Racetoy

Just wanting to vent and give everyone a heads up. So my wife buys a 2010 gl350 with 16k miles from our local mb dealer. It's was a certified pre own. All fluid checked or changed so they say. The gl runs great for 16k miles. No problems at all. Then last month while she was driving it,the motor locks up. She calls me and I leave work to check it out. I ask if it had given any error codes . She says yesterday it gave me a "check oil at next fill up notice" but I had half a tank left. My heart sinks and I pull the dipstick. No oil, nothing ,notta, not a single trace. Hoping a sensor had shut the car off, I leave and head to Walmart to get some oil. I add some,but soon realize it's locked up. How could this happen. I ask my wife when she last had the oil changed. My heart sinks again when she said its overdue for one . Holy freaking cow she went 6k over. We have it towed to the dealer who is just as puzzled as us. Were did all the oil go. No smoking, no leaks. How in the hell did this thing burn by my guess 10 quarts of oil in 16k miles. The oil in the oil filter was charred and a super thick clumpy mess. We admit that on some part we are at falt but i run a fleet of trucks to 5k-8k miles over all the time (ford diesel) After a month a tech from mbusa turns down the warranty request. The local service manager is on our side but mbusa is not. The replacement cost is around 30k. I don't know what we will do. We work our tails off to be able to afford this car. Yes she should take better care of it and will never let service slip again. I just dont feel we are 100% at fault. Was a mistake made at the dealer when they got it. Did they forget to do an oil change and it went 32k miles without an oil change. Why was this motor burning 10quarts of oil per 16k miles. Why did a sensor not send it to limp mode to prevent a major meltdown. If anyone has ideas of how to move forward please send them to me . We are sick about this . We pay 1000 a month for what is now a totaled gl. Thanks everyone for reading my rant/what not to ever let happen to you.

FastMoneyPlaya

I would stop making the payments and let MB keep the car (assuming they financed it). Sort of like how people walk away from their underwater mortgages

Racetoy

It is financed through mb. Walking away from the payments would be a last resort. We have good credit and would hate to mess it up over this . I will take it to court before that happens. The sad part is she may be making a 1000 month payment on the gl while driving what we could buy out of pocket (Saturn-focus).We are not wealthy. To some this would be a bump, to us it's a mountain.

aeggroup

I think it'a a mountain for everybody. $30K is a lot of money.
Try to contact insurance, may be they can offer you some ideas.
Friend of mine was leasing E class and never changed oil during his lease ( 30K miles ) ...nothing happened.
My wife also drives our GL and your story will be a good lesson for me to check the car once in awhile.
Good Luck. You need it.

alx

My truck used a quart every thousand miles for the first 25-30k miles. Then it stopped using and now uses -none-

Your truck takes 8.5- 9 quarts which were most likely used up during the 16k miles. Sludge pretty much means that the oil was run until there was none- once there is little oil it will overheat and sludge up.

I know you don't want to hear that but I think in this case you are 100% at fault.

The only questionable item is why the check oil level light lit up at two minutes to midnight. My guess is that the light was on for a while but was ignored or the sensor is faulty in which case you might have a case.

giffie

Doesnt the AdBlue tank need fillups every 10K miles or so? How did this vehicle run 16K without, at the least, having the AdBlue refilled?

KYBRIGGS82

HIRE A LEMON LAW ATTORNEY !!!!
Attorney's fee are paid by MBUSA if you prevail. Make sure you talk to several Lemon Law attorney's and ask about their expertise in Lemon Law and what their prior cases are involving your situation. GET the most reputable Lemon Law attorney in your area. Talk to consumers or other attorneys you have a relationship with to locate the very best. You WILL NOT win in this situation without an attorney and don't sign or accept any offers prior to you retaining a competent attorney..

didimao0072000

Lemon law attorney? Walking away from the payment? Seriously? Cars can take an amazing amount of abuse but it's obvious that this car was way neglected by the owner. It's not the dealers responsibility to maintain your car. How many times did you open the hood while you had your car? Did you even check the oil once during the 16,000 miles you had your car? Did you do ANY maintenance at all during this period?

Racetoy

since i have several f250's i know all about urea . i added the urea when the warning went off myself. As stated she did go over the oil change. they need oil changes at 10k miles . i would not call 6k over that extreme. if you search this forum someone talks about 10k is overkill and should run to 20k no problem. i will dig up his post . not cause we want to but because they must stay in the field working my fords will go 15k-18k between changes.

didimao0072000

The problem was not caused by the oil change interval. The problem was not checking your oil level and adding oil in when it was required. You could go 16k, even 20k without changing the oil but you must keep it at the proper level. The charred oil filter shows that this went on for a while and was gradual. I do feel for your situation but I'm not sure what outcome you're expecting. If you drive with a tire that only has 10 psi in it and you have a blowout, whose fault is it?

Racetoy

I do think we are at fault on some level. The major problem I have is there was not any warning signs. Since the oil charred, why did an oil temp sensor not go off. Why did it have a "check oil at next fill up " warning and it locks up in 20 miles. She had 200 miles left. If it said "oil level low , add oil now" she would have called me. If it had an old school simple red oil light she would know what to do . Her response was it said "check at next fill up" that does not sound like a problem this second . As a guy we all know that that is a warning no matter how it's said is a HUGE problem. Females well that's another story. Why did it not go into limp mode? Also on a local level they agree with us. If this was a 5-10k $ problem I would just pay it. It's not, so it may take a judge to deside who is at fault. Hope she is a female.

thebishman

My wife drives our GL. Right after a service the first thing I do is check the oil level since one can never tell if the level's correct from the dealership. Thereafter I check it monthly at least. I just think in a $66K vehicle it's the prudent thing to do. Assuming your GL was full of oil when you drove it off the lot, you still went 60% over the recommended oil change interval. Given how nasty the oil in these things look after just a few miles I would never go over the 10K miles. Regardless of the neglect shown, I really do feel for your situation. I would immediately contact your insurance and let them know what has occurred. Telling your agent that no warnings lights came on to warn your wife that the oil level was low until 20 miles before it seized may well help your claim. Another course of action would be to try and negotiate with MBUSA to see if they would cover the parts while you pay for the labour.
Good luck.
Bish

Shifter

THIS IS WHATS WRONG WITH PEOPLE TODAY. They take no responsibility for their own bad decisions and want others to fix and pay for it.

giffie

Nailed it! This kind of attitude starts at the school level itself. Some parents hold the school/teachers responsible for their kid's issues, when they do not do their due-diligence at home.

grane

I would say that 30% of the used cars I have test driven over the past 30years had no oil in the sump, but were billed as "fully serviced."

The first time was a high end BMW that began to show a rapidly increasing temp a mile from the high end dealership. I pulled over, checked coolant then oil and there was no oil, nada, nichts. I had to walk back.

After that I always look under the hood before I drive a car. your situation maybe different. I never trust the inspection sheet even if it was signed by the service director. Trust but verify. Did you check the oil before you accepted the used car?

Max Blast

To the OP - you may have a slim case if you can prove that the oil sensor had failed, not giving you a warning until after engine failure. I say slim, because it can be just as easily proven that you did not properly maintain this vehicle. In any case, your lawyer fees are likely to exceed that of the cost of a new engine. I would rather proceed with a goodwill query to MBUsa
To FasMoneyPlaya: You caused this mess this country is in. Because of brain dead boogerheads like you, I am paying for other people's mortgages. We are all dumber for having heard what you have to say. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.

FastMoneyPlaya

Sorry, but I didn't cause this mess. For the record, I paid off my mortgage and own my house outright. I also paid cash for two out of the three cars I own. I am NOT advocating that people reneg on thier mortgages.

My point is that in this case, if the OP truely feels like MB is renegging on their promise to warranty the vehicle, then he should stop making payments. If a contractor is hired to do work on your house, and he doesn't finish the job, you don't pay him until he's done. This is a similar situation, although since I don't truely know all the facts, I can't say for sure who is responsible.

My personal opinion is that a highly engineered vehicle such as a $70K Mercedes should have a warning light that signals when the oil level is low. Every other vehicle I've owned has this. If the oil is a quart or two low, the light goes off. I've never heard of an engine seizing after just 16K miles without an oil change. In fact, Mobile 1 warranties their oil for 15K miles. My old BMW 540i only required oil changes every 15K miles by the factory.

Now if the low oil light did in fact go off and he continued to drive the GL for an extended period, then the OP is SOL and it's his responsibility.

I also think $30K is an far too high of a price for a new engine. For example, you can buy a pretty decent Edelbrock 350HP V8 crate motor for about $5k just to give you an idea of what a performance engine costs. For $18K, you can get a Mopar Performance 572 Hemi 650 HP Crate Engine!

xxGenericSNxx

MB's always charged ridiculous prices for their engines. Try $65k for a 63 AMG motor!

Racetoy

The dealer said he could see the " check oil at full up " had just gone off and only one time. This is my main problem. If I'm at fault for the oil change then mb is at fault for the sensor. Also the oil burn is way high. If it used all of the oil at 16k then at 10k miles,it must have been way low. If we had a low oil warning by 10k which it had to be low,we could have taken it in to figure out. It had to be 6.5 quarts low by 10k to run out by 16k.

KYBRIGGS82

Wow, I guess this post inspired a few to write.
First of all I'm old school! My word and my handshake is all one needs to fulfill a contractual aggreement with me however over the years I have found many people, companies and corporations do not have the same ethics. So for yearly employee wage/benefit contracts, the reading and interpretation of contracts and any purchase of real property I use an attorney.
If you think for one minute you can discuss your problems or issues with a large corporation to request a fair concession for compensation then you are a fool with your money.
I have taught my children at a very early age, "the school and your teachers are always right so don't come home with a problem or issue. Fix it and deal with it because as I said the school is always right period". I have made it a point to teach my children about ethics and honesty at a very young age and as they grew up I held them accountable for their decisions and actions..
I don't blame anyone but myself for anything I've lost in my employment and business dealings but I don't give credit to anyone but myself for my success.
Through hard work, determination and dedication to my profession I have never taken any handouts from this great country for my family and my children's education.
I'm not professing to take the easy way out but I am saying put up your guard, be educated and HAVE an attorney !

mdadgar

I am TOTALLY looking forward to your kids working for my kids some day.

- Mark

KYBRIGGS82

Mark.. If my children work for your kids then be let them know because of my children's education, hard work, ethics and honesty their company will succeed with loyal and faithful employees.
However, my daughter already has her sights on Legislative Law and is vying for an elected position in the State of California and my eldest son is in backgrounds with San Francisco Police Department but my youngest is still available to help your children promote a successful corporation.
Have a great day and off to Cabo for two weeks.

Snipe656

If you are going to eat the bill for an engine then I would price out replacements from some independent shops or even ask the dealership if any other options for engines. I'd think a good low miled one could be found from a wrecked vehicle for less than the MBZ replacement. Sure you do not get the same warranty but as you said that price is a mountain for you so I'd look into other possible avenues for an engine.

jcbutta

try copart.com. you can get a wrecked gl350, depending on the damage for pennies on the dollar. here is one, its a 2011, and only has minor damage, but get one with more damage the price should be lower: http://www.copart.com/c2/homeSearch....SEARCH_RESULTS

haris3344

" check oil at next fill up " .......It happened with me twice when the truck was fairly new and only had a 15-20k miles on it. I actually ended doing an oil change as soon as the light came on. Diesel Engines are different as compared to gasoline engines. That's the reason I do an oil change every 5k.