zer0t

I spoke to the owner of the car I was considering and laid out the discussion had here. He is completely not open to the discussion. He doesn't believe there are issues that need to be addressed due to age and believes his low mileage is an indicator of a better quality car. I also couldn't find a company to write a warranty on the car so I bid him best of luck.

None of the items, other than tires and brakes, have been replaced on the car. I can understand his angst, he brought it new and paid a boat load only to get a a quarter or less of the value back with under 14k miles on the clock.

It's tough but maybe I'll get an SL63 and do some perf mods on it.

Blackbird76

As far as I know the major warranty companies such as Fidelity and EasyCare are not issuing warranties on the V12's anymore and definitely not on a car that is over 10 years old.

Also, it's easy for someone to buy an OBD scanner and go in and clear all the error codes if there are any before selling. As has been said on this blog rather look for a car that has been driven and where there is evidence of these major issues being replaced or you could be walking into a money pit.

V12TTenthusiast

So I've owned a SL55 and now own an SL65, I was in this same boat too at one point when I pulled the trigger on my SL55 so many years back. I loved the car and the exhaust note on the S/C V8 still imo sounds alot better than the TT V12s but the power from the 55 was no where as brutal as the 65 and I'm glad I made the swap.

As the last post mentioned there is alot of things to look out for this car, one thing that was left out which I'm sure the last post would have mentioned are the brakes. Not cheap at all.

I would hold off a bit. If the coil over conversion does pan out well that I'm doing on my SL65, then I would look for an SL65 with known ABC issues and do a coil over conversion, and you won't have ABC head aches anymore.

In the mean time test drive an SL63 and an SL65 and see how you like them both because you really shouldn't settle less for power if you care about that. I've always been a person who cares more about the power of a car then the features or age the car has to offer and the 65 AMG engine output is really something you don't get in many other cars, and if you do its cost way more then 65s are going for.

zer0t

What coil overs are you using? Do you have to change links? I'm pretty sure the PS pump is part of ABC as well but I don't really knew that much. Mind sharing the details?

V12TTenthusiast

I'm using the VVK setup but that's why I said wait let me see how the coilover kit turns out because I'm still waiting on mine lol, but you can read all the details on the R230 adjustable coilover thread

zer0t

Well let's hope it turns out well.

iburnslabs

funny because i bought an 06 sl65 about 4 years ago with 55k, it had already had a ton of work done over the years, however i still had it in the shop every other week for the entire year i owned it.... sold the car due to it being a pain, last year i bought another 06 sl65 haha with 26k miles, now has 37k miles and i have very little issues with it at all, drove it cross country no issues, only recent issue is the rear window regulator went out which was covered under warranty, they "found" an abc accumulator that was apparently leaking and also replaced it while it was in there however i never saw any ABC light nor saw it sagging, dealer prob just wanted to get paid from the warranty company ha. i was lucky to get a 3 year 36k mile platinum warranty through first mile "same company i used last time and they shelled over over 10k in 1 year in repairs no questions asked" this was the only warranty i could find that would cover the ABC suspension, they said i made the cutoff by weeks (10 year cutoff) cost $3900 and worth every penny. in fact... its transferable , just make me an offer on my car and your all set