SLK for Summer '12

[ChuckyYeager]

I have a W212 E Class and I am a bit bored with at the moment. I have had it from new so it is a keeper. I have seen a nice MY2000 SLK for £2500. I dont know what to look out for so when I say nice, I mean it looks nice. My plan is to buy it now before the summer rush for convertibles gets underway, run it until the end of August and sell it. I am happy to take a hit of up to £700 when I come to sell.

My questions to the forum are

1. Is this a smart idea?
2. Is 167,000 miles too much?
3. What do I look out for?
4. How hard is it to sell a convertible just after summer?

The car: http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classif.../postcode/nw15ls/page/1/radius/1501?logcode=p

Thanks guys

 

[Deleted member 37751]

I'm not that up on SLK's, but that statement at the end 'sold as seen' rings a few alarm bells.

Have you spoke to the seller?

 

[ChuckyYeager]

I havent spoken to the seller. The 'Sold as seen' also caught my eye but its still early days. I have only just started looking and if I go ahead will probably end up buying something a bit dearer. I was just running it through you guys, if the idea of buying a convertible now, run it through summer and sell it just after the summer without taking too big a hit was feasible.

 

[Deleted member 37751]

There is a fallacy with regards cabriolets and their selling patterns.

Most people think that you can't sell one in the winter so most don't bother, this in turn leads to there not being many out there, meaning that prices can be pretty consistent all year round.

Then in the summer every man and their dog has one up for sale.....

On a car in that price range, you'll never lose a great deal and if you do your research & buy sensibly you should get your money back when you do come to sell.

 

[MrMotul]

I Think if you buy it the right way moneywise and this time of year, it will not depreciate too much by the end of the summer, these cars have almost hit what I think is their bottom end price, every now and then you will see one advertised for under £2000, but I would hedge a bet and say that they have probably seen better days,

Good Luck with the search,

Terry.

 

[Peter T]

I bought my W171 last September and I love it, although it was a bit of a culture shock as I haven't had a car this small for a long time! And, the mild winter has meant that I have had the roof of much more than I thought I would be able to which is nice.

My son has a W170 of the same sort of vintage as the one you're looking at. Only real problem he's had was with the roof failing to open correctly. This turned out to be a short in the wires from the roof sensors where the roof/rear window pivot is and was fixed with a few splices and some electrical tape!

Good Luck,

Peter

 

[ChuckyYeager]

There is a fallacy with regards cabriolets and their selling patterns.

Most people think that you can't sell one in the winter so most don't bother, this in turn leads to there not being many out there, meaning that prices can be pretty consistent all year round.

Then in the summer every man and their dog has one up for sale.....

On a car in that price range, you'll never lose a great deal and if you do your research & buy sensibly you should get your money back when you do come to sell.

Nice observation Sweetpea and it makes a lot of sense. I dont need the car now as it is for the summer but I thought buying now made sense. With your observation I might as well wait till about April/ May to buy one. I will reopen this thread when the time comes.

@ PeterT

What is the highest mileage you suggest I should look to buy?

 

[finisterre]

I think I would take it for a test drive. I need to have tried driving quite a few miles and versions before I get a 'feel' for a particular car. If you keep looking and testing by the time summer arrives you probably won't really need our advice. For what it is worth (not a lot) I wouldn't be too concerned by that mileage if the car feels tidy and the service history looks good.

There are way more SLK savvy people than me here who could advise you better. I did spend a good while researching, testing and mooching around SLKs- but in the end the rust problems put us off and we bought a Z4.

 

[ChuckyYeager]

Thanks Finisterre

I have been looking at Z4s as well but it cost to much for what I want it for (a 3-4 month fun car for summer). I also looked at the Z3s but thought If I was going to buy that old, I might as well go for the SLK as it looks better than the Z3.

 

[racall]

Thats a pretty high spec car!!!

 

[Peter T]

@ PeterT

What is the highest mileage you suggest I should look to buy?

Can't add much I'm afraid. This is my first MB and I have no experience of high mileage ones.

While many high mileage cars look OK on the outside, they often seem tatty inside. After all those miles the drivers seat, steering wheel, pedals, switchgear etc are all going to be pretty worn out!

If your only going to keep it for a few months though, how far wrong can it go?