I would love to hear your opinions on the S Class AMG hard top convertibles I am considering. 1. Whether they have comparable reliability or one is significantly better or worse. 2. Whether they have comparable maintenance costs or one is significantly better or worse. 3. Which one you think is the best value. All have clean carfax reports. All are V8 engines.

There are 3 cars I am currently considering. The first is a 2004 SL55 AMG with $15,000 miles, private sale, one owner, garage kept, all maintenance records, for $30,000. The second is a 2007 SLK55 AMG with 22,000 miles from a dealer for $33,450. The third is a 2009 SL550 AMG, private sale, one owner, with 15,000 miles for $40,000 (this guy needs the money and has to get out from under this car). I imagine the 2009 is the best purchase price for the year and mileage, but I would love to hear what the forum experts think.

Please let know if you need any additional information. Thanks for your help, Lisa

 

The last one is not an AMG car, if its a 550, its not an AMG, maybe it has the AMG styling package. SLK 55 is nice but very small. if you are 6 feet tall you might not want the SLK.The 2004 car is nice but but its getting old.

 

Thanks for explaining that. I decided the SLK wasn't really what I wanted, but unforuantely the owner of the 2004 SL55 AMG increased his price to $38,000 and the owner of the 2009 SL550 has "disappeared" so the search goes on. I read that the 2005 SL55 AMG has engine related issues and the 2008 SL55 AMG has transmission issues. Which years do you think I should consider if I have $45k to spend? What is the highest mileage I should consider? Thank you for any insights you can give. Lisa

 

go to New Cars, Used Cars, Car Reviews | Cars.com and do some research for price, reviews and dependability. most all of the sls from 04 on will be pretty good cars, except V12s. the 12s will probably have a much higher maintenance cost. the slk is more of a fun car, I wouldn't rule it out. the sl is a better quality car as far as the body and interior goes. Test drive both before you buy. use carfax.com too.

 

i would choose the newest one 04 car is have it's age

 

Lisa.... Go track down the guy with the 09 SL550 with the AMG package. Wave thirty grand in his face. If he is hurting,, he will take it. Then take the car to the dealer get it serviced and drop another five grand in their lap for a warranty (that covers the ABC system). Then go drive the heck out of it carefree for five years.

 

Hi Rich_sl500 - That is a great idea. Unfortunately, I think this guy may be a scammer. The car is 9 hours away from me and once I told him I would like the car taken to the Mercedes dealership to be inspected (at my expense), I never heard from him again. He also listed it on eBay, but the Vin# was different from the Car Fax he sent me and even though the eBay listing said it couldn't pull up a Car Fax due to the incorrect Vin #, in the week it was up for auction he never corrected it. Nobody bid up to his Reserve so it didn't sell. Guess it really was too good to be true. :^(

 

Lisa
Yep sounds like all the red flags were there.
I bought a 07 SL550 about a year and a half ago, I have no regrets. Drove a 98 SL500 for ten years before that. No regrets.
The ABC sys, (hydraulics) is the Achilles heel on the SL's these days. So beware if you buy a used one, the 70K mileage zone puts you in contention for a $5K repair job. One problem I ran into was since my 07 was more than a couple years old last year when I bought it, I couldn't buy a warranty backed by the dealer. I got burned on a third party warranty previously, so I wont buy one. I hear there are some good ones out there, you just have to do your homework and make sure it covers everything. I just told myself I would keep the money and then flop down the five grand when the time comes. What I can tell you from driving those two cars for the last dozen years is that if you pony up the cash to get a good one and spend the money on the maintenance, you should be driving hassle free for years. Good Luck

 

Thank you Rich_sl500. I appreciate your insight. Part of me REALLY wants a SL55 AMG, but I have been told they have much higher maintenance costs that the SL550 roadster, and the SL550 is an awesome car! Given that I have not yet achieved independently wealthy status, I think I will thoroughly enjoy the roadster and possibly get an AMG sometime in the future. Just looking for the right one . . . many thanks, Lisa

 

Lisa
The SL550 seems to me like a good trade off. It doesn't have the 500+ hp that you get with the AMG, but my 07 has like 380 or 390 I think, which seems to be plenty. I have also been impressed with the mileage. Open road gets me over 25 mpg, and normal driving gets me like 22, which kind of blows my mind for a 4800 pound car with almost 400 hp.