hey, new on this forum, but it seems a serious and good place to gain knowledge on MB's.

I am looking at buying a SL500 convertible, and have now narrowed it down to 2 options:

A: 1994, 133.000 mileage, black/tan, $12.995
When driving it, it pulls a little to the left, but the car dealer said it can be easily fixed (?)
The tan interior carpenting looks a bit dirty, but can probably be cleaned.

B: 1995, 110.000 mileage, black/black, $13.995
Aircon is not working. The compressor needs to be replaced. The car dealer has offered to get it fixed for around $5-600 (not authorized Mercedes though).
There is a built-in telephone, but it probably doesn't work. Can this be easily removed?
The leather on the steering wheel is a bit "crackled".

Both cars are California cars with 2 previous owners. They are both for sale from car dealers. No history of accidents in the CARFAX reports. They both come with new tires. I have testdriven both, they run very nice (besides the slight left pull on A).

There are pros and cons for both cars, they have minor flaws in the interior, but overall they look good.

Are there any major differences in the models from these two years?

Which one would you recommend I should buy on the basis of this information?

Hope to hear from you soon.

Nic

 

I own a 1994 SL 500. Bought from a dealer. Had to learn the hard way about the AC problem. And, here it is >>> THE EVAPORATOR CORE.
If, and when you have to replace this unit in the 1995 or 95 it is a bear and coslty. About $3500. This is a common issue with the AC in these models.
So, I would double check 5 times that it is the compressor and I might even inquire about the possibility of the Evaprator core already being replaced.

Other that that issue, I love this car. This vehicle should run easily to 250,000 miles with care.

Good Luck!!!

 

I can't imagine buying an SL with over 100K on it. my 560 SL had 82K on it and has lots of problems. these things are so rediciously expensive to fix that I would bite the bullet and pay a little extra for one that needs NO work and has very low mileage on it. it is very common up here in the Pac. NW to find them with less than 50-60K miles on them; Also in Palm Springs i have seen several low mileage ones. I do all my own work and even so the parts are so expensive that it is insane. Even when i bought my wife's Lexus (which is a far more dependable car, tho no cheaper to fix) I made sure i got one with less than 30K miles on it, cause i don't work on Japanese cars and the local lexus dealer is charging $125/hr labor. So in most cases it's always a case of pay me now or pay me later, and that is especially true with MB's. I'm retired from Diamler/Chrysler and they won't even give me a discount on parts at MB even tho I can get one on BMW's..Pete

 

Hey, I own a 94 SL500 and i bought it with 117xxx miles on it and it runs perfectly fine. Id say that you get the 94 SL500 and just fix the problem and just maintain the car in good condition. It pretty much wouldnt matter bout how many miles on it, as long as you take care of it.