SL55 - 620 BHP?

[Deleted member 37751]

Setting the buy it now that high suggests to me that he doesn’t want to sell it...

 

[flowrider]

^ I agree, Its a pretty standard 2002 SL55 with horrendous wheels and a highish mileage so £17,500 is not a quick sale price.

 

[E55BOF]

I'm still in contact - he mentioned that there was Alpine kit behind the front seats, and I've asked for a picture; I don't want a car with the back full of electronic boxes and wiring - and he says he won't let it go cheaply, but would rather keep it. I suspect he wants more than I would bid, so he may end up keeping it if he means it.

I'm in two minds whether to bid at all; it's been mucked about with a bit, and that's not entirely encouraging, but it's in my preferred colour scheme, and if the money claimed has really been spent on it and the common faults have really been sorted it could well be a bargain.

Prices really are quite low on these cars at the moment. I've been watching this one

Mercedes AMG SL55 5.4 V8 Supercharged with coilover conversion - No ABC issues | eBay

which bid a few days ago to £9600, but is now back on 'due to a timewaster'. The next highest bid was £9500, then £9350, so why not make a Second Chance offer? I suspect £9500-ish is about its money, and he wants more, but I doubt it will reach £10K.

 

[rockits]

All sounds wrong to me and not naturally falling into place. I always get bad feelings and a gut feeling to walk away when things don't work out without forcing the issue. There will be others.

Maybe make and offer of what your prepared to spend on the car and leave it there. If it is accepted great if not the seller will be keeping it. There is no shortage of SL55's.

 

[merc85]

Looks tired to me, Driver's seat is dirty and worn, Rubbish pictures, Nsf tyre looks low on air in the 1st pic, why you would take a picture of the car at night is beyond me. And to top it all off he actually uses the Cargo net strapped to the side of the Centre console lol.

 

[flowrider]

There are nicer and cheaper SL55's on Autotrader at the moment.

 

[moodi]

There are nicer and cheaper SL55's on Autotrader at the moment.

Yep! This

 

[John]

which bid a few days ago to £9600, but is now back on 'due to a timewaster'. The next highest bid was £9500, then £9350, so why not make a Second Chance offer? I suspect £9500-ish is about its money, and he wants more, but I doubt it will reach £10K.

In all the years I used eBay and offered the second chance, and it has been quite a few times, they've never taken up the offer.

This is on various items albeit not cars.

I have no idea why but I can only assume they suspect shill bidding.

 

[moodi]

In all the years I used eBay and offered the second chance, and it has been quite a few times, they've never taken up the offer.

This is on various items albeit not cars.

I have no idea why but I can only assume they suspect shill bidding.

Likewise.

 

[E55BOF]

There are nicer and cheaper SL55's on Autotrader at the moment.

True, if you refer to £17.5K for the '620 bhp' car, but its real value is I think no more than about £10K, and for the coilover one I certainly wouldn't pay more than £9.6K. There are none on Autotrader at that sort of price. Some of the cheapest are sensible dealers' cars at about £12K and up, which some might consider reasonable for a dealer sale. Mind you, I could be wrong; they aren't selling even at that price...

As Zipidip said in another thread: "we have loads of adverts saying 'very rare MB' and so I will load the asking price by 7 grand and see if we have any mugs out there."

I prefer not to buy cars from dealers anyway; unless one pays top dollar - and I'm looking for a driver, not a garage queen/investment - they are liable to have exactly the same problems as private sale cars with the same mileage. The latter will be cheaper anyway, and dealers are mostly notoriously unhelpful once a buyer has handed over the money and driven away. Consumer rights are one thing; actually enforcing them is another.

 

[flowrider]

True, if you refer to £17.5K for the '620 bhp' car, but its real value is I think no more than about £10K, and for the coilover one I certainly wouldn't pay more than £9.6K. There are none on Autotrader at that sort of price. Some of the cheapest are sensible dealers' cars at about £12K and up, which some might consider reasonable for a dealer sale. Mind you, I could be wrong; they aren't selling even at that price...

As Zipidip said in another thread: "we have loads of adverts saying 'very rare MB' and so I will load the asking price by 7 grand and see if we have any mugs out there."

I prefer not to buy cars from dealers anyway; unless one pays top dollar - and I'm looking for a driver, not a garage queen/investment - they are liable to have exactly the same problems as private sale cars with the same mileage. The latter will be cheaper anyway, and dealers are mostly notoriously unhelpful once a buyer has handed over the money and driven away. Consumer rights are one thing; actually enforcing them is another.

There are a couple of £11k cars on Autotrader but no one would buy a car such as an SL55 on the cheap. For a decent one you should be looking to pay £16k upwards. IMO you have unrealistic expectations on what you need to pay for a sorted SL55, I wouldn't sell my 2004 SL500 for less than £10k!

 

[AMGeed]

There are a couple of £11k cars on Autotrader but no one would buy a car such as an SL55 on the cheap. For a decent one you should be looking to pay £16k upwards. IMO you have unrealistic expectations on what you need to pay for a sorted SL55, I wouldn't sell my 2004 SL500 for less than £10k!

I'm probably in the minority here, but I believe SL55's are very overvalued by both owners and dealers. To me they are worth no more than an equivalent age/mileage E55 or CLS55 in the same condition. The CLS and the E are certainly better value for money currently.

 

[DavidL]

I'm probably in the minority here, but I believe SL55's are very overvalued by both owners and dealers. To me they are worth no more than an equivalent age/mileage E55 or CLS55 in the same condition. The CLS and the E are certainly better value for money currently.

I know what you are getting at but I think that sort of sports car will always be more aspirational to most and hence command a higher price. Its a 2 seater soft top not a family saloon, you must be getting old ;-)
Obviously different cars attract different people; alot would fail to see the point of a 500bhp car that does 20mpg whatever it looked like so certainly wouldn't pay for it. I'd buy an SL55 but have a wife and 2 kids and room for stuff hence the e55 estate. But if you put the 2 side by side most would choose the SL unless circumstances meant it was useless. This tends to cost.

 

[E55BOF]

There are a couple of £11k cars on Autotrader but no one would buy a car such as an SL55 on the cheap. For a decent one you should be looking to pay £16k upwards. IMO you have unrealistic expectations on what you need to pay for a sorted SL55, I wouldn't sell my 2004 SL500 for less than £10k!

IMO you wouldn't sell it, period. £10K is pie in the sky for a private sale at this time of year unless either it's a low-mileage minter, or you find a mug. Come the Spring, that changes; the convertible market is much more affected by the time of year than that for other cars.

Of course, much depends on what you mean by 'sorted'. By way of comparison, I bought my 2004 SL500 in August , with FSH, bills for the front struts, new ABC pump and SBC unit, for less than £6.5k. It's done 110k miles. It needs the roof seals replacing, the parking sensors cost me £200 to sort, and the rear bumper needs respraying. It needs one rear subframe mounting, the propshaft rear flexible coupling, and one front ball joint replacing, then it will be totally sorted; it will owe me about £8.5K when everything is done.

Faults with an SL55 are likely to cost much the same to fix, because they're usually the same faults. At this time of year, I think around £10k is realistic for a decent driver, and £12-13K with proof that the expensive known faults have been sorted.

IMO you have an unrealistic assessment of what a sorted SL55 is worth. £16K upwards? There are plenty for sale in that bracket, but they're not selling, are they?

 

[flowrider]

IMO you wouldn't sell it, period. £10K is pie in the sky for a private sale at this time of year unless either it's a low-mileage minter, or you find a mug. Come the Spring, that changes; the convertible market is much more affected by the time of year than that for other cars.

Of course, much depends on what you mean by 'sorted'. By way of comparison, I bought my 2004 SL500 in August , with FSH, bills for the front struts, new ABC pump and SBC unit, for less than £6.5k. It's done 110k miles. It needs the roof seals replacing, the parking sensors cost me £200 to sort, and the rear bumper needs respraying. It needs one rear subframe mounting, the propshaft rear flexible coupling, and one front ball joint replacing, then it will be totally sorted; it will owe me about £8.5K when everything is done.

Faults with an SL55 are likely to cost much the same to fix, because they're usually the same faults. At this time of year, I think around £10k is realistic for a decent driver, and £12-13K with proof that the expensive known faults have been sorted.

IMO you have an unrealistic assessment of what a sorted SL55 is worth. £16K upwards? There are plenty for sale in that bracket, but they're not selling, are they?

I have no intention if selling this time of year and if you are looking for a problem free SL55 for £12-£13k you wont be buying either. Its all well and good having an opinion on these things but if yours doesn't match the sellers then you wont be buying anything.

 

[E55BOF]

I have no intention if selling this time of year and if you are looking for a problem free SL55 for £12-£13k you wont be buying either. Its all well and good having an opinion on these things but if yours doesn't match the sellers then you wont be buying anything.

I have no intention of selling my SL at this time of year either, but the point I was making is that yours wouldn't make £10K. We're dealing with prices now, not in six months, and it's very much a buyers' market at this time of year. I'm a buyer; the sellers' overly optimistic opinions (which I assume you share) of the value of their cars may not match mine, but they're the ones looking to sell, and nobody is buying. I wonder why that is...

It's very dispiriting having a car up for sale for ages without it being sold. Sooner or later someone may see sense, or need the money.

So far as finding a problem-free SL55, I don't expect to at a reasonable price; I'm not interested in overpriced garage queens. What I'm not prepared to do is pay a silly price for a car and find it has the same problems as a much cheaper example. That's why I prefer not to buy from dealers, and why I won't pay an inflated price.

 

[benlucas]

Without any mods and just a remap up to 520bhp.
With an 83mm s/c pulley and map 540/560 bhp
With a 77mm s/c pulley and map, up to 600bhp. Add LTH's and maybe 620bhp.

Totally agree. Even with MSL's considerable might behind it, mine only just made 600hp.

 

[rockits]

I can't see an R230 SL500 2004 car making 10k any time of year as the market is right now. There is quite a few of them and supply is outstripping demand. Not a recipe that means strong prices.

 

[E55BOF]

I've gone off the '620 bhp' car; too many downsides/questions. Besides, it's 80 miles away, and I can't be bothered... The one with the coilover conversion, however,

Mercedes AMG SL55 5.4 V8 Supercharged with coilover conversion - No ABC issues | eBay

(post 23) is growing on me...

I don't care for turbine wheels normally, but I'm starting to think that on that colour car, they look OK. It looks pretty good overall, and as it's high-mileage and modified, it's a car for driving; it will not appeal to bozos who are looking for a garage queen investment, but I buy cars to drive, so no problem there. If there are really £30K worth of receipts, it could well be that everything is sorted, and if it drives nicely I might well make him an offer if the reserve is not reached this time around. Say, £9600-ish...

 

[Deleted member 37751]

Other than the grille, I think it looks good ^^

Leaves a nice chunk in reserve just in case.