Oriel74

hey guys, so I bought my 2008 GL450 in Feb 2011. In March I needed a tow from my local Starbucks because I lost my power steering. Apparently a power steering line snapped and had to be replaced. No big deal.

Today, I'm getting my vehicle towed again because as I was driving home, my shifting was getting sluggish and then I couldn't shift out of 1st gear at all. So I pretty much crawled home for the last 3 km's. My yellow engine light was lit up. I guess I was in emergency mode for those last 3 kms. I'm a little disappointed. I bought the car from the dealership and hopefully it isn't a lemon. I only have 45,000 kms on it.

Has anyone had this problem?

The bad part, I'm getting delivery of a 2011 ML350 on Monday because I convinced the wife to buy that instead of an BMW X3. She's having 2nd thoughts and wondering if Benz is reliable.

Zeyad Alkaisi

As far as I am concerned, as long as it is still under warranty, it is worth it. A Mercedes beats the BMW in name and luxury any day!

aeggroup

I used to own X5 4.8i, sold it 2 months ago and got GL. No any minute of regret.

BlownV8

I just had the first repairs on my car in over 90,000 miles. It needed the cam plugs on the back of the heads and new power steering hose. Both were very small leaks. I also had them replace the mirrors since they are rubbing the doors when they fold in and new window trim all around. Everything was covered by the extended Mercedes warranty. I think they probably replaced the peeling window trim under goodwill but, ether way, it was done.

My GL450 has been very reliable and a great all around vehicle. I only wish it got the mileage of the 320 but an average MPG of 17 over the 90,000 mile life is not too bad. It was closer to 18 but the 22's have cost me some MPG's. My 450 does not need any added oil between the 12,000+ mile oil change intervals and is a real pleasure to drive. I would recommend the vehicle to a friend or family member.

Oriel74

I think I just needed to hear some positive news from other owners!
I'll let you know what the problem ended up being.
The dealer didn't get a chance to look at my car on Monday so it stayed in their lot an extra night.

bmundee

I have the 2008 GL450, with 49K miles on it. The other day the ESP light came on after hitting a small bump in the road doing about 65mph. The light went out immediately. The next day, the car barely made it around the block, with the ESP light coming on and off repeatedly. The car would not go more than 5 mph. Towed car to dealer that evening although the problem seemed to go away after stopping and restarting. Dealer said there was nothing wrong with car. Dealer said "with wet roads, if the tires slip, the car will go into protection mode and not accelerate". Well this was not the case so I suspect there is an issue with the ESP module or something related.

hcetzneb

So you had to go to the dealer 2 times in 3 year and 45km and you think you have a lemon Come on

Oriel74

Hcet: I only bought the car this Feb thru the used car lot at the MB dealership.

Sorry guys, I forgot to post the update. After a couple days of doing tests on the car, the dealership advised me that they have to replace the transmission. It takes 5-7 business days to ship the transmission from Germany. Luckily, we had a family vacation planned for 10 days so we've been away while the part was being shipped. We get back on Monday so I'll follow-up and see what progress has been made.