I went to see the new SL 63 AMG this afternoon. I wanted to buy it.
But the more I looked the more unsure I became. It's the back, the front
i'm not sure, I think I prefer mine, then it struck me, with the roof up it
looks more like a coupe than a sports 2 seater.Looking straight at the back
it looks very wide with a spoiler going nearly all round. From the side it
doesn't quite match, back to front looks more CLK , but here's the rub, I asked how much and he said 111 grand , OK that's 3 grand more than mine.
How much part ex I asked he 43 grand you must be joking I said, my
63 is mint, not a mark,dent or scratch on it. Now I know I could get more
but who wants to sit next to test pilots scaring the crap out of you. When
I got home I looked at my 63, she is beautiful and more sports car looking.
I had my head turned for a moment, but when I got home order was restored.
I'll keep her and 70 odd grand.

Four out of ten SL's are sold in the US and 57% of the the new generation are to be the AMG version!

The front and rear of the new SL don't match IMHO.

So what's your point ?

The new SL is a nice looking car but as carcommander says ,front and back
don't match, in the brochure a side view slightly angled towards the back
makes it look lke a coupe with a longer boot (trunk ) like a CLS.

I test drove the new '13 SL550 yesterday and I was really bummed with the amount of lag in the accelerator. Obviously, I'm comparing it to my C63 M156 engine, but for me, I was really bummed. I took a lengthy test drive and I tried all of the various modes hoping for an improvement, but it didn't happen. The paddle shifting in M mode was terrible and not crisp at all.

The dealer had a '13SL63 there as well, but at $160k its out of my price range. I didn't spend a ton of time looking at it, but for the few minutes I did, I thought it looked great. Very aggressive looking and I thought the lines all worked nicely together. The car is not subtle by any means--they had a dark blue metallic one--I'd love to see one in 040

I saw the new SL63 and was not overwhelmed, couldnt justify the price delta over my 09 SL63. Did love the interior.

Wait til they give you an offer, mines an 09.

The new SL63 makes a compelling argument for keeping my SL55.

On the other hand, our tuning for the new cars thoroughly improves throttle response. So, if you are inclined to go for the new one, there is a performance answer!

If you want a SL550 for AWD maybe the AMG Engineer Sponsor above has a tuning solution for you! I think someone else did this with a CLS 550 and is happy. What it does to your MB new car warranty is a consideration, perhaps. That's why I have been waiting on my CL55 to go out of warranty I guess. Even the MB dealer who has Re**tch sez that might be a problem.

I still maintain the new SL should be designated the R230.1 instead of the R231.

I hear what you're saying about the robbery part. The president of the local MB club had an '06 black/black SL65 that he bought new. It was a cherry car. He traded it in on a new C63 at the Fort Worth dealer. They gave him $38K for it! He paid close to MSRP for the car when he bought it new at $186. I found out about it two weeks after I bought my '06 silver SL65..... :-(

Last year I bought a mint '06 Gallardo from a Dallas dealer with 14K mis. I paid just under 100 for it and drove it a year. I sold the car for more than I paid for it.

If I did my math right that is 80% depreciation on the SL and only 42% on the Lambo. All I can say is wow..... Personally I think the pre-owned SL's are a screaming bargain. We'll see how it does when I trade it in a year or so.

Looks like later SLs are continuing the epic depreciation of the early ones. My SL55 is 10 years old in 3 weeks, is currently sitting at he dealer while they try to solve a loss of power problem and has been quite unreliable. £96k new ($150k), dealer has offered £13k ($20k), the car is mint, 19k miles.

It seems no one here wants them, huge maintenance costs, reliable mechanicals but electronics and especially the hydraulics are a nightmare. Great news for someone brave enough, it's a lot of car for the money.