Hi Robbo (and wife), welcome to the SLK World Forum.
In no particular order.....
IMHO you need to decide which toys (options) you want before you buy your car. I would suggest checking out EBay for an original Mercedes SLK sales brochure, this will give you all of the colours, interiors and standard and optional extras eg, phone-fit, airscarf, Bi-Xenon headlights, flappy paddles, electric memory seats, upgraded (HarmonKardon) sound system, upgraded interiors (Designo), mirror packs, lighting packs, etc. etc. There are MANY option comttbinations! Options when new were very expensive but are always nice to have!
For a small outlay of say £10.00 on EBay you will gain a huge amount of info and also be aware that many secondhand dealers don't actually know what they have on the forecourt in terms of options so bargains are to be had.
Many cars have very few options but surprisingly many well specced cars cost little more.
You will pay a premium of about £1000 to buy a car from a main dealer but it should be totally sound with no faults and comes with a one year no quibble Warranty worth £600 so it's worth considering the extra outlay for peace of mind on the purchase of such a complex little car.
I'd always go for a full MB service history.
Electrics are generally reliable as are most other things tho no doubt Jeff will be here in a mo with details and with links to gearbox and balance shaft problems.
To avoid these go for a facelift car 2008+ with the inverted V front spoiler which I think looks better anyway, also includes some upgrades.
Cams are chain driven and don't present problems.
There is only one battery but if in good order it is well up to the job, if poor it can present all sorts of random faults.
There is only A and B services now. Many people use MB indies, I use the main dealership locally and have no complaints regarding customer service, in fact I'd say they look after us very well. Expect to pay £250-£400 for an A and B service if no faults are found. Service intervals are annually or 10,000 miles.
BTW Do consider a 350, much more performance and probably a better spec than smaller engined cars for little more cost.
Hope that gets you started, no doubt others will have their own advice shortly.
Best
TonyS
In no particular order.....
IMHO you need to decide which toys (options) you want before you buy your car. I would suggest checking out EBay for an original Mercedes SLK sales brochure, this will give you all of the colours, interiors and standard and optional extras eg, phone-fit, airscarf, Bi-Xenon headlights, flappy paddles, electric memory seats, upgraded (HarmonKardon) sound system, upgraded interiors (Designo), mirror packs, lighting packs, etc. etc. There are MANY option comttbinations! Options when new were very expensive but are always nice to have!
For a small outlay of say £10.00 on EBay you will gain a huge amount of info and also be aware that many secondhand dealers don't actually know what they have on the forecourt in terms of options so bargains are to be had.
Many cars have very few options but surprisingly many well specced cars cost little more.
You will pay a premium of about £1000 to buy a car from a main dealer but it should be totally sound with no faults and comes with a one year no quibble Warranty worth £600 so it's worth considering the extra outlay for peace of mind on the purchase of such a complex little car.
I'd always go for a full MB service history.
Electrics are generally reliable as are most other things tho no doubt Jeff will be here in a mo with details and with links to gearbox and balance shaft problems.
To avoid these go for a facelift car 2008+ with the inverted V front spoiler which I think looks better anyway, also includes some upgrades.
Cams are chain driven and don't present problems.
There is only one battery but if in good order it is well up to the job, if poor it can present all sorts of random faults.
There is only A and B services now. Many people use MB indies, I use the main dealership locally and have no complaints regarding customer service, in fact I'd say they look after us very well. Expect to pay £250-£400 for an A and B service if no faults are found. Service intervals are annually or 10,000 miles.
BTW Do consider a 350, much more performance and probably a better spec than smaller engined cars for little more cost.
Hope that gets you started, no doubt others will have their own advice shortly.
Best
TonyS
