HLG600

It breaks my heart to have to say this, but I am now thinking about possibly replacing the SL. With the recent spike in gas prices, and the downward spiral the gas issue has been entering, having such a fuel inefficient car is proving to be a problem. I LOVE my car to death and it puts a grin ear to ear baby on my face every time I drive it. However, with it being a very heavy car and with the amount of fuel that monster motor requires...

My Dad has been more than generous in giving me such an awesome machine and I am thankful each and every time I grip the wheel and ignite the big V12. However, I will never act spoiled and be a pain about things, so it is I who is thinking how to maybe help things out. I love the car, but helping out things at home is more important. I went today to see my friend's (well, his Dad's actually, who was going to sell it in a few months - his is the X5) SLK32 AMG. Looked very nice, but still no SL600. Yet, the mileage is a big improvement over mine (similar to the 4Matic's gas mileage). So now, I am toying with the idea of an SLK320 or 32. I reallllly don't want to say goodbye to the SL, but, like I said before, being a help to the family is far more important.

BANANA

When I Read About People From The Usa Complaining About The Price Of Fuel It Makes Me Laugh. Try Moving To The Uk And Paying 1.75 Dollars A Liter For The Stuff. Just Be Grateful For The Price Of Gas In Your Part Of The World, You Guys Got It Easy.

HLG600

Might I suggest you take a complete look at the situation. A few years ago, gas cost more along the lines of your quoted $1.75 per gallon. Now, it is exceeding $3.00 and the future of rising gas prices seems to inevitable. I am sorry to hear you guys have it worse, but the gas situation isn't exactly optimistic on our part, regardless of what you may assume.

Carson_Kitt

HLG-

I haven't been posting here long, nor have I owned my SL for very long.

I must say that the 600 owners will be without a wealth of knowledge.

Should you decide to part with you SL, I wish you the best of luck.

Out of cusiosity, what kind of mileage would the potential replacement get over your 600?

Just curious because I am averaging 19-21 per gallon.

Best regards,

Vincent

Pigzmickey

Surely if you take into account the colossal depreciation with these beasts, it might be better to keep it and buy a cheap run-around for daily use...

You'll regret it!

rellik

im sorry man...it would be hard to part with something that means so much

i agree with pigzmickey, id try picking up a cheap effecient car for normal use and then use the v12 on weekends and for fun, etc.

the two cars would average out to a normal one, like a slk32 or something that might be comparible to the 600

Bigdot

the slk is a very very small car.
teh X5 is awsome, if you get the V8, and EVEN so my moms 06 X5 3.0L gets about 15-16, and she drives like a mom does. so how better would it be? and you still need to put 91-93 octane in her. so would it be worth it?


keep the 600, buy a 10K daily driver. like a 2003 mustang V6, my friend has on of those, they are great lilttle daily drivers.

mark

BANANA

Its1.75 Dollars Per Litre Not Per Gallon Here.


Keep The Sl And Enjoy It. You Only Live Once.

blume

dollar for dollar and mile per mile, i dont think you will be saving much, even if you get a smokin price for both vehicles in your favor. but, then again, someone did get 37k for a 2000 S500!

blume

yeah, but it is something like 12 cents in venezuela. if the price of something tripples in 5 years and doubles in the last 3, then gas prices will throw those on a budget off track real quick!

gdmarques@cox.n

Just out of curiousity, can our friends in the UK tell me what the average annual miles driven by an individual is? Although our gas is relatively cheap compared to MANY other countries, the USA is a pretty big sprawling place and many Americans routinely drive 15,000 to 20,000 miles a year or more. Additionally depending on where you live in America the available public transportation can be pretty limited to nonexisitent.

That said, my 500SL probably gets the best mileage of all of my vehicles and although I frequently have considered buying something more efficient I always come back to the same thing....IF I could get 10 more MPG on average and I drive 15,000 per year, I would save about $900 on gas over the course of the year. If I go spend $10,000 on a cheap daily driver to replace my Benz it would take me years to get any return on my investment even factoring additonal increases in gas prices. Longer even if I lose money selling the Benz. It's just not worth it.

HLG600

Thank you for your kind words. Most of my driving is local, and I average maybe 250-270 miles per tank.

HLG600

The depreciation of these fuel inefficient vehicles will only become worse with time. Then again, replacing the car is just a thought, a possibility which I hope does not become a reality. If anything, now would be the time (summer season) to replace the SL. I checked out the SLK32 AMG personally, and it was a nice little car. I plan to drive it later this week, and see how it feels on the road. If the difference in the mileage is another 100+ per tank, then it might be an excellent replacement.

Even though it is a very nice car, it just won't feel the same as my 600. For now, things are looking okay with the car situation. The 4Matic is getting around 400 miles per tank, and I have been researching the Lexus RX400h as a possible replacement to the ML350. All the features, powerful, and 31 mpg city. If all goes well, we will end up with one very fuel efficient car (Mom's car), one decently fuel efficient car (Dad's S Class), and the the badboy gas guzzling V12 (my car lol). I'm just exploring a possibility of making things more practical.

TheV12pwr

Impossible!!!

Carson_Kitt

I not following you, what is impossible about 250-270 per tank?

City driving will really burn up gas.

What do you average per tank and what kind of driving do you do?

The reason I ask is because I do mostly highway/2 lane roads at 55-70 and average 19-22 per gallon.

Best,

Vincent

HLG600

Always on my ***, aren't you. Well, lets see. I set the trip meter to zero after I filled up my tank. When doing only local driving, it came to about 254 ish with the orange warning light and needle down. Another time I tested it, I did some highway driving mixed in (not all highway, maybe 15-20% hwy driving) and it came to a little over 270. Bear in mind this is all warm weather driving. During winter, the mileage was closer to 200-220 miles per tank.

scorpian

Just my 2 cents.....

Reading in this forum, I have come to understand old or young or young at heart even, all in here really have what the general population lacks.....the knowledge and wisdom to own a MB SL, and the joy that goes along wih it.

Have you considered just driving it on weekends and insure for onlt 6 mths of the yr./ while getting a daily car, like a Nissan Maxima or Altima, for only 5-8 K? Or better yet what about a nice Bike, like Harley or Honda?

My daily drive is much worse than the SL-500......2005 Ford Expedition.
Try 10-12 MPG !
Just my 2 cents........

SL BRABUS

HLG600 sorry the hear that.... .... why not cut down on your driving...... by car pool or take a bus.....?? why not take a part-time job.......??

HLG600

I usually work in the summer. This is just an option I'm pursuing. Right now, the car's value is still intact. However, as gas prices soar, the value and demand of such cars will consequentially decline. I use up maybe a tank per 1-1.5 weeks, so right now, things are looking to be okay. My uncertainty lies down the road. I was thinking about getting a second daily driver a month ago, something along the lines of an early model BMW. Cheap, reliable, beater car basically. If I choose to commute to college, that's prob the road I'll take. If not, then the SL will be reserved for weekend driving, hopefully.

HLG600

10-12 MPG...Nice! A family friend of mine has a dually pickup with a 454 stuffed under the hood. It is used to tow his drag car to the track/strip. He says he gets about 8 MPG in that thing.

waybomb

The depreciation will kill you for sure. Hedge and sell it to me for 10,000 and cut your future losses short.

Or do a really smart thing, keep the 600, and buy something like a Maroon 85 Chevy Caprice police cruiser 4-door complete with cassette player, vinyl bench seats, and the spotlight. You need the spotlight or the Caprice just won't be right. One with a V6 (did they make one like that) might be better. Then install an aftermarket spotlight. Or how about an 87 Nissan Sentra with 4 cyl, 4 speed, brown, with brown plastic interior, including brown plastic carpet, with the body finished in brown. Drive them all weekdays and on bad weather weekends.

You will appreciate your 600 alot more.

Look, 20 mpg is not that bad. What are you going to get, a car that gets 25? 30? So if you drive 200 miles a week, that's 10 gallons versus 6.5 to 8 gallons. At 4 bucks a gallon, savings would be $14?? Even at 5 bucks a gallon, you'd save $17.50????? Me, I'd give up $20 of partying, skip the once a week movie, eat home one night instead of eating out one night, give up cable, give up something, but not a V12!!!!!!!

You ought to fill up a boat that holds 320 gallons and burns about 100 gallons an hour. Now we're talking serious change. Feel better now? Go drive the V12 like you stole it - NOW. Don't cave in to the gas price hysteria.

ima55r2

Let’s see now. You get a SL600 from your father as your daily driver. You want to help out with the gas because your commute to school could be a problem. Since you don’t have a full time job and still live at home I assume your father pays for your insurance too.

Nice gesture, but a potential extra thousand bucks a year for gas is a pittance compared to what you are already costing your parents. Just keep the car and worry about expenses when you have to make your own living.

HLG600

Hmmm, some intersting points made. The key concern is depreciation. But, then again, my intent was to hold on to this car and really put some miles into it. I mean, since I don't use that much gas, it seems fine: hard driving - a tank per week. I was just trying to be helpful, but maybe it actaully will be worth it to hold onto the car.

Bigdot

i was thinking about depriciation too recently. im super hot on the old M5 *2002) and i was thinking about selling the goose, and geting that. BUT i did some lookin, and relisized that my sl is worth about 20K at most. and it is just not worth selling. its a great car, but for 20K ill keep it. save your SL, they will come back in price in the future. just look at the 107 body style, they got dirt cheep a while ago (less than 10K avg.) now they are around 16-18 for an ok one. so just hold on the 129. they are not worth the current market value to sell.
mark

1985mb

How many miles do you currently have on it?

My $0.02:

I don't want to see you part with your beloved car; however it is undeniable that rising gas prices will hurt values of high-fuel-consumption cars ... it's not that different from how rising interest rates hurt real estate values.

One only has to look at GM's financial situation to realize how sales/values on high consumption cars/SUVs are hurt by rising gas prices. I realize some people might scoff at the mere mention of GM in this forum, but that company is only the most conspicuous example of how sales and values are affected by gas prices. Much as we might like to think otherwise, neither MB nor any other brand is immune from all the changes in the economy and the world in general.

Many of the other contributors make a valid point: the difference in fuel consumption alone (say, an extra 10 MPG) may not be very material in the grand scheme of things. By that same logic someone else could say: if you really want to save your parents a lot of money, you can trade down to a more fuel-efficient vehicle, return $5K-$10K to them in cash (difference between your selling price and the price on your next vehicle) AND save them money year-round on both insurance and gas consumption. So, if you are really serious about, you could potentially return $7,500 to your parents on day 1 and save them $1-2K every year.