**Sorry, this is long** Beside checking three MB forums, I also normally check eBay daily for SLK items. I look for used SLKs as well as accessories. My wife and I found our 2006 SLK 350 on eBay. On Thursday, March 15, I found an auction for a used 2005 SLK 55.My thoughts were to wait and order a 2008 SLK 55. I've been discussing this for about six months. The 2005 SLK 55 that I found for sale on eBay was EXACTLY what I would have ordered, regardless of price. The most unique (other than some of the Desino SLKs that have been posted) SLK 55 I've seen. It was Firemist Red, with red and black interior. It was beautiful and according to the pictures, it was almost fully equipped. My first thought, I want that! I mentioned it to my wife the next morning. She liked it also. I tried to talk myself out of it, thinking that surely someone would purchase it via "Buy it Now". The reserve was a fair price for the car. I considered calling the seller, but decided against it. I checked the progress of the actions several times a day for the week that it ran. Finally, I called the seller on Tuesday, March 20th. He quoted me a price, restated the vehicles mileage and excellent condition. I still wasn't sure. I wanted some time to decide. I contacted Dan (DansSLK) and discussed with him any potential problems on a 2005 versus a newer 2006 or 2007. Dan gave me a welcomed thumbs up, was able to check to ensure all SAs were complied with, and even provided me a factory date card. This verified all factory options. THANKS DAN! What a resource we have with Dan. I reviewed the auction pictures in detail on Tuesday evening. I decided that if it was still available on Wednesday morning, I would call the seller, verify condition, etc., and put a deposit on the car. On Thursday, I checked and the vehicle was still available but the auction was scheduled to end that evening. As Tom Cruise stated in the movie Risky Business, "sometimes you have to say, what the f***, and make your move". I did. I called and placed a deposit on the vehicle. My plans were to drive to north New Jersey Friday evening and pick the vehicle up and return to Virginia Saturday afternoon. A friend and I rented a car locally and left central VA Friday evening at 10:00PM and drove to Northern NJ, arriving at 4:30AM. Less that two hours sleep and it was off for breakfast and our scheduled meeting with the seller at 7:30AM. We arrived as scheduled.
Now the good part. As we entered the building, the seller who is a used car dealer who primarily sells upper end and vintage cars on eBay, asked us to wipe out feet on the entrance mat. I informed him I could appreciate that. As we entered his indoor only cars for sell showroom, I saw it. The prettiest SLK I've personally seen. The pictures didn't do the car justice. Not only had the car been detailed to perfection, it was 99% perfect for a used 2005 SLK 55 with 4812 miles. My fiend who is highly critical and expecting the worst, was almost speechless. I cranked it up, checked it over, no more than 15 minutes and I was sold. Completed the paper work, turned in the rental and southbound we were. Left Northern NJ right after 9:00AM. Car ran fine, different, but similar to our SLK 350. The automatic was welcomed considering I was driving a newly purchased vehicle in strange territory. Our trip home was uneventful other than an almost 10 miles of back upped traffic, south of DC. I wanted to ensure that I arrived with the SLK 55 in the same shaped as I picked it up, which we did, around 5:00PM.
First observations: WOW, what a beautiful car. Since I was driving conservatively, the power was secondary. The look, the options, the quality, soundness. This car and transaction far exceeded my expectations. Although I felt confident that the car would match the pictures, and the comments of the seller. My initial thought was HOME RUN, GRAND SLAM, etc. I used to be in business with my wife's brother. He's a wheeler dealer by trade. Whenever he made a great deal or buy, he'd refer to it as a home run. The car as stated was a 2005 SLK 55 ///AMG. It's has every option other than the 030 sports suspension, Ipod adapter, and wood trim. Those are the three items (honestly) I could live without. Briefly, metallic paint, entertainment package to include: Harmon Kardon command with NAV and Sirius satellite radio (surprised that some (mine) of the 2005s had the current, smaller, satellite antenna on the trunk (everything couldn't have been any better), heating package and AirScarf, lighting package (love those Xenons),
comfort package, and premium package. As a bonus, I was pleasantly surprised to find the dealer installed MB Bluetooth system. The seller, although very knowledgeable, didn't fully understand what it was. Although we love our 2006 SLK 350, we were missing heated seats and Airscarf, xenon headlights, AMG kit, and red interior. In the words of Cheech and Chong, "not anymore man". This car had to be owned by a rich guy who used it only to check his mail daily, on his long winding driveway. We noticed only one small stone chip on the hood yesterday. While cleaning it up today, I noticed a light scrap under the front nose (I expected it, considering how low the nose is) and a very minor curb rash on the right rear wheel. Unbelievable, nothing else. I thoroughly cleaned the car today. I went ahead and replaced the high beam lights with some leftover Sylvania SilverStar lights I had and replaced the yellowish parking lights with some PIIA extreme lights I had. I plan to install the SmartTop module and replace the factory SLK 55 multi spoke wheels with some 19" wheels. That's it, nothing else.
Final observations: What a car, what a deal. Many are skeptical of online, Internet transactions. Everything that should have gone right, did. This was our second used SLK purchased after finding on eBay. The SLK 55 was in better condition than out newer, less mileage SLK 350. In both cases, I was willing to forfeit my deposit if the vehicle had not been as promised. I will never purchase a major item sight unseen. I didn't like the tight schedule I had in driving almost 400 miles and return in less than 19 hours. I could have had the vehicle shipped at a cost of $1000, but rule one applied. DON'T PURCHASE ANY MAJOR ITEM SIGHT UNSEEN. I couldn't be happier with the car and the transaction. Only complaint, it's an automatic. I do like the manual shift buttons on the back of the steering wheel. Probably will use it more for braking. Although, my wife and I are back to FIVE vehicles, we have no plans to sell the SLK 350. I always stated the SLK 350 was her car. Guess who the "big monster on the block" belongs to? Both of us, but really, hers is silver and mine is firemist red. As I've stated before, when getting another vehicle, get another color. After having silver, which is still my all time number one favorite color, the firemist red is right below silver and is TOPS, and a welcome change. It's difficult to photograph. It's really a medium metallic red that beautiful in the sun light. For those wondering (Doug - 412driver) the red and black interior is a perfect elegant match with the firemist red. I doesn't get ANY better. We love our TWO SLKs :hb: .
Now the good part. As we entered the building, the seller who is a used car dealer who primarily sells upper end and vintage cars on eBay, asked us to wipe out feet on the entrance mat. I informed him I could appreciate that. As we entered his indoor only cars for sell showroom, I saw it. The prettiest SLK I've personally seen. The pictures didn't do the car justice. Not only had the car been detailed to perfection, it was 99% perfect for a used 2005 SLK 55 with 4812 miles. My fiend who is highly critical and expecting the worst, was almost speechless. I cranked it up, checked it over, no more than 15 minutes and I was sold. Completed the paper work, turned in the rental and southbound we were. Left Northern NJ right after 9:00AM. Car ran fine, different, but similar to our SLK 350. The automatic was welcomed considering I was driving a newly purchased vehicle in strange territory. Our trip home was uneventful other than an almost 10 miles of back upped traffic, south of DC. I wanted to ensure that I arrived with the SLK 55 in the same shaped as I picked it up, which we did, around 5:00PM.
First observations: WOW, what a beautiful car. Since I was driving conservatively, the power was secondary. The look, the options, the quality, soundness. This car and transaction far exceeded my expectations. Although I felt confident that the car would match the pictures, and the comments of the seller. My initial thought was HOME RUN, GRAND SLAM, etc. I used to be in business with my wife's brother. He's a wheeler dealer by trade. Whenever he made a great deal or buy, he'd refer to it as a home run. The car as stated was a 2005 SLK 55 ///AMG. It's has every option other than the 030 sports suspension, Ipod adapter, and wood trim. Those are the three items (honestly) I could live without. Briefly, metallic paint, entertainment package to include: Harmon Kardon command with NAV and Sirius satellite radio (surprised that some (mine) of the 2005s had the current, smaller, satellite antenna on the trunk (everything couldn't have been any better), heating package and AirScarf, lighting package (love those Xenons),
comfort package, and premium package. As a bonus, I was pleasantly surprised to find the dealer installed MB Bluetooth system. The seller, although very knowledgeable, didn't fully understand what it was. Although we love our 2006 SLK 350, we were missing heated seats and Airscarf, xenon headlights, AMG kit, and red interior. In the words of Cheech and Chong, "not anymore man". This car had to be owned by a rich guy who used it only to check his mail daily, on his long winding driveway. We noticed only one small stone chip on the hood yesterday. While cleaning it up today, I noticed a light scrap under the front nose (I expected it, considering how low the nose is) and a very minor curb rash on the right rear wheel. Unbelievable, nothing else. I thoroughly cleaned the car today. I went ahead and replaced the high beam lights with some leftover Sylvania SilverStar lights I had and replaced the yellowish parking lights with some PIIA extreme lights I had. I plan to install the SmartTop module and replace the factory SLK 55 multi spoke wheels with some 19" wheels. That's it, nothing else.
Final observations: What a car, what a deal. Many are skeptical of online, Internet transactions. Everything that should have gone right, did. This was our second used SLK purchased after finding on eBay. The SLK 55 was in better condition than out newer, less mileage SLK 350. In both cases, I was willing to forfeit my deposit if the vehicle had not been as promised. I will never purchase a major item sight unseen. I didn't like the tight schedule I had in driving almost 400 miles and return in less than 19 hours. I could have had the vehicle shipped at a cost of $1000, but rule one applied. DON'T PURCHASE ANY MAJOR ITEM SIGHT UNSEEN. I couldn't be happier with the car and the transaction. Only complaint, it's an automatic. I do like the manual shift buttons on the back of the steering wheel. Probably will use it more for braking. Although, my wife and I are back to FIVE vehicles, we have no plans to sell the SLK 350. I always stated the SLK 350 was her car. Guess who the "big monster on the block" belongs to? Both of us, but really, hers is silver and mine is firemist red. As I've stated before, when getting another vehicle, get another color. After having silver, which is still my all time number one favorite color, the firemist red is right below silver and is TOPS, and a welcome change. It's difficult to photograph. It's really a medium metallic red that beautiful in the sun light. For those wondering (Doug - 412driver) the red and black interior is a perfect elegant match with the firemist red. I doesn't get ANY better. We love our TWO SLKs :hb: .