SLK250 CDI AMG

Secure 2 seat convertible.

The car was bought as a second vehicle for my wife and I to use in the summer. A key consideration was the folding hard top roof, which provides more security than vehicles fitted with a fabric roof. A hard top was non negotiable and this inevitably reduced choice but was a compromise we are happy to live with.

The car was purchased from our local MB dealership, we had a choice of selecting a petrol or diesel engine. The latter engine was chosen primarily because of the condition of this particular car, which was a low mileage example coupled with outstanding bodywork.

Clearly the big advantage of a diesel motor is miles per gallon and we are averaging mid 50”s, okay then. The drawbacks are the demonisation of Diesel engines and potential maintenance issues, for example DPF reliability. For those of you who are promoting ‘electric’ cars as the way forward, suggest you read some articles re the battery manufacturing process. However would I buy a diesel vehicle again? In hindsight the answer would be a clear no-largely as a result of the aforementioned ‘diesel’ demonisation.

The car works well for us but if you want a sports car look elsewhere......sure it’s plenty fast enough in a straight line but there are too many compromises with the chassis. The boot is a reasonable size and there is sufficient space for adequate luggage for two people. It’s comfortable enough in the cabin but the low profile tyres do emphasise the poor road conditions that exist in the UK today. For those of us looking for the state of the art technology, I’m afraid the car was marketed in 2011 and unfortunately it’s all a wee bit dated.

Depreciation is frightening (not helped by the choice of engine) and servicing costs are stupidly high. As a result we now use an independent and whilst the costs are still highish, they are at least manageable. Usual failing with the omission of a space saver spare (why do manufacturers do this?) but otherwise reasonably well equipped - not a great fan of bells and whistles for the sake of it. Ohhhh and nearly forgot the problem with the alloy wheels.....CORROSION. A well known problem that MB should acknowledge and fix.

Looking at the review it seems slightly harsh when the reality is we are, on balance, happy with our purchase particularly when tootling along country roads on a warm day with the roof down.

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