SLK Round 3!

[Firm]

Some of you might remember my first SLK, a dark red 01 SLK320 that was my first 'nice' car after finishing school and getting a proper job. Loved it, drove it everywhere the first 2-3 years, but garaged queened it and really didn't use it much the last 5 years or so that I owned it. When Firm Jr came along I sold it and bought the XKR which is much better suited for family cruising.  That was 2019.

Then, 2022, I stumbled into an 02 SLK230 that someone had left parked up on on a mutual friends property. It had sat for maybe 2 years, I bought it cheap (maybe $1800?), fixed it up (shockingly didn't need much), drove it for about 6 months and then sold it onto a young lady who was super excited to have it as her first hobby car.

That last one kinda re-ignited my interest in them, more as cheap fun runabouts, so since settling in down here in the south I've been keeping my eyes open for another. I found this 77K mile 2003 SLK320 locally. Originally from Escandido California, it was moved to Tennessee a couple years ago, and unfortunately the owner passed away and the car was donated to charity, ended up at a local auction here.

It looks like it was a well cared for car, and CarFax pulls up tons of dealer services records up to 2021, when I suspect the elderly owners stopped using it regularly. It's only seen a few hundred miles since then, and has been sitting around somewhat neglected.

The 320 is obviously the V6, which is a nice upgrade over the supercharged 4 cylinder, and has a slightly more plush interior. Wasn't many available options, but similar to my old 01, this car had every boxed ticked which includes factory Xenons, power heated seats and headlamps washers.

I got it over the Holidays so had some time to tinker with it a bit. Mechanically it's very solid, clearly someone had been keeping up with it as it has fresh fluids, belts, brand new Michelin Pilot tires, etc. Plus, it drives great with no drivability issues at all! The top was working slowly, which I determined to be low hydraulic fluid, topping it up got it working properly again, but there is a leak in one of the hydraulic cylinders so I've ordered a rebuild kit for the cylinders, Youtube videos suggest it's a pretty straightforward repair. A/C is non-op, no charge in the system, but I'll wait for some warmer weather to play with that.

It needed a handful of other small things; hood struts, a missing cover in the trunk, broken dash vent, all of which I've already addressed thanks to a nice parts car that showed up at my local scrap yard.

Interior was filthy, but I spent a morning on it and cleaned up really nicely, leather is damn near perfect! As a southern car, it's totally rust free; paint is dry and needs a good buffing, but it will clean up really well once I get around to it. I haven't even washed the body yet.

That's about it, it's now registered and we've been using it. I took it on about an hour drive a couple days ago and it performed flawlessly. Mrs. Firm will be the primary user of this one, the idea is that she can drive this whenever she isn't hauling the kids with her, she loves these cars, and it'll distribute some of the miles off the Escalade. I hope to use it a bit too...I like having something small like this for quick local errands, especially when the weather favors some top-down motoring.

[HannibalSmith]

Nice pick up and lovely interior...these are starting to (or already are) be classics.

Is that a newish CRV in the background?

[Firm]

Yes, the oldest SLKs are 27 years old now! This one is 22 years old. Makes me feel old as I vividly recall watching Car & Driver Television around the initial launch of these and being in complete amazement, as a 7 or 8 year old, of the retracting hardtop....That's probably a big reason why I still like them.

That is a new CRV....my in-laws. They had driven down here for the Holidays. CRV replaced their 09 Fusion (V6), which was falling apart.

[Johnnymac]

Very nice Firm.  Have a coworker who has the next gen of that and she loves it, and much like your last one sold it is her first "hobby" car.

Do you still have that Trans Am?  Hope you guys are doing well.

[Firm]

Thanks Johnny. I looked at a couple from the next gen, the R171s, and while I dig the looks, I don't like the interior at all. I would love an SLK55, but for our purposes, that's overkill, this is just right.

Still have the Trans Am, and everything else...Current count is 11 cars. I'd really like to finish up the MGB project and move it on to free up some parking, but it's been back-burnered for awhile now.

[Revelations]

Love that Benz, really think the look has aged well. Must be plenty of engine with the V6.  I had a 2 door coupe years ago that I bought from my father in laws friend. Really enjoyed my time with it, that little "compressor" moved it along well.

[Firm]

Thanks. The V6 is more than adequate, it's a bit lazy feeling for a sports car...There's a part of me that prefers the base model 2.3L Kompressor because it's a little more spirited feeling, even though it's actually slower. The V6 sounds miles better though, pulls stronger and is simpler/more reliable.

[Tortoise]

Finding cherry classics has to be a massive perk to moving south. What clean car! 

[Johnnymac]

Finding cherry classics has to be a massive perk to moving south. What clean car! 

Not to mention the ability to drive these year round without worrying about winter tires, salt, and road debris.

[RRocket]

Is that hood prop aftermarket? LOL 😆

[Bubba]

Nice find!

[Blueprint]

Nice! Good thing you have such a big driveway!!

[Gurgie]

Sweet find Firm! A fun little car for sure

[Blizzard]

Super cool! I'd love something like this as a cheap-ish fun car. But I'm not mechanical at all so I'm scared it would either always be broken and frustrating me, or cost me a ton bringing it to the mechanic all the time. I think I just need to jump off the deep end 

[Firm]

The key is to buy it low enough that it would take a lot to put you upside down, and be OK with it being broken sometimes - repairing it is part of the fun.

As for this SLK, the weather hasn't been great recently so I haven't done much with it, other than drive it a few times. I did get a new hood strut in, and replaced the part of the lower bumper that was missing (free thanks to my local scrap yard). The repair kit for the roof latch cylinder came in, looks like a fairly straightforward job, but I want a nice sunny warm day to tackle it.

Car drives fantastic though, suspension, brakes, driveline, etc all feel very tight and fresh.