At $1,650, Is This Undertaking 1999 Mercedes SLK a Deal?

By all appearances, the difficult convertible exhausting prime on in the present day’s Nice Price or No Dice SLK appears to work because it ought to. The identical can’t be mentioned for the gasoline system, nonetheless, making it a tow-away with a discount price ticket. Let’s see if it’s actually price breaking out the wrenches.

Michael Cera has made a profession out of taking part in just about the identical quirkily-endearing type of character in all of his films. A part of the “Michael Cera character” is expressed in the kind of automobile he drives, which is often a small quirky hatchback of questionable reliability. In Superbad, Cera’s character drove a Geo Metro. In Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist he drove a Yugo. Certainly, is there a extra Michael Cera automobile on the market than the Yugo?

Possibly it was Cera who purchased yesterday’s 1988 Yugo GVL off of Fb Market? We’ll maybe by no means know, however it’s seemingly that the actor’s residuals may have funded that Yugo’s $8,000 asking worth. It should have offered near that because the advert was pulled whereas we had been nonetheless tallying our votes. These, by the best way, ended up in an 82 % No Cube loss.

This 1999 Mercedes-Benz SLK 230 is being offered as a mechanic’s particular owing to its non-running standing, however it nonetheless appears to have the ability to do the origami folding prime factor in order that mechanic may nonetheless get fortunate.

According to the very brief explanation in the ad, the issue at hand is a failed fuel pump for the car’s 2.3-liter supercharged four. There are a number of other, aesthetic issues on the car, but the mechanical malady is its most daunting.

If the non-running issue really is just a bum fuel pump then all that’s needed is a new pump, which is about one hundred bucks, plus an hour or so of laying in the blissful shade under the car to install it.

Of course, the problem with that assumption is relying on the seller’s diagnosis of the fault. What if it’s not the fuel pump that has turned the car into lawn art? What if it’s the fuel regulator or the injectors? Or worse, what if the problem is the manifestation of an electrical gremlin that has taken up residence in the little convertible car? The true problem could be time-consuming and hence expensive to diagnose and solve.

For that to make sense, the rest of the car better be worth it. This little Benz looks to be reasonably solid aside from its stationary situation. It comes in Firemist Red, with the paint losing its clear coat despite the protective layer of dust that covers the car. The headlamps are yellowing which contributes in giving the car an overall un-cared-for appearance. Those lenses could be brought back to life with a little effort, though.

An additional sour spot is the rear badging, which is missing the “0” in the SLK 230 nameplate. Again, not a big deal, but a contributing factor in the car’s overall ratchet appearance. The dent just ahead of the fuel filler door might be a problem, though.

Inside, things are just as dusty as the outside. It looks like the car has been stored either with the top down or the windows cracked. We don’t get to see much of the upholstery, although the passenger seat is wearing a cover and that rarely bodes well in a car that shows other evidence of wear. There are 185,000 miles on the clock and, on the plus side, the car comes with a clean Nevada title.

Buying this SLK is a lot like buying an abandoned storage unit, just like they do on that TV show Auction Hunters. You really don’t know what you’re going to get until it’s too late to turn back.

Such a leap of faith demands a commensurately low price of entry. The asking price for this Benz is $1,650, which admittedly is less than half what one might rightfully expect to pay for a runner with similar tidying needs.

What do you think? Is this SLK worth that leap and that $1,650 asking? Or, does it seem like dropping the top will only open up a pit of despair at any price?

You decide!

Las Vegas, Nevada, Craigslist, or go here if the advert disappears.

H/T to RevUnlimiter for the hookup!

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