thegeneraltso

Hi:
My brother is looking for a used convertible for his wife. He settles on the above choices because the prices on these cars are comparable. He thought of asking me for my opinion since I've owned many Mercedes in the past. I told him I'm stumped since my past ownership was with the E-class only.

I know it is probably bias here toward the SLK but I am still posing the question out there. I am sure someone must have thought of a Miata at some point or at least give me reasons against it.

Thanks

Buellwinkle

For the same price as an SLK you can get a much newer, more reliable, easier to fix Miata and for women, you want something that they won't have trouble with (sorry if that sounds sexists but it is what it is).

With that said, the SLK has some attributes over the the Miata that may make the extra cost justified. It's a power hard top convertible, slightly larger and it's heavier so making long journeys is quieter, more comfortable, more secure. The SLK is faster and certainly if you get one of the faster models it can be a LOT faster. Also, the SLK costs about double the same year Miata, so that has advantages only money can buy

Other euro convertible sport cars we looked at in the same price/yr range as the SLK included the Porche Boxster, BMW Z3 and Audi TT Convertible.

Sold-on-MB's

I test drove a Miata before I bought my SLK. There was no comparison.
The Miata is a sub-compact and drives like one.

Have your brother drive them both. He'll be able to easily determine which car to buy.

99 slk 230

I've gotta say, I drove my friend's Miata and was blown away at the tightness and responsiveness of the suspension. The car wasn't as fast as mine, but the handling really made me a believer. It's definitely tighter than my car.

Prior to my driving his car, I never had any interest, whatsoever, in even sampling those cars. They just were never even on my radar screen. I was so taken aback, I even asked him if he had had any suspension mods done to the car, or if it was a special edition or something. His answer was no. Nothing special about the car, whatsoever.

I'm impressed.

Squishy

If he wants her to be safe in a small car the SLK is the way to go.

Members have posted lots of crash pictures and the cabin always survives major accidents virtually intact.

SLK does have some mechanical issues that can be overcome by reading the 2 forums, this one and benzworld.org.

He will need to have some shade tree mechanic experience as well.