SL55 AMG

It was a third party warranty.

 

She has a corvette right now, and likes power, so she is looking at the AMG but will be later model years. I have not spent enough time behind the wheel of a regular SL to really make a honest answer about the car. Keep this in mind with any used car, you may buy it for much less but that does not change the upkeep costs, they will be the same. For most people the regular SL is fine, though if I remember both the seats and the steering wheel (the parts your body touches) and much better on the AMG.

 

What extra upkeep does the SL55 have over the SL500?

 

Rubber as in Tires...front engine rear drive....Rubber!

 

No. There is more to AMG than the motor. A lot more.

Dale

 

I have several friends who are auto wholesellers and one who owns several car dealerships including a MB store, and they all warned me about poor MB reliablity starting around 2002...even the CEO of the company has stated on several occassions that quality control had to be improved. Apparently they have made improvements the past few years....

 

It is strange, maybe we had better luck than many.
2004 C230 (no problems except clobbered a deer)
2005 C320: one trim piece replaced in 3.5 years
2008 C350: no problems in 3.5 years
2003 ML500 (bought with 65k miles). Changed power steering pump at 112k. Sold after 4 years with 132k miles. No other problems.

OTOH
1999 BMW 323i (bought in 2001): unloaded the POS after two years, 6 extended stays at the dealer, and countless thousands in repairs on BMW's dime.

2004 Cayenne Turbo (46k miles, bought 2010, sold 9 months later). Lots of small problems. There was always some error code or warning, phantom or otherwise. Got old very fast.

Now we have a 2011 ML350 Bluetec with 600 miles. I will have to get back to you in a few years.

 

Please help me understand what the differences are in the SL55 compared to the SL500, or what weak areas in the SL500 remain in the SL55.

I will try to list some and give what I know. Please correct me if wrong.

Engine: For MY 2003+, the "55" cars (CL, SL, S) have a supercharger. This should require additional maintenance. Our little C230 had an oil change in the blower every 50k, IIRC. There is also a clutch for the SC that can go out. If that happens the car will run as a NA car until this is fixed. I also assume this means the belt that drive the SC also will need to be changed at some interval.

Do they have an intercooler? Is there a pump there that can go bad, or is this only on the V-12 turbo ("600" and "65") models?

Transmission: Taking a WAG here that the SL55 has a beefier transmission than the standard car. Apart from most likely higher repalacement costs, wouldn't a tougher transmission be a good thing in this car? A $250 fluid change every 50k miles perhaps? Doesn't seem like that much really.

Active Body Control (ABC) suspension: Read over on MBWorld and you hear about the dreaded suspension failure. IIRC all of the big Benzos have this and if a component goes bad it can quickly ruin the system costing several thousand $$$ to put right. Say $1500 per corner. Is there preventative maintenance (hose changes, fluid flush, etc) that can extend the life of the system? Seems a fluid flush detailed inspection ($500 maybe?) every couple of years would go a long way toward keeping the system happy. I believe power steering is also part of this as well.

brakes: The SL55 has different brakes than the SL500, so how much more could the parts be? Looking online tonight (rockauto), rotors are about twice as much, $120 vs $60 or so. Still not a huge deal IMO. (BTW, it should be noted that the "65" cars use unique rotors that are hugely expensive, roughly $800-1000 each).

interior trim: I assume the AMG models are completely loaded and thus have more bells and whistles than an average SL500. More toys means more things to potentially go wrong. While annoying for sure, has anyone been stranded in Death Valley because the Nav system quit working?

.
I guess my question is what specifically goes wrong with these cars, and how is that different from a Sl500.

 

I had an SL55 and I loved it. Very drivable car IMO. I have driven it from NY to Florida and back a few times. Don't buy one without a warranty. I launched mine and broke the rear struts and some other bits. Without a warranty it would have been an eight thousand dollar repair bill. I would like to buy another one at some point in the future, maybe the SL65. Anyone have both the 55 and the 65. Which did you like better and why.

 

Owned both, the 65 engine is better by a mile. The 55 is great but the torque of the 65 is worth the price premium no question.

 

Launched meaning drag-race style start, or launched meaning hit a curb and broke things? This is a serious question, not intending to be a jerk. I'm trying to understand what would have broke in the suspension struts from doing a hard start with the car.

 

pm sent

 

One of my GF's had one. Nice car to drive but it was in the shop a lot. The repair bills when it broke were like $5,000 and $8,000 each.

 

Yep, not a car to own without a warranty EVER!

 

I brought an extended warranty through Easy Care for a C55 I used to own. I never had to file a claim, but the dealer said they were the best (of course!) non-factory warranty company.

Does anybody else have any experience with Easy Care?

Dale

 

The ABC/power steering system, power top, and basics of the engine are the same for any V8 SL, whether it be 500, 550, or 55. Obviously the 55 has the supercharger also. The V-12 (600 or 65) has a turbo but the V-12 engine is very solid if thirsty and a pain to service (spark plugs). The question is if these cars are terrible for reliability and nothing is cheap to repair then what would one be worth out of warranty? $20k?, $15k?, $10k?

At some point you get so much car for the money, even if it might stick you with a $5000 bill some time in the future, that it still repesents a deal.

This would really apply to all of the S-class, CL-class, and SL-class built in the past 10 years. Soon all of the early cars will be out of any kind of warranty. Are they throwaways? I doubt it.