Very Nice SL55

[E55BOF]

Now this one:

2002 Mercedes-Benz SL Class 5.4 SL55 Kompressor AMG 2dr | eBay

I could almost cream my jeans over. If it was 'priced to sell ' - about £14K - I would be very tempted, but the sellers don't come across as the sort of outfit that prices cars realistically.

 

[E53AMG]

Now this one:

2002 Mercedes-Benz SL Class 5.4 SL55 Kompressor AMG 2dr | eBay

I could almost cream my jeans over. If it was 'priced to sell ' - about £14K - I would be very tempted, but the sellers don't come across as the sort of outfit that prices cars realistically.

Why do you say that? They say:-

Reasons to buy from us

Value

Quality

Service

Honesty

Integrity



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[st13phil]

I could almost cream my jeans over.

You still wear jeans at your age? You're Jeremy Clarkson and I claim my £10!



Sorry, couldn't resist an open goal - I'm not that far behind and I wear jeans too

 

[st13phil]

And on the subject of the car: It looks really sweet, but why, oh, why, do used car dealers slather silicone over every interior surface?

 

[E55BOF]

Why do you say that? They say:-

Reasons to buy from us
Value
Quality
Service
Honesty
Integrity

You've answered the question right there. No dealer ever says "Poor Value", but the car is. Look at a few of the other, some dealer's, ads; not the ones that have been on there for months unsold, but recent listings which are priced to sell - around the £10k-12K mark. There are a couple of nice ones among them, but I don't want a black or silver SL.

If I did, I'd buy this one: 2002 Mercedes Benz SL55 AMG Kompressor - Appreciating Classic | eBay

Those pictures really do look very good, and it's not far from me either. Apart from the fact that it has the world's silliest interpretation of a personalised registration number, and I could live with that. Hmmm...

Maybe I could live with a black one after all. It really does look very good indeed...

 

[E55BOF]

You still wear jeans at your age? You're Jeremy Clarkson and I claim my £10!



Sorry, couldn't resist an open goal - I'm not that far behind and I wear jeans too

Yes, I wear jeans, but the only pair of blue denim jeans I own are for working on cars or bikes or in the garden, so Nyaah Nyaah Nyah Nyah Nyaaah...

 

[flowrider]

What's wrong with wearing jean's? I have always worn jean's and still do now I am into my 50's.

 

[Deleted member 37751]

Strange that it’s such a strong price because having noticed that dealer over the years they always tended to sell at very realistic levels.

 

[E55BOF]

Strange that it’s such a strong price because having noticed that dealer over the years they always tended to sell at very realistic levels.

Yes, I see what you mean, especially for the more bread and butter stuff. There are many other SL55s priced equally as high or higher, of course, but most of them have been for sale for some time. Maybe it's priced so high because of the two-tone seats; I've not seen those before, and they look very smart.

IF it's kosher and straight, though, I think I'd prefer the black one; spotty MoT history, looks as though it was off the road a while a couple of years ago (Cat C or D write-off?), but plenty of money spent on known faults recently. I've called, but it goes to answerphone; I'll try again tomorrow. It's worth a call, I think.

 

[E53AMG]

You've answered the question right there. No dealer ever says "Poor Value", but the car is. Look at a few of the other, some dealer's, ads; not the ones that have been on there for months unsold, but recent listings which are priced to sell - around the £10k-12K mark. There are a couple of nice ones among them, but I don't want a black or silver SL.

If I did, I'd buy this one: 2002 Mercedes Benz SL55 AMG Kompressor - Appreciating Classic | eBay

Those pictures really do look very good, and it's not far from me either. Apart from the fact that it has the world's silliest interpretation of a personalised registration number, and I could live with that. Hmmm...

Maybe I could live with a black one after all. It really does look very good indeed...

Nothing shines like a newly polished black car!

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[Deleted member 37751]

Yes, I see what you mean, especially for the more bread and butter stuff. There are many other SL55s priced equally as high or higher, of course, but most of them have been for sale for some time. Maybe it's priced so high because of the two-tone seats; I've not seen those before, and they look very smart.

Having only been made aware of the value of SL55’s through following your search, it seems as though the ropey ones are £10-12k, the *high* ones are £18k+ which would suggest to me that the sweet spot is £14-15k.

Why don’t you put up a wanted advert on the forum - if there’s one car you’d want to have been enthusiast owned it’s an SL55.

(On a separate note, saw this the other day and for some reason thought of you -
I just found a great car on Auto Trader:Saved Adverts)

 

[E55BOF]

Nothing shines like a newly polished black car!

I suppose I night feel sort of obligated to keep it clean... I haven't spoken to the owner yet, but it was newly polished - well, newly detailed, I suspect - late last year when the pictures were taken, and it's only a few minutes away from me, so it's beginning to look like Fate.

Having only been made aware of the value of SL55’s through following your search, it seems as though the ropey ones are £10-12k, the *high* ones are £18k+ which would suggest to me that the sweet spot is £14-15k.

Why don’t you put up a wanted advert on the forum - if there’s one car you’d want to have been enthusiast owned it’s an SL55.

(On a separate note, saw this the other day and for some reason thought of you -
I just found a great car on Auto Trader:Saved Adverts)

The sweet spot cars aren't selling, though, by and large; only the £10-12K ones are. I think anything more than that is usually either an optimistic private seller, or a dealer waiting for - well, either a mug, or somebody who is happier buying from a dealer, depending on your viewpoint - to come along. So far as enthusiast-owned is concerned, the biggest expense - the ABC system - seems to have been thoroughly and expensively sorted. If those claimed power and torque figures are correct, and not just from an optimistic dynamometer, it has had some tuning work too.

There was a very nice one on the forum a few months ago, but the owner wanted £18K.

It's worth going and taking a look, once I've spoken to the owner.

That XF looks good, though I hate the black wheels, but it wouldn't really be big enough for me (the front seats are a touch too narrow, and the legroom less, compared to a W211 or W212) or for the dogs (less room in the load area, too high a rear sill). There was a red CLS63 Sportback I briefly considered a few months ago at the same price that I think looked better, but that too wasn't suitable for the dogs.

 

[flowrider]

Nothing shines like a newly polished black car!

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But unfortunately the shine doesn't last long!

 

[flowrider]

Having only been made aware of the value of SL55’s through following your search, it seems as though the ropey ones are £10-12k, the *high* ones are £18k+ which would suggest to me that the sweet spot is £14-15k.

Why don’t you put up a wanted advert on the forum - if there’s one car you’d want to have been enthusiast owned it’s an SL55.

(On a separate note, saw this the other day and for some reason thought of you -
I just found a great car on Auto Trader:Saved Adverts)

The problem is that E55BOF wants a sorted one for ropey price.

 

[E53AMG]

But unfortunately the shine doesn't last long!

Does with G-techniq crystal coating, mine been on 2 years now, car gets a weekly wash...picture below was taken 2 days after a simple wash and a 400 mile drive to Scotland!

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[E53AMG]

What's wrong with wearing jean's? I have always worn jean's and still do now I am into my 50's.

Dye transfer into leather for starters ;-).

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[E55BOF]

The problem is that E55BOF wants a sorted one for ropey price.

Rather a lot of SL55s have come on to the market in the last few weeks, and a fair few are under £12K, from both dealers and private sellers. The same has happened, to a lesser extent, with E55Ks at less than £10K. I rather think that other than for truly exceptional examples, those are the real going rates at the moment.

It may be Brexit looming, or it may have been (though I doubt it) all those sellers holding on to ropey old dogs waiting for the market to pick up and realising that it isn't doing so, or it may be something else. Whatever it is, the era of the V8 AMG is fast coming to an end; get one (or in my case a fourth...) while you can.

 

[C43AMG]

Does with G-techniq crystal coating, mine been on 2 years now, car gets a weekly wash...picture below was taken 2 days after a simple wash and a 400 mile drive to Scotland!

I had the CL done over two years ago with the Kamikaze Crystal coating, exactly the same result

 

[E53AMG]

I had the CL done over two years ago with the Kamikaze Crystal coating, exactly the same result

Taken from our CCTV been a week since its wash..

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[E55BOF]

The plot thickens (or possibly thins...). I've found the time to do some digging.

The car has virtually been off the road since August 2013 (MoT mileage 121,633).

It was sold for £11K at Classic Car Auctions in December 2017, when the condition was stated by the vendor to be: "Good Every-day useable classic car / Driven & enjoyed / Commensurate with age & mileage / Drives and looks as it should / Some vehicle history". It was on 125K miles then.

The tax was due on 14 August 2018 (why mid-month? Was that when it was last sold/passed into the hands of the trade?), so a good test drive might be a problem.

Just called the seller; it's 'sort of' a trade sale, but I suspect there would be no comeback in the event of a problem, because the seller tells fibs. I can say this with some confidence because he explained that it had been effectively off the road for so long because the previous long-term owner had a stroke, the car was hardly driven, and they bought it from his wife about fifteen months ago.

When I put it to him that it went through auction in December 2017, he said that the previous (long-term, remember...) owner, from whom they acquired it, bought it at auction in Aylesbury in December 2017. When I asked how that could be if it was the long-term owner, he said he didn't understand what I was getting at.

The trouble with making it up as you go along is that your story doesn't always stand up if the other party knows something you don't...

So, it's been in the hands of the seller since auction in December 2017, but the previous owner/stroke story might be true nevertheless; it would account for the long layoff. The vendor is a trade seller, but will accept no liability at all after the money changes hands. He tells lies, but are they just the sort of lies that come as easily as breathing to dodgy second-hand car dealers?

The seller may be dodgy, but that doesn't necessarily mean the car is; even Motorhub in Keighley must sell some decent cars. I do like the look of the car, so think I'll go and see it on Monday and make up my mind after that; it's literally only ten minutes from home.