Enthusiasts Blogging Our Favorite Classifieds
It still makes me wonder why the R230 Mercedes-Benz SL-Class is so inexpensive. I know they are now 20 years old and very much considered “used” cars, but they are generally good in the grand scheme of cars that use to cost $100,000. I don’t think they’ve aged all that poorly considering when it was designed and built, and actual quality isn’t that bad either. Today’s car, a 2004 SL500 up for sale in Florida, has the classic look of understated on the outside but a totally wild interior.
Crazy to think that $20,000 isn’t considering a large sum of money for a car anymore, but it will still buy you a handful of really cool used stuff as long as you are okay with it being 20 years old. Hard to wrap my head around the fact that the R230 Mercedes-Benz SL-Class is in fact that old, but thankfully it doesn’t look its age. Today’s car, a 2003 SL500 up for sale in Chicagoland, brings a whole lot of flash with its Mars Red paint, but thankfully you can drive away while still being under that $20,000 limit.
For as many really expensive cars I take a look at, I try to feature a fair amount of ones that are reasonably affordable in terms of how expensive this hobby can get. This is especially true when it comes down to pure valve for money. Today’s car, a 2011 Mercedes-Benz SL550 up for sale New Hampshire has a selling price of well north of $100,000 back in 2011 and was generally seen at the best buy if you wanted a German roadster. You know what you were going to get in terms of features and quality, and running costs aren’t anywhere near what you’d pay for an Italian counterpart. Now that we are over a decade later with these, that $100,000 price tag is just a reference point and actual prices are much, much lower. How does around $20,000 sound?
For me, right now, there is no better value in the Mercedes-Benz world than the R230 generation SL-Class. A nearly $90,000 car new back when it first launched almost 20 years ago has probably reached its floor for the well-loved models. If you want in on one, now is the time. Thankfully just like the previous generation, the R230 had a long production run with no less than five different engine choices including a V12. Of course, the real value is with the classic M113 5.0-liter V8 with the nearly indestructible 722.6 five-speed automatic. Today’s example, an Amber Red Metallic example up for sale in Nevada, is looking to be a real deal even in today’s thirst for everything cool in the automotive world.
I love seeing creative solutions people come up with when factory options aren’t enough. Sometimes they are brilliant, sometimes they are half-baked, and sometimes they are a little bit of both. Today, we have that “little bit of both” recipe on this 2003 Mercedes-Benz SL55 AMG. The story was the previous owner didn’t care for leather seats, and since leather was the only way to go on the R230, they did a custom cloth setup. Truth be told it doesn’t look all that bad, except this previous owner wanted one more special request: the largest headrests I’ve ever seen in my life.
