Category: Convertibles 
Price Range: £59,975 to £153,050
Style, quality, convenience of roof, engineering, performance, handling, refinement
Not much. Smallish boot roof-down, less dramatic than some rivals
Everything you'd expect a flagship Benz to be - and it's fun to drive provided it has the adaptive suspension
It's not cheap to buy, but may be cheaper to run than you'd expect. This car probably won't depreciate at all over the next couple of years, so long is the waiting list, and servicing costs are likely to be relatively modest. Insurance will be quite high, though, and if fuel consumption is relatively good at 22.4 mpg, it still isn't frugal. It'll be a long time before there are used SLs about, but you can guarantee that people will be selling unused examples for a premium next year. And when genuine used examples appear, they are likely to make fine used buys. It's not cheap, of course, but the SL is a hell of a lot of car for the money. It is supremely well made, it is two cars in one (coupe and convertible), it's engineered to great depth, and is highly desirable. This last asset almost guarantees strong residual values, ensuring that, if you can find the money for the purchase price, the SL will be relatively inexpensive to run. If you're tempted by the SL350, though, it's well worth adding the Active Body Control suspension for the authentic SL experience.
