The Final New Beater...

M

mlschultz

Registered
With the Mark out of commission for the next month or two, sharing the minivan with Wendy is a pain. So, the search was on for something that has "fun to drive" written all over it. It should not jiggle me like the Jeep did, cramp me like the R/T did, and must put a smile on my face like the Mark does when I look at it, and drive it.

This car will see very light duty, and complements the Mark, and the minivan, for some change of pace variety. Welcome to the family, the 1996 Mercedes-Benz SL320 Roadster Convertible :)



sl3201.jpg


sl3202.jpg



sl3203.jpg



sl3207.jpg



sl3206.jpg



The deal is not sealed yet, as I have a list of things they must do first, but they have committed they will fulfill my conditions prior to completing the sale transaction. I should take delivery by the end of next week.

This car is sweet to drive! :)
 
That thing looks Cherry! I would be weary of repair costs associated with any SL roadster though. Especially with regards to the retractable top.
 
maxmk8 said:
Especially with regards to the retractable top.
Click to expand...

That's an easy fix. Keep the thing down all the time ;) :eek:

Mike, looking good as always. Check it out for leaks. Friend of mine had one of these ... garage floor was always stained :confused:
 
wow...very sharp pimpin beater?

wow...very sharp pimpin beater?

I don't know alot about the Benz, but i love that interior. The way it wraps around driver like the Mark with shifter on floor. Plus its a 2 door. Very Sweet ride Mike and spotless like the Fort Knox. ;)
See? Why couldnt Lincoln do that with the Lincoln LS? make it a 2 seater, convertible, and a stang engine in it governed to not compete with the Mustang sales. (Something we would all overide soon enough with mods anyways. ;-) I never gave Mercades much attention before, prefering the BMW M series to drool on, but that is one sharp car. Hope you get a good deal on it. Talk him down some, it doesn't have a dancing hoola girl on the dash. Thats gotta be worth knocking off $50.00 or so with the install and leveling.:) :)
 
Beautiful Roadster Mike!

Please don't call it a beater though.:)

A daily driver maybe, but I don't even call my red winter Mark a beater.:D
 
Thanks, Guys. The top works great on it, Max. But, one of the things they need to do on my list is to find a sensor that is tripping a unlocked roof latch warning light. It is fun to watch the roof work. Almost as fun as watching "Pimp my Tint's" fast bag Mark at the MI meet. :)

No drips under this car that I can see, Jeremi. For a six banger, this car can get out of it's own way very well.

lol Jeff, This car needs a Dancing Hula Girl real bad :) I believe the T-Bird two seater uses a LS chassis. I looked at a 2002 T-Bird, and just could not believe how well they hold their value. The dealer wanted $26k for it. It had low miles, but could not justify buying it.

Bill, I stand corrected. :) It is still second fiddle to the Mark though. :)
 
Second Fiddle. I like that!:D

Your Mercedes is second fiddle to your Mark VIII.:)
 
I'm still puzzled as to how you find these cars Mike. That Jeep you bought looks like new also. Usually cars get pretty beat up after 5 years. I have had a really tough time looking for something nice. My Boss's S430 from around the same year as your SL looks far far worse and has a bunch of problems. It has only 98k miles on it.
 
Last edited:
My mom recently sold her 1989 560SL, what a piece of **** that was, constantly breaking things that shouldn't break considering that its been pretty well cared for. Hopefully that chassis is better though.
 
Thanks again, everyone :) I have found a online owners manual, and have been reading about all the cool features on the car. I also found a MB Owners web site that looks to be very active, with a world-wide user involvement. The car is referred to as a R129 chassis on the MB boards. I think this car will fit in fine with the family :)
 
I called the dealer yesterday afternoon, to set up a time to pick the roadster up. The commitment was to take delivery today at the latest. The owner told me to call back in 15 minutes, while he called the trim shop to see if it is done. I called him back, and he said the trim shop will be done with it next Wednesday. :(

I told him of my disappointment, and my lack of having a car to drive while the Mark is still relaxing and recovering from the Michigan trip at Aric's shop.

One thing lead to another during our conversation, and I told him the deal was off since he could not fulfill his commitment that we agreed to. If I would have known up front that it would have taken a couple weeks to fix the car, I would have passed on it. I needed a car a week ago already. No fault of the dealer - other than failing to tell me sooner that this couple day job is now going to be a couple weeks.

At that point, he said the deposit I made was non-refundable since he now has money into the car for repairs. He also offered a demo car for me to use while the top was being replaced at no charge.

I told him I needed to think about it for a while, and would let him know later on that evening. There was smoke coming out of my ears at that point, and I had decided to look for another SL :)

So, I went and looked at two SL500's, and another SL320 last night, and they all looked like they were not cared for too well. After looking at the other SL's, I decided to call him back and tell him the deal was back on, and I was going to stop by and take his offer of driving a demo until he finished all the repairs.

Oh the drama... I can't even buy a beater used car without it :)

BTW... The demo is just as bad as driving a mini van... Volvo S90... :cool:
 
Wow I didn't know you left a deposit on the car... How many cars do you now have Mike?

The Mark
The Jeep
The SL
The Stratus? OR what ever that dodge/chrysler was?!
 
Max, I just have the Mark right now. It is my primary car. The roadster is going to be my 2nd car - beater. I decided to buy a 2nd car for a couple reasons - the Mark is out of commission for a couple months getting stuff done - big brakes, big rotors, big rims, big tires, warranty work on the supercharger, etc..., and if I break it or have some more stuff done in the future, at least I will not be stranded without a car.

Wendy has a minivan that I use, but it is her car kind of thing, like the Mark is mine. :) The Jeep was traded in for the R/T a while back, and I gave the R/T to my daughter last month.

I bought the Jeep and then the R/T originally, to get me by while I was getting all these s/c mods done to the Mark, and I committed to my daughter that she could have the R/T when the Mark was finished before she went back to school this month in Michigan.

While I had the R/T here in the ATL, it was very nice to have a 2nd car sitting around ready and waiting for the unexpected things in life to happen... :)
 
AHA! Gotchya ... good luck with that SL. It should be a good car for ya, it looks like it has been well maintained.

What happened to the supercharger? And two months to get the wheels and brakes put on?! Wow me and Jesse did this in 3 hrs ;).
 
lol Max :) The S/C is being repaired by Vortech, and you and Jesse did nothing even close to what I am having done with the brakes and wheels on the Mark. :)
 
Yep mine were pretty much plug and play... minus some grinding of the rear bracket and 4 new mustang hubs... the 13" cobras up front and larger rotors in the back.

Just make sure to get titanium wheel studs so that the super strong brakes and wheels don't snap em in half ;)
 
I called to see if I was taking delivery tomorrow, and the salesman told me he would call and let me know for sure tomorrow. He thought that Thursday would be more realistic.

They still have a list of things to do on the car, and they surely know that they have no deal if this stuff is not done. At the rate they are going, the Mark will have the new blower installed before I take delivery on this car.
happy.gif
 
Mike- This has been a rough month for you brother! I hope next month treats you better. We're all looking forward to seeing your Mark Vlll done as well. Any explanations for the failure of the SC ?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top