Mercedes GL advice

[danno]

have a third kid on the way and looking at out options for a large suv to replace my ram 1500. i need the size to replace the duties my truck would do, and the 7 seats to carry extra family on the rare occasions.

this leads me to the gl it's cheap on the used market, looking for 2010-2013 model for the wife to drive. which engine should i look at, and what odd ball expenses can i expect. i had good luck with my rs4 and didn't run into and expensive repairs, hoping for the same. only looking for advice on this specific model not interested in other suvs at this time.

[Buster]

I've got a 2012 GL350, with the diesel.

We've really like it. It's not advanced in terms of tech. It was probably behind it's time even when it was new. But the fundamental mechanicals of them are really good. It's a high quality vehicle that has much better fit and finish than similarly sized domestic or japanese SUVs.

Maintenance is expensive, but typical of the brand. The regular service intervals usually result in a $600 or $1000 bill. It's not a car that you run and ignore. But that's what you pay to play in the market.

Great winter car, the AWD system has been very good.

The air suspension is a wear item and expensive, so be warned. The diesels sometime require ad-blue stuff, which adds cost, as that system is more complex than it first appears.

Although it is aging, the brand/design certainly has cache. If you have budget baller aspirations, it would be a good choice.

It's a great car for highway trips. Big range, the diesel just chugs along and it eats up miles.

We have three kids, and I am actually trying to convince my wife to get a Pacifica or new Honda Odyssey. But she's a princess so no dice.

[rage2]

2 in the family. Older one, 2007 I think, diesel, power steering rack needed replacement. Was repaired pretty cheap, $1200 I think. Newer one is a 2014 I think, transfer case went. That was expensive, $8-9k IIRC.

Otherwise, no other issues I can remember. Drove to Vancouver on a tank of gas.

[Buster]

I dont think we will be keeping ours past the extended warranty period.

[dj_rice]

As rage2 said, the GL's do have power steering issues but theres a fix for that , that doesnt involve replacing the whole rack. You can replace just the p/s control head and boot kit, thats commonly where they leak.

Another common thing for most diesel Benz's is the engine oil cooler leak. Its a pretty big job to do, that involves removing both intake manifolds, turbos and oil coolers and replacing all the seals and de-sluging the carbon deposits.


Common would be the rear air bags, those common blow.

I'm sure I can think of more for the X164 once I get to work and it refreshes my memory

Oh as mentioned by Buster, the adblue system does fail alot. We replaced adblu injectors, nox sensors and adblue pumps/heaters like literally every day. Its a big money maker for Benz and keeps up in business. Adblu top ups are cheap. Usually the tank is 25-30L and a top up should last you till your next Service A or B. And you can get this Adblue fluid from dealership that has Diesels. Doesn't have to be MB Specific. Dodge, VW, etc. All adblue same shit.

[danno]

would it be reccomended to avoid the gl 350 then?? it's not going to get massive amounts of miles on it. maybe 10k km per year.

from most of my research so far they seem to be fairly solid suv's but of course when it needs a repair it's not cheap.

[Buster]

Originally posted by danno
would it be reccomended to avoid the gl 350 then?? it's not going to get massive amounts of miles on it. maybe 10k km per year.

from most of my research so far they seem to be fairly solid suv's but of course when it needs a repair it's not cheap.

Honestly, if I were to make a recommendation, it would still be to get an American full size SUV: Durango, even an Acadia.

The Merc SUVs are nice, but they require a lot more input from the owner than a more modest brand with more modest features. I also don't care about brand image crap as much as I used to. My wife does, so...MB for her. She wants the new GL. But with the extended warranty we have on hers, I dont see any reason to move it. Also, my kids are disgusting and put them into a new car would kill me.

[mzdspd]

Originally posted by Buster


Honestly, if I were to make a recommendation, it would still be to get an American full size SUV: Durango, even an Acadia.


Skip the Acadia (under powered and lots of transmission issues due to this) and go for a Tahoe.

[killramos]

Buddy of mine has a newer GL 550 and has been sitting at the shop for 2.5 months after a minor rear end collision. Apparently getting parts in for them is pretty much impossible hence the long wait time :dunno: .

[dj_rice]

Originally posted by killramos
Buddy of mine has a newer GL 550 and has been sitting at the shop for 2.5 months after a minor rear end collision. Apparently getting parts in for them is pretty much impossible hence the long wait time :dunno: .


Most parts are either USA or Germany warehouse. If the warehouse in Germany doesn't have stock, straight out of supplier which usually turn around is 2-3 weeks. It all depends on the dealer and how they ordered the part. I've had Germany ordered parts arrive in 7-10 days. Mind you I submitted the order priority are a VOR (Vehicle Off Road). If the dealer they ordered it from just sends it regular stock, its going to take a long time to get here. All parts from Germany should be ordered on VOR anyway, Benz foots the bill for freight.


There was a worldwide shortage of aluminum last couple months that affected delivery on replacement hoods and fenders on ML/GLs. But don't recall anything for tailgates.

[Buster]

Originally posted by mzdspd


Skip the Acadia (under powered and lots of transmission issues due to this) and go for a Tahoe.

We had a rental Durango, and my wife actually really liked it. Big downgrade in terms of interior fit and finish, but the GL based platform was obvious.

[killramos]

Originally posted by dj_rice


There was a worldwide shortage of aluminum last couple months that affected delivery on replacement hoods and fenders on ML/GLs. But don't recall anything for tailgates.

Apparently it was the exhaust itself that is causing the bulk of the headache. I don't think it is actually at the dealer for repairs though.

[you&me]

My wife has a 2011 GL350 which we've had since it was a year old.

As Buster mention mentioned, the air suspension is a wear item that tends to go in the 80-100k area. We did our rear (best to do them in pairs) at about 75k and just did the fronts at about 105k. The dealer charges through the nose for these parts (like $3500 for the rear and $4,500+ for the fronts if you have the adaptive suspension) and knowing that we weren't keeping the car in the long run, we opted for aftermarket parts that cut the cost by about 70%.

Otherwise, it's been pretty bullet-proof and only required regular maintenance. One thing worth mentioning is if you get one with the AMG appearance package, you get massive 21s and those tires are ~$450++.

As Rage and Buster said, gas mileage is phenomenal. Have friends with a newer 550 and 63s and they're stopping every week just doing the school run... Even if you don't care about the $$, it's just a pain in the ass... Diesels with 1,000km per tank FTW!

Bear in mind, we've had the truck since our first was born and it's served it's purpose wonderfully... until now. We're 6 months into kid #3 and, try as we might, it's just not cutting it any longer. We can't get three child seats to fit across the second row (and for our sanity, it's best sometimes to have some separation), which means our 5 year old scrambles into the even-tight-for-her third row. And with even one of the third row seats up, the cargo capacity is greatly diminished. After looking at all of the alternatives and other options (new GLS, Escalade ESV, XC90), we're going to get a Pacifica. For the three kids, it's vastly superior in every. single. way. There's also something comforting knowing that the kids are beating up on something you don't care as much about them destroying.

[Buster]

Originally posted by you&me
My wife has a 2011 GL350 which we've had since it was a year old.

As Buster mention mentioned, the air suspension is a wear item that tends to go in the 80-100k area. We did our rear (best to do them in pairs) at about 75k and just did the fronts at about 105k. The dealer charges through the nose for these parts (like $3500 for the rear and $4,500+ for the fronts if you have the adaptive suspension) and knowing that we weren't keeping the car in the long run, we opted for aftermarket parts that cut the cost by about 70%.

Otherwise, it's been pretty bullet-proof and only required regular maintenance. One thing worth mentioning is if you get one with the AMG appearance package, you get massive 21s and those tires are ~$450++.

As Rage and Buster said, gas mileage is phenomenal. Have friends with a newer 550 and 63s and they're stopping every week just doing the school run... Even if you don't care about the $$, it's just a pain in the ass... Diesels with 1,000km per tank FTW!

Bear in mind, we've had the truck since our first was born and it's served it's purpose wonderfully... until now. We're 6 months into kid #3 and, try as we might, it's just not cutting it any longer. We can't get three child seats to fit across the second row (and for our sanity, it's best sometimes to have some separation), which means our 5 year old scrambles into the even-tight-for-her third row. And with even one of the third row seats up, the cargo capacity is greatly diminished. After looking at all of the alternatives and other options (new GLS, Escalade ESV, XC90), we're going to get a Pacifica. For the three kids, it's vastly superior in every. single. way. There's also something comforting knowing that the kids are beating up on something you don't care as much about them destroying.

Ours are 7, 5 and 3. And I'm trying to convince my wife to get a pacifica. She won't move at all.

[bourge73]

Check out the Expeditions tons of room decent mileage will
do everything you will need

[you&me]

Originally posted by Buster


Ours are 7, 5 and 3. And I'm trying to convince my wife to get a pacifica. She won't move at all.

We're 5, 3 and new.

Do you get 3 across the middle row, or is one in the back? Do you find you're short on space?

We're thinking we'll do a 24 or 36 month lease on the Pacifica, give it's beaten remains back to Chrysler and move back into something more, ahem, nice. Once we're into at least two boosters we should be able to more-or-less take our pick of the larger SUVs without too many compromises. That said, they really pack the toys into the minivans these days and I can't think of much I'd be giving up in way of features even when compared to a new GLS or XC90.

I'm just lucky that my wife actually wants the Pacifica (though she's being as pragmatic about it as I am)... Spending ~$60k on the kid hauler sure beats the $90k+++ that the SUV alternatives would run us, which is comforting knowing they'll beat the piss out of it... Hopefully I can reallocate the savings to the "daddy needs a Porsche" fund... Now if only the useless NDP would catch up to Ontario and subsidize my hybrid minivan purchase to the tune of $15k, I'd be even further ahead!

[rage2]

The Pacifica is actually really nice. The new plug in hybrid uses so little fuel it remembers how old the fuel is and forces the engine to work more so the gas doesn't get stale. Something like once every 3 months.

Alberta sucks with no green vehicle subsidies tho. In Ontario the Pacifica hybrid qualifies for $12.5k which makes it cheaper than the gas version.

[Buster]

Originally posted by you&me


We're 5, 3 and new.

Do you get 3 across the middle row, or is one in the back? Do you find you're short on space?

We're thinking we'll do a 24 or 36 month lease on the Pacifica, give it's beaten remains back to Chrysler and move back into something more, ahem, nice. Once we're into at least two boosters we should be able to more-or-less take our pick of the larger SUVs without too many compromises. That said, they really pack the toys into the minivans these days and I can't think of much I'd be giving up in way of features even when compared to a new GLS or XC90.

I'm just lucky that my wife actually wants the Pacifica (though she's being as pragmatic about it as I am)... Spending ~$60k on the kid hauler sure beats the $90k+++ that the SUV alternatives would run us, which is comforting knowing they'll beat the piss out of it... Hopefully I can reallocate the savings to the "daddy needs a Porsche" fund... Now if only the useless NDP would catch up to Ontario and subsidize my hybrid minivan purchase to the tune of $15k, I'd be even further ahead!

I'm pretty aggressive about moving kids up to the next step in carseats. So I think our oldest was in a booster by the time our 3rd came along. So we had oldest in the middle, and the two carseats outboard. I think the Radian ones were the narrowest so I bought those. Then I put hte oldest in the middle.

I also use these as boosters, but unscrew the armrests. They are really narrow.

http://www.toysrus.ca/product/index.jsp?productId=21656126

In other words, it was no problem. I looked at Range Rovers at the time, but I found the GL had the widest back seats before moving to a truck-based like the Tahoe or something...and I didn't want that. Also, a lot of the full size luxury SUVs seem to be specced with captains chairs in the middle.

The new Honda Odyssey looks fantastic with its removal bench seat and sliding second row. Might be worth the wait.

[danno]

We might end up in a minivan, I just really want a nice family SUV on the cheap side. I can't stand kids destroying a 60k SUV.


So what's the consensus with the engine choice??

[rage2]

9, 3, and 1. 9 in the middle, 3 on one side with booster, 1 on other side with a seat in the back of a GLA45. Can't wait till the young one is in a booster in 2 years, will open up even more options for fun cars. Actually, I need them all in kindergarten or higher so I don't have to drive em anymore and get an AMG GT. :rofl:

They say the younger kids have a tendency to play with normal seat belts at that young age, but no issues here. I'm super anal about seat belts and safety since they were younger, so they freak out if they're not buckled. If the 3 year old is messing around before we leave, a simple threat of "we're leaving now even if you're not buckled" sets him off in a panic to sit his ass down and get buckled up.

Speaking of being anal, I don't allow food or drinks in my cars, and shoes come off when they sit down (they prefer that anyways cuz it's more comfy). Kids have understood that since early on, so zero issues with destroying the cars even in winter. Pretty much just vacuum the interior and power wash the carpets year round. The gf's car OTOH, without those rules, a bit of a disaster. :rofl:

[NRGie]

I sold a handful of older ones at a dealership I use to work at (years range from 2012 -2009 or so) and every single one we sold had air suspension issues.

Worldpac carries aftermarket air struts and they were about 3-400ish a corner, never seen a compressor go.

Aside from suspension issues we never had any other complaints about them, and most of our stock were units that had over 100,000 KM.

[killramos]

Originally posted by rage2

Speaking of being anal, I don't allow food or drinks in my cars, and shoes come off when they sit down (they prefer that anyways cuz it's more comfy). Kids have understood that since early on, so zero issues with destroying the cars even in winter. Pretty much just vacuum the interior and power wash the carpets year round. The gf's car OTOH, without those rules, a bit of a disaster. :rofl:

Agreed. I have a couple sets of friends who's kid actually have a modicum of respect for their cars. All depends on how you set their priorities.

I have more issues with adults in my cars than kids, some people are straight up ignorant.

[rage2]

Originally posted by NRGie
I sold a handful of older ones at a dealership I use to work at (years range from 2012 -2009 or so) and every single one we sold had air suspension issues.
This is a problem with every single Mercedes that has air suspension. It's basically a wear and tear item that needs to be replaced before 100k kms.

[dj_rice]

Originally posted by rage2

This is a problem with every single Mercedes that has air suspension. It's basically a wear and tear item that needs to be replaced before 100k kms.


Truth. We keep 10 air struts in stock because of this. :) Keeps my wallet full. And just sold a air compressor just now for a GL350 :) $1013 :)

[rage2]

Originally posted by dj_rice
And just sold a air compressor just now for a GL350 :) $1013 :)
Probably sold to the cheap guy who's convinced it's a compressor problem because it's a cheaper fix than 4 struts. :rofl:

[dj_rice]

Originally posted by rage2

Probably sold to the cheap guy who's convinced it's a compressor problem because it's a cheaper fix than 4 struts. :rofl:


Tech scanned and diagnosed. Car was leaning on the RH side rear :rofl:

[benyl]

I guess I am getting the extended warranty on the E.