pteam

I think alot of people will agree, alot of people dont even consider a diesel. They think it smells. They think its really loud. They think its slow. They dont realize they will save alot of money with the diesel. Thus most people dont even think about getting the diesel.

AsianML

Lewis Hamilton owns a GL350!

aeggroup

I think in many cases it depends on you buy or you lease the car. There is no any good program if you wanna lease GL350. On the other hand - 450 always has a good lease program. So..at the end of the day - if you leasing - you don't save any money.
If you buy - it's totally another game. You pay the same price at the beginning, but you spend less for gas and residual after 3 years is...hmm....450 not even close to that price.

And...there are always people, who don't care how much it cost at all...
One of my friends - he's leased 450 because his wife wants it...and his wife wants it because she saw it on " Housewifes of NJ " ....He has no idea about 350, 450 or 550... He just knows the look

dbtk

Ha ha...that's so funny. A GL350 BTC have less of a smell than a gas GL, and is not that much louder.

I got yelled at by a Jersey fuel station attendant today for pulling up to a diesel pump with my GL350. He thought it used gasoline. In fact, his fellow attendant came over to confirm that it was a diesel least his buddy inadvertantly filled my GL with diesel. (BTW, my return efficiency was 29.2mpg vs. 30mpg on the way down to Williamsburg, VA from CT. Total trip 1066 miles.)

dbtk

And it appears to be the Prius alternative for some celebrities tired of following the LA masses.

http://www.emercedesbenz.com/autos/m...-in-hollywood/

DaCeptak0n

Got it in early on the the GL market. one of the first to buy one and only available at the time were 450s. Would've easily gotten a BlueTec if it was around...but happy driving.

We get excited when we see 18 mpg on long drives lol...

ddcha

Haha. I averaged 19mpg on a long drive this weekend!!!

vntgspd

Excellent points. Many people don't look at the total cost involved in ownership. I considered the diesel as well but I decided to buy used and there were great deals to be had on 450s but not on 350s (don't think 320 was an option here in CA). I ended up with an '08 450 P1 with 27K miles for $39K (Very clean with exact colors and options I needed). Since I'll likely only have it for two years, my cost of depreciation and maintenance will be only slightly higher than the premium it would have cost to get into a 350! That's leaves plenty of reserve for buying fuel. In my case, with 1000 miles of mixed driving per month, the diesel only saves me $25/month or $300/year. So even after 3 years of ownership the $900 doesn't cover the diesel premium based on MY purchase decision and MY usage. Of course, YMMV!

mdadgar

Totally true.

Personally, after driving an Escalade for a couple of years I had a very hard time rationalizing burning that much fuel for nothing - it just struck me as a huge waste.

Since I will keep the GL350 for a long time, it was easier to justify the price premium to make myself feel better about spending money to avoid wasting fuel for no reason.

- Mark, happy to waste fuel in the race car for *good* reasons

LEOSOPHIE

He had a good race yesterday driving real Mercedes power.

mdadgar

I think he's crumbling a bit mentally. He's starting to have that prima donna attitude and it's affecting his ability to drive at the highest levels. Look at how he blames everyone (crew, car, other drivers, etc) but himself when he has a poor result. I'm disappointed - I had a higher opinion of him.

Button is doing well with MBZ power but Vettel is the class of the field right now. He's a future multi-time champion.

- Mark

LEOSOPHIE

Maybe he needs a girl friend, all I see are his parents and brother hanging around.

mdadgar

He's been dating Nicole Scherzinger (*****cat Dolls) for years. Maybe that's the problem?

She drives a GL350 as well.

- Mark

Fourdiesel

So far then, yours is a population of one

jpalys

Having moved from a 2007 GL450 to a 2011 GL350, I can say I do miss the quick acceleration but a 360+ km (200 miles) per tank improvement helps make up for that. The beefed up torque allows the GL to easily pull my boat or 26 foot travel trailer on steep grades with none of the annoying neck-wrenching down-shifting that occurred with the gasoline engine. That makes my wife and therefore me much happier!

aeggroup

Just got full tank of diesel. That's what computer shows - NYC Metro area driving.

MRAMG1

Sorry guys, but I am NOT in ANYWAY disappointed with my 450.

I drove a 350, 550, Q7 Diesel, and with the exception of the 15K difference in price for the 550 which was barely faster, I would NEVER have bought the diesels.

The wife laughed at the Q7 asking the salesmen IF it could even reach 60 mph

Have fun with your fuel economy, I'll enjoy my drive

PS: Just how much do they charge you for your 30 gallons of Blue Tec?

alx

the cadence of the diesel vehicle is very different. under normal circumstances (normal driving) they are just as fast as their gasoline counterparts, it just feels different and slower to the unfamiliar with diesels driver. it is the low rpm diesel clatter combined with general "unwillingness" to rev and lack of sensitivity to the gas pedal that contributes to that overall feel...

on buying urea (def)- **** is bought from truck stops and is dirt cheap.

i prefer driving a diesel truck to a gasoline truck. once you get used to it you realize at traffic lights you are no slower. its called torque and the 320/350 has more of it in the rpms normally used. yes, above 4500 rpms the gasoline mills make slightly more tq and since they are geared shorter they are faster. but i've driven the 450 on occasion and rarely saw such rpms under normal circumstances.

btw, to the guy that reasoned he got an excellent deal on a used 450 and had plenty of money left for gas - you are aware that your truck will continue do depreciate at the rate of 25% for the next 3 years while the 2-3 year diesels have lost zero dollars in the last year alone- right?

money wise the diesels are way ahead anyway you look at it. there is a reason why they do not depreciate after all which...only completes the value reasoning.

aeggroup

And nobody says you should...


Hey...no offense...I'm sure your wife means a lot to you, but for majority of people on this forum her words mean nothing.

The Gas station ( NJ ) where I got my tank was : diesel - 3.75. Premium - 3.85.

ddruker

Diesel Exhaust Fluid (DEF) is about $5 per gallon. If you can refill your windshield washer fluid, you can refill your DEF tank. I'm not sure of the consumption of DEF in terms of miles per gallon - I'd guess it's less than one gallon of DEF per thousand miles of driving in the GL.

DBV

We have a 08 GL320 with 53,000 miles on it (bought it new) and I can not believe how well it has held its value. It has only lost about 8k to 9k in the last 2.5 years, which is amazing for any vehicle. Granted we bought it in a bad market, with unbelievable incentives, so that helped too.

mdadgar

Well, you know, some people need to "compensate" and some don't.

- Mark

dbtk

Diesels are great for highway driving where jack rabbit acceleration is not an issue. For in town driving I can see the jack rabbit starts that gas engines provide. Only once in a while is there a real "need for speed". Is one really needs to go fast get an AMG SUV or something similar.

nalaskier

As said previously, DEF costs about $5 per gallon (I buy from a VW dealership) or $40 a tank. The tank is refilled with each oil change. I have an agreement with my dealership that they fill my adblue tank with my purchased adblue at each service.

MRAMG1

Wow, what bravado my friend.

Compensating for a lack of acceleration

Yeah, I can read between the lines

PS: I was NOT talking about fuel, in which diesel is MORE expensive, but I meant the ACTUAL Blue tec fluid fill up that IS required for them.

Sorry gang, but gas mileage was NOT important to me or my wife. A fun driving vehicle was

Enjoy the mileage, as there is NOTHING wrong with that, Just not for me

I guess I should convert the S600 next?