Famous_Dipped

I have a slight dilemma and I want to make sure Im doing the right thing.

I have a 2003 SL500 Sport that I bought a few months ago with 68,000 miles for a very good price because the title is rebuilt due to theft and recovery.

Now here the dilema, the previous owner just saw the car today after I modified it and fell in love with it so now he is offering me a trade for his 04 CL55 AMG with 120,000 miles on it clean title.

Would this be a good trade, I would need to come up with 2k for the exchange.

the CL55 has been modified with intakes, injectors, front mount and pulley to push 600+

here some pics of the sl and cl

PaulE550

1) If the previous owner wants your car bad enough, he can drop the price of what he wants for his 04 by 2K. Thus a pure swap.

2) The 04 has nearly double the miles of your R230 and it is only one year newer. AMG's are not inexpensive to maintain, so have you factored in those costs into the whole equation?

Personally, it sounds like the AMG owner realizes his 04 is getting into the mileage area where you have to plan on spending some decent amount of cash on a regular basis and he is looking at your car as having far fewer miles and some decent performance. So he can swap out a soon to be regularly expensive car to maintain for your SL that will be less so for probably quite a few years. Good deal for him, but what do you get out of this deal aside from the increased vehicle maintenance costs?

Ghostty

I agree with PaulE550. It's all about maintenance - if he did on the SL everything, and is all good on maintenance - sure,you can swap it. But usually nobody does all the maintenance and sells the car after that. They try to go with minimum required to sell it. And it sounds like you did on yours everything that was needed. If yours is in that of a good condition, just sell it and get an SL with lower miles. 120k for an AMG with unknown history - I would pass. But that's my opinion. I never drove a car with more than 70k miles, so I can't judge
Bottom line - if swapping 2 cars with same condition and known maintenance history - it's your call if you want 4 seats or hard top.

I do love the color of that SL


P.S.

from what I know, the AMG models drop in price drastically with mileages piled up. Look around on market how much one like his worth, then you'll know if it's a good trade.

BlownV8

I would not make the trade. Sell your SL and get a newer one with fewer miles and more horsepower.

Heatwave

I wouldn't do the exchange. But that's just me. Good luck with your decision.

Rudeney

Here's my advice: Don't do it! It's a bad deal!

Here's why I say that: It's not because the CL55 is an AMG. You might pay a bit more for tires and much more for brakes, but the rest is no worse maintenance than the SL500. You pretty much have all the same systems in the CL as the SL, with the addition of power door latches. My reasoning is simply based on value. While I understand the CL has some customs, those are really not worth anything on the resale market unless you specifically want those items. Looking at KBB values, I think this says it all. With a $%K+ value difference and the $2K over your SL he wants, that's a $7K premium.

Ejbrock

Ejbrock

I would not do the trade. I believe if you shop your current car you have a negotiating advantage in your favor.