b4chow

just wonderin... since we use ours everyday, actually everywhere we go now, because it's just too much fun... wonderin if there are any drawbacks to using it everyday (around 30+ miles)...

palbertr

Only drawback is parking in places that me not be safe from harm to the SL. I usually make a lot of stops during the day. Many people will go out of their way to look at the car and I worry that someone will key the car or will mess with something else. Car is great for everyday driving.

sillydriver

I commute in mine. An example of the downside: there is a dent and scratch in its soft aluminum hood made last week by a rock thrown up by another car here on Boston’s terrible roads.

evanichka

i plan on driving my sl55 (due in hawaii in ~3 weeks! perfect timing for my summer vacation) everyday, and i believe it will have the same drawback as the sl500... i don't want to park it just anywhere (esp not near the beach, dont wanna get it sand/salt blasted), so whenever i go to the beach or other public places, ill just drive my C or just catch a ride from my friend =P

speaking of parking the car anywhere, i remember parking my slk loaner at waialae iki (a nice neighborhood in hawaii) and some punk kid beginner driver was using my on-street parked car to practice parallel parking!!!

sillydriver, i cant imagine driving such a nice car in boston, the roads truly are horrible! pot holes everywhere. for school next year ill probably get a used lexus is or bmw 3 series that will just get plenty abuse from the roads

b4chow

if you don't mind me asking, how are you 20 years old and driving an SL55? wow, would i love to be you...

evanichka

:p

my family isnt that rich, but i have parents who spend money only on their kids and practically none on themselves. and its all incentives too, which is a funny way of doing things. if i do well in school or on other things they award me with "bonuses". the system makes sure i work for what i get. maybe its detrimental in the fact that it could make me not work for no incentives, but i havent felt that way yet.

but i do pay for a huge percentage of the cars i do buy... paid for my c230 (my first car, bought in 9th grade) and paid about 60k for the sl55. but the sl500 was a christmas present. the money i have are mostly from the stock market (my parents gave me a nice sum of money to invest in 9th grade as xmas present and even more just recently). also, i made about 30k last summer from real estate commissions (my parents use me as their real estate agent =P ). i also work other jobs during summer.

but there are so many kids who are "luckier" than me (of course there are even more who arent as lucky so i am not complaining). some kid at my school has a lambo and a mig!!! a lot of the international students are loaded too. but ill take what i can get.

if this post sounds like i am full of myself, sorry, i didnt mean it to come off that way. but i do believe i deserve some of the things i have. the pressure my parents put on me is pretty overwhelming for me. the high standards my older sister has set doesnt help at all either. i worked and got lucky. i owe a big part of it to my parents, as cliched as it may sound. thats all i can say. i know i should save the money i make and do better things with it, but i want to enjoy the good things in life while im still young (which my parents gladly agree with). i do get scared that one day, i will lose it all... after all, im still just a student, its not like i am already set for life or retired with enough money to support a whole family

heh, this post is way off topic

i think another drawback is getting sunburnt while driving with the top down and having to wear sunscreen. also i would imagine the interior collects a fair amount of dust with the top down (havent driven my sl500 long enough to notice) but i cant believe i lived without a convertible in hawaii this long! ive definitely been missing out.

b4chow

that's a pretty sweet deal you got there, all i got was a C-class... but then again you are at MIT...

Sensational1

Yeah, I am sort of in the same boat. I got a new 2002 S500 for my 18th birthday. I plan to get a ferrari 360 or a Murcielago in 4-5 years.

b4chow

liveseyd

Flippin' Norah ! When I was 17 , I scraped £100 together and bought myself a Hillman Imp (great car when the head gasket was'nt blown , which was'nt often).

David ( from the north of England if you had'nt guessed!)

CarlssonCRS

must be a Punahou kid!

liveseyd

Wot's one of them , then?

CarlssonCRS

punahou is a rich kid high school in hawaii

evanichka

haha wow, you from hawaii? how do you know punahou?

im a graduate from iolani though... percentage of students going to ivy leagues is better for us

but punahou has all the money steve case is a punahou grad and donates a ****load of money

anyway... my sl55 arrived on may 25th in hawaii, but damn matson still hasnt unloaded it

CarlssonCRS

i used to go to punahou.... so naturally i think iolani sucks!

MBOrlGuy

Mercedes are great everyday cars. I use my '03 CL55 as an everyday car, and plan to do the same when I get me SL55 in September. I, and I think most people, buy cars like the CL55 of SL55 for use as everyday cars, a car that gives you all of the creature comforts but you still have power. It is great for use as an everyday car, or an escape from your 2nd or 3rd cars, like the GT2 which only give performance (not even power seats)

evanichka

i like punahou too... hotter chicks lol

Mr. Joro

I use my SL55 as my normal drive. I usally take up two parking spaces for my cars. Do any of you do the same? I mean its a 130,000 dollars, shouldn't you treat it carefully? Who dis/agrees??

palbertr

Great Idea ,but I find a lot of people get pissed off if they see you are taking up to places. I don't know why, but I have seen lots of cars keyed for doing this. I have also seen the next car over deceide to take up that extra space as well.

b4chow

yea, i wouldn't recommend doing that, first of all it's illegal so you could get a ticket for it, and there are ppl out there who would love to key your car for doing something like that, i'd consider it, why be an a**hole, just park your car farther away in a more secluded spot, don't take up two spaces...

Mr. Joro

I see your point, but when I can't get a further more secluded, I dont want my investment, which is actully I am selling because I am getting the SL7.3. So email me for info on the sale. jdesnick@softhome.net

Mr. Joro

What do you mean by keying your car??
Mr. Joro

palbertr

Draging the sharp end of a key along (mostly the side) the car and scratching the paint off. If done right and deep enough the car would have to be repainted in the damaged areas.