cntlaw

My next car....

I want it to draw attention , as well as a symbol of status.
Below are my keen, any suggestion which one will gain more attention and better status symbol?

1. M3/4 2007 (must be 2-door coupe)
2. SLK55AMG
3. Porsche Boxter S

NeilC123

Or you could also try in the same price range:

1. Mercedes SL 350 (or the 500 with £10k more)
2. new Jaguar roadster


In my opinion I would like the SL500. However of yours I would probably go for the boxster - 911 performance in the new boxster. 55AMG is nice but in the end of the day it is an "SLK" and whilst it has been remade it still has some difficulties shifting it's old image. It depends what you want to use it for. I use my old SLK for a daily drive doing 200 miles a day. If you want a car which you only occassionaly go out in go for a more exotic car.

cntlaw

Thanks for your view. Unfortunately, SL350 and Jaguar R are much over the price range of my limited choices
M3/4 HKD 850K ~USD108K
SLK55 HKD 920K ~USD117K
BoxterS HKD 830K ~USD106K
SL350 HKD 1350K ~USD 173K
997S HKD 1450K ~ USD185K

Thus, my choices already have high status symbol in my country, though they are not to the "high end" top of few individual.

Beltfed

Your opinion is completely ridiculous.

You tell him to get a Boxster.....hence the cheapest Porsche, that has an undeserved image of "I can't afford a 911 so I bought this instead."

Same can be more or less said for the SLK as well.

The new SLK is overall leaps and bounds better than the outgoing model.......not even a comparison.

Not to mention its bigger and has much more road presence than the R170.

cntlaw

Thanks . Your points are right , but please note we pay double US price here for luxury cars.Cheers
cnt

mick1

What do the affluent people in Hong Kong think about the Corvette C6 Z06 ? (road & track magazine thinks it will cost about $75k in the US)

cntlaw

Never seen many US cars here in recent years. May be not granted any approval to import LHD cars here...
Tax is the same for any cars, except , the more expensive ones get more tax exponentially

NeilC123

I don't doubt the new SLK is much better than the old SLK but the fact is it is still an SLK. As for your boxster comment - the new boxster is made very similar to the 911 - in fact many commentators have wondered what porsche has done as they both drive very similar and in fact if you read the critics 99% of them say that they prefer the new boxster to the new 911 as they drive the same and much cheaper price tag. As for not being able to afford an SL - why not go for a second hand one? After all the kudos the SL attracts is much more than the SLK - the SL is the ultimate roadster. Personally if i had the money i would go for the SL...or if i really had the money save up for the V8 Vantage

WhiteAMGSLK55

Are you kiding me. I have a 2005 911 S and I just bought a SLK55 for the wife. The Boxster is still a poor mans porsche and it doesn't touch the 911. As far as the SLK compared to the SL. SLK is a more up to date car and is much faster and better looking. The only SL I would buy is the SL55 but its not worth the money And only 2/10s faster in the 1/4 mile.

Beltfed

Maybe not that old bottom basement SLK you drive, but ask any of the SLK350 or especially the 55 owners if their cars attract attention........guarantee most say yes.

Where I live, SLs are an absolute dime a dozen.

NeilC123

Even my SLK attracts attention - but then so does any decent convertible. It is just that the SLK is always seen as a girl's car and always will be - even the new one whereas the SL is the man's car. If I could afford it I would rather have the SL rather than the SLK any day. As for being more uptodate - sure the SLK is new - but the SL still has a lot more gadgets than the SLK as it was a more advanced roadster in any event.

WhiteAMGSLK55

The SLK55 is not a girls car!! I would say any of the old ones could be called that. The SLK55 kicks the crap out of the C6 and a whole lot of other car. The SLK 350 is lame but the SL has nothing over the SLK55. The SL is slower and cost $30.000 more and offer less. I guess the only people that understand that are the folks that own one. That right you can't afford one!!

fadi

Originally Posted by NeilC123
Must rain a lot in the Midlands NeilC123.
Check any weather forecast for that area and you will find something resembling the following: "Turning cloudy overnight with outbreaks of thundery rain after a dry evening..."

What the weather forecasts don't tell you is the risk posed to one's intellectual faculties of prolonged exposure to this type of weather. Your comments about all SLKs being a girl’s car demonstrate this risk very well. I think the condition is called water on the brain.

By the way what is the girly colour of your SLK?

NeilC123

My present slk is ob. black with siam black leather interior. As for not being able to afford a new SLK - of course I can - i was offered one earlier this year. But I see another SLK as a step down hence i am waiting till I get three years from this one and then SL next or maybe an aston martin if i am feeling very generous to myself. As for the SL being slower - it is not about speed - as on that theory the Honda S2000 is a decent car - but again - that is a girl's car - it is all about class - when someone says SLK you think ok nice car - when someone says SL you think rich chap - just the stigma attached to it. Sure the SLs are getting more and more but that is because there are more and more wealthier people in the world. Don't get me wrong the SLK is a decent enough car - just don't see the point in getting another one and no matter how much it has tried i am not sure it can ever shake off it's old reputation - rather like boxsters and 911 even though the boxster is perfectly decent in comparison to the present 911.

fadi

Hi NeilC123

We obviously disagree on this issue, but congrats on treating my last post in the spirit with which it was intended.

SLK55AMG

I'm going to have to agree and disagree and agree again....... in the UK the old SLK and the new one (to a lesser extent) has a girly image, it is almost universally regarded as a hairdressers car. The S2000 on the otherhand (I'm still driving one so may be biased) has never had a girly image, it has the largest proportion of males owners of any UK roadster and is seen by many as too extreme. The new Boxster is now a match for the 911 and anyone thinking its the poor mans Porsche is only deluding themselves...... the Boxster is better balanced, almost as quick and handles better...... in fact recent tests in several magazines have shown the Boxster S to be quicker than the Carrera and only a fraction slower than the Carrera S.

Back on topic...... the SLK55 AMG has loads of street cred and is not as girly as the standard SLKs, you will never fail to turn heads with that V8 rumbling away...... I had the new Boxster S on test recently and it was nowhere near as interesting to other road users as the AMG I had in February.

AUSSLK55AMG

CNTLAW,

Dynamics aside - the following reply relates ONLY to STATUS value of the cars you mentioned.

IMHO a Boxster S is not the status symbol it once was. The new 997 looks so similar to the outgoing model you could be spending all that money for a car that everyone thinks is identical to your neighbour's early 2.5L car - which he bought for a third of the price you're paying. They're also common and so no-one really takes much notice of them anymore - a bit like a Louis-Vuitton handbag.

The M3 is a current car - has street cred and got an excessively upbeat reception by the world's motoring press - which is what people are likely to judge you by when you drive the car. This game's not about reality - only perception. The M3 isn't the newest model on the block but a reasonable status choice without doubt. Gets more looks and has more 'cred' than 911s in my town..

M4 - hard to know exactly - it hasn't been released. If Chris Bangle doesn't stuff it up too badly and the M-Motorsport Team work the magic they did with the dynamics of the new M5 (which being a Bangle 5-series is still so ugly words cannot describe it) it will likely be as well received as the E46 M3 - hence the status will similarly exceed it's pricepoint.

The SLK55AMG is a gob-smacking car, and is here now. It's at the cutting edge of motoring style and for the next year or two at least will leave entire bus-stops full of people gaping and asking each other "What car is that?". It has the noise, the poise, and the go to back it all up and could NEVER be described as just a show-pony. Hard to find a car available that would pull more looks in ANY price range. It's a beautiful adaptation of a NEW shape - not a shape that every man and his dog has seen a thousand times.

Remember though that no car will maintain it's 'status' position on the pole for more than a year or two - when another car in it's 'dream niche' is released which exceeds what your car has to offer you get a status downgrade whether you like it or not even though your car hasn't changed.

The point raised about the SL above being the 'ultimate roadster' raises another issue. Some people have fixed ideas and nothing you do will change them - unless you buy the car they happen to like you will be making the wrong choice - that's the way it is. Most people though have a more fluid opinion - and price, the write-up the car receives from the press, and the car's overall appeal defines the car's status which can in some ways be dramatically different from the car's pricepoint.

So good luck with your choice - and hey - I really hope you make your decision based on what you want - not what you think others want!

JD

Sydney Australia

NeilC123

Yes I agree - if you want to shake off a girly image - get an AMG car in whatever model it is a man's car. If you can get the SL55AMG if not then the SLK AMG is a good second especially considering the price. But I agree with the previous comment - what is good today will probably not be good tomorrow

Teufel

There will also be a crazy Porsche Boxter coupe (310hp?) before 2007! It looks like it will be as fast as 911 which doesn't make sense to me!?! It looks awesome too and recently Porsche has done very well on dependability/reliability studies (4th on J.D.P.A. VDS). This Boxter coupe would be my suggestion to you.

Teufel

"You tell him to get a Boxster.....hence the cheapest Porsche, that has an undeserved image of "I can't afford a 911 so I bought this instead."
I totally agree with you 911 is in another class but also another price range! Also, I think one could say the exact thing about SL and SLK.

"Same can be more or less said for the SLK as well."
Do you mean what I just said above!?!

JoeShark

That would be the Porsche Cayman S. Already a link on the Porsche website.

JS

Beltfed

If I'm understanding you correctly, more or less yes.

He told the guy to get a Boxster, but then goes on to basically say that the SLK has no prestige to it.

So then I made the 911 comment and then went on to say the same can be technically said for the SLK as well (vs. the SL).

Both being undeserved reputations as both are not cheap cars by any means and all perform well.

The Cayman may approach 911 performance, but its going to be priced very close to a standard 911.

cntlaw

Thank you for many valuable views , interesting points argued but are definitely a lot to consider.

Be fair to say, MB and Porsche did not design SLK and Boxter because there are "poor men" out there who love the SL and 911 so much, so MB and Porsche have decided to do a charity and give them something similar and less than half the price?

The world, now is all about market competition and their only way for moto makers to survive. And, believe or not, MB and Porsche marketing directors will agree with me, what they are really making, are actually rich men's Toyota !
- Boxter is rich man's SC400
- ML is rich man's RX300(Harrier)
- SLK is rich man's MR-S
- E-Class is rich man's GS300/430
- S-Class is rich man's LS430
Or if we continue to argue like this...
- SL55 is poor man 's Ferrari
......
Just my sense of humour.
:p

theitalianjob

Get a 997 or 997S, cnt. It's a driver's car. There are just tooooo many new R171 SLK's and new Boxster's in HK, and I bet there's gonna be a lot of the new E92 M3's when it comes out.

cntlaw

I did give deep thought about this - "once for the life-time"
I wish I could make a decision like I did to get the C55
Let's say, I do decide to go for a 977, do I get a
997, 997S or a 997S Cab ?
As you know , 997S Cab must be over 1.6m i.e. US200K....
And..I don't like manual , but what I heard , only the manual gets good ressale value...