Talk Me Out Of A BlueTec Benz SUV

[haggis88]

Various things have me considering a different vehicle for our family escapades

I haven't personally owned a vehicle of my own since 2015, we've been a single car family since then and they've been practical purchases rather than for enjoyment

I'd ideally like to remain a one car family, but I'm definitely not averse to perhaps having 2 cheaper vehicles over one more expensive one, just the thought of paying Alberta insurance on 2 cars makes me a bit sick, it's almost 2k as it is for one vehicle

We had 2 diesel Mercedes in the UK, one B200 and one ML320 and they were both awesome cars for what they did. I'd have kept the ML but it fell into the ..£550 tax bracket and diesel was cripplingly expensive for a vehicle that got 18mpg...but that's not quite as much of an issue here since there's no road tax and diesel is a cheaper than the UK (I think right now it's the same in GBP as CAD here). It's also a lot cheaper to buy parts in europe, which could be a factor here

I love our Expedition Max, its comfy, spacious, can pull our 5000lb travel trailer, the dog (140lbs monster) and there will be space for the 3 kids/their shit when the twins come and it can haul everything the wife decides needs to be in the car permanently.

BUT......holy hell the is fuel consumption is fucking brutal and it doesn't help that the wife warms it up for half an hour before driving 6km to work, though admittedly thats only two/three times a week.

She's into the idea of a diesel GL class, I was looking for a 420 but I don't think they came to North America. The 350 does fit into our budget range (2012-2014 MY) and seems to tick the boxes I need it to - 7 seats, can pull the trailer, SUV cos the wife won't drive a car, decent fuel economy and not too many stupid driver assistance gadgets and it will fit into our garage (the expedition will but with the garage door closed, there's no room to get around it, literally touches the back wall)

I'm worried I'm not considering the disadvantages of it though. I know modern diesels can cope just as well as gassers in the cold so what other downsides are there to think about? I can and do take on a lot of my own maintenance, are they easy enough to work on?

I did read about the adblue system needing careful care, anyway to check this has been done properly?

Tell me I should do something else other than getting a bloody Mercedes Benz!

[killramos]

You will almost never make up the cost of buying another vehicle just to save on gas.

[bjstare]

A Mercedes mechanic I know said the diesel MBs are great if you are using them for longer trips, but will cost a fortune to keep on the road if you're using it for short trips (e.g., 6km). I didn't dig into specifically why, but I trust his opinion.

IIRC @Buster had a GL of that vintage and got rid of it, and said something about it costing a lot to keep on the road as well. Maybe he has some anecdotes for you.

[rage2]

My parents have that era GL350 diesel. It’s starting to fall apart. Been sidelined for a month now due to transmission issues that the shop haven’t been able to fix. That’s with zero towing ever done on it.

We’ve been borrowing it the last 5 years with our family of 5 + dog for camping and roadtrips, and they use it to pick up the grandkids weekly. While there’s enough space for the weekly use case, last year we found it was getting tight for camping trips. Maybe it’s because we pack a lot of shit, but that’s our assessment of it. We started doing trips with 2 vehicles, kids in my car, gear and bikes in the GL. So we bit the bullet and went with a minivan. We didn’t look too hard (we really don’t like SUVs and none of the monster ones would fit in our garage) but we didn’t find many that fit our space requirements and jumped straight to looking at minivans.

Doesn’t really help you if you need to tow, no minivan can haul that trailer.

[haggis88]

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You will almost never make up the cost of buying another vehicle just to save on gas.

Trip computer reckons 23l/100km average on the last 3 tanks of fuel on the Expy. Anecdotal evidence (albeit from the UK/US), suggests 15-19mpg (US) so ~14l/100km, which would be consistent with my own experience of the ML. Coupled with the fact it would be cheaper on insurance (i checked) and my payments would go down (my credit is fucked), I really should come out ahead? #MARTH

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A Mercedes mechanic I know said the diesel MBs are great if you are using them for longer trips, but will cost a fortune to keep on the road if you're using it for short trips (e.g., 6km). I didn't dig into specifically why, but I trust his opinion.

IIRC @Buster had a GL of that vintage and got rid of it, and said something about it costing a lot to keep on the road as well. Maybe he has some anecdotes for you.

Yes I'd always been of that impression with a diesel too, but in the 3 years in the UK, outside of servicing, all I replaced was an alternator on the ML and glowplugs on the B

[haggis88]

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My parents have that era GL350 diesel. It’s starting to fall apart. Been sidelined for a month now due to transmission issues that the shop haven’t been able to fix. That’s with zero towing ever done on it.

We’ve been borrowing it the last 5 years with our family of 5 + dog for camping and roadtrips, and they use it to pick up the grandkids weekly. While there’s enough space for the weekly use case, last year we found it was getting tight for camping trips. Maybe it’s because we pack a lot of shit, but that’s our assessment of it. We started doing trips with 2 vehicles, kids in my car, gear and bikes in the GL. So we bit the bullet and went with a minivan. We didn’t look too hard (we really don’t like SUVs and none of the monster ones would fit in our garage) but we didn’t find many that fit our space requirements and jumped straight to looking at minivans.

Doesn’t really help you if you need to tow, no minivan can haul that trailer.

This is interesting, hadn't come across many people talking about towing with them

Also, on the minivan thing, it's the correct answer for daily use but the towing is going to put paid to that. I could see splitting the budget into two and getting a minivan and a truck, but then everything is a compromise and I've got two of everything to pay for?

[rage2]

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This is interesting, hadn't come across many people talking about towing with them

Also, on the minivan thing, it's the correct answer for daily use but the towing is going to put paid to that. I could see splitting the budget into two and getting a minivan and a truck, but then everything is a compromise and I've got two of everything to pay for?

With 3 kids, you’re gonna learn everything is a fucking compromise. Vehicles, flights, hotels, event tickets. Nobody told me that shit before we decided on 3 kids lol.

[littledan]

Enjoy your $7k repair for the oil cooler that is mounted deep in the v leaking oil all over. Would not touch.

[haggis88]

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With 3 kids, you’re gonna learn everything is a fucking compromise. Vehicles, flights, hotels, event tickets. Nobody told me that shit before we decided on 3 kids lol.

We had only decided on two, #2 and #3 are coming as a package deal

We're going to Scotland in May and that will be the last family flights for a LONG time. The trailer will be getting a ton of use over the next few years.

[killramos]

I would bet the incremental repair costs offset the fuel bills.

Tell your wife to lighten up on the remote start use and you will be better off.

[rage2]

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We had only decided on two, #2 and #3 are coming as a package deal

We're going to Scotland in May and that will be the last family flights for a LONG time. The trailer will be getting a ton of use over the next few years.

Believe me I feel your pain that you haven’t experienced yet haha. Kids under 2 fly free. Take advantage of that as much as you can before it hurts.

[Sentry]

No ownership experience, but my impressions from driving thousands of different cars: non AMG benzes are absolutely not worth it. Considered a diesel X5 instead?

[haggis88]

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non AMG benzes are absolutely not worth it.

From a drivers perspective, absolutely

For a sheer practicality aspect, that B200 was an amazing little car...45mpg and seating for 5 adults and a big dog, even the Fit can't do that

My ML had a Brabus Stage 1 tune installed, that was good banter

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Considered a diesel X5 instead?

I hadn't! Didn't realise they came in 7 seat versions

[ExtraSlow]

Don't all the moms want the xc90?

[Sentry]

I was talking a practicality aspect also lol. Expensive repairs and mediocre reliability without the AMG benefit.

[killramos]

If you want 7 seats, and don’t want to keep your full size, there is only one correct option. And it’s not an older diesel Mercedes.

[haggis88]

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Don't all the moms want the xc90?

Isn't that just a Ford Edge with 2 extra seats instead of a trunk?

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I was talking a practicality aspect also lol. Expensive repairs and mediocre reliability without the AMG benefit.

This must be a North American condition, as I said, my repairs and reliability in the UK were non-issues! Alternator replacement on my brothers VW GTI cost him more than mine on the ML

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If you want 7 seats, and don’t want to keep your full size, there is only one correct option. And it’s not an older diesel Mercedes.

GMC Savanna 15 seater and move to Beiseker?

[KRyn]

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[Hallowed_point]

Abort mission. My brother bought a low km CPO GLK250 BlueTec and he has had a lot of issues with it. Besides the fact that it looks like a Karen mobile with cream white leather seats and he's a blue collar worker lmao. Not very luxurious imo, has a really choppy ride in the back seats. I actually refuse to go in that pos with the nasty odor combined with the garbage ride quality.

He ended up having something like below installed locally due to the factory parts failing and it stinks so bad now Just don't do it.

http://https://www.rawtekinc.com/pro...scr-def-delete

[Sentry]

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This must be a North American condition, as I said, my repairs and reliability in the UK were non-issues! Alternator replacement on my brothers VW GTI cost him more than mine on the ML

UK cars don't have canada winters or mileage