I have a confession to make.  I know they always say you shouldn’t drive cars which have already been prepped for sale, but I just can’t resist this SL.  I think perhaps it’s because this is the 500.  That big galloping V8 is never under stress, has a good turn of pace, and it doesn’t hurt that the car looks mean as hell too!

Our car was imported in December 2015 from Japan.  It was registered by the importer, and sold immediately to the lady from whom we acquired the car last month.  As I say, I’ve been using it myself a little bit and have so far enjoyed around 1,500 kilometres, though I promise I’ll try and keep them down now its advertised for sale.  It has covered just 147,000 kms (c92,000miles) which is nothing for these bullet-proof engines, but appears like it may have covered less than half of that when you look at the lack of wear in the cabin.  It really is that good.

Prior to our ownership a little more than £1000.00 was invested replacing the fuel pumps, crankshaft position sensor and hydraulic roof cylinders to better these aspects.  During my usage everything has behaved perfectly and I couldn’t have asked for better.  In fact, ex-Japanese cars get a hard rap here in the UK, but this car has convinced me that’s wrong.  I now understand what a privilege owning a car is in Japanese culture and that’s why cars like ours have been so very well preserved.  If you lift the carpets to reveal the spare wheel and original factory welds you’ll see its absolutely spotless and unspoiled.

It is sold with a complement of handbooks (how’s your Japanese?), leather book pack, a very recent MOT which was granted with no advisories, and as it stands just one key, but once registered to an individual and not a motor trader Mercedes-Benz UK will supply a spare key through your local main dealer which I’ll happily pay for.

Come and see for yourself….