USED Mercedes-Benz SLK Open (04 - 11)

My car

This is a truly great, fun car. I've had 25 new cars in my life and this one sits right on top of the list. I wanted a Boxer S and my wife talked me into the SLK, so I chose the 350.

It has unbelieveable power and road-holding ability and it really gets looks. She chose the red with silver leather interior and it is a knock-out. I can't say enough good things about it.

Will I buy another one? Without a doubt. We had a chance to use the Mercedes-Benz roadside assistance, as I foolishly left the parking light on for four days. Even though we were in an obscure little ski village in Austria, they were at the scene within 30 minutes. They took the car and me to their workshop, charged battery over night, gave me a new CLK to drive back to our hotel and didn't charge us a dime.

That's great service, and an even better car.

My car

I have owned this car for three months now, and cannot stop grinning every time I drive it. I was sceptical about the manual gearchange, but find it on a par with my daily driver 3 series.

The car has more than enough performance, is reasonably economical at 30mpg +, and has great presence on the road. We have the roof down at every opportunity to listen to the sonerous sound of the twin pipes.

Although I yet to have it serviced I feel that the menu prices look a little on the steep side. It has had to be returned to Mercedes to rectify a sensor fault in the EBD system, parts took three days to arrive but were fitted promptly by MB Winchester whilst we waited.

We went for a diffrent colour to silver and black - Ember Red and it looks fabulous.

My car

Having owned the SLK200 for 2 years (and covering 30K miles in it), I decided top upgrade to an SLK350.

Looks are identical (I opted for the same colour and spec, just with the larger engine).

The 200 is great, but the 350 is blistering!! The performance turns the car into a very different beast from the 200. The 350 is heavier and feels heavier. The 7 Speed auto is really quick (can be jerky in town, and you have to be gentle with the throttle to stop the car lunging forward). But the car is so quick when you want it to be, and is a "normal" car when driven slowly.

The only negative is that it drinks so much petrol. I could do almost 400 miles per tank in the 200, and in the 350, I can almost get 250 miles. Basically, you can see the fuel guage moving as you drive!!

But is's worth it. I do a lot of driving with my job, so not an ideal car in terms of taking a hit on depreciation due to the high mileage that I do, but if you love cars, and can afford the 350, do it - get one - you won't need another car.

I also drove the SLK55 before buying the 350. My summary is as below:

SLK200 - lovely car (GTI basher) SLK350 - blistering (in terms of pace) SLK55 - SAVAGE (it rips your face off when you accelerate and braking is equally good!!)

My car

I have experienced pinking problems which MB cannot cure.Their after sales service is a joke and i will never buy another Mercedes.

It is such a shame because potentially it is a cracking car.The problems were raised with MB in August however i am no further forward three months later.Having had three BMWs i should have bought a Z4!