mlandis

Maybe it's a West Coast thing?

Rook3300

And a lot of people do buy the SLK. Though I think the R&D costs incurred with the SL were also used to make the SLK which would only help to make it less expensive. Y'know, the idea of pay for the big boy Corvette and since we've paid for it, use it for the Cavalier, er, the Cobalt now.

And yes, you do get what you pay for, but the Germans must contend with paying to ship these cars by boat across thousands of miles of ocean and the import tariff markup. Yet they still make a profitable car that people almost crawl over broken glass to own. Or at least they make their husbands crawl over the glass they broke in their hissyfit to get one. I always wonder why the domestic car makers just can't seem to get it right.

Rook

YamiFanatic

wow just read this thread in the entirety and all i can say is..........

first off i can be blunt so nobody take offense to this

everybody made good points

mikeinsf said it well this may not be the car for you if you are that worried about repair costs

rook said some funny sht....the comment about the sebring being soul sucking horribleness had me cracking up and i laughed so hard because it is so true

bam bam i can understand why you are worried about costs but like biophase said get a 72k 6yr warranty and be done with it

it saves you on initial depreciation and high repair costs.....o and btw is 2k that rediculous to pay for a suspension fix......my truck was about the same and it definitely is not like my sl

think about it this way you can get an sl for about 30k-35k ish with a warranty and drive it the next 6 years virtually worry free and turn around and sell it for about 10k

so you are out 25k over 6 years so in reality 4k of depreciationloss a year really isnt all that bad when you think about it

like everyone said bambam you can drive it soft and treat it well but you never know if itll break

just keep the mileage down on it and dont worry about it.....if you cant get a daily driver

this is my weekend car and i still put on about 10k a year and it has been very good to me

this comment may drive some of you nuts but i bought this car solely based on looks.....i dont drive it real hard and as good as it performs thats not why i bought it

i race motorcycles so this car just doesnt give me the same rush

buy one under warranty get a 6 year 72k drive it then sell it

and btw this is a baller car... you are gonna be owning a 100k+ car
some people spend that on a house

hope this put everything in a nutshell for you bambam

mlandis

You're not alone, Yami -- we'll both be in the doghouse.

There are faster cars out there that are less luxurious, and even ones that are faster and more luxurious, but no car makes my heart beat like this one.

YamiFanatic

im surprised i didnt catch more fire for that comment

ya people always give me a funny look when i told them i bought it to cruise around in

i try to explain them that i race 180hp 350lb motorcycles that make my sl look like a bus

this car definitely the best looking hardtop convertible around and thats why i own it
it has pretty much everything i need in a car....trunk space would be nice but not the end of the world

Bam Bam

If you're driving on a long stretch of road it should be fine to drive it hard and fast. Its a mercedes engine, its good for it. As long as you stay away from bumby roads,sharp hair pin turns, and hard breaking, your R230 will last.

Even cars that are made to race on tracks get their suspension tuned and check before every race. Iam betting the suspension maitenance on those cars are more costly.

mikeinsf

What fun is that?? I'm not saying thrash on your car, but it was designed to corner, brake, make neat noises when you mash on the pedal, etc... Why fret so much over what to do and not do with a car??

Just drive your car and have ~fun~! It's not intended to be shrink-wrapped and safe-stored until the three days a year you gun it straight down the street to the store and back. Geez.

mikeinsf

I'm in the same boat to a certain degree. I switched up from a Z3 2.8. The SL can do just about everything that could, but one or two degrees better... except when it comes to cornering and tossing it around. I don't have the same confidence driving this agressively like I did the Z3. We have an EPIC set of twisties nearby called Skyline Blvd which is where I went to learn the limits on the Z. Once the weather clears up I'll do the same with the SL. I'm going to be a good degree more gentle around the tight ones though. This car definitely has a bigger "fanny" that i'm sure isn't too hard to chuck into the forest if you're not careful.

In the end, I really bought this car because
a) I wanted a retractable hard-top
b) I think it's one of the most beautiful cars ever put on the road (the same reason i bought the Z3)
c) I wanted more hp, and LOVE the sound of MB 500 engines
d) I wanted something a little more cruisey and less clamorous
e) I wanted more room

So whipping thru the twisties on the way to Santa Cruz isn't as important to me as it was with the last car. In 9 or 10 years when I get my next car, I'll have to evaluate again. Maybe I'll be ready for more clamor. Porsche?

Rook3300

I don't get buying a car and hiding it away from the world either. Especially when it comes to those multi-millionaire douchebags like Ralph Lauren and such. They are only "investments" to those people. Yea yea, he has a museum, but I'll be damned if he's ever taken one of those fine machines for a simple pleasure drive.

Rook

YamiFanatic

ya no sht

if i had a virtually unlimited bank roll id drive the hell out of all the cars i owned

hahahah id play bumper cars with new beemers

either way the ocd comment is pretty accurate

o and mikein sf you literally listed every reason why i bought my car

o and i saw your thread about your car and if someone did that to my car i would literally go ape sht

and bam bam if you never want to use the top then keep it down and park it in your garage

i keep my top down most of the time and since i really only drive it on days it doesnt rain

i drive my s500 or my truck if its crappy outside.....the S is way more comfy and easier to drive in the rain

o and its no garage princess i just have this thing about the wind in my hair and the open road