BlownV8

My GL450 is fantastic with 200k miles. This year I plan on doing the fluid and filter as well as the differential fluid so it will be more than a few hundred but it won't be anywhere near $3k.

clvincent

i agree with godobe though, i pretty much treat both my mercedes as a hobby

am very knowledgable about the motors/trans, etc in them and source pretty much all my own parts

and i have a very knowledgable indie

if you dont want to be pretty involved and educated on them then these probably are not the cars for you

guys that work on their own trucks can easily maintain these for a reasonable price most of the time, the older mercedes do well for part time mechanics

a lot of them will have some problems and you have to be willing to do the research etc

or you pay a fortune at the dealer

agree if you plan to use the dealer you need a warranty and to sell/trade for new one when it runs out

GodobeMB

The problem is that these GLs besides having poor quality control are engineered so maddeningly complicated that even experienced mechanics would find working on them daunting and unpleasant. The designs of these vehicles are just unnecessarily complex which seems to be enduring feature of German cars. Having worked on them myself I guess I am just not fan of MB engineering.

SndsoftheSbrbs

I have a great independent Mercedes-Benz specialist mechanic. Both my 2010 GL450 and 2005 E500W4 have proven very reliable. Granted, they both have low miles, less than 10k miles per year (well under that for the E-Class). His shop is very reasonable. Buy a cheap code reader and you will be a much more informed owner.

clvincent

godobe guess i thought all the newer cars were this complicated...

we havent hit anything on my mercedes that has not been straight foward, so far ...

SndsoftheSbrbs

Why do you own one?

BlownV8

I will have to disagree. My 200k mile GL still drives as it did when new and the interior shows very little wear. The quality is fantastic on my GL. In fact, it's the best MB I've owned to date. None of them have hled up like the GL and they have all been more expensive to operate. The E is nice but it is no where near as well built as the GL.

GodobeMB

I no longer do. Like the OP I was struggling with the same question.

GodobeMB

I would agree that GL's interior seems to be well made, especially the basketball stitches seem to hold up well. But I have not seen a 07-09 GL whose beautifully wood veneered tray can still gracefully open and close.
GL is probably the only S line model that is built outside Germany. In NA they were built by Alabamian cotton farmers. I guess there was a learning curve for them when they started on GL. But given your feedback I think they have done a wonderful job.

clvincent

all the trays work fine on my 2008 GL and they worked fine on my 2008 ML with 145,000 miles , nothing on the inside components has ever broken on my trucks

i am careful with them like all my cars, but both were bought used and in great shape...

BlownV8

My.tray has never had an issue and opens perfectly. My guess is yours was overstuffed and something was dislodged or broken.