At $11,000, Is This 2002 Mercedes SLK 32 AMG a Good Deal?

For some, a very powerful side of in the present day’s Good Value or No Cube SLK 32 AMG is its fully-functioning prime. For others, it’s the 349-horsepower supercharged V6. Let’s see if it’s priced to please each of these factions.

Regicide isn’t a time period one hears day by day, and within the case of yesterday’s 1990 Chevy Corvette ZR-1 “King of the Hill” it was really the automotive that slayed. For many of you, its $28,500 price ticket didn’t seem to be a king’s ransom, incomes the ZR-1 a stable 56 % Good Value win.

There are such a lot of letters within the title of in the present day’s 2002 Mercedes-Benz SLK 32 AMG that it might be laborious for the uninitiated to make heads or tails of what all of them imply. The neophytes needn’t fear, nonetheless. I’ve bought your again.

First off, there’s SLK. That follows conventional Mercedes follow for its roadsters, denoting the fashions with the SL or Sportlich Leicht (Sporty Mild) designation. On this mannequin, that’s appended with Ok for Kurz or, in English, Quick. That is all to not be confused with “Quick Spherical” the Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom character portrayed by current Finest Supporting Actor Oscar winner, Ke Huy Quan.

How brief, mild, and sporty is that this Benz? Effectively, that’s the place the opposite three letters in its title come into (literal) play. AMG (named for its founders Hans Aufrecht and Erhard Melcher, and Aufrecht’s hometown of Großaspach, Germany) began out as an unbiased tuning enterprise specializing in Mercedes merchandise. Later purchased by Mercedes-Benz, it is now the corporate’s in-haus efficiency arm. These three letters be certain that the Benz beneath them goes to, on the very least, look the a part of a efficiency automotive. Within the case of the SLK 32 AMG, it has the products to assist these seems as effectively.

At a tad over 3,200 kilos, the SLK isn’t really all that mild. Blame that on trendy security and comfort options and an electro-hydraulic origami folding laborious prime that hides within the boot. It’s brief although, which helps. And, the AMG-built, supercharged M112 V6 beneath the hood does greater than its share of heavy lifting. That makes 349 horsepower out of its 3.2 liters of displacement, together with 332 lb-ft of torque, the latter accessible at a loping 4,100 rpm. behind that sits a five-speed 5G-Tronic SpeedShift automated and restricted slip differential within the again.

The SLK AMG brings the bling too. Visible cues for the mannequin embody adjustments to each entrance and rear bumpers, facet skirts, model-specific AMG alloy wheels, and, after all, badging. The inside additionally will get a slew of AMG logos thrown in for good measure, together with one on the speedo within the white-faced gauges. Out of a complete mannequin run of round 4,330 automobiles, simply 2,056 SLK 32 AMGs had been U.S. spec.

This one is painted, appropriately sufficient, in metallic silver. That enhances the black inside properly. The automotive boasts a mere 97,300 miles on the clock, plus a clear title, and is described within the advert as being in wonderful situation. The outside helps that assertion, with just a few scarring on the alloys to detract from the general look.

The inside, with its leather-clad seats, additionally exhibits a bit of wear and tear, notably on the driving force seat outdoors bolster and the soft-touch plastic coating on the console subsequent to the parking brake. Most significantly, nonetheless, all the seals all appear to be doing their jobs and all of the model-specific kibbles and bits look to be intact. So too are the copious amount of unique manuals and the Monroney sticker from when the automotive was bought as new.

Now it’s sufficiently old to drink and is claimed to be owned by a retiree who doesn’t get it out for train all that always anymore. In keeping with the included window sticker, it was initially bought in Santa Monica, California. Now it’s being provided in Phoenix, Arizona. Nboth of these locales point out that rust would ever be an issue.

Have you learnt what may simply be an issue, although? That might be the automotive’s $11,000 asking value. We’ll simply need to see. Mercedes initially supposed these automobiles to be in competitors with Porsche’s Boxster S, and eleven-grand can virtually get you behind the wheel of a type of in the present day. In its protection, the Benz affords 100 extra horses and the safety of a hardtop so weigh that into your analysis. Additionally, this could be a less-obvious choice on this class of automobiles, so there’s that too.

What do you say, is that this SLK 32 AMG value that $11,000 asking as offered in its advert? Or, does that value weigh heavy on what’s purported to be an in any other case light-weight automotive?

You resolve!

Phoenix, Arizona, Craigslist, or go right here if the advert disappears.

H/T to Paul T. for the hookup!

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