My wife owned a 2008 SL 550. Very nice car and a robust car BUT..Motor mounts have to be changed every 30K miles $$. Anything that has any type of air pump or or hydraulics will fail $$, hydraulic ride settings have tendency to fail $$. Transmission failed in the first 6K miles (warranty covered) This is avery expensive car to maintain!!! I own a Aston Martin DB9 convertible that is 10X as reliable as that SL 550 and British cars are supposed to be unreliable.
Perhaps I got a lemon but a retired Mercedes sales man told me always sell your Mercedes as soon as the warranty expires.

quote:

Originally posted by custombolt:
What Wink? No SL550 on the horizon? I don't think the SL's get much better than the 2007-2008 models.
Somebody please buy this so I'm not tempted.

1 owner creampuff.

If you don't mind doing a little work yourself or avoid dealerships, try a 2005-2006 Chevy SSR. Has the Ls2 engine and retractable hardtop. Not real expensive to get into, fun to drive, and not like everyone elses car.. just myo, but I LOVE mine !!
Cheers
Rick

I am a long time dyed Porsche guy myself. No convertibles though for me. Cabriolet in Porsche speak. Well a new 911 Turbo Cab wouldn't be too bad.

But I say Corvette or even the new Camaro's are nice and they both can have big or really big power up front. And they have a warranty on a new one so you set for a long time.

But overall the Corvette is my vote. Heck I even like the new ones and it makes my Porsche buds recoil.

From a cursory, outsider's perspective, used Corvettes certainly seem to be reasonably priced.
Peter.

A base 911 or the newer 911 T model with a few options on it will run nearly $130,000 new. Thats a base 370 hp motor although the new motors are turbocharged , not for performance so much, for fuel economy ratings.

For that amount of money, and not saying you wanted to spend that either, you can get the newest, fastest, biggest, baddest ZR1 Corvette with nearly 800 hp. It has my eye I can tell you.

Might consider a 2013 Corvette 427. Only year they made a convertible small block 427 convertible. You would have to like rowing your gears as they were only 6 speeds.
Pretty rare..Fast

More than likely redundent but you are aware that the speedometer pic was in clicks,not miles.

Thanks for the opinion EZ and your experience with the 2008 SL.
About MB....One con about Mercedes is some of the service depts really push unnecessary repairs, motor mounts and threats of tire warranty voids if you don't take a 4 wheel alignment being two of the most abused.
I'd take that salesman's post-warranty opinion with a grain of salt. Lumping all Mercedes into one category raises my eyebrows just a bit. 80,000+ miles without any repairs is common for Benz's at least from 2007 (first year for the more powerful 550 engine up to at least 2013 or so.
CON Word is newer Benz's are not as good.
FYI----My last 2 loaners (free with any Benz new or old in for service over $250.) I get one when I do an oil change and inspection and sniffer test. They are about 22 miles from here.
Have fun no matter what you drive.

quote:

Originally posted by eezridr:
My wife owned a 2008 SL 550. Very nice car and a robust car BUT..Motor mounts have to be changed every 30K miles $$. Anything that has any type of air pump or or hydraulics will fail $$, hydraulic ride settings have tendency to fail $$. Transmission failed in the first 6K miles (warranty covered) This is avery expensive car to maintain!!! I own a Aston Martin DB9 convertible that is 10X as reliable as that SL 550 and British cars are supposed to be unreliable.
Perhaps I got a lemon but a retired Mercedes sales man told me always sell your Mercedes as soon as the warranty expires.

quote:

Originally posted by custombolt:
What Wink? No SL550 on the horizon? I don't think the SL's get much better than the 2007-2008 models.
Somebody please buy this so I'm not tempted.

1 owner creampuff.