SL55/63/65/R230 AMG: I'm Looking to buy a '04 - '05 SL55, Issues?
Thread Starter
Newbie
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 16
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I'm Looking to buy a '04 - '05 SL55, Issues?
I've been looking for a while, and am ready to buy. I've done some research, but would like to get your "user" advice.
Thanks in advance for your input.
Cheers,
Gene
Thanks in advance for your input.
Cheers,
Gene
Thread Starter
Newbie
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 16
Likes: 0
I was looking for info on issues, problems, and what to look/look-out for, warranty, etc. If your available, let me know how to get ahold of you 760-931-9100.
Thanks,
Gene
Member
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 248
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From: North Carolina
05 SL 55 AMG, 01 Turbusa/8.43 @ 183..1/4 mi.
Bought my '05 last November/(4 months ago) and car is just friggin' Awesome..........only 4K miles on the clock and took to the RennTech Pulley/ECU and 2nd IC Pump/Intercooler like a duck takes to water.
Car is fast, and far cheaper than a new one and the '05 has the same quality and parts..........
And will outperform an '07 with just a few thousand buck in mods........
Dunno about an '04.....
The only "Issue" with the '05 is that it is grossly "Underbuilt".......but I am fixing that........next step will be the RennTech Throttle-Body.........
Car is fast, and far cheaper than a new one and the '05 has the same quality and parts..........
And will outperform an '07 with just a few thousand buck in mods........
Dunno about an '04.....
The only "Issue" with the '05 is that it is grossly "Underbuilt".......but I am fixing that........next step will be the RennTech Throttle-Body.........
Last edited by SuperDave; Mar 6, 2007 at 07:39 PM.
Junior Member
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 54
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2006 SL55 AMG
The first thing I did was read a ton of threads on the SL55 forum. There is a lot of useful info in there. Google for SL55 reviews for the model year you are looking for. You can identify a lot of issues that way. in the '04 and '05s I didn't come across anythiing alarming.
I used autotrader.com and ebay to find my dream car. I also limited myself to authorized MB dealers. It might mean a slighlty limited selection and a slightly higher price, but the peace of mind of the MB CPO program is worth it in my opinion, not to mention the lessening of the risk in the transaction
Also, don't settle. If you have a specific color, option set, etc that you are looking for, wait until you find it. You'll be spending a lot of money - so get what you want. If your dream car is not on the market right now, just wait. New listings pop up all the time.
The CPO warranty is great, especially for the 04 and 05 models which have less factory warranty time on them. The CPO warranty will extend the factory warranty by 1 year. A dealer will also give you the opportunity to buy addition 1 or 2 years of warranty coverage, which you can buy or not depending on your situtation and the particular car you buy.
If I think of more, I'll add it later. Good luck.
I used autotrader.com and ebay to find my dream car. I also limited myself to authorized MB dealers. It might mean a slighlty limited selection and a slightly higher price, but the peace of mind of the MB CPO program is worth it in my opinion, not to mention the lessening of the risk in the transaction
Also, don't settle. If you have a specific color, option set, etc that you are looking for, wait until you find it. You'll be spending a lot of money - so get what you want. If your dream car is not on the market right now, just wait. New listings pop up all the time.
The CPO warranty is great, especially for the 04 and 05 models which have less factory warranty time on them. The CPO warranty will extend the factory warranty by 1 year. A dealer will also give you the opportunity to buy addition 1 or 2 years of warranty coverage, which you can buy or not depending on your situtation and the particular car you buy.
If I think of more, I'll add it later. Good luck.
Newbie
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 5
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Advice from another Wannabe SL AMG Owner
Emvanderpol,
'm not a user yet- I'm just a wannabe (and soon) but I understand that the '05 has larger navigation screen that it requires only one navigation disk as opposed to the '04 requiring many disks. Also. the '05 bose has been upgraded to digital and you may be able to get the sirius radio on both years- not sure -but I know you can get that sirius on the '05 for sure. A friend who bought an '03 SL 500 said he wanted to upgrade to an '05, so you might want to consider going with the "05- besides it gives you another year on the warranty over the '04.
I have spoken to Mercedes mechanics and they all recommend getting the extended MB warranty if you can because repairs are astronomically expensive and these cars do not get gold medals for reliability. A lemon -even in warranty- is a curse because- who wants to hang out in the MB service waiting room for days each month?
My suggestion: You might consider not buying a car that doesn't come with a set of full service records. Make sure the car came in for routine maintenance and maybe the recall. If it came in for any other repairs, I'd skip it. Lemons usually start out that way in my experience. Think about getting a certified MB car from an authorized dealer because these qualify for the extended MB warranty. Many of the other warranties aren't worth the paper they're written on.
Good Luck and tell us how you did.
'm not a user yet- I'm just a wannabe (and soon) but I understand that the '05 has larger navigation screen that it requires only one navigation disk as opposed to the '04 requiring many disks. Also. the '05 bose has been upgraded to digital and you may be able to get the sirius radio on both years- not sure -but I know you can get that sirius on the '05 for sure. A friend who bought an '03 SL 500 said he wanted to upgrade to an '05, so you might want to consider going with the "05- besides it gives you another year on the warranty over the '04.
I have spoken to Mercedes mechanics and they all recommend getting the extended MB warranty if you can because repairs are astronomically expensive and these cars do not get gold medals for reliability. A lemon -even in warranty- is a curse because- who wants to hang out in the MB service waiting room for days each month?
My suggestion: You might consider not buying a car that doesn't come with a set of full service records. Make sure the car came in for routine maintenance and maybe the recall. If it came in for any other repairs, I'd skip it. Lemons usually start out that way in my experience. Think about getting a certified MB car from an authorized dealer because these qualify for the extended MB warranty. Many of the other warranties aren't worth the paper they're written on.
Good Luck and tell us how you did.
