Hi, I'm from Washington, wife and I looked at a nice 2005 Coupe today. Was fun to drive and even fitted me in at 6 foot 2.

Bodywork is excellent but there's a few issues the forum helped me identify. But at what point do they become deal breakers. 58k miles.

It definitely needs rear tires ($600)
The rear fin has a mind of its own - Battery ($200)
The headliner is sagging on the passenger side ($300?)
Speaker grill detached.

How reliable are all the buttons on the console?

Has been stood a while, owner died. So been driven quarterly so perhaps needs an oil change.


Thanks for reading. Looking forward to learning.

 

Hi,
I would check to see if the "Stickey Key" fix was done. Open the driver's door and open the fuse box on the dash. Look at the door you just removed. If the fix was done, it's usually written on that door. The fix can be done by you and will cost $0.00
For tires try simpletire .com. I got a full set of 4 tires for about $750.00 (Cooper Cobra Instinct).
Battery at Walmart is about $160.00-$180.00
Headliner is about right or you can do it yourself. Plenty of how to's in the technical section under interior.
Speaker grill can be fixed or find one on e bay or place a "wanted" in the market place section of this forum.
The buttons are usually no problem.
I would change the engine oil and filter no matter what. Use a Mann HU 718/5x filter, for oil I use Mobil 1 European Formula full synthetic.
Good luck!

 

I would say none of the issues are a big deal. To me they would be negotiating starting point.

 

Thanks, was thinking the same. Inspection tomorrow.

 

Thanks. I have a mechanic looking at it tomorrow and sent him the sticky key thread. Thanks for the info on the oil and filter change also.

 

No problem, Best of luck to you!

 

Here's the mechanic's report.

 

Pretty normal stuff for a twenty-year old car. I would not hesitate if you can get it for the price you want.

 

OK thanks. Yes that's the key if the seller will drop to accommodate the cost of repairs.

 

The rear spoiler ( fin) as you call it,, that is caused sometimes by low batt but most of the time the rcm,,,so replace the RCM and
everything you think and other things you didn't know was wrong was wrong will be fixed. jim

 

Almost all of the items on there are maintenance items that need to be done anyway.
As far as the steering, you might just need a new steering damper/stabilizer. If you replace it get a Bilstein. It's a few bucks more but well worth it. Steering Damper/ Stabilizer
Search for parts as an Mercedes-Benz SLK 320. I like FCPEuro because shipping is free after $49.00 and they offer a lifetime warranty on almost every part they sell.

 

No asking price mentioned ?

everything is downstream from that

 

Price and pictures would be nice so we can offer comment or not. Good luck if you get it. From my own purchase and crossfire, I consider this car to be a hobby car and I do most of the wrenching myself.

 

So I'm kind of the opposite of that I just wanted it to be a fun car that I don't have to bother too much with and if I got 20,000 miles out of it that would do me. But I didn't want to have to buy something and be constantly concerned with keep it running.

Appearance-wise bodywork and so on I probably give it a 9 out of 10 and inside probably an eight out of 10 so it's in pretty good condition.

 

Like any other vehicle, some get 100,000 mi. with no issues and others have problems. I have had my first one since 2006 with no issues.

 

Very true. I do understand that. I'm waiting to hear back from the mechanic the costs of the fixes that are needed and then I need to speak to the seller about the price. I was researching similar vehicles today and his starting price seems to be about $2,000 too high