Hello all,

My father is looking at a 2003 SL 500 with about 63k miles. Looks great, drives pretty well, no rattles or weirdness in transmission/drivetrain that we could tell.

However, there were a number of electrical issues that had me a bit concerned, so we gave a list to the used car dealer to address:

1. Top would not go down, at all (dealer claims it's powered by the secondary battery which is 5 yrs old, maybe not holding a charge)
2. Powered steering column would not move, at all
3. Push-to-start on the shifter did not function (started fine with key; dealer claims the plastic card has to be programmed to the vehicle? Would have thought that was already done)

The other items noted:
* trunk struts are shot, won't even remotely stay up
* smell of possibly burning coolant under heavy acceleration
* brakes seemed quite soft (compared to my 2011 and 2015 C 300s)

Are these common issues? Any help/suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Dave

Dave,
Did you run the vin on Carfax? Any maintenance records?
I would take the car to a Mercedes Dealer and have them do a complete check on the car. It will probably cost a couple hundred C notes but it would be worth it.

The "ABC" system will be your nightmare from the day you buy it until the day you sell it, and the hydraulic top rams are all leaking by now. Are you sure you're prepared to own one of these?

The dealer provided one of the knock-off history reports (not a Carfax). Only had 2 services records...

It also had a ridiculous amount of "title" records, something I had never seen, ever, on a history report. Made me wonder if was even the right VIN (haven't gotten the correct VIN to verify yet).

Definitely considering taking it to the local MB dealer for a check, but not sure how much they will charge. As is typical, the local dealership is stupid-expensive, relative (as expected with MB).

My father is going to run a separate (and actual) Carfax, will see what we get.

1) Top can be one or more of dozens of possible problems. If you are going to have someone fix it, budget $2-3k. The dealer is trying to down play this, but it is going to be expensive.
2) Not a complex system, but still a possibly expensive repair. Plan on $1-2k.
3) The card would have been coded to the car when it was produced. Could be a bad battery in the card, but not a critical system and not something you need to throw money at.
4) If you can hold a screwdriver, you can replace the trunk struts with aftermarket struts for $30.
5) ?
6) The SBC control unit is the expensive part of the braking system, but is under extended 25yr warranty. I would still plan on $500-1000 to have someone have a look at them.

If you were seeing the dash message 'consumers unavailable' the battery in the trunk is low and could be the cause of several of the problems. However, no dealer wants to sell a non-functioning convertible, so they would be fools for not investigating it to that degree. I would wager that they got a repair estimate and decided against it. You can try raising and lowering the roll bar. If it works, you at least know that the hydraulic pump is working. I would also wager that I could find another 4-5 significant issues with the car. Does the soft close trunk work? Does the lumbar or multi-contour seat inflate? Are the small flaps on the rear deck that cover the top frame present? Do both seats work in all 6 adjustments? I could go on, but you get the idea. The carfax is useful, but you need someone familiar with the R230 to take a look at it.

Without seeing the car, it would be worth maybe $13k with all of those things working. I wouldn't go over $8K as is. These are fun cars, but if you are not able to fix most issues yourself, they can get very expensive to own.

Others already gave some real good advice.
I will add my $.02 There is a known problem on fuel tank baffle plate came loose for MY03 & 04. With 63K miles, it's hard to tell if that's been done. Smaller size on Nav screen but nice to have a auxiliary audio input jack inside glove box. I would look for MY2005 & on. Keyless go built in Fob, no needed to carry extra card. 7 Speed trans Vs 5.

Very good info, thank you kindly.

For 1) and 2), are these issues directly related to the battery? There were definitely some indicators on the dashboard, "consumers unavailable" being one of them. The roll bar did move, btw.
For 3) I figured as much, but still... why wouldn't they have already done that, right? Simple thing that should have been done when they bought/traded for the car
For 4), I can easily do that part, but again... one would think they'd take care of it
For 5) like all of the above, given they are asking $19k for the car (which, given the much lower KBB and NADA valuation seems AWFULLY high), I would expect everything to be perfectly functional.

You actually touched on the value question I had big concerns over as well... while typical places like KBB/NADA have values in the $10-11k range, the current list prices for these cars online are way higher... which doesn't make a lot of sense to me. I've bought plenty of cars over the years and have never seen that kind of discrepancy (though the current COVID climate has much of the world in turmoil). Cosmetically I'd give the car a 90% score (small paint chips, poorly covered, on the hood/front fenders, a couple of weird streaky spots on the B pillars/top near the glass, couple of other very minor paint scratches/ding, interior very good to excellent, tires/wheel excellent), but I can't see aa $19k price tag for it, even if it's perfect.

My father is looking to replace his 2002 Corvette (which was super cherry with only 31k miles) that got wrecked back in Oct (he got t-boned, not his fault). He's always wanted a Mercedes, and will have around $20k after the 'vette is settled, so at this point, based on what I'm hearing about this vehicle... maybe we should be looking elsewhere.

You're worried about stupid expensive, but you want to buy an 18 year old SL?

Is there anyone who would willingly throw money away recklessly that isn't a mega millionaire?

My father is the one looking at the car. He's 81, always liked/wanted a MB roadster of some kind. While he has money and can afford it, I'm trying to ensure he doesn't get in way over his head with a vehicle/manufacturer known for overpriced service and parts. Given the advice from this board so far, this year/model combo seems too prone to major issues that are costly to repair, which doesn't make the car a good value unless everything starts out perfect (or already addressed recently), particularly if the current market has them 50% overpriced relative to value.

That car doesn't happen to be at a classic car dealer in Omaha does it? For an '03 SL500 to be worth $19K, it would need to be nearly perfect, under 30k miles or so, everything working. For example, there is a very nice Mars Red one with 24k miles in Kansas City that they are asking $20,600 for (and it has been available for a couple of months).

It is possible that the battery is the issue, but I would not take the dealers word for it. Depending on how bad the rear battery is, the consumers offline message should go away after it runs for awhile. At that point, everything should work as intended. Depending on options, it could be worth a bit more than $13k, but it would have to be above average. Even in very good condition with AMG sport, pano roof, etc., $19k is still 4 or 5 grand too high in my opinion.

This! Run Forrest run. If a dealer is not going to give you a working car, this is not one I'd take on as a project. Any ABC equipped SL with less than 600 HP is not worth the pain or aggravation that comes with ownership. These cars are ridiculously expensive to maintain/repair if you are not a DIY expert. Seriously, do not do it.

One of the results from low consumer battery is that the brake system defaults to a lower assisted version. If the brakes feel soft, once the battery is restored to normal and the codes cleared down, brakes should resume normal service.

For me, the biggest issue is the non functioning roof. If the PSE pump has gone then that could be expensive to replace, although fitting it is very well easy.

It is indeed at Classic Auto in Omaha... it's listed as an AMG (Sport Premium), has the parking sensors, distance cruise control (Distronic?), AMG wheels, etc.
The battery is marked with Aug 2015, which tells me it's probably dead and needs to be replaced, just not sure if that alone will "solve" the steering column, brakes, and top issues (but if that is all run off the consumer battery, it sounds like it should?).

The dealer indicated they would "fix" everything, so waiting to see the results from that. But...

I concur on the price assessment... even with everything near perfect and mechanicals/electricals all working as expected, it's way over priced.

PS - I did check the power seats, and all seemed to function as expected with them, so at least those seem ok.

Check the two rear flaps under the rear deck lid. If they’re not tight against it, the top won’t go down. There are limiting switches to preclude it from operating. It’s an easy fix.

$19,000 is too much to pay for a 2003 SL500 with 62K miles. Period. But that's a dealer and they inflate prices so the customer can barter them down. Dealers are typically greedy anyhow, and from my experience if their mouth is moving then they are Lying. This car very possibly could be years overdue for an oil change etc!! They would still tell you it's just been serviced.... Three of the last few of my cars bought from a dealer, they LIED to my face. When confronted, they say, "Well, that's what I was told when I purchased the car from the other owner!" Blame passing. If they tell you something, it is their responsibility to know that what they are saying is the truth. So, they all got the google reviews they earned.
If interested in the car, however, I would tell the dealer to spend $200 and put a new AGM battery in the trunk. Say, "I am not considering it until you put a new battery in it". If they won't, say Goodbye. Mercedes made quite a few of these cars, and you should be able to find one in the price range of $10,000-$12,000 that doesn't have too many issues. You could easily buy one for $12,000 and spend a thousand having it shipped to you and do better. That said, brake fluid should be replaced every two years, maybe this car is due or overdue. Possibly a tiny coolant leak dripping on the engine? Those can be very small issues. The top going down, that's another story, although prior posts bring up a few simple fixes if applicable. Good Luck

Don't buy an SL with existing problems. You'll get plenty of your own soon enough. Unless an R230 is the only car that you want buy then get something else. Harsh but true. Unfortunately for me nothing else would do. I bought a car with 67000miles with zero issues. Since then there have been a few. The ABC has hurt me once too often The uncertainty of when it will fail again has prompted me to order coil over suspension. I didn't buy the car for its complex suspension so I'm OK with that.

Thanks all for the very helpful advice. My father has decided to look for a much newer car (the one in question for this thread is out of the picture), and we've found a 2009 he likes a lot better. Going to close this thread.

Thanks again!

Let us know what you get and post some pics! .