Bdubblu

Hi guys, I'm new to the forum. Logging in to get some insight on purchasing a 2003 SL55 AMG. I've got a neighbor who is trying to get rid of a black on black 2003 SL55 with 22,000 miles on it. Pricing online for these is all over the place. I figured I'd get some good feedback here. I've seen them "listed" for 18-24k, but that doesn't really tell me what they end up selling for. Any thoughts would be appreciated. I'm thinking of trying to get a good deal from him, but I kind of need to know what that would be. Here's the VIN report:

okbarnett

dont care what you pay for it, but you need to take it to a dealer and get a complete inspection, and recommendation for service it might need

Jay Page

Bdubblu

Bdubblu

57staff

I would heed ok's advice. Without knowing what could be wrong there is no way to establish value. Mine was very clean with only a few minor issues with 56k miles. Bought it for 18k. However, any ABC or SBC issues and you are looking at major costs for repairs. That would drive down the value probably to somewhere around 14k. Rarely do these cars have engine issues. They do have many complex systems that are over 15 years old. Do your due diligence.

Bdubblu

ItalianJoe1

The 18-24k estimation is about right, depending on exact options and assuming good condition. What kills these cars is, the needed repairs can EASILY be $5k+ and then the car isn't a good deal anymore. If the top needs cylinders, or an ABC line pops and fries the pump, you are looking at an expensive repair if you can't do it yourself, and those types of things happen with age, not mileage.

dafi129

If all is well on the car , anything under $20 K is good value specially with the low mileage .
Rear tire is 285/35/18 by the way .
We all love our 55K cars , and the technology they have . It's not a muscle car , it's a super car

kittyandgary

Low mileage is not always great. The seals and various parts of the car need to be 'operated' occasionally in order to stay pliable/functional. I really prefer to buy cars that have been used for about 3-5K miles per year, preferably with some driving every month. Just my opinion.

Das Geld 2

Look for a good VMI

jlgrzesiak

TO amplify what others have said ....

22,000 for a 2003 is pretty low for a 15 year old car. Since it's your neighbor, I am sure you know how often he takes it out. The ABC suspension needs to be pressurized and used often if it is to remain healthy.
As far as money goes :: $12,500-20,000 is typical for the AMG model. 2003's of lesser vintage are in the $3-$6k range ...

The advice to get Mercedes to do a pre-buy inspection is good. I have purchased 3 R230's over the years and they can mount up repair dollars fast even when you get the pre-buy inspection. Of course, the lower you pay for the car up front, the more you feel OK paying for repairs later, but, that may not be what your neighbor has in mind .... I really love my R230's regardless of the pain they have given me periodically. They are worth the possible pain in my book. your mileage may vary of course ...

The system I would spend the most time insuring is the ABC (which sometimes even Mercedes is a little reluctant to follow their own service bulletins on) Make sure the fluid is clean (white tissue test -- should have a very light green color with no hints of black or silver floating in the fluid) ... actuate the raise switch with the engine idling and see how quick it responds ... the quicker the better. AMG's handle tighter than other SL models, but, a well maintained system will be firm and won't float around at highway speeds ... If it does float, then you are looking at repairs in the near future. If this is the case, then pay less. Accumulators are sometimes a quick path to the system working well again and with a 15 year old example, I would think it would need a set unless it has had those done with the last 3 or 4 years.

Finally ... if the ABC is not super healthy, low ball the price and consider removing the ABC and putting a VVG SuperSport suspension in it. I did a StrutMaster / VVG on an SL500 and absolutely love the handling. It's not quite the feel of a well maintained ABC, but, it feels better knowing my wallet will be healthy 100k miles from now regardless of maintenance on the suspension.

Bdubblu

Good stuff. This is the kind of response that is thoughtful and helpful.

Since my last post I've driven the car. It's not my car so I kept it to a quick 1 exit jaunt on the highway. I played with the ABC system a bit before driving and it did respond promptly to switch activation. I drove it on the highway and didn't notice any floating feelings. That said, I didn't have what you've said above on my mind. The last couple miles I drove it in the lowered setting. Seemed to do fine there as well. I'll try the fluid test. Gotta locate the reservoir I assume it has somewhere.

I would probably do the coilover conversion if the ABC went. I've already looked into it just so I know what I'm up against. But I gotta say... with the ABC system I feel like I could drive it cross country. I doubt the coilovers are as touring friendly as the ABC system. I've got (and have had) coilovers on other cars, and there is obviously a compromise. Let's face it, performance and comfort are generally opposing forces.

Bdubblu

I agree. Here's a breakdown of mileage/ year. (dropped many of the in-betweens to give a broad picture.)
The first 2.5 years the car had 650 miles put on it total.
From 2006-2009 it accrued 15K
At the beginning of 2012 it turned 19K
And the last reading on the report was 6/2016 with 21,766

So it's pretty much been a weekend driver it's entire life. But the implication here is that is has always had some miles put on it... and it's been spread out. I personally like what I see.

skylolow

Pricing is all over the board on these cars mainly because they kind of fit in a weird niche of the second hand market and ABC scares common people to death if they do just a little research on it. This car people buy as weekend toy or third car on secondary market. Very few people buy them with any intent of daily driving. Many of those people are looking for more of a dedicated sports car. They're looking at Corvette's, Porsche, etc. SL usually doesn't come to mind as it tends to lean much more on GT side of things and original owners of many of these cars are from the upper crust of life and buy them as more of status than anything else. So most people know very little about these cars and many of them don't scream sport car when you see one drive by. Kind of just a forgotten gem in away when talking about the AMG models.

Follow the advice of what other's have said. Get the ABC checked out for sure. As if its even starting to leak and your not handy it could cost you thousands to fix. Have someone go over the roof mechanisms and make sure everything is fine there. Once again something that can cause you spend a lot of $$$$. Check the tires and find out when they were replaced last. These tires aren't cheap by most people's standards and since many aren't driven much so you can have 7 year old tires on these cars that look new but reality is they are hard as rock and need replacing.

Just get a good PPI done on the car as your looking at a 15 year old car. They may find all kinds of things that could be needing replacing or tending to, the major ones are the ones to be worried about. The rest is usually just routine maintenance stuff.

P.S.: The ABC reservoir is located towards the front on the drivers side.

Bdubblu

Well I know it's not leaking. I've had a good couple walk throughs on the car thus far. I'll be paying my 3rd visit tonight with my scanner hoping to collect all stored and active codes. The "consumer" battery is in need of replacement and some of the indicators have popped up on the dash. But that information will help me make a reasonable offer with potential repairs in mind.

skylolow

Consumer battery is an odd duck and that is why many of us leave them on battery tenders if we aren't driving for more than few days. If the current owner doesn't drive it much and you get the convenience features not available when you start it up and it goes away after 5 mins or so of driving it could just might be not driving enough is the issue and no battery tender when not driving it. Have the battery tested just to make sure. But if its more than 4 years old just replace it. But don't be surprised if you run into the issue 6 months after owning the car even with a new battery.

It's also odd in the way the car charges that battery when operating. My understanding from researching and someone please correct me if I'm wrong is the convenience battery will rarely get fully charged from the alternator without driving the car for many hours. So like many of us these cars might just be ran for 15 mins to somewhere then turned off and ran another 10 mins and then back home to sit or whatever. During that time the convenience battery will barely get charged at all. In fact depending on your driving you may deplete it down more than charging it on some trips. Which over time will trigger the system to deactivate some of the convenience features until it charges it up enough.

Bdubblu

Yeah, well tonight when I went over, I went to find that battery and when I opened the trunk, I found that a battery tender was wired onto that battery, and left in the side pocket area of the trunk. So the guys brother must have kept it on the tender. However since this guy inherited the car and knows nothing about it, he just didn't know to do it. It's been sitting for 8-9 months without charge I believe. So I'll put it on a charger on both batteries and see if I can revive them enough to get rid of that "consumer electronics" code for now. But yeah... I'll get new batteries.

Bdubblu

By the way folks... I swung a deal. Car will be in my driveway tomorrow with tags on it.

Happy to be a part of the club.

BW

cedrock

Ed954

Congrats on your purchase!

Bdubblu

Replaced both batteries and everything works tip top. All warning lights are off, and all accessories are functional. And here she is... needs a bath but I was kind of excited and snapped a shot anyway.

Das Geld 2

looks good

Bdubblu

Isn't the pic above your comment showing for you? I literally just posted it a minute or two before you commented.. LOL

blueSL

Yes, those two acronyms, ABC, SBS - two systems where electronics meets hydraulics and where repairs are very expensive. The SL55 unfortunately came from a time where the diagnostic capabilities failed to keep up with the complexity of the product so much fault diagnosis is down to educated guess work. The mileage for this car is low which means it will probably be in good cosmetic shape but almost suffering from lack of use and you should look closely for leaks of water, oil, ATF fluid and especially hydraulic fluid from the steering, brakes and suspension. Best to put the car on a ramp for a clear look and a detailed inspection from an MB dealer or maybe an R230 specialist will give you confidence, It's important to go into this with your eyes open. It may be a $14-20k car now but it has the repair bills of a $100k car and if anything, repairs are getting more expensive over time. Consider this: my car has done 32k miles, is currently valued in the UK at $16k and the last service (a two wrench service but with a long list of things which needed attention) came to over $4k. That's with an MB dealer, of course a specialist will a bit less but Mercedes parts are expensive and the less routinely they are needed, the more expensive they are.