Man buys most expensive car in his life Mercedes SLR McLaren with no research and wonders if he’s just made a $300,000 error

We should all treat ourselves from time to time but this Kansas-based car enthusiast’s splurge of a lifetime on a Mercedes SLR McLaren may have proven an expensive mistake.

The reason? He did no research before putting his mouth was.

The cost? $300,000 – the most he’d ever spent on a car in his expansive and enviable fleet.

But, weould this prove to be a costly mistake?

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Mercedes SLR McLaren

Tyler Hoover of Hoovie’s Garage bought a 2008 Mercedes SLR McLaren for over $300,000.

It was the most expensive car the US-based car collector had ever owned.

It was disclosed that the car had been subject to prior fire damage but that it was repaired to OEM standards.

He even had footage of firefighters tackling the blaze – which can be devastating to cars.

However, the rest of the supercar’s history was shrouded in mystery.

Call it a smoke screen.

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The car’s mysterious history

Upon looking deeper into the car’s backstory post-purchase, Hoover discovered that it sold for $400,000.

However, what followed was a fire in the trunk that caused significant smoke and wiring damage with repair costs totaling $50,000.

This was thankfully fixed by Mercedes to OEM standards.

However, here’s where the story ‘doesn’t seem quite right’.

It’s thought that perhaps these repairs were done after its salvage auction by Hagerty.

Why? You might ask.

“This stunning car sold for only $158,000 in January 6th of 2020 which is ridiculously cheap,” he explained.

Especially considering that it had a clean title.

The fact that it was ‘showing as running and drive verified’ suggests that it had already been fixed.

However, it showed an estimated repair cost of $45,679.95 – right on what the repair costs were.

Hoover guessed that they likely took it to Mercedes for an estimate and listed that figure while. selling as-is.

That’s a pretty tidy profit for a $200,000 investment.

“Prices were certainly lower back then,” he says.

Was it worth it?

Despite its history and the car model being ‘notoriously difficult to resell’, Hoover is still thrilled to own his dream car – in fact he even traded in some of his other vehicles to acquire it.

“Do I feel stupid for spending this much money on a car with that kind of story? Well, maybe… no, no, certainly not, because I really, really wanted one of these,” he admits.

Plus, the mystery may have actually helped his cause.

“The fact that it had a story certainly made it cheaper and put it in striking distance for me,” he says.

This wasn’t his only outlay, at the same auction the host acquired a rare 2002 Mercedes SL 500 Silver Arrow Edition for $20,00, which has minor issues with its soft top.