Wigwam

I am the first owner of a 2008 GL320. It has 55,000 miles; in the last 9 months I've had to do the following:

$1000 - Airmatic compressor blown
$1800 - Right front air strut replaced
$1400 - Left front air strut replaced
$850 - Massive fuel leak at fuel filter
$1100 - Manifold air valve regulator replaced

In addition, it needs:

$1800 - Steering column will be required to be replaced
$1200 - Rear left strut is about blown
$? - engine is using a lot of oil, known issue but not researched enough to fully understand cause

I can't afford to keep this car rolling on the road. Moving over to Lexus to see if my luck is any better.

Anyone else have similar issues with gently driven, low miles GL's??

gtab55

How ironic that I found this post.

My parents are both close to retiring and purchased a GL 320 CDI when I was in high school. They have maintained it and cared for it according to all of MB's specs. By far, the WORST car they have ever owned. It has been into the service department 19 times now excluding scheduled maintenance. It has 69877 miles right now and they are about ready to trade it in on an Audi Q7 TDI. I drive a VW TDI and it has been rock-solid, unlike this piece of garbage Mercedes that my parents are tired of owning. As of now, they are trying to diagnose the infamous right pull of this vehicle which has been occurring since the day they bought it, November 26, 2007. I just wanted to let you know Wigwam that this car is indeed bad, at least for the 2008 year.

Anyone else curious as to why I am posting on behalf of my parents (benzworld guys didn't like it) or questions/comments on their situation please message me or respond here.

a2j

We got it used with 62k miles. After 10k miles of driving it, there is nothing that makes me say its a terrible/worst car or anything like that. I'm not saying there is/was nothing wrong with it, but does not make me wanna sell it. We love it.

Wigwam

It is a beast to own...especially with no warranty. I'm getting rid of it as soon as it is out of the shop (been in 5 days for the manifold air valve). Wish I dumped this POS six months ago...

N_Jay

Seem these cars are either very good or very bad.
I am hoping for the former, as I just bought a 2008 CDI and hope to keep it for a good while.

I do expect some repairs and will be doing some of my own work. The first time the airmatic goes it is getting Arnott replacements.

a2j

If you consider that this vehicle was made/assembled in the US, it is not that bad. I do 95% of the repairs myself on any car that I own, so fixing it is not that expensive. I expect things to go bad as with any car, and if something does happen, I have 1-2 other cars that I can drive while working on this one. Overall, it is the best full-size suv (talking about GL320/350) that you can buy in USA, imho.

N_Jay

Next year we will get the Jeep with the Fiat/VM Motori Turbo Diesel. (And put up with Chrysler design/build quality, but lower high tech stuff to fail.)

Or you can downsize to the VW/Audi/Porsche Turbo Diesels.

We were looking for a small tow vehicle / SUV and nothing fits the bill as well as the GL.

chsu74

You are going to buy a Jeep build quality with an Italian reliability vehicle? Why not throw in Lucas electronics and get the perfect nightmare?

N_Jay

Yep, already had 2 Range Rovers. Heck, I even have has 4 Fiats.

The new Jeeps are only as bad as Chrysler's, which is a whole lot better than the Jeeps of the 80's and 90's.

As for the Italian engine, that is what they seem to do best. (Well that and "Style".)

Definitely not in the MB status class, but there is a total lack of good vehicles that are Mid+ SUV size and pull over 3500 LB.

N_Jay

Ah . . . . .

"we will get" meaning the "US", not our "family"

alx

/thread