JulianH

I have an 07 G500 (wife's car). I've had nothing but problems with it. Bought it CPO in 2008. So I'm thinking of getting a new GL450. (See below for problems with G500).

So I've got 4 months or so of warranty left. The 7 year extended warranty will give me 2 more years, but that's gonna cost at least $3500. It also is going to need tires, brakes, and B service soon. After the warranty runs out, I will have to eat the repair cost. It goes into the shop about every 2 months for something. I'm thinking this will be a very expensive car if I keep it. I need something reliable that will last me a long time. I'm going to be buying a big house soon and I can't afford to shell out $1500 every few months and I'm not the type to drive a car with stuff broken on it.

So what do you all think? Is a G450 a good idea? Will it last me 10 years? The miles will stay very low on it. I'm trying to get the wife to get a cayenne S, or a LX570 but she likes the big merc. I'm afraid of the reliability of this car though.


Anyway, opinions on whether I should keep the gremliny G500, or buy something else, like a GL450, are greatly appreciated.

Here's some of the problems I had: When I got it: The doors didn't align when closed (reoccurring problem, they have to be realigned every 6 months or so), the shock absorber in the steering wheel needed replaced, the front end needed aligned because it vibrated like crazy on the highway, the rear door would not lock, the license plate lights kept shorting out (took 3 trips to fix that).

The problems continued when the glove compartment stopped latching, the rear window reservoir cracked and spilled fluid everywhere while it was parked, and now there's a speaker rattling somewhere, the sunroof doesn't close and the driver's window sometimes won't go down (always works when I bring it in though). They fixed the sunroof before, now it broke again some months later, so they tried to fix the sunroof again but it stopped working the 3rd time I opened it, so back it goes tomorrow and I'm going to drive a GL450 when I drop it off.

The G also does not have steering wheel volume controls, or bluetooth, which is really annoying for a car of this price. 2008 G500 has all this stuff.

I got the dealer to give me a free B service before, because of all the issues the car had when I bought it.

MomsBenz

I have a '09 GL450 with 31,000 miles and not a single problem. Love my car. My lease is up next spring and I will definitely be getting another one. (still considering buying this one since it has been so great). Search the forums, there is alot of great information on here.

BlownV8

Close to 80,000 miles on my GL450 and no problems to report.

Fourdiesel

Consider the GL 350 - same torque as the 450 but almost twice the mileage. We've not had any of the recurring type problems with ours as you describe with your '07 - G500. Not that there weren't any problems, just that when fixed, they stayed fixed (so far!)

plastique999

Sounds like you got a lemon....

I've driven the G and it is a VERY different ride. The looks of the G are cool but the ride is fry rough and Spartan compared to the GL. My wife had a RR which got totaled by a drunk driver so we ended up with the GL....she absolutely loves it....has more luxury and sporty driving feel vs a RR or G.
As far as reliability I've had no issues with it for the short time we have had it. But Im not worried about it except for air suspension. I have an S55 amg that has had nothing but problems with the stupid ABC susp.

I think your wife will love the GL and if you have kids they will love it as well.

ima55r2

Plus 1 on the ride in the GL is more comfortable than on a G. It is also a lot bigger than the G and C in your garage now. The ML might be an easier transition for you.

BlownV8

ABC is a pain. I had tons of issues with ABC too. I think the airmatic on our GL's should be much more reliable than the ABC from the S/CL/SL cars.

BlownV8

Not even close to twice the mileage. I would have purchased a diesel GL if that were the case. I could live with the sluggest acceleration of the GL diesel if the mileage were double.

According to Mercedes:

2010 GL350 = 17 city and 21 hwy
2010 GL450 = 13 city and 18 hwy

The diesel gets 30% better mileage in the city and 17% on the HWY according to test data. Sure you can get better than that on the diesel but I can also get much better than the mileage listed on the GL450 too.

Texas993

I would say that the city mileage is 17 on our GL350. But the highway is much better than 21. We are seeing closer to 25-26 on a new engine. 75-80 mph.

Fourdiesel

My apologies - I was going by the EPA sticker for my '08 which shows 27mpg hwy (I get 29-30). I guess M-B really screwed up the efficiency and mileage to get the 'clean diesel' label!! My recommendation changes then, find a used '08 320 CDI with the features you like and buy THAT! You don't have to mess with runflats either.

On a more serious note - I would have thought that using SCR - urea to achieve the NOx reductions required would have made the engine MORE efficient, not less, than using the exhaust gas recirculation method of achieving the same goal. I'm surprised, disappointed and angry that efficiency (which translates directly into fewer bbls of oil imported) has been sacrificed for a marginal and imaginary 'improvement' in air quality.

43221B

But...the diesel will cost you about $6500 less (and this is being conservative) to own over three years. That is taking into consideration current resale, cost of diesel vs premium gas, and the cost of adblue. My dealership adblue cost is down significantly from a year ago.

The diesel is sluggish from a stop but produces strong effortless acceleration at all other times. The sluggish acceleration from a stop is a small price to pay when considering all the other benefits. I'm a first time diesel owner and have been very impressed.

BlownV8

When I purchased my GL, the cost of diesel was more expensive than premium unleaded.

atwal

I love the looks for G500 retro styling and am thinking of buying one is couple years. We do have GL450 since 2006 and had no issues with usual recalls(trailer hitch welding specs, airmatic compressor failure), but, nothing too big though. I do have 7 year warranty on it. I love the ride quality and seating configuration of GL.

43221B

Was it $.71 higher than premium? Because that is how much higher it would have to be to not see any savings in fuel. And then you still have the resale value issue. Edmunds is showing that a three year old diesel has a trade in value that is $5000 higher than the gas. In my previous post i didn't take into consideration that the diesel sells for less new than the 450. If you add that in, you are talking about saving about $6000 just in depreciation over 3 years. I tried to talk myself out of the diesel when I was shopping but when I crunched the numbers, it was hard to deny the savings of buying the diesel. Now if you are leasing, that changes the economics.

BlownV8

Funny that you should mention the differential in price. Yes, it was $.71 and higher!

43221B

BlownV8, I guess I shouldn't have asked that question since I do remember the six months or so when the prices were crazy high like in your attachment. I'm also not trying to say you made a bad decision in buying the 450 over the 320/350. For some, the Turbo lag from a stop is something they can't live with and I understand that. The reality though is that the diesel (barring a return to the insane prices in your attachment) is dramatically cheaper to own. In addition to what we've already discussed, you also get the $1800 tax credit for buying the bluetec. It is hard to ignore a three year cost of ownership difference that is approaching $9000 when you include the tax credit, fuel savings, and resale.

BlownV8

The numbers may work now but they did not work when I purchased my GL. Diesel was around $1.00 more per gallon and there was no tax credit on the GL320. Resale value was not a consideration since I plan on keeping the GL for a very long time.

Fourdiesel

Whether the numbers 'worked' when you purchased yours is really not relevant to the price you would have paid, on average, for all the fuel you put in your car for all the time you have it. For instance, around here in SW Washington, right now, premium gas at Safeway is $3.12/gal and diesel is $2.89. All calculations of this nature must make assumptions about what the price differential will be for the time period you will have the vehicle. It is just as risky to assume the differential will continue at $.71 or greater as it is to assume diesel will cost $.25 less! The most prudent assumption seems to me to be that the two fuels will be roughly equivalent in price. In any event, if, over time, diesel is more that $.71 cheaper than premium gas, diesel wins the balance sheet battle.

lkchris

G to GL? Welcome to the 21st century.

dieseldoc

Love my GL. Have had no Problems.

StevethePilot

And therein lies the rub. I love my GL and I've had lots and lots of problems. Mercedes is still working on returning to the good old days of reliability and they do still have work to do (and they're aware of it), but the amount of trouble I've had with mine does seem atypical.

Yet I do still love this car. Well, truck. SUV. (It's not an R!)

transferred

That's a shame, 1st year of an all new model is always a crapshoot...also the EPA's diesel regs have made diesels even more of a headache, certainly took a while for my rig to run right...hope it gets sorted asap for ya bud

original poster....you'll be giving up some off road ability but GL is much better on road and it sounds like you had a bad G anyways, lx570 is worth a look for sure, good off road too if you get rid of the factory 20s...