That is one sweeeeeeeeeeeet looking SLK bro!!!!!!
Might mention to everyone, not only does the top go down, but these awesome rides have the retractable hardtop!!!!!
Not to mention they drive like they are on rails.
Is that an SLK230 or a 350?
I had a 99 230 for awhile. Them little suckers are pretty damn fast! Turbo 4 cylinder. I had mine up to about 140 before I backed it off.
Was racing a Toyota that didn't have a frigging chance.
Sorry for the off topic, but...
Story Time:
I live in a small (under 5k) Texas town where there are few Mercedes around, more Fords, Chevys and the like. My wife drives a CLK320, which is one of only 2 Mercedes cars (though there are a couple of SUVs also) in town, to the best of my knowledge. I say all of this because there is a local car dealer that I have business dealings with relatively often who contacted me a little while ago and told me he had “the car for me”. Now he’s an acquaintance, that I would like to think of as a friend, but he’s also a used car salesman.
Anyway, it seems back in ’99 the wife of a local business owner was tired of her car and told her husband she wanted a new car. Nothing was wrong with her car, as she only drove it around the small town, and it was in perfect shape, so the husband said no. This irritated said wife immensely, and she drove to the large city a couple of hours from her town, went in the Mercedes dealer and bought a black 1999 SLK230, loaded with every option but the sport package.
She then went home and proceeded to drive it back and forth to the post office and the grocery store for almost the next 2 decades. Sadly, she passed away last year and her widower sold the car to the local dealer for mid blue book value.
He reached out to me because my wife drives a Mercedes and asked if I would be interested. As we have pretty good business dealings, he said he would sell it to me for what “he had in it”, which was mid blue book value for a “comparable” model. It seemed like a good deal, and I thought if my wife didn’t like it, my daughter turns 16 in 3 years, and she could putter around town in it. I told him I would take it and that I would come pick it up that afternoon.
When I picked up the car, my mouth hit the floor. After I took the car home and started going through it, I was even more impressed. It appears to be a brand new 18 years old (1999) Mercedes-Bens SLK230 (under 15,000 miles), including all documentation and accessories that were originally included with the purchase. The original OEM tires are still mounted on the wheels. The car was driven weekly, and has been maintained on schedule, with records. So it is, basically, a brand new car, that has been driven around the block three times a week for it's life.
I slapped some new Michelin Z series tires on it ($700), reset the ECU and TCU (free), changed a limit switch in the roof ($23) and changed the factory head unit to a Kenwood Bluetooth unit (while keeping the factory Bose amp/speakers).
The car is now my baby. I drive it on the weekends and shoot around town in it a little during the week. My daughter will have to find something else.
To the best of my knowledge, with some rather in depth research, it is the lowest mileage first generation SLK anywhere in the world. There is a guy in Northern Cali that has a '98 with ~32,000 on it, and in Europe I hear first generation R170s with low KM on the odometer are EXTREMELY hard to come by.
A local Mercedes dealer offered me quite a bit more than I paid for it, but I think I am going to hang on to it for a while.
Thanks for the compliment on the car...I absolutely love it, and do not know what I did to deserve the steal I got on it, other than our local "old country boy" dealer didn't know what he had on his lot. Admittedly, I went back after and told him that if I sold it within the first year, I would give him 20% of the profit I made on it...again, he's somewhat of a friend.
Here's a couple of more pics for your viewing pleasure.
JAT
