Breeze

Just left my dealership...one of the salesmanagers said that the US quota for SL55's just went up from 400 to 2400 next year based on demand. Prices should be getting soft soon!

Breeze
S500 Designo 00'

bobafett

600% increase? I don't believe it...

--Dan

Breeze

All I know is that they were just coming out of a meeting and everyone was beaming*. I don't know why this guy would jerk me around. He admitted prices were getting soft and trying for a large vig wasn't going to fly after the first of the year.

*I wonder if after a meeing at a BMW dealership they come out beaming (just a thought)

55-BEAR

AMG must be cranking out 55 engines by the hundreds now with the SL55, S55, CL55, E55, M55, G55, and the new CLK55 in the works. Who knows what other 55's they have up their sleeves!!

SLR and SL600 are just around the corner too!

The 55 engine is in too many Mercedes in my opinion, and the AMG body kits on non 55 engined cars is a joke. A poseurs car, all looks and no real AMG tweaks to speak of. AMG 55's shouldn't be in the M and G class vehicles. It just really doesn't make the AMG's very special any more.

Looks to me like the SL600, CL600, and the S600 might be the cars to own. More exclusive than the SL55's will be. Although no AMG tweaks on these machines either!

Just my 2 & 1/2 cents worth!

Bear

Breeze

He and another manage did say that the SL600 twin-turbo (2004 model) would be arriving in late spring '03. As far as allotment goes they didn't know. They said if I gave up my SL55 due in January they would let me be #1 for the first SL600. Interesting.

Breeze

absent

Breeze:wait for 600,will be smoother,faster at any speed and definitely more exclusive.It will be worth it another couple months wait.

bimmerlover

i agree 100% plus you get that v12 badge


and i think 55bear is right as well, why would you have an amg suv? thats why M cars are so special because there are guidelines for their nametag. they must be naturally aspirated rear wheel drive, etc. there are way too many amg vehicles being produced with engines all bearing strikin resemblences in bhp.

mookie

interesting they will let u be first if u give up the SL55 now, can u say they have something up their sleeve, ake the car now and enjoy

Breeze

By giving up my spot they can nail the guy who gets my SL55 for $20-40 k premium. A bird in the hand as they say. They're not thinking that the SL600 will demand a premium (just their usual 6%). And they're not sure when they will actually get a delivery, whereas my SL55 will be here in January, in fact I can have one this month if I don't want command II ( but that's another story at another thread).

Breeze

RootN4U

"...actually get a delivery, whereas my SL55 will be here in January, in fact I can have one this month if I don't want command II ( but that's another story at another thread). "

Breeze..what do you know about Command II in the SL55--When??????...AND --What are the improvements???...Thanks

zshly

Excuse me for joining threads (and beating the subject to death), but are you saying with certainty that Com II will be available JAN 2003? Have you really verified this with MB, or is it mere salesman's talk? I believe there's a big diff between "Com 2" and Com II. The first has a slightly bigger screen than the original, but is still a Bosch CDR-based system. We're all waiting for II, which is Becker, DVD-based, and technologically far superior.

Regards,

Breeze

I'll check out the difference and delivery Thursday or Friday and get back to you.

Breeze

henry42

Breeze; Your dealership there in CA must have a breeze going through they're ears. The production number of 400 was long ago increased to over 1000 for this years model. As far as next years production at 2400 I personally don't think you'll see that kind of number. Look on the E55 board and check out the sales numbers for the past few years. Thats the most popular 55 sold.

northbenz

What you report matches what we were told several months ago by one of the posters here who resides in UK and went to the factory in Bremmen to pick up his SL. He reported that the number of SL55's coming off the line was something like 50% of the production. On Ebay a number of dealer sellers were claiming a limited SL55 production (whether 400 or 1000) as fact. I emailed two of them and asked them to verify same in light of what was being reported by persons who had actually been to the factory. Both admitted they had no factual basis and one pulled the claim from his ad and the other added a disclaimer stating that Mercedes was free to adjust the number of SL55's as they wished. In view of the fact that the SL55's MSRP came out about $20,000 lower than many had projected, this should have told us all that Mercedes was planning to mass market this vehicle. It looks like the SL600 will end up being the luxury priced SL that will be kept in limited supply to justify a higher MSRP.

henry42

I don't know where you got Sl55 came out $20K under projected price and that's why they will mass market. The msrp I always heard about was always inline with other 55's in the product line... Other models, and I own an ML55, are about 15-20K over next most expensive... so at 87K for the SL500 the msrp for the SL55 is right in line. What you're saying is the SL55 was supposed to be $143K..come on!
I got my info on production in late June at the AMG driving challenge from the head of AMG product development. The original number was 463, then increased to a thousand.

bimmerlover

there's gonna be a lot of unhappy jackasses who paid 50-70 over msrp. lol, man just goes to show you, keep your money in your wallets fellas. if your gonna splurge...i hate saying this, but they are a lot more reliable nowadays....get a ferrari or lambo. at least the production numbers dont fluctuate as much. and its truly limited production. at any rate enjoy the cars whether or not u were smart or foolish

mookie

people who paid 50 over or more dont care that it is trading for sticker because they had it 1 year before every one and thats chump change to them anyway, besides they are all ready buying the next super car

internet_mafia

You got to pay the cost to be the boss.

mookie

ya man !

Sensational1

lol! You seriously believe Lamborghini and Ferrari are more reliable cars than Mercedes?

Tezta

Who said lambo and ferrari are more reliable than Mercedes?

bimmerlover

im gonna have to say something that many will disagree with. but ferrari's are reliable, at leastthe new ones are. the problem is their engines require that you drive them and drive them HARD. although there is no scientific proof but rumor has it that people who use them as Daily Drivers and drive them hard have less issues than the people who just baby them and leavehtem inthe garage

vraa

i think what he meant was that lambo's and ferrari's are more reliable then compared to their previous counterparts! lol

Tezta

That is not all that out of the ordinary. One of my neighbors in the building has a Ferrari 348 Spider, hes owned this car for well over a year, he drives it at least every other day and when i hear him leaving the compound, i hear that beautiful Ferrari engine howl! Funny thing is, the car is always here, in his garage or out on the road, its never at the service center. Its actually quite remarkable, an older ferrari that has no major mechanical problems for over a year

Wolfman

Northbenz, the SL600 is going to be a fantastic car, but like every other V12 in the Mercedes lineup now and in the past, these cars are will not be more exclusive than the AMG's.

Great, but not exclusive other than by virtue of price as Mercedes has no production limits on them unlike the AMG's.

I guess we'll see how the premiums go and their resale values in a year or so, but history shows that they drop like a rock