Anyone have experience with the Mercedes SLK 350?

I do.
Very hard to find as a manual. Not really intended to be a sports car. I love them, and I'm a big Mercedes fan..... but that car doesn't fit in the same category as the boxster. It's certainly BETTER than the boxster at some things.... like long haul cruising, or sedate driving with a client, or a date. But it's not a sports car.

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Same. Had an X5.... worst build quality of any car I've ever owned. Jumped for joy when I slid into a curb in the snow and TOTALED it!

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Wow, kind of surprised about the BMW comments.

I've had several BMWs (2002 X5, 2003 X5, 2001 E46, 2003 E46, and my son has a E36 M3 which I still pay for all of the repairs) and they were all equal to Porsche in terms of reliability. They run great, drive excellent, and were very reliable. Definitely not cheap to repair (a lot like a Porsche!). Maybe the newer BMWs aren't as reliable as some of the older models that I owned.

One of my future cars will be an E46 M3.

I would say your E36 M3 and E46 are exceptions. Anything beyond those are just...*insert adjective*

+ 1

The 981 is slightly larger than the 987/986 and inside yo Do feel the difference, I am 6'2" w/230 and the 981 is much more comfortable than my old 987CS.

Appearance? I like more the looks of the 987, specially the 3/4 rear end :-)

And so I was able to get a CPO Audi A4 S Line Quattro sedan with 33k miles for $20k. No, it's no where near the drive of the Boxster. Hopefully it'll serve me well. I did add an extended warranty for some extra piece of mind. If it becomes a money pit, I'll just have to let it go and try something else. In the meantime, it's a beautiful car IMO and my wife loves it too.

However, I never thought letting go of a car would be so hard. The 986 was awesome and truly a great car. I'm going to miss driving it top down all the time.

Thanks for all the advice everyone. This message board was my savior many times when I was trying to figure out how to fix something. Cheers!:cheers:

We bought an 07 Audi A4 Cabriolet quattro 58k miles for 9800 and I have an 05 same as wifes 7500. Bought them little over 2 years ago. More room than a Boxster still fun to drive and comfortable. No major issues. I wrench my own cars too. Keep us posted.

I have driven several new 2000-2003 SLK-350s & a AMG model. They are more comfortable to ride & drive in with the exception of the balky manual shifter & pedal placement The handling is good & quick but much less feel than a Boxster. The AMG will leave any Boxster behind in a drag race but that is the only time it would be as fun to drive.

I had an e36 m3 for many years and found it to be very reliable. The e46 m3 is probably going to be my next car.

Maybe I'm the exception here, but I've owned three BMW 3 Series -- 1995, 2003, 2010. All three were pretty reliable. A few odds and ends here and there, most were covered by warranty. Post-warranty repairs were rather minimal. And I owned the '95 for 100k miles, and the 2010 for 72k miles.

I LOVE BMWs. My 2nd favorite car besides the Porsche.

Also, I own, and have owned several VW's. Incredibly good reliability, real nice driving cars and German engineering. My 2013 Jetta TDI had nearly 100k miles on it when I turned it in to the Buyback program (and made out like a bandit, btw), and I never needed anything other than normal scheduled maintenance. Brake pads and rotors were original and there was still 40% left on the pads (and I don't do all hwy driving).

As I've mentioned before, the boxster is car #74 in my life. So, I've had what I'd consider a fair amount of experience.

Worst car, hands down, was a mid-90's Ford aerostar. But the '06 BMW X5 is a close second. Bought it with fewer than 20k miles on it, and it was junk.

Best car? Hands down, not even close: Mercedes benz W163 (the ML430). I bought that one with 70k miles on it, and put an additional 200k on it personally, before rotating it to the "family fleet".

I'll never consider another beemer. Ever.

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These opinions are all anecdotal, not scientific, including mine.

No matter what car you pick, ANY CAR, you'll always find 1,000 guys who loved it and had no problems, and you'll find 1,000 guys who hated it and had tons of problems.

agreed.
So, a quick google of "consumer reliability report - BMW" nets this result:

"BMW’s midsized luxury sedan dropped to worse-than-average reliability. CR members told us that they experienced multiple problems with power equipment, including areas such as the keyless entry system and the lights, along with the in-car electronics systems, such as the screen going blank and the navigation system failing. BMW didn't reply to repeated requests for comment. "

so it seems, at least with that particular model, that the statistical data bear-out the same: BMW isn't among the recommended cars for build-quality.

Is the Miata too small?

I've never had one, but I understand they're pretty reliable and you can get a 2017 with 10K miles for $23K:

https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/l-Used-Mazda-MX-5-Miata-d221#listing=228025138

I don't think the OP needs further assistance on what to buy since he bought an Audi last week (see post #27).

Ah! didn't see that. Thanks!

Whoops, I missed it too.

After reading your situation twice I can think of two cars not on your list but would be good suggestions:

2001-10 Lexus SC430 and
2002-05 Ford Thunderbird.

Glad to hear you bought an A4.

I own 3...all are solid cars.

The key is join an Audi forum (try Audizine...excellent), learn up on them and change the oil with synthetic regularly and keep the maintenance up to date.

My 2005 has 265,000 kms (youngest son), my 2006 has 345,000 kms (oldest son) and mine is a 2013 with 223,000 kms.

All are 6 speed manual Sline quattros with go-fast mods.

NONE have ever let me down.

A big plus with A4 turbos...you can have a ton of fun modding and grabbing a ton of extra fun HP with tuning.

Enjoy sir!

:cheers: