Cniglio

Hello, new here, was wondering who would be able give me some advice on the GL 350, we are one car family, keep our car for at least 5yrs, have never bought anything this nice but me & my wife love this truck, any opinions on the truck, would be great, is diesel a lot harder keep up, any downsides? How is the pick up, we are not speed demons but we do go on road trips & would like something with some power. Thank you

Brocktoon

I say get it. We only have one car, as well, and there is a lot of utility in the GL. Do you live in America?

Cniglio

Yes, live NY

Brocktoon

The argument for the diesel is weaker, then, than is some other markets where diesel is cheaper than gas. The diesel filter must be done every couple of years, and the oil needed is more expensive than most other synthetics. It is a great car to drive, and the diesel suits it perfectly, you will just have to run your own numbers to see if it is worthwhile going diesel. Either way, it is an awesome car.

Cniglio

To bad Benz didn't offer 0 maintenance for 4 years like the BMW

luv2sleep

Best SUV we've owned. We had a '09 GL450 but got sick of the poor gas mileage, so we traded it in for a '11 GL350 Bluetec. We were a little concerned about getting a diesel, not having owned one before. I like the diesel engine so much, I think our next SUV will be a diesel also. We are averaging 20 MPG (70/30 city/hwy). On the hwy, you can easily get 24-26 MPG. The pickup isn't as good as the V8 but when it get's to it's max torque (around 1900 RPM), this thing moves! This little diesel engine has more torque than the V8 at a much lower RPM. That's what a diesel engine does.
Maintenance wise, regardless of what the dealer will tell you, it's not too much more involved than the V8 gas engine. Every 20k miles, the fuel filter has to be changed and at around every 10k miles, the Adblue has to be replenished. Adding Adblue is as easy as servicing the winshield wiper fluid. As a technic, I plan on repleneshing it every 5k miles.
Buy one and you won't regret it. Let's hope that you won't get a lemon like TAMZ did.

Cniglio

You know of a lot of lemons? All this type of truck better to have it serviced at the dealership right?

43221B

If I were you I would go to fueleconomy.gov and compare cars to figure out your fuel savings. You can punch in your specific hwy/city driving % and avg diesel and premium prices for your area. I think AAA keeps avg fuel prices on their website so go look that up for your state as well. I save about $700 a year on fuel by owning the diesel.

Then, I would go to Edmunds and check out the resale value of an 07 diesel vs a 450 keeping in mind that the diesel sold for less new than the 450. Unless things change, you should be able to save maybe $4,000 to $5,000 in five years in depreciation by owning the 350. I would also look at the maintenance costs on Edmunds.com for the GL. If you haven't owned a German car before you could be surprised by what the maintenance costs are. Expect to spend at least what they list for maintenance and repairs that way you won't be surprised.

I've been very happy with my 09 GL320 and it has been reliable. The diesel grows on you. Unless the economics change, I'll buy another one in 3 or 4 years. If cost were not an issue, I would buy the 450 because it is going to have more acceleration from a stop. Both are probably very comparable in acceleration once they are moving. For me, there is just too big of a premium to be paid for that extra acceleration from a stop for a family hauler.

Cniglio

One more question, in general do diesel trucks/cars when maintained well run better & last longer because the engine is better made?

luv2sleep

Besides TAMZ's GL350 lemon, I haven't heard of too many other lemons. Our '09 GL450 was in the shop 4 times in its first 2 months of ownership for warranty work. I felt like I owned a lemon. I tend to lose trust on vehicles like that; that's one of the reasons why we got rid of it just after 14 months.

We are on our 5th MB; I've purchased them all brand new. I do all my maintenance, mainly because I enjoy tootling around cars. Besides, I don't like other people touching my cars unless I absolutely need them to. Routine maintenance is fairly simple to perform on these vehicles. Best of all, I don't get ripped off by the dealer!
By all means, take it to the dealer if that sort of thing gives you a piece of mind. I just don't like paying a few hundred dollars for A/B/C service(s) when I can do a better job, IMHO.

TamZ

CNiglio-- Yes, I seem to have gotten "the lemon" of the bunch, but really do choose to believe that my 2011 GL350 was an exception. I'd refer you to view my thread, it's listed a bit below on this GL forum, but again, I am hesitant to tell you to expect anything I went though, because there are a lot of folks here who have had wonderful experiences with their GL's. I just don't know why or what went wrong with my car, there is simply no explanation for it. But 34+ days in the shop in 18 weeks is not good.

Now that they have finally fixed MOST of the problems (airmatic grinding at each stop still seems to be kept at bay with the new airmatic compressor! can't begin to tell you how nice it is to not have to listen to that at every stop!) it hasn't been AS unenjoyable to drive--however, MBUSA did the right thing, and bought back my vehicle, and we are in the midst of the paperwork. It has been a very trying 5 months for me.

If anyone asks me about my thoughts on the GL, I am very guarded, because there are many many things I love about the GL...just not MY GL. That seems to be a sentiment I carried throughout my ordeal.

As for the diesel, I have had no problems or dislikes about the engine. It took me a week or two to get used to its type of acceleration, etc vs. a gas but I have never had a complaint about that part of the GL

I think, overall, you will be very happy with your purchase. (Your welcome, MBUSA.)

Tamz

BJ021

Don't fear the diesel! I love mine - 47K miles into it and it runs like new. You will pay more for fuel - but you will also get much better mileage. In the end I feel I save many hundreds a year...and on the hiway can go over 600 miles! Priceless if you take lots of trips. As for the get up and go - I test drove the 450 the same day as the 320, and honestly...not that different. The 550 will go quicker, but it's designed to! Torque on the diesel is sick - we tow our boat around now and again and it's like it's not even behind us. It's a heavy 21'er too. Good Luck! You love the GL.