SL/R230: SL 500 has been garaged for 4 years
Thread Starter
Newbie
Joined: Apr 2018
Posts: 1
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Jaguar XF (Just sold)
SL 500 has been garaged for 4 years
I'm looking out for an SL and found one that may, or may not be a bargain.
The car is a 2003 SL500 with AMG kit on it.
The seller says that the central locking pump has failed, glove box is stuck closed, but of more concern, he says the front left suspension strut needs replacing. Looking at the photos, it is certainly sitting very low on that corner whilst it's on the back of a recovery truck.
I have asked him who diagnosed it as strut failure as, to my knowledge, unless there is an actual fluid leak on the strut, it wouldn't cause the corner to sag. The valves should lock any fluid into the strut if it detects a pressure loss.
My main concern is that he says that the car has just sat in his garage since this failure, four years ago.
That's a long time to leave a hydraulic system inactive and I'm concerned it could end up needing all sorts of o-rings and seals replacing due to degradation.
I talked him down to 9000€ ($11,000 - £7900) for the car, and book price for this particular model in France is €16,000 ($19,660 - £14,038)
Is it worth a shot, or should I walk away?
The car is a 2003 SL500 with AMG kit on it.
The seller says that the central locking pump has failed, glove box is stuck closed, but of more concern, he says the front left suspension strut needs replacing. Looking at the photos, it is certainly sitting very low on that corner whilst it's on the back of a recovery truck.
I have asked him who diagnosed it as strut failure as, to my knowledge, unless there is an actual fluid leak on the strut, it wouldn't cause the corner to sag. The valves should lock any fluid into the strut if it detects a pressure loss.
My main concern is that he says that the car has just sat in his garage since this failure, four years ago.
That's a long time to leave a hydraulic system inactive and I'm concerned it could end up needing all sorts of o-rings and seals replacing due to degradation.
I talked him down to 9000€ ($11,000 - £7900) for the car, and book price for this particular model in France is €16,000 ($19,660 - £14,038)
Is it worth a shot, or should I walk away?
Senior Member
Joined: Jan 2015
Posts: 389
Likes: 113
From: Seattle, WA
SL500
A few RED FLAGS,
a) He Let the PSE system fail and decide not to fix it, even though it's one of the issues on the R230 that's lower on the pain scale for the pocketbook (and pretty easy to DIY)
b) He Let an ABC system failure take the car out of commission for 4 years. You have no way of knowing if the issue is simply the shock, or if the valve body is toast. Also, the high pressure hoses have been sitting unused for 4 years, never a good thing for hydraulic systems.
I'm personally never comfortable buying from those whose answer to maintenance and upkeep is to simply ignore the problem, especially on a vehicle like the R230 that has so many potential expensive headaches. I also would NEVER consider an R230 that I couldn't test drive. So my personal suggestion is as follows:
Order of progression:
1) Lace up the Nikes nice and tight.
2) Get in a three point stance to maximise acceleration potential.
3) Launch your self in any direction away from this deal with maximum ferocity.
a) He Let the PSE system fail and decide not to fix it, even though it's one of the issues on the R230 that's lower on the pain scale for the pocketbook (and pretty easy to DIY)
b) He Let an ABC system failure take the car out of commission for 4 years. You have no way of knowing if the issue is simply the shock, or if the valve body is toast. Also, the high pressure hoses have been sitting unused for 4 years, never a good thing for hydraulic systems.
I'm personally never comfortable buying from those whose answer to maintenance and upkeep is to simply ignore the problem, especially on a vehicle like the R230 that has so many potential expensive headaches. I also would NEVER consider an R230 that I couldn't test drive. So my personal suggestion is as follows:
Order of progression:
1) Lace up the Nikes nice and tight.
2) Get in a three point stance to maximise acceleration potential.
3) Launch your self in any direction away from this deal with maximum ferocity.
Super Member
Joined: Mar 2018
Posts: 541
Likes: 93
From: Northern VA
SL 600
Gasoline in the tank has turned into water by now, oil has turned into tar, hydraulic hoses would be brittle or rusty, all the ball joints have dry rotted, tires have dry rotted. Frankly you're buying a pile of fecal matter, cars sitting for such a long time develops a lot of problems. I'd walk away
Banned
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 1,982
Likes: 393
From: Atlanta, unfortunately
'09 S600, (2) R129 300SLs, '03 SL500, '03 SL55
I have an R129 that sat idle for 6 years. When I returned to it there was difficulty with the mechanical fuel injection, but within an hour the engine was running fine and the car operated as before.
If you would be getting the car at an $8000 discount to what would otherwise be its market value, then I would buy it.
If you would be getting the car at an $8000 discount to what would otherwise be its market value, then I would buy it.
Super Member
Joined: May 2015
Posts: 606
Likes: 88
From: North Cali
2005 SL500, 2015 CLS400
Bobterry99,
Everything worth a shot. On the other hand, the r129 doesn't have even half of the complicated systems the r230 has. It is night and day. I would not go for it unless it's running and I can see better what are the problems.
Example: there is one sl500 r230 for sale in my city with burnt wires in the trunk/roof area. The guy is asking 8k. According to him everything works besides the roof. That's a deal I would consider, even If it's only about 7k below other cars on sale and it's electrical.
https://sacramento.craigslist.org/ct...548041392.html
But again, to each his own
Ghostty
Everything worth a shot. On the other hand, the r129 doesn't have even half of the complicated systems the r230 has. It is night and day. I would not go for it unless it's running and I can see better what are the problems.
Example: there is one sl500 r230 for sale in my city with burnt wires in the trunk/roof area. The guy is asking 8k. According to him everything works besides the roof. That's a deal I would consider, even If it's only about 7k below other cars on sale and it's electrical.
https://sacramento.craigslist.org/ct...548041392.html
But again, to each his own
Ghostty
Last edited by Ghostty; Apr 21, 2018 at 01:00 PM.
Banned
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 1,982
Likes: 393
From: Atlanta, unfortunately
'09 S600, (2) R129 300SLs, '03 SL500, '03 SL55
At any rate, whether the two models are dissimilar or not is immaterial to the point I was making. From this thread one might infer that any vehicle that has sat for a few years is going to have several fundamental problems. My 129 is an example how this needn't be the case.
If it weren't for the salvage title I'd probably purchase the Fresno car myself and have it shipped to Atlanta.
Member
Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 89
Likes: 1
CLK 320
But what a beauty if you got it back up and running. An SL like that is on my bucket list, would have to really engage my rational brain to resist the temptation.
