Unfortunately I cant drive it until January

1st

2nd

3rd and last....for the moment

It will be registered and then can be driven on 2nd January (1st is a holiday in UK) so it will be a 2003 car. If I register it now it will be 2002 and worth less when I sell.

If I wanted to sell within the next year whilst there is a price premium then this would not be a problem. But I do not intend to sell that quickly.

Sale price difference in 4 to 5 years time could be around £3,000 to £4,000. Significant enough drop for the sake of waiting a week. Plenty of "family" things to do over the next week anyway!

Congrat's on the new toy Paul, what is to wait a few days anyway, I have to wait two years to have it.

Congrats!! Looks like you've been really such a good boy that Santa would give you something like this.!!

How can a 2003 model be registered as a 2002?

In the UK the actual date of registration is more important than the model year. So if a 2003 model is registered at the UK's central driver licensing agency (the DVLA) before the end of 2002 it counts as a 2002 car.

A car registered in December will usually have a significantly lower value than the same car registered in January.

Unlike some other countries, in the UK you have to register the car in the UK before you can drive it on the public road.

Nice colour

Can't belive the weather in the UK at the moment. This must be for you! Drove Coventry to Nottingham last night comfortably in a T-Shirt with the roof down!

Thanks morebhp. It was the first picture you posted and your related comments on colour that convinced me to go for Jasper blue.

Congrats - I am very happy with Jasper.

On the down side my dealer got me the mats today after three months - He said I could have blue, grey or graphite.

Having seen some of the superb Blue mats on this forum went for Blue - They arrived - Teal Blue (A greeny grey). Nice one dealer!

Swapping them next week - will have a chioce of Alpaca or Graphite.

Jasper blue would look great but apparently not yet available.

Has yours come with mats - what did you go for inside?

Roll on the new year!

Have gone for alpaca grey exclusive leather interior without comfort seat option as I didnt want ventilation holes in the leather.

I think my dealer was nervous about trying to sell what he couldnt deliver so he only offered me graphite, red or alpaca mats with "Mercedes Benz" and silver star logo. Went for graphite which I thought would be the only sensible option for UK winter. Cost was £76-38 including tax - not cheap. No chance of getting them free though!

Once I get the car will probably have a set made with SL55 or AMG logo by one of the custom mat companies.

Another advantage of graphite mats is they match the steering wheel. I expected to have a problem with graphite colour wheel but seems fine especially as the instrument cover is the same colour.

Ah well - only 6 days to go now til January 2nd.