does anyone have handy the f/r weight distribution of the 55 and 65?

 

to clarify, starmark automatically adds one year to the factory warranty? meaning, 4 yrs + 1 yr = 5 yrs? and it extends the mileage limit to 100k?

 

there is no way that a car can lose 50% value in a year...

 

i must disagree.

perhaps not due to typical depreciation, but economy, adverse manufacturer announcements and events, and negative press, all could decimate a car's value very quickly.

 

hey david,

Good luck on your purchase.

If you do get it.....POST PICS!!! And congrats when it happens!!!!

 

yesterday, just for a drive around the block. the car feels like a tank that sprints. odometer had 2400 miles. asking 135k with minimal options.

now, on the floor, they had a 2006 SL600 in diamond silver. the GF's hot for that car because the color seemed to take priority. not that she didn't have a blast in the 65. so, we went to look at color swatches, including designo graphite, the color i expect to be driving within several days. she took the color swatch over to the 600, held it up, moved it around, and smiled. approved! that hurdle's behind us.

we talked with the salesman -- who i have to say was an unexcpectedly pleasant guy. i said i believed there were decent deals to be had on 2006 SL500s and SL600s, including factory assistance. he said i was right. i asked him to think about it and then provide some numbers on the 600. who knows, maybe the deal will be too good to pass up.

back to the conversation with the salesman... he showed us the import numbers on the 65s. there was all of 9 scheduled for the US during calendar year 2006. it was on official-looking MB stationery, yet i cannot believe that's an accurate number. is it possible the rumored 69 will be released early in 2007?

also, the GF said that during the 65 test-drive, they talked a bit about model changes. she said the salesman told her the 600 was going to replaced by a 63. of course, i could chalk up her recollection of the conversation to distraction by biturbo V12, but it's possible he told her that because she tends to listen very carefully. i wonder if it's possible they were talking about 55s. what are the chances that MB would change the 55 to 63 during MY2007?

about the 65s, do you believe there are so few 65s due in to the US?

anyway, after the MB experience, we headed to the bentley dealer. it was after close, but we were admitted and got to tinker in a GT and listen to salesman commentary. you wouldn't believe the number and quality of the disparaging remarks this guy made about MBs. frankly, i was surprised. not only is disparagement an inappropriate tactic for that class of car, it's really quite insulting to hear it after driving up in an MB, which was parked just outside and in clear view.

i was surprised by the bulkiness of the doors, and the bit of contortion i needed to pull them closed on both driver and passenger sides. they autoclosed after latching, but the act of reaching and twisting my hand and pulling felt unnatural.

the steering wheel gadgetry was impressive facially. however, there was little tactile differentiation on the gadgets, except for the clickable, prismatic wheel.

the back seats are next to useless, despite the saleman's instructions on how to climb in and out without injuring oneself. imagine that, one must take instruction to use the rear seat! upon returning home, i realized i had indeed hurt my back. really, i'm not kidding.

we're supposed to test-drive the GT i think on tuesday. (the appt's up to the GF because her calendar's a jumble kept by two assistants.)

the bentley is a hot car, no doubt. while my first up-close-and-personal impression was tainted by the salesman, i'm looking forward to tinkering with it while it's rolling.

 

Hey, I'm no CPA either but.......I had a friend a few years back that used to buy a new SL every year and hardly drove them. I think his girlfriend used to take it out on the weekends once in a while. At any rate......he would trade them in on a new ones after only putting 2K or 3K miles on them. When I asked him about it.........his answer was that he had to keep spending his money on things because Uncle Sam would get to much of it back in taxes! He is a big contractor and makes over 500K each year. He also bought several rental properties at the beach. I just figured that he could get some sort of relief for owning all of these assets.........? What do I know? Unfortunately, I'm not in the same terrible spot that he is in!....lol.

On another note.......I know that my CPA writes off BOTH of my leased vehicles since my wife and I have our own businesses respectively.

 

Update???

 

nothing yet, other than that we're supposed to fly up on saturday.

i'm suffering last-minute jitters while wondering if the SL65 is on it's way out of the line-up short-term.

 

yesterday's manhiem results- 2005 sl65
04/19/06 MANHEIM Regular $136,000 532 Avg SILVER ,
04/19/06 MANHEIM Lease $110,000 6,289 Avg SILVER

 

thanks for the most recent numbers.

why is there such a gap between those two SL65s??? and what is the difference between LEASE and REGULAR, other than that lease probably refers to a leased vehicle?

140k still seems like a decent number for starmark, 5250 miles, graphite, all options but one car with a reliable and acceptable provenance, and a clean service history, doesn't it?

 

the dealer offered ~10% off retail for the extended warranty, meaning about 3200 for two additional years, still up to 100k miles. precisely one warranty-year has expired, leaving three warranty-years and 100k miles.

the two-year extension would provide five warranty-years and 100k miles.

if -- a big "if" -- i were to use the car as a daily driver, and would put on 20k miles annually, then that provide five years of covered use, less 5250 current odometer miles.

sounds like the reasonable move.

thoughts?

 

If planning to drive car 15-20K mi/yr as daily driver and are somewhat price conscious, I'd advise waiting for new '07 SL65 to hit dealers; find a high-vol dealer willing to discount cars to move cars sitting on ground (or cut a deal w/your curr Merc dealer if you have a positive relationship); negot a ?5% off-MSRP price on 65 w/acceptable colors/options....and then lease it $0 dwn for 3yrs; chk what best lease terms are via dealer or via a lease broker....no one who's price conscious should be putting $100K-200K into a rapidly depreciating, discretionary GT car; the capital is better invested elsewhere...and leasing in most states is advantageous from a sales tx perspective as well.

Don't know of any modern, tech-rich car (like today's AMG's/P/F) that I'd want to keep after 15K mis or so.....too many complicated and expensive software/hardware systems that are likely to start failing/faltering after 15K mis; would certainly want full factory warranty (the extended warranties tend to have exclusions/gimmicks); also, V12s tend to be expensive to svc, esp at the 30K mi lvl....chk your all-in projected mtce costs of 65....may be cheaper to have 2yr lease, rather than 3yr....run the nos.

Another consideration: my anecdotal sources seem to indicate latest MBs are more robust and debugged vs same models of even 1-2 yrs ago....another incentive to get a new '07.....esp SL is now mid-cycle, where most of debugging has occurred....

I know this is a difft viewpoint than typical used car buyers'...but I even convinced my office secretaries to just lease a new Camry, $0 dwn every 2-3 yrs, rather than buying a car....run the nos. and consider the many risks/hassles of used cars and cars w/more than 15-20K mis and you may be surprised......think of modern, tech-heavy cars in an environment of cheap leases as more like cell phs/iPods/PCs/Blkberries in terms of their tech obsolescence cycle and disposability.....

 

yes, i understand your points. but i thought typical leases were best for 15k miles and under per year cars. i should find out the ppm after 15k mpy for a new SL65.

 

due to heavy weather over the southern to mid-atlantic coasts. we're tentative for next weekend.

today, we'll fly south and central florida as a consolation. not so bad.

 

Wow, I just read through some of your posts. You have bought several 55/65's, have an 07 SL 65 on order, are getting the first S65 coming to your dealer any day that you will be trading back for the first CL65 that comes in hopefully at the end of the summer and these will share duty wih your Ferrari 599 when that comes in. With all these cars coming in, I would love to see what you drive now. Also, the extended waranties talked about above are from Mercedes and are the same as factory as I am sure you knew.

 

You mean "Mercedes Benz OFFERS an extended warranty..."

 

i guess nobody would be surprised by my first impression: WOW!

i put on about 50 miles and have already noticed several characteristics:

1. in C drive, the car doesn't idle forward. this is diffrerent from every other automatic car i've had. the same in reverse, while parking.

2. overall, the transmission, when in not in manual, seems to behave as a manual. for instance, torque seems to feather itself in at the wheels, just as when engaging clutch in a manual. i'm uncertain whether this is related to on-board systems controlling the torque. regardless, it's a really neat sensation.

3. the engine temp seems to like 90C. it hardly moved, whether in 5 miles of stop-and-go, or open on I95.

4. the most unexpected visibility feature is the wind screen. it doubles as a sun shade AND mutes the lights of following vehicles. the sunscreen in my CLK is invaluable; i was bummed because i'd been led to believe that the SL screen could be used ONLY when the top was down. good thing i ask plenty of questions.

5. handling is better than anticipated. i know the car is heavy, it plows, and simply doesn't behave like a sports car. but for what it is, it's surprisingly tossable. i can push the rear around a curve with a small throttle blip while ABC and ESP do a lot of the control work. at least that's my sense of what's happening from my brief time in the seat.

6. the rear windows are operable independent from the convertible top.

7. in the cluster menu, i haven't yet found a reading of the fuel quantity remaining in the tank. that measurement is available in my CLK cluster.

i'm purchasing an addtional non-MB insurance for wheel and tire damage, and leather wear and damage. five years for about $850.00 of warranty with few exclusions. just the leather care would be worth it because the company will send a tech to the car even when not at a dealer...after my GF's make-up or beverage or whatever is the basis of an accident. okay, i'm being hard on her, but she's left all sort of artifactitious damage in her CLK and now her lexus. this is a small price to pay that certainly will pay for itself financially and in relationship trouble-avoidance. as for the wheels and tires, it won't cover curb rubs, but will cover true road hazard damage. those low-profile tires and twin-spoke wheels surely are suckers for even moderate potholes that sometimes cannot be avoided.

that's about it for now.

i've greatly appreciated all of your thoughts, opinions, guidance and enthusiasm. and i'm very happy to be a part of your club.

time for a tapas dinner at the chef's bar, and maybe a malbec or two.

david

 

Congrats! I thought you were starting to get second thoughts. Good choice, I know it wasn't the cheapest one around but it seemed like a very nice one and the X-11 leather alone in that car is a great option. As for #7 it is there and I am sure you will find it. Also, don't forget you can burn a few hundred songs on one DVD that will play in the command and the titles will come up on the command and the instrument pods as well. Have fun!

 

funny thing about the leather is that it's neither black not charcoal. it's more like a very deep, charcoally olive green. it's designo stuff.

regarding the fuel quantity guage readout, have you used it?

 

The leather interior in your designo package is called "designo Graphite" in the US market. In Europe, MB calls the same interior "designo Graphite-Green". Color code for both is X14. Same with the exterior paint, in the US, paint code 041 is "designo Graphite", in Europe it's designo Graphite-Green".

 

sure would've been nice to know about that color BEFOREhand.

the color in the NE looks good, if not great. customers at the dealership gawked at it. a group of hospitality students arrived in a van, hopped out, went right over to it, crowded around, looked in, and touched it.

i wonder how it'll look in the SE. you're in FL. any thoughts?

 

A neighbor of mine had a designo Graphite SL55, and it looked great anywhere. Grey cars normally look low-key to me, but not this one, it was very distinctive. You won't regret the choice. Congratulations, and post some pics for us, for goodness sake!

 

that's reassuring. my capri blue CLK can look purplish in the NE, but is blackish-blue in S FL.

early on in this thread, i posted about 5 pics originally sent to me by the dealer. when the car's in FL, i might take and post more.

in which part of FL are you located?

 

David,

Glad you're enjoying the car so much. I would also like to see more pics when you get it home. What do you think of the DG color with the titanium wheels? Is there enough contrast or would chrome/polished wheels be better? I have SL65 wheels on my pewter 55, but am not sure about what to put on the 07 DG 55 I'll be getting. Thanks.

Bob