2018 Mercedes-Benz SL 550 consumer reviews

The most comfortable and luxurious sports car I have ever owned. I have has Porche's, Z cars, and B'mers but love this the most. Just fun and easy to go cruising in. Pure class! Added bonus...I can get a back massage as I drive. Oh yeah, it parallel parks itself.

Purchased the car new Oct 2017 ( 2018 SL550 ) . I traded in a 2012 Corvette ZR1 . PROS- very good build materials and quality construction , almost constructed of all aluminum , good engine ( good sound and performance ) , the retractable hard top ( great in warm and cool weather -large glass sunroof ) , good fit and finish all around , audio and back up camera both good quality , wife loves the car , nice treatment at MB of Smithtown LI NY , very comfortable ride and interior , nothing has gone wrong with the car since purchase . CONS- initial price a little high ( 125K ) , yearly service too high , handling could be a little better , the looks took a while to grow on me . The car has 6000 gentle miles on it , is very nice to drive if you are taking a relaxing cruise . It handles pretty well if not pushed too hard . If you stay within the limits of the car the turns feel good , you just won't be going all that fast . I have other cars that handle better , but I do enjoy this car a lot . In the right weather I always come home with a big smile on my face . Did not really love the looks initially but they have grown on me over the years . Overall , I like the car a lot and will not sell it (ever) . I guess that's as positive a review as you can give. Hope this is helpful

Just a joy to look at. Just a joy to be seen in. It's a hardtop convertible so I have the best of both worlds. Powerful bi-turbo v8 is quiet and smooth. Dont even know there is a transmission it's so seamless.

This vehicle met all of my needs. I’m extremely happy with the performance and reliability. The car is luxurious and beautiful too! I highly recommend this car and Mercedes Benz of Georgetown

This car is top of the line when it comes to luxury cars the best in its class after looking into others cars I found the Mercedes to be the better choice

It definitely makes a statement and collects many admiring stares. Very responsive and surprisingly comfortable for a 2 seat sports car. Epurchasextremely happy with the

I've been searching for a hardtop convertible for over a year to replace my 2014 Corvette Z51 3LT coupe. Test drove a BMW435 last year and was disappointed in the ride quality, interior comfort and lack of basics such as a power adjustable steering wheel. Also recently test drove a SL450 but the V6 seems tuned to make a lot of noise via the exhaust to make up for what's lacking under the hood. So, first impressions after an extensive search for a SL 550 in light silver with light chrystal gray interior: The build quality is off the charts great, very comfortable seats which is something the Vette was sorely lacking. It's also a few inches higher off the ground from a seat bottom standpoint making it much easier to get in and out of. The Dynamic Performance selections show true changes in ride and performance vs the Vette where all you got was more exhaust noise in "Sport" mode, until it dropped down to 4 cylinders. The SL 550 shows a noticeable jump in performance when switching from Comfort to one of the 2 Sport modes, not just noise but shift patterns and ride stiffness. There's also a neat feature to have the seat bolsters adjust automatically when needed for extra support in turns. Admittedly its more for "show" than something absolutely necessary. (I'm NOT taking this to a race track!) As expected driving with the hardtop up is very quiet. Field of vision is excellent in all directions with the top up although the rear view mirror seems absurdly large for the overall size of the car. I suspect it was designed to hide all the stuff that has the front sensors. One disappointment driving with the top down stems from the placement of the side view mirrors. They are placed a bit too far up on the door panel, leaving a gap with the windshield pillar. This causes a steady stream of air to blast the driver on the left forearm and passenger right in their chest. Maybe I won't mind when it gets hot. A related issue is with the pop up windscreen behind the seats. It doesn't seem to do much to reduce the backflow of air. About the only benefit I found so far is the perforated screen filters out headlights from cars behind you. The heated Air Scarf gets plenty warm but not enough air flowing out to make a difference. I suspect it will only help if you drive with the windows up, something I will never do when the top is down. A couple of things are missing that fall in the category "what were they thinking". First, there's no option to automatically lock the doors when you walk away from the car, keyfob in hand. Clearly the car recognizes when the keyfob is near and it has an autolock feature once you start driving. Why make me touch the door handle to lock it? Second, there isn't a Valet Mode which would lock the screen displays to prevent a parking attendant, car wash driver or even Mercedes Service tech from messing with the settings. In my case, I'm not letting the keyfob out of my hands except for the Mercedes Service folks but the designers didn't know that. There's also a neat Engine Performance display option that shows additional gauges for Torque, Horsepower, etc. but it's buried under layers of settings options and can't be saved as a preference for display. Finally, some thoughts on my buying experience. I started searching the MBUSA website, picked my non negotiable exterior and interior colors preferences, optional equipment I thought was important and hit View Inventory. The first thing it asked for was my zip code. The results showed a large number of cars but most did not meet my criteria and were not in any meaning sort order. In addition, the display of the sample car at the top of the page showed a very dark grayish silver. I almost just stopped there as I wanted a light silver. I ended up finding something close to my ideal car, hit the box to make an appointment to test drive and waited for a call. 2 days later I got a call from a local dealer who had no knowledge of the specific car I picked out of the inventory list. I took for granted she was just an untrained clerk and made an appointment. Unfortunately the salesman I got handed to as the only one not busy couldn't find what I did online, stating the car doesn't exist in US inventory and isn't in the pipeline from Germany. The only positive about the experience is they have a light silver 450 available for a test drive so I knew the color existed despite the online photos.

This Mercedes Benz SL550 is the 4th MB that I have owned and the 3rd SL. I can't believe that Mercedes Benz is light years ahead of any other car manufacturer when it comes to iinventing, creating and implementing ideas into actual features well before other manufacturers. I will always be a MB owner because of the reliability that the letters MB implies!

Just ordered a 2018 Mercedes SL550 fully optioned minus active body control and the 5K sound system. Should get the car in 3 months. Been a car guy all my life. My last five cars were 2004, 2009, and 2010 corvettes. Then switched to Bmw with a 2011 M3 coupe and currently have a 2015 M4. All my cars have been daily drivers and I drive them as they are meant to be driven. As I?m getting older, I?m looking for more luxury and comfort without giving up HP and performance. Drove the C45 amg but was not impressed with HP. Drove the C63 amg, liked the performance, but the ride was rough and exhaust was noisy. Drove the Bmw 440xi with a Dinan tune. Performance and HP was good but not enough luxury. Then I drove the 2018 SL550. Gave me HP, Luxury, good ride without a lot of noice. Liked that the car is a classic and has manufacturing history. It?s a low volume car and not many in the rode. Car size is also important to me. 99% of the time, I?m the only one in the car. Like a car I can throw around and isn?t too big. The SL550 has been on my bucket list, so decided now was the time. I flip cars every couple of years. Would prefer a all wheel drive car but nothing fits my requirements. Hopefully in a couple of years manufactures will find the right mix of luxury, performance, all wheel drive, and technology intuitive to the aging population that can afford the cars. I?m hoping that before I reach a point that the kids take away the keys, they?ll have a car that I can command to take me to my destination. When I tell it to take me to Ocean City, I better be sure it understands I want Ocean City New Jersey, not Ocean City Maryland.