Mercedes SL600 Still Worth Buying After 20 Years?
YouTuber’s buys 1997 Mercedes SL600 for only $5,000, but there are a whole LOT of reasons for that price.
The 1997 Mercedes-Benz SL600 is a thing of beauty. The six-liter, 48-valve DOHC V12 packs 389 horses through the five-speed electronic automatic transmission to the back wheels, while its rollbar automatically deploys in the event of a rollover, protecting the heads and necks of the driver and passenger. An automatic folding top, hydraulic suspension, and handsome looks all make the SL600 a worthy addition to anyone’s garage.
Sometimes, though, the roadster might need a bit of work to bring it back to its former glory. Tyler Hoover of YouTube channel Hoovie’s Garage recently bought his SL600 for $5,000. It’s quite a steal for something as fabulous as the SL600, but as Hoover explains, there’s a reason for the price. A whole list of them.
Hoover’s SL600’s top works, but stops halfway in the process of protecting his head from the elements. Meanwhile, the AC isn’t doing enough to beat the Kansas heat, the driver’s side mirror has strip of black near the bottom, the hydraulic suspension bulbs need replacement, and duct tape is the only thing keeping the front bumper from scraping the pavement. For some people, this would be enough to ship a given vehicle off to the scrapyard. But this is an SL600, and Hoover’s on a quest to bring it back to life.
With help from his friend “The Car Wizard,” Hoover goes to work under the hood with a scraper, removing the old hood pad while the Wizard fixes the roof issue. Turns out a switch meant to let the car know when a roof was stowed away or being put up wasn’t working right.
From there, the Wizard puts Hoover on brake replacement duty, which also includes the bulb issue Hoover wanted to work on. The task would take Hoover five hours to complete, and in that time, only one bulb and one brake were both replaced. The Wizard, meanwhile, brings in his “angry R2-D2” air conditioning machine to fix the Mercedes SL600’s AC issues.
All in all, Hoover’s SL600 needs more sorting out before it’s ready to hit the open road again. While it may seem like fixing this piece of 1990s history is more trouble than it’s worth, a car that shares the same V12 as the original Pagani Zonda, like the SL600, is a car that’s definitely worth the effort. You’ll turn heads wherever you go, for starters. And with prices for well-sorted SL600s on par with a new Toyota Camry, why would you choose anything less than German luxury?
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