GLguy

Very very nice

Riken

i can't believe an auto manufacturer is allowed to put a battery inside a passenger compartment. out of all the safety mandates, this is not one of them. i guess that's what the fire extinguisher under the drivers seat is for. i believe bmw battery compartments in the trunk are vented outside the vehicle. i wonder if the NTSB and others are aware of this problem.

4u4me

4u4me

I don't have the pictures of burned down pictures of GL, but as you can it happened on their drive way, that BMW X5 35d sucks< I like the caddy, both are 2010

way2evil

Nice looking Suburban...

4u4me

that is what used thought about it, but when I drove it I liked. Since its very new my opinion may change after a year, just like anyother american car it may sucks....

ksalno

I'm dumping a Denali for a GL350 (if the factory gets around to building it for me).

The Denali engine blew up at 27K miles and was replaced under warranty. However, the tranny, 2 front diffs, and the air suspension system were all replaced on my dime. Not to mention the rear hatch that is rusting from the inside out around the lock. I also got very tired of lifting the 50 lb 3rd row seats in and out every time I wanted to haul something other than people.

For a $55K vehicle, the Yukon/Tahoe can't hold a candle to the GL. I can't comment on the Caddy but it's the same basic design and mechanicals.

4u4me

now I got the pictures,
anyone interested to see the pictures?
I hate post the pictures, it is good car

Brocktoon

Pictures!

Nstar

Wow, looks like she ran over a landmine. Glad she was unharmed and the kids were nowhere near. I've always admired the GL from afar, but sure am glad we chose the LR4.

Nstar

Pictures would be great.

Why do you not like the 35d by the way? I love that engine. As regards the Escalade ESVs, they are very practical but I honestly like the styling of the Suburbans better. Great people/luggage movers but as ksalno says I'm more prone to European or Japanese SUVs.

Stesl

very bad deal!

is it never happened to a ML w 164? it has the battery in the same place (under the passnger seat) like the GL...and the compartment is NOT vent (like the GL)

43221B

On the NHTSA website you can view safety complaints. There are MANY complaints about 2007 GL's having a problem with seat heaters. I didn't spend too much time searching but there were no complaints that I could find of fires or similar seat heater issues with 2008-on GL's. You mention that the GL that caught fire wasn't yours. Is it possible that it was an 07?

Example of one complaint:

"I TURNED ON MY IGNITION AND THE DRIVER'S SIDE HEATED SEAT AND IMMEDIATELY STARTED TO DRIVE. I TRAVELLED ABOUT 500 FEET AND STARTED TO SMELL SOMETHING BURNING. I THOUGHT IT WAS MY NEIGHBOR'S FIREPLACE, SO DROVE LESS THAN 1 MILE BEFORE I FELT INTENSE HEAT ON MY LEFT SIDE AND SAW SMOKE COMING OUT OF THE SEAT. UPON EXITING THE CAR, I SAW THAT MY SEAT WAS ON FIRE. I TURNED OFF THE HEATED SEAT BUTTON AND THE SMOKE AND FLAME DISSIPATED AND THEN DROVE RIGHT TO THE DEALER, WHO ACTED LIKE IT WAS NO BIG DEAL WHATSOEVER AND SAID THIS HAPPENS BECAUSE OF THE DESIGN OF THE WIRING AND IS CAUSED FROM WEAR AND TEAR ON THE WIRING FROM GETTING IN AND OUT OF THE VEHICLE. WHILE AT THE DEALERSHIP, I ENCOUNTERED AN MB S320 OWNER WHO CAME IN AT THE SAME TIME I DID WITH THE EXACT SAME ISSUE. "

mdadgar

I have a 2007 Escalade ESV (for sale). It's a total POS. Stepping from that into my new 2011 GL350 is like emerging from the dark ages of car design. The truly scary thing about the Slade is how superior it is to the completely awful model that came before!

The X5 35d is excellent, btw. If I didn't need three real rows and 7500 lbs of towing capacity, I would have gone BMW for sure.

- Mark

Brocktoon

Keep the cars, I'm lovin' your Lawn Jockey...

43221B

Thought readers of this post would find this NHTSA investigation into the 2008 Cadillac Escalade interesting.

From the NHTSA website pertaining to the 2008 Cadillac Escalade:

"IN RESPONSE TO AN INFORMATION REQUEST LETTER SENT BY THE OFFICE OF DEFECTS INVESTIGATION (ODI) DURING PRELIMINARY EVALUATION PE08-010, GM PROVIDED ODI WITH 41 ALLEGATIONS OF NON-CRASH ENGINE COMPARTMENT FIRES INCLUDING 16 ALLEGATIONS OF FIRES ORIGINATING WITH THE IGNITION IN THE OFF POSITION. ONE OF THE FIRES WAS DETERMINED TO BE CAUSED BY AN ARSON EVENT. ODI HAS ALSO RECEIVED 5 REPORTS, 4 OF WHICH ARE OF DUPLICATIVE OF REPORTS PROVIDED BY GM, ALLEGING NON-CRASH ENGINE COMPARTMENT FIRES IN THE SUBJECT VEHICLES. IN TOTAL, ODI IS AWARE OF 41 NON-CRASH ENGINE COMPARTMENT FIRES IN THE SUBJECT VEHICLES THAT ARE UNRELATED TO ARSON. EIGHT OF THE 41 FIRE ALLEGATIONS ALSO ALLEGE PROPERTY DAMAGE AS A RESULT OF THE FIRES. THIS PRELIMINARY EVALUATION HAS BEEN UPGRADED TO AN ENGINEERING ANALYSIS (EA08-010) TO FURTHER ASSESS THE SCOPE, FREQUENCY, ORIGIN AND CAUSE OF THE ALLEGED NON-CRASH RELATED ENGINE COMPARTMENT FIRES IN THE SUBJECT VEHICLES."

From a subsequent report:

IN A LETTER DATED AUGUST 27, 2008, GENERAL MOTORS CORP. (GM) NOTIFIED NHTSA THAT IT WILL CONDUCT A SAFETY RECALL (NHTSA RECALL NUMBER 08V-441) TO ADDRESS A SAFETY RELATED DEFECT THAT CAN RESULT IN ENGINE COMPARTMENT FIRE IN APPROXIMATELY 850,000 VEHICLES EQUIPPED WITH A HEATED WINDSHIELD WASHER FLUID OPTION. THE SUBJECT VEHICLES OF THIS INVESTIGATION COMPRISE OVER THREE-QUARTERS OF THE RECALL POPULATION. ACCORDING TO GM, A SHORT CIRCUIT ON THE PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARD FOR THE WINDSHIELD WASHER FLUID HEATER MODULE MAY OVERHEAT THE CONTROL-CIRCUIT GROUND WIRE. THIS MAY CAUSE OTHER ELECTRICAL FEATURES TO MALFUNCTION, CREATE AN ODOR OR CAUSE SMOKE AND IN RARE CASES IT MAY CAUSE A FIRE. AS A REMEDY, GM DEALERS WILL INSTALL A WIRE HARNESS WITH AN IN-LINE FUSE. IN ADDITION TO THE SUBJECT VEHICLES, SEVERAL OTHER GM MODELS WITH THE HEATED WINDSHIELD WASHER FLUID OPTION ARE INCLUDED

http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/pr...fectsearch.cfm

Not to minimize the seat heater issue with the 2007 GL but it is interesting to note that it seems that fires have been a bigger problem with the Escalade than the GL.

Comments?

4u4me

K, here it is

mdadgar

This has been a HUGE issue for GM. They already had this problem with the 2007 Escalade and as a result did a recall and disabled the heated washer fluid system on the vehicles. I got a $100 check from the dealer in exchange for a dead button on the dash.

- Mark

Brocktoon

Odd that if it is a battery issue, the only area not burnt up is the area around the battery compartment.

Anyhow, that is scary, looks like it went up hot & fast.

4u4me

on my 09 GL450 lease going end at Sep 2011
I went to test drive BMW X5 few times, I can't say I like it.
When comparing to GL, X5 lacks something
I just looked X6 didn't even test drove. But people love BMWs

mdadgar

It's a different style of vehicle for sure. BMW emphasizes sport, Mercedes emphasizes luxury and comfort. It just depends on where you fall on the spectrum.

I think BMW did a better job with their diesel, though. More power/torque, same mileage.

I can't figure out WTH they were thinking with the X6.

- Mark, has owned a bunch of BMWs and races a BMW

43221B

Just an FYI, after doing some additional reading on the NHTSA website I learned that Mercedes has had complaints on other models with seat heater wiring issues. The system formerly used was called the "CTX Carbotex Seat Warmer design" and it was installed in various Mercedes models through build date of May 2007. It appears that they no longer use this design.

EWT

One advantage of having the battery under the seat is that it will last a lot longer than having it under the hood. Heat kills batteries.

43221B

If you check out the complaints for the 2007 GL 450 on NHTSA's website, http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/complaints/ you'll notice that pretty much all of the smoke/fire complaints involve the use of the seat heaters. I don't think there is reason to be overly concerned with the battery. There just aren't a significant enough number of complaints to justify it. If I had a 2007 or an early build 2008, I would certainly want to be aware of my seat getting too hot though.

Nstar

Agreed on all points. Benz diesels are very good but BMW make the world's best 6 cylinder diesels. Though why they made an X6 when they already had the sportiest SUVs on the planet is anyone's guess.

4u4me - very lucky the GL wasn't garaged and the fire didn't spread to the house.

Broktoon - battery in question is under front passenger's seat not hood