2012 Mercedes-Benz SL-Class

The Best So Far

By Livin' Large (New York City, Florida) on Saturday, November 28, 2009

"I have owned lots of cars in my life: big cars like a BMW 740i and a Mercedes CL500 and little cars like a Chrysler Crossfire convertible and Mercdes 320SLK. This is the 2nd SL I have owned, and I will probably own one forever. For me there is no better blend of style, performance, top down fun, gadgetry and VALUE. It seems strange to use the the word "value" and SL class Mercedes in the same sentence, but it's true, and here's the secret: Buy Preowned. Let someone else take the 50% or more hit in the first two or three years. You already know that these cars are usually the best maintened of any because of both the absurd original price and the fussiness of the owners. They are always brought to a dealer for servicing (usually via free pickup and delivery), and often have very low mileage. They are often the 2nd or third car the owner drives; rarely the number one daily ride. Of course it could be. The first time around I bought a gorgeous 2005 SL500 with about 8000 miles on it for about 55% of its original list. The warranty was expiring so I just traded it in on a mint 2007 SL550 with an original list of over $100,000. I'm smarter now and the economy isn't that great so this time I paid considerably less than half and of the 2007 MSRP. Oh yeah, I also got four and a half years more of complete "new car" warranty. How, you ask? Well, Mercedes gives four years to start, the CPO deal gives you an extra year. Then I bought an addiional two year bumper to bumper warranty from Mercedes itself for $4000 - well worth it if you want to keep the car and you ever have a repair. These are great cars, but they are super complicated and stuff does break! So altogether then the car is warrantied by Mercedes for seven year or 100,000 miles. This car was put in service in March of 2007. It has 20,000 miles on it so there are four and half years and 80,000 miles to go. I think I'm good to go for a while. So now think about it. Where can you buy a $100,000+ car that has to be one of the sharpest on the planet for in the mid 40s and have it warrantied for almost five more years? Think about it before you buy that $45,000 Mustang or Z or even the 350SLK."

25 people out of 25 found this review helpful

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Fun . . . but really unreliable

By Luminor (Chicago, IL) on Tuesday, March 03, 2009

"The car does not disappoint with respect to syling, amenities, and performance although it is a little heavy on its feet and definitely not a true sports car. Retractable roof is a great feature and with the pano option provides a nice, bright, and airy cockpit in the winter. Having said all this I would never recommend this car due to its abysmal reliability. I purchased my car new a year and a half ago and have put less than 10k miles on it. It has left me stranded three times. The first two incidents involved complete transmission failure leaving me with a dead car in city traffic. The third and most frightening incident involved a total failure of the brake system leaving me with only a rudimentary backup brake system and a VERY impressive display of warning lights and alarms. I bought this car with the assumption that Daimler had cleaned up its well-known quality problems of recent years but this obviously must not be the case. Never again."

16 people out of 16 found this review helpful

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Wicked Fast!

By cybermonkey (Los Angeles, CA) on Friday, December 07, 2007

"I just bought a used SL65 AMG with less than 30K miles. My friends told me that MBZ's had quality issues, but I couldn't help myself. With over 600 hp it is quicker than my Z06 or 360 Ferrari. The styling is great, but too close to other MBZ's that are far less expensive. And then there are the quality issues. Not major ones, just a few quirky issues like electronics not fully working and brakes that squeak like a UPS truck. Not impossible, but for a car with an MSRP of over $200K, they are annoying. Also, the NAV system and the multiple menus for changing options are cumbersome to work with. But push the button on the gearshift to fire up that V-12 and the sound makes you overlook many of its shortcomings. WARNING: used values drop like a rock! Don't buy one new unless you can afford to take the huge hit."

15 people out of 15 found this review helpful

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A Great Compromise

By Stretch (dallas,tx) on Thursday, September 06, 2007

"I traded my 2002 CL500 for a 2006 SL500 last month. My CL was one of the best cars that I have ever owned, fast, quiet, smooth, luxerious, etc. However, no one ever liked sitting in the rear seats, even to go less than five miles. Just too hard to get in and out. So, since no one liked the rear seat, we did not use it, and with the SL, I dont have to hear about any "too hard to use", complaints from my better half. In comparison, the SL500 is a great compromise, it has many of the same features of the CL, it's great looking, faster, ( appears faster), luxarious, and is an easy comfortable - 16 total seconds to get up or down. The negatives would be, it rides rougher, ( AMG Wheels,and wider tires on the SL), is smaller inside, ( I am 6'3" tall), and the shorter wheelbase makes the road stripes louder. However, I love the convertable top, like rolling down a window, and the car looks great with the top up or down. They both are great cars. I drove Porsche's for several weekends as a comparison, and while I truely liked them, they were rough, loud, not near as luxarious inside, and my wife would not drive a Porsche. She likes driving the SL500 when I am not in it."

14 people out of 14 found this review helpful

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The best SL ever!

By Robert (las vegas NV) on Sunday, January 27, 2008

"This is my third SL and its the best ever. Dont buy new unless you can take a big hit on value. Buy a one owner with low milage and you will love the car even more when you see the value it holds after five or more years. This car is the most exciting car to drive in total luxury and speed to kill for."

13 people out of 13 found this review helpful

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