I'm glad the board sponsor is getting some ad revenue but everytime I see these comparison ads of the GL to the Escalade I have to laugh.

I came out of a Yukon Denali before my GL350 and would never go back. The GL is superior is almost every way except for pure size, where the Yukon is a little bigger in back. On every other dimension, the GL is head and shoulders above the Yukon and an Escalade is just a Yukon with a nicer interior.

Good luck GM, I don't think you'll see many converts to Escalade coming off of these ads!

I had a Tahoe before my first GL and have never looked back and will never own a GM product again. I am a MB customer for life

Momz, given what you went through on your first one that's statement is HUGE. I'm thinking Tamz isn't feeling like a MB for lifer yet. Hopefully MBUSA turns her opinion as well.

Jim - too funny! Even though my first GL was AWFUL, MB was awesome to work with. Never before have I received such wonderful customer service from a car dealership and manufacturer! That experience alone (plus now two awesome GL's) made me a customer for life. I too pray they do right by Tamz. I would hate to see her leave the MB family.

I don't have anything against GM - they have been coming out with some great products lately, but until they ditch the Conestoga wagon rear suspension, I won't be buying any of their SUVs. Way too many compromises and no real advantages these days other than saving GM some money. I would have ended up in a Sequoia if I hadn't gotten a GL, which flat out destroys the Yukburbhoe.

Jim & Momz--

As I was reading Momz post first, I was thinking to myself "Oh how I SOOOOO wish I could feel this way right now!"

We have owned so many different GM vehicles and even though I am having one H@#$ of a time with this particular GL..I can't say I would EVER want to get into an Escalade. It isn't even something I would consider anymore.

My husband has alluded several times that I should start considering what I want to do should Mercedes Buy Back my car. He is SOO not happy with Mercedes right now. I, on the other hand, have never really considered anything BUT another GL, if they buy mine back. The only thing I vacillate back and forth between is WHAT KIND of GL I would get the next time. Several of our friends think we are nuts to even consider getting another GL-- Through it all, god help me, I still like the darn thing. Just not MY darn thing I might upgrade from the P1 to the P2 next time and I DESPERATELY want blind spot assist, as the salesman told us this car had blind spot assist and it does not. UGH! It was something I just took for granted and believed when they said it had it and I didn't read through that entire list of options, but I REALLY would love the blind spot assist with the headrests! It was only a $400 option...sure wish they just put that on standard, really! Ugh.. And...I'm seriously considering a change from Black to the Palladium Silver like Momz. But..until I get an answer, I am not thinking about much of this.

Do I want to try the GL350 again or move to the GL450. This adblue clunking really is turning me off and shying me away from the GL 350 again. (this saddens my husband as he was VERY pleased with the 27.7mpg he gets on the freeway with it.) I wish mine were like everyone elses, where they either only hear a slight sloshing or nothing at all. Mine is so annoying it's about to drive me crazy. Between passengers asking me what the wierd grinding noise is in front, to what is "rolling around in the back trunk area" I'm about ready to scream If I went with the GL450, it would eliminate that entire problem!!

I surprise myself through all of this, really, that I haven't become this bitter Mercedes Benz hater. That's why I mentioned in my own thread I sometimes feel like an idiot--Who in their right mind, after going through all I have gone through with my GL would seriously want to buy another one.

And if MB comes through for me on this GL...you KNOW I will be the first one here singing their praises. I'm all over that...IF they make this right!

God help me.
Tam

For me I love my John Deere tractors but prefer to drive my trouble free 550 gas.

I just clicked on this ad and looked at the Denali Hybrid price. This is the model thats fairly close in price to the GL350. Its a couple of grand lower in its base form. I just drove a brand new rental Yukon with V8 and it's a nice vehicle inside with lots of room, but is not anywhere close to the GL in terms of quite a few things. Here are a few that I noticed; The diesel feels every bit as strong as the V8 gas engine in the Yukon. It doesn't have the nice combo of diesel grunt with a 7 speed transmission behind it. It doesn't have the same reflexes at high speed that the MB does either. You can really place the MB precisely where you want it in narrow lanes, even at pretty high speeds. I got the adaptive suspension in GL and if you put it in comfort mode it rides as well as the Yukon/escalade but doesn't lose any of its steering precision. In sport mode it kicks butt with a little harsher ride. No floaty ride here. Fit and finish is also not up to Benz standards. The Yukon has old body on frame technology and a complex Hybrid system drive train. I am sure these Hybrid drivetrains will be service nightmares once they age a little. For close to the same money you're getting MB engineering which I believe is better in in many ways then GM's. By the way, the GL350 hauls 7500lbs. The Yukon hybrid 6000lbs. Nice difference there too. I know I have had my own little problems with my own MB's but always had them taken care of by a reliable dealer which is the other side of the equation. Having a well engineered car without a good dealer is no good. You have to have both. I say the same thing as you, GMC, good luck getting converts from here!
Ditto for Cadillac!

Top off the Ad-Blu with a 2.5 gal. jug every 5,000 miles and you will never hear it sloshing around.

Past cars:

Navagator (with IRS) 12-16 mpg

Escalade 12-16 mpg

No looking back...

We already owned two Mercedes the GL320 decision was easy.

We are going to bring 4 more jugs of Adblu with us to the dealer on Tuesday. I wish it was as easy for us as just adding a jug here and there, but my vehicle seems to have a slight issue when it comes to the adblue I guess.

So far, at 6,000 miles we've already added 7 additional jugs plus the 15 gallons I guess it originally held. So if it takes these 4 more to fill it up, once again, we've put in close to...30 gallons of adblue in this vehicle in 6,000 miles. With the NOX sensor going out, I am thinking somehow my GL is burning through WAY too much adblu. It can only go about 2,000 miles before the slosh turns into a clunking that become very noticeable. When it was this bad before, it took 7 jugs to fill it up again, which shocked the dealership too.

Big ole' sigh....

Hah. I get 11.5 mpg commuting in my ESV (7.5 mpg on a good day towing my race trailer).

Dealer said today that my GL350 was built this week and should be here around the end of the month. HELLOOOOO, 20mpg!

- Mark

Ironically I just picked up a used Escalade ESV to use as my winter beater/people carrier/building material hauler.

The GL's superior fit and finish and tighter handling were awfully appealing but at the end of the day the ESV's greater cargo volume was a better match for my particular use case. If carrying people was the only criteria the GL would have been a clear winner.

I'm upgrading the anti-sway bars to improve the handling and am thinking long and hard about upgrading the engine to a stage 3, in large part because it's fairly cheap and easy. That's one of the the virtues about the GM product line.

For what it's worth....

Just don't try towing with the Escalade. I had a Denali and towed a 6500 lbs trailer with it, 6-7 times per year on trips that averaged 5 hours. I went through 1 6.0 L engine (replaced at 26K under warranty), 1 tranny (replaced at 110K), 2 front differentials, and the entire air ride system. On top of what others have said, I would never go back to having to lug those 50 lbs 3rd row seats in and out every time I needed to change from hauling stuff to hauling people, the leather interior that didn't wear worth a darn, and the overall plastic nature of the interior materials.

I've averaged over 20mpg and have driven 44K miles so far on my GL320! Always get around 24-26 hwy, depending on weather and my speed...65 is better for mileage...me - I like cruising at 78.