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Hardtop? Finally I got the skinny on that SL500 I've been wanting.
Just for what it's worth, the car would be just fine topless virtually 100% of the time parked in the garage and just taken out for spins when the weather is nice.
However, lack of hard top concerns me. What happened to it? What has the car been through?
The car looks best with it on.
I finally got some pics. To their credit they are fixing it up to sell it hard topless. He showed me some bumper damage that he said they're going to fix. Car looks clean inside and for the most part outside.
I guess I need to just face it that I'll have to spend 25k on one of these. I can't buy one without the hard top, but I would be very curious what some of you honestly think. My initial thoughts are to forget it.
If it’s a car you really want and plan to keep forever, and from all the posts you’ve made it sounds like it is, if I were you I’d wait it out until I could get one without any stories, even if it ends up costing a little more. Keep looking. You’ll be happier with one that’s exactly as you want it to be.
I would wait for the right one, you're going to want the hardtop. Is there any way to get a hardtop salvage? What would that cost? The soft tops on them are pretty ****ty from what I remember...
If it’s a car you really want and plan to keep forever, and from all the posts you’ve made it sounds like it is, if I were you I’d wait it out until I could get one without any stories, even if it ends up costing a little more. Keep looking. You’ll be happier with one that’s exactly as you want it to be.
Originally Posted by SW17LS
I would wait for the right one, you're going to want the hardtop. Is there any way to get a hardtop salvage? What would that cost? The soft tops on them are pretty ****ty from what I remember...
Agree. I'm just gonna have to spend probably 10k more than I wanted to get what I want, I'll deal with it.
It may very well be worth it if the car otherwise drives well and everything else is good to go, I bought my W12 with bumper damage since there are only two cars that exist with the spec I wanted and I was willing to fix it.
If you want a SL500 as bad as you appear to you may want to look into buying this as a good base and then with the existing price difference see if you can get it to the state you want it to be in. My car is around 34k market but I got the dealer down to $19,500 so I could fix it to where I wanted the car/put myself in a no lose situation. It was rare enough that I could do something like that, this is also a similar situation since they KNOW no "normal" person would even consider an "old covetable that's bad on gas" so they can't demand you pay anyway since everyone who does want the car wants the hard top.
They will have to play ball just like in my case since again, no normal people buy a 10 year old 12cyl super sedan and those who do usually avoid even the slightest body issues like the plague and even a hint of issue in the service record normally makes those types of cars a hard no. I used that to my favor and put myself in a position I can't lose/be under market even if I had someone else do 100% of the work needed plus all services. It's only after I had the deal done I told them I am actually able to service this myself!
ANY car of this age is not going to be perfect/will need work unless you have personally owned it from day 1 and know for a fact where it sits. I always think it's better to buy a car with some known issues and use that to force price down to cover what it would need to get it back to 90%+ at least. True 100% is expensive to do but if it's a car you love it can be worth it.
There's gonna be more Silver Arrows. I just have to increase my budget. A clean, worth-buying one of these with two tops and under 60kish miles will be $25k at least.
Why is the hardtop so desirable? If the car is a weekend car and not driven much wouldn’t it be driven with the top down most days? I thought the desire to own one of these is for the convertible aspects of the car. Also, how much would a nice hardtop be if purchased used?
With that being said, I’ve always tried to keep my emotions in check when buying a used car that is rare thinking another one won’t pop up anytime soon but every time one does pop up that is better so my advice is be patient and the right one will come along although likely at a higher price.
As already indicated, hardtops are readily available. Unless panoramic, they are not particularly pricey. Many end up just taking up garage space.
A Silver Arrow with less than 60k for less than 17 grand is a real deal if it is at all nice. If so, don't let the lack of a hardtop stand in your way.
Soft top looks nice and fresh. Interior looks great, wayyyyyy better than the silver arrow that popped up here in Knox months back. Zooming in the rims look to be in good shape. What do you guys think? Front bumper gap is way bigger on right side.
Why is the hardtop so desirable? If the car is a weekend car and not driven much wouldn’t it be driven with the top down most days? I thought the desire to own one of these is for the convertible aspects of the car. Also, how much would a nice hardtop be if purchased used?
With that being said, I’ve always tried to keep my emotions in check when buying a used car that is rare thinking another one won’t pop up anytime soon but every time one does pop up that is better so my advice is be patient and the right one will come along although likely at a higher price.
Its desirable just because it really increases the value of the car, people who know these cars will always want the hardtop so they have a complete car.
Originally Posted by TriC
As already indicated, hardtops are readily available. Unless panoramic, they are not particularly pricey. Many end up just taking up garage space.
A Silver Arrow with less than 60k for less than 17 grand is a real deal if it is at all nice. If so, don't let the lack of a hardtop stand in your way.
If you can easily get a hardtop, I would seriously consider this car, TriC is right its a good deal if it checks out. I was assuming it would be very difficult to get the hardtop.
12-28-22 | 02:52 PM
My new to me SL500 Silver Arrow
