C300Kid

Yeah that jeep is gonna be effin SICK. It's basically a Benz..I'd forgotten all about it.

Sportstick

No...just the platform is shared. Otherwise, its a Jeep...powertrain, body, interior, electronics, etc. It should be quite HEALTHY!!!

FraKctured

When I was hunting for an SUV for my wife, I was shocked at the Lexus and Acura models--creaky, wobbly, trim issues, and these were not high mileage vehicles (I drove 4-5, from 60K to 90-K miles on them). Very disappointing. I hadn't considered the MLs because of the problems with the early models, but I found one (2000 ML320) and the difference was stunning. Tight as a drum, like a new car. It's now almost 10 years old with 100K, and it is still like a new car (except for some chips and scratches of course).
And it's been super reliable.

C300Kid

Are you sure about that? For some reason I think it shares more with the ML than Mercedes would like to admit. It even shares minor details like headrests with the ML.

jstaneff

FWIW, my '08 says daimlerchrysler. Checked it today.

Sportstick

The vehicle certification label must represent the manufacturer of record as of the date of manufacture. This becomes a matter of timing of the legal dissolution of the DaimlerChrysler company (early August, 2007) versus your build date.

chilledbenz

http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/.../photo_01.html

So far they are only owning up to lending them the specs for the frame, but who knows, all car companys share info. From the looks though, it appears the Jeep's exterior looks more like a BMW X5 than a ML, the interior doesn't look like anything.

And as a reply to the "body man" mentioning one time use parts, hell yes I want one time use parts. Who wants a part thats been bent and trashed, unbent and stuck back on your car? As a safety aspect I would hope all car/insurance company's would insist on new parts being put back on a car thats been wrecked. Maybe thats just me.

jstaneff

Maybe, probably. My build date is 09/07, so I suspect that a second criteria is that the bin containing the unused labels isn't refilled until it's empty, and by Sept'07 it wasn't yet empty!

TheGreatOne45

the IC looks similar to that in the ML/GL

imboom

That's odd. My build date was August 2007 and it had just Daimler A.G.

Every w204 I've seen so far(checked it out of curiosity because of the separation since July 2007) in the lots and friends who have the car has Daimler A.G.

matthew121170

Just checked mine out of paranoia....

C300Kid

I couldve sworn something on my car said DaimlerChrysler..when I figure it out I'll let yall know..

Sportstick

One more thing about parts. For example, our 3.0 MB gas engine is produced by MB. But, MB, like all other OEs, also outsources many parts. And, a shared platform approach also would lead a manufacturer to consider some other related opportunities. In this case, (new Grand Cherokee and ML), I understand they have commonly sourced a Magna t-case. This doesn't mean Jeep engineers went to Stuttgart and picked "MB parts" off the shelf...they may both utilize a common external source for a variety of good reasons. And, again, the auto trans is a product of a shared sourcing at what used to be a Chrysler plant in Kokomo. I have not seen the head restraints closely, but as seats need to interact with the floorpan in an impact, it is possible that utilizing a shared platform may have prompted another case of shared seat sourcing. However, in each case, the engineers for each OE set their performance specs and require the supplier to comply, regardless of the external cosmetics of the part. Needing to be accountable for that product to NHTSA and civilly is one reason why the cert label has to reflect the manufacturer of record...a car can't be built by a non-existent company just to use up spare labels.
The industry is far more complex than it even appears from the outside. As a hypothetical, the same supplier, or its subsidiary, may be shipping parts to Kia and to Mercedes. Good engineers find the best part for the application and are not deterred if another OE happens to source it as well.

moparrbust

Believe me when I tell you that I am all FOR replacing parts. I pride myself on fixing cars the way that I would want them repaired(as if they were my own car). The one-time use parts I was referring to are things that are in no way safety related(ex. taped on plastic chrome moldings, taped on door weatherstrips, plastic covers/shields that break on removal........but are undamaged from accident, glued in rear door fixed glass, etc). Most insurance companies don't like it when I work on a car because how I fix the car how the manufacturer wants. I just fixed a S63 that got hit in the right rear corner(not very hard..........but that part of the car is aluminum) and I replaced EVERYTHING according to M-B standards which ran right around $10k. Most hack shops would've repaired the damages, sprayed seam sealer over it and put the bumper back on saying it's good as new for $2,500.

chilledbenz

Lol or just stuck the S550 body panels on it. I remember an article about a Audi S8 that Car and Driver nearly totaled and the repair shop ordered the normal Audi A8 parts for it and attempted to put them on instead of the aluminum. Not sure if they were trying to pull a fast one on Car and Driver or not, but it got caught and they had to reorder the parts which if I remember right took nearly six months to come in lol. Aluminum is pricey, so it makes sense if the repairs are costly, the price you pay for a high performance automobile. Nice to hear your out there doing good work and not cutting corners