2012 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Roadster Long-Term Road Test

Edmunds.comEdmunds.com Member, Administrator, Moderator Posts: 10,316
edited September 2014 in Mercedes-Benz

image2012 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Roadster Long-Term Road Test

Our 2012 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG is usually the most expensive car in the lot at car shows, but not at Supercar Sunday.

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Comments

  • zimtheinvaderzimtheinvader Member Posts: 580
    I know I'm alone here but I think the Bugatti is the farthest thing from sexy. It is technologically impressive but just not pretty to me in any way.
  • quadricyclequadricycle Member Posts: 827
    I completely agree with you zimtheinvader. Also, whenever I see an hard-top SLS and a convertible version together, it really strikes me how much better the hardtop looks. You also get the cool gull-wing doors... That grey one you guys took a picture of when you were at the dealer was beautiful.
  • mercedesfanmercedesfan Member Posts: 365
    @quadricycle: Agreed! And you know the other benefit? No fears that the top will ever grenade itself.
  • arcticbluetsxarcticbluetsx Member Posts: 79
    A white DeLorean? I thought they were all unpainted, stainless steel. I like them better that way anyway...
  • quadricyclequadricycle Member Posts: 827
    @mercedesfan: Good point. I still can't believe it was that much of a problem. Its probably impossible to say for sure, but I would really love to know precisely what the deal was with all of that. Was the original problem a design flaw or did someone abu
  • evodadevodad Member Posts: 135
    that corvette looks ridiculous but I'm not certain whether it's ridiculous good or ridiculous bad, performance oriented side of me says good, but the styling side of me is leaning towards bad, it's just awkwardly proportioned
  • fordson1fordson1 Unconfirmed Posts: 1,512
    I agree with you guys about the top troubles on the SLS - I don't think they ever beat the truth out of the dealership's service dept. on what exactly was wrong that resulted in issue #1, #2 or #3. Edmunds is not good at getting to the bottom of things with service people - Dan Edmunds is the only staff member I have seen who knows enough and can keep his eye on the ball long enough to really get down to cases with the whys and wherefores of car service and repairs. The other ones just seem to walk away from these episodes with varying amounts of smoke blown up their butts.
  • quadricyclequadricycle Member Posts: 827
    @fordson1: Yeah, I think the main issue is that most of the staff don't seem to treat the LT cars as their own, and just expect them to get taken care of. They don't get upset when things break, they continue to get services at horrible dealerships, and p
  • mercedesfanmercedesfan Member Posts: 365
    @quadricycle, It would be nice to know those things, but I'm not sure anyone will have an answer for most of those questions. This car was a press-loaner, not even MBUSA likely knows exactly what this car has been through. The general rule in the automoti
  • fordson1fordson1 Unconfirmed Posts: 1,512
    Quadricycle - you said it all. Briefly, the Edmunds long-term experience faithfully reports what the service/maintenance experience with a given vehicle is like for a FLEET MANAGER, not a private owner. With you or I, we are like a patient advocate for our cars, because if we don't raise a stink nobody will, and we are the ones who will be driving the car 100% of the time once it comes back from the shop. With Edmunds, I think they take note of how well the service was performed and that's factored in when they do the wrap-up, but nobody hits the ceiling in real-time when things don't go right. The car just goes to another staffer, who finds out for himself that the SLS top doesn't work right, or the A8L has had a horrible paint match from the body shop, and the outrage clock starts all over again, and the work never gets bird-dogged. With Edmunds, it's like they are biting on all the extraneous stuff dealers use to try to appeal to us...is there coffee? Is there a mini-movie theater? Was the service writer courteous, was the service prompt, did I have to wait too long, etc., when with a private owner, we care more about whether or not the car is fixed right, and we are the ones who know exactly what's wrong. With Edmunds, somebody is asked to take the vehicle in...they are usually not even the one who uncovered the issue, and they're just checking a box and they pay with the corporate platinum card. I think that when cars come into the fleet, a given staffer should have responsibility to deal with service and maintenance on that car, no matter who else drives it. You review the log for the cars you are responsible for, and you make sure things get done right, whatever it takes. That's the only way it will be a realistic ownership experience.
  • quadricyclequadricycle Member Posts: 827
    @mercedesfan: I know that we won't get answers, it would just be nice. As for what you said about the SLS as a press loaner, that seems to make sense too. Unfortunately I don't see many other ways for Edmunds to acquire an SLS, so we'll have to take what
  • tlangnesstlangness Member Posts: 123
    Sorry to see so much concern, so I'll try to address some of your questions here.

    @quadricycle: To your question about how the top first broke (whether it was a part failure or user error). I briefly addressed that in my first post: http://www.edmunds.com/mercedes-benz/sls-amg/2012/long-term-road-test/2012-mercedes-benz-sls-amg-roadster-broken-convertible-top.html

    It was parked, not moving, I imagine the cable that snapped has been overworked in the 30k miles it's seen and that has something to do with it.

    @fordson1: Here's the write-up from the invoice on the convertible top repair: ""Soft top flap cables broken, left flap mechanism bent. Inspected: found both soft top flap cables broken, left flap bracket bent, and pulleys cracked. 2.0hrs - replaced soft top flap cables, pulleys and left flap bracket. Adjusted flaps and rechecked operation of soft top: OK." -- This was all covered under warranty.

    On the original and return visits for the top, there was no charge as all work was covered under warranty. Hopefully that helps clarify things.
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