irn

Hey everyone,

Sorry if this has been asked ad nauseam but I'm looking to purchase a 2011 R350 Bluetec diesel with 90,000 miles for about $19000 with a clean carfax and all the service records from a local MB dealer... I currently own a 2007 Jeep Wrangler that has had 2 engine replacements and now needs a catalytic converter. I know MBs are expensive to maintain but what should I expect? My gf owns a 2016 CLK550 and it's a dream. When we called her sales guy to ask about my purchasing decision he literally fell out laughing and called back with his mechanics laughing saying NO. I fell in love with the ride... is this a bad move?

JonMac

Ouch... no love for the R !

The general consensus is that the R's after 2010 are pretty solid.
Having said that, I personally don't have much info on anything after 2008 ... I do know what to watch out for in the 2006-2008's but I think the biggest gripes were...

1. Airmatic... if it is, check and see if either of the front and air compressor has been replaced (and how long ago) ... if they haven't, at 90k miles, they're going to be soon. (and this is a 3-4k job at the dealer...)
2. Non Airmatic ... all R's in NA have at least rear air suspension.. same story, check if they've been replaced (but unlike the front, the back can be done DIY and for less than $400 both sides...)
3. Trunk Latches (not sure if this is applicable to your 2011).. but they are one of the big gripes ... apparetnly like to break and cost a few hundred to fix
4. Power Steering Pump... (again, based on earlier models) ... check for leaking or if replaced when
5. Transmission Valve... (again, based on earlier models)... hard down shift 2 to 1 ... apparently some design issue with the valve but 2.5k(?) ish to fix (most probably not a factor in the 2011)

The BlueTEC diesels also have a problem i've run across ... something about ADBLUE... you'll want to look it up... apparently thats the biggest issue with the diesels and i'm sorry i'm not up to par on that particular item.

Other than that... I do love the R Class... And though I admit my particular one is in a higher risk category than yours (given that it's a 2006 R500) , what I paid for it (and even factoring in a major incident) makes it more than worth anything on the market in it's class... (and I also have all it's records which i checked all the above believe me...)

The ride (airmatic) is smooth as silk, the car is quiet (like any Mercedes should be!), and for the R500, pickup and cruising is effortless (admittedly at the cost of mpg but hey, YOLO)... and for me (4 kids), the space and seats is just perfect, WITH the knowledge that even the third row is 'real' seating, not just for height challenged individuals.
Pano Roof is mandatory! (i wouldn't even bother looking at an R without!!! it's like one of the standout features of the vehicle and why I prefered the R over the GL... their version of the 'pano roof' is laughable in comparison), and the interior, solidness and safety is ... Mercedes

The other thing about your R... what options / packages are with it? Those things add up should factor into what you're paying for (ie. Pano Roof? Keyless GO? Folding Side Mirrors? Memory Seats? Heated 1st/2nd? Parktronic? Distronic?) ...

I think the other best advice that is very common for the R class... Make sure you have an extended warranty... (or ... get that as part of the deal)

Best of luck !

user 823908234

What he said! EXTENDED WARRANTY (if you can). At 89000 miles our 2007 R320CDI started failing on everything JonMac listed, and then some. Now at 104,000, still cheaper to just keep repairing a wonderful machine than to get something newer that will also ultimately have problems.
There is no comparable car to the R.

irn

I checked the carfax... no mention of parts being replaced except the armrest?

It's got all the bells and whistles... drives great except maybe a tire low air and the TPMS light was on? The sales guy acted like he didn't really care and shrugged which is why I was hesitant to move.

http://www.kernersvillechryslerdodge...2725a43e6d.htm

The extended warranty for 3yrs/36000 is about 4K from Warranty Direct. Is that the best one to get?

user 823908234

Owned our 2007 R for 5 years, spent a little over $26,000 in regular maintenance and major repairs; complete a/c replace, rear air suspension bags and compressor, waste gate controller for diesel turbo, oil cooler, tailgate latch, tiny p/c board inside the steering wheel (caused the horn to blow continuously; had to buy a complete new steering wheel, $1,100... I know, unbelievable, huh?), and stuff like rear tires wearing prematurely in spite of several 4 wheel alignments, rubber seals at the front drive, oh, and our middle row armrests were defective when we got the car at auction. Never fixed those.

How could we spend that much cash you ask? If we'd known in advance, we'd have ditched the car. Now picture a snowball rolling downhill... you don't know how big it will get, but you keep it moving, 'cause it's fun!
Each time something failed, we couldn't sell it broken, so we fixed it. Then, gee, it's running great, and there's no car like it... so back to our house it goes. Until the next fail. Now, we might as well keep it and just repair it, since it looks and drives great, and there's nothing like it.

Just got back from a 1 week, 2,400+ mile trip, and I'm glad we took the R!

So, sometimes it's , and other times it's

gforaker

I love my gas 2010 and it has been quite reliable with around 95k miles. The diesels do get great fuel mileage, but are significantly more expensive to maintain. They are very complicated engines.

marc hanna

I'm happy with mine. Stay away from the dealer though for anything that's not covered under warranty

JonMac

If those are the actual photos of the car, she does not have airmatic... (you can tell because there is no button beside the ESP which all airmatics tmk have...) she does have most of the other bells and whistles like you said though
If it was me, I'd be trying to get it as close to 17k as possible and grab a warranty.. I have no advice which is good sorry as I also recently asked the same thing and still mulling over it.
There is a sub forum dedicated to extended warranty on this board though... I think the main thing to know is that air suspension is not normally treated as a warranty item, (which like I said is not too bad for back air by themselves).
Oh and they defiled the car with what looks like their own chrome badging on the bottom of the trunk?? Gawd, for that alone I'd demand a 2k discount! Lol
Best of luck again : )

Oh... just thought of this also... you can take the Vin and go to any dealer and request a VMI (?) report, telling them that you're looking at purchasing it and getting any records of maintenance done... if the guys at Kernel don't have anything records wise for this car, either they just grabbed it at auction or just traded it in, in either case there should be ample room for a 2k discount (imho)

irn

Thank you everybody for all your insight. Dealer won't come down from $19300... I'm torn I emailed them and asked about the rear air suspension.

JonMac

Gah...

I had a look at what R's were available your way and there's not that much huh...
And even here in SoCal, there's not a lot of 2010+ either...
Having reviewed the 'competition' .. I gotta say that their price is pretty reasonable...
There's a white 2011 with 64k miles... asking $28k ...
There's a black 2011 executive taxi, no options, no milage stated asking $19k...

is there at least a 30 day warranty?

I can't advise you either way what it's worth to you will be different to me but I think we all agree that it's a lovely car

ps. is the color palladium silver? color code 792? lol if it is and you end up buying the car, i'll send you a pot of touch up for it .. accidently ordered it but i needed irridium silver (775)