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Hi all – This is one of the handful of 550s that I could find on the market that has ABC. I’m in FL, an 11 hour drive from this dealership in AL. I am a bit concerned about the amount of previous owners, length of time owned, and the fact that it even went to auction at one point and is now being certified as a CPO. Additionally the four exterior photographs they offer are extremely limited. I was able to get the dealership to send me these two "interior shots” and the information provided below. There's more than a few red flags going up in my head although it's not necessarily reflected in the Carfax report. The price is on the high end but obviously that can be negotiable. I also have the feeling that this car has sat for quite a long time prior to this sale offer.
From dealership: "I'm waiting for clean up to get it in and cleaned . No it wasn't a loaner It looks like the three owners just traded it in and Garber sent it to auction and that's where we purchased it from . It's pretty clean and it passed all our inspections to certifiy it. I'll try to get it pushed into clean up not that it's nasty at all It's very clean I just need them to freshen it up ."
I don't see anything in the Carfax of concern. The car wasn't driven much in 2021 but that could have been COVID-related low use.
The pictures are lousy and the car shows a lot of dirt/wear on the interior leather (Drive side bolster, door and center console) so at minimum you need to see the car cleaned with lots of close-up high-res walk around pics.
The price is too high IMO. We had the same car, same year with more options and the lease residual in mid-2019 was below $60K (should have kept it I guess).
Lots of seat bolster wear for a car with only 20k miles.
Drivers door panel is dirty, but hopefully that will clean up in detailing. If it doesn’t you’ll have to look at it every time you get in or have to replace it.
That wear on the driver’s bolster was one of my flags for sure—almost looks like a MB factory post-test bolster as in “Let’s compress this 100,000x and see how it fares!”. Another flag that I didn’t mention was that I’ve been asking them for interior shots for almost 5 weeks now. She recently emailed me and told me she finally took them and that’s what she sent—2 shots taken through the window!! She couldn’t even roll down the glass?!? So yeah, a few things have felt a bit sketchy. The dealership seems to have good ratings but I dunno if that really means anything. I assume the very high price is a money grab with the current market—this is the note from CarGurus "Selling slowly. 33 days at this dealership. 113 days on CarGurus”. I know I’m not the only person searchng for an ABC R231 in this limited market and yet it still didn’t get scooped up yet? My impression has been to turn away for all these little reasons although I will ask her one more time for real photos. Sure wish it was closer, nor do I have any friends that live in the area.
Keep in mind, this is not a buyer market ( and forget about this car ) you will pay a lot more for a nice, newer, well maintained one. It depends what you would like to do with it, drive it daily, then pay the price, queen garage, then I will go for a 13 or 14 low mileage one ( and low price too ) just my .02
Good luck!
1. I agree with others who have said that the condition of the interior is a red flag.
2. I think the maintenance records as shown on the Carfax is another red flag. The first service performed on the vehicle was approx. 4 years after purchase. Because of the deferred maintenance on the vehicle, Owner No. 2 decided to trade the car in after owning it for only 1,000 miles. I live in Atlanta and take my cars to RBM of Atlanta for service (the place where Owner 2 took the vehicle for service); but, I must say that some of their repair estimate quotes can be outrageous which may have scared Owner No. 2 to get rid of the car asap. Note there were 2 service visits in 1,000 miles
3. I would take the failure to provide photographs as a red sign as well. I purchased my current SL from an MB dealer in Cali. The car was a recent trade in at the dealership so I had to ask them for photos because New Arrival was the photo placeholder on their website. It took the dealership a few days to provide a few photographs and the excuse I received was that photographs were not listed because the vehicle had to be reconditioned. Sounds familiar? In your case the dealership stated that they're waiting to have it cleaned. The dealership finally provided a few blurry photographs like they did in your case and I overlooked some of the red flags in my the photographs I received because the SL had all of the options that I wanted in the car. When the car was finally delivered after "being reconditioned," it was obvious that the center console trim on the passenger side and other panels on the interior of the car had been removed and not re-installed properly, and the hood was covered in PPF that looked like someone had taken sandpaper and car keys across the entire hood so I had to spend a considerable amount of time and money removing the PPF and truly reconditioning the SL.
I wouldn't let the fact that the dealership is offering the vehicle as a CPO persuade you to purchase. I traded my SL in for the one mentioned above. Even though it was in great condition compared to the one I purchased from the dealership, the dealership listed my vehicle before they even received the car as a CPO on their website as a "New Arrival" and listed it for $10k over what they gave me as a trade in.
Last edited by althethird; Apr 28, 2022 at 12:11 AM.
'13 SL550 Mars Red, Designo White interior, B and O sound
Meh... LOL A buddy had one of these GTCs (new) and rather than lease, he bought: lost his shirt over the four years he kept it (once the warranty ran out that was it!).
Buuuut, my god, was it a sweet ride. And fast? Just a bit.
2015 SL400 (M276 Turbo), 2014 C350 Sport (M276 NA), 2004 SL500 (M113), 2004 Audi TT225 (BEA)
I know I'm a little late to this party, but why would an apparently sweet deal (though it's not) ever go to auction?
Three owners? What's up with that? The second owner had it for 1 month and drove it 172 miles? Weird.
The dealership is a Mercedes, but they have a lot of non-MB used cars on their lot. Why is that? I know right now all dealerships are taking whatever they can get to fill their lots due to all the new cars catching COVID, so maybe that's why they have Cameros and Challengers on the lot.
Huntsville has been booming over the last few years because the FBI is moving a lot of its headquarters' operations there (IT, finance, lab), so maybe that's why the price is high. Supply and demand.
Meh... LOL A buddy had one of these GTCs (new) and rather than lease, he bought: lost his shirt over the four years he kept it (once the warranty ran out that was it!).
Buuuut, my god, was it a sweet ride. And fast? Just a bit.
Wonder why he lost his shirt on it. They are trouble-free cars and their residual is in the 70+% range...
'13 SL550 Mars Red, Designo White interior, B and O sound
Originally Posted by Wolfman
Wonder why he lost his shirt on it. They are trouble-free cars and their residual is in the 70+% range...
IIRC, he had no issues whatsoever with it: I can't remember the mileage but it was low and nothing was wrong with it. He's paid around $250K for it and was only able to recoup c. $100K when he sold it four years later. This was a 2012 which he sold in 2016... Maybe it was the market at the time.
IIRC, he had no issues whatsoever with it: I can't remember the mileage but it was low and nothing was wrong with it. He's paid around $250K for it and was only able to recoup c. $100K when he sold it four years later. This was a 2012 which he sold in 2016... Maybe it was the market at the time.
The GTC's only launched in 2017 as a MY18. I assume it's a SLS. Convertible or coupe? The roadsters go for $150K+ now and the coupes start at $250k with nice examples in the $350 - $450k range
'13 SL550 Mars Red, Designo White interior, B and O sound
Originally Posted by Wolfman
The GTC's only launched in 2017 as a MY18. I assume it's a SLS. Convertible or coupe? The roadsters go for $150K+ now and the coupes start at $250k with nice examples in the $350 - $450k range
Anyway, here's a photo of the original window sticker of the one I was on about and I'll just leave that here and let it speak for itself. LOL This photo taken 9 August, 2016.
Anyway, here's a photo of the original window sticker of the one I was on about and I'll just leave that here and let it speak for itself. LOL
This photo taken 9 August, 2016.
Nevermind. I didn't see your earlier Bentley post and mistook your comment for the Mercedes AMG GTC, not the Bentley GTC. The resale of those Bentley's were beyond terrible and that hasn't changed much...
2019 SL450, 2019 E450 Luxury Trim Wagon, 2024 BMW I7 xDrive60
The Bentley Continental Convertible is a nice looking car, but they are way too heavy and “ponderous” might be a word. They do not drive or ride anything like an R231 with ABC. If anyone was considering a used Continental, they would be way better off with a 2017+ SL, in my honest opinion. And, as always, I’d recommend the V6 model.
The Bentley Continental Convertible is a nice looking car, but they are way too heavy and “ponderous” might be a word. They do not drive or ride anything like an R231 with ABC. If anyone was considering a used Continental, they would be way better off with a 2017+ SL, in my honest opinion. And, as always, I’d recommend the V6 model.
The Conti is an S class competitor. Both are large, boaty convertibles whereas the SL is a smaller roadster.
And as always, I must contradict your recommendation for the V6 by saying that the V8 is better!
'13 SL550 Mars Red, Designo White interior, B and O sound
Originally Posted by Wolfman
Nevermind. I didn't see your earlier Bentley post and mistook your comment for the Mercedes AMG GTC, not the Bentley GTC. The resale of those Bentley's were beyond terrible and that hasn't changed much...
Mercedes SLR McLaren 722 S Is Extremely Rare Example Modified by McLaren
Slideshow: A one-of-one U.S.-spec Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Roadster became even rarer after a factory-backed transformation at McLaren's headquarters.
