ddruker

Just took my 2011 GL 350 in because the blind spot warning feature had gone kaplooey again - this time they are replacing the passenger side, having replaced the driver side last year.

I also had them listen to the motor on cold start, and they agreed I have the dreaded diesel timing chain rattle. So they will repair this as well.

Last fall I had the oil cooler leak. I've also had several sensor failures.

The only common problem that hasn't gone wrong with my truck yet is the air suspension. Just waiting...

All of this is covered under extended warranty - which thank goodness I purchased due to the great insight on this forum. The repairs above alone would have come in close to $10,000 at list price here in the Bay Area - and I'm just in the first year of the extended warranty period.

The ethics of this really bother me though. I've had other vehicles that had a whole series of common failures - but they were relatively easy for me to fix myself and the parts were inexpensive.

On the GL 350 it's a whole different story - lots of common failures - but big problems that are VERY expensive and labor intensive to fix. And I do all my own service - I just did the 60k service two weeks ago - but I would not fathom trying to do the oil seal or timing chain repair myself.

I've never purchased an extended warranty before on any vehicle - but on the GL it's starting to feel like a bargain. Which is really backwards...


PS - The dealer does know about the Airbag recall but would not replace the Airbags while they have the truck taken apart for this set of fixes - sounds like they don't have the proper guidance from MB USA yet.

clvincent

i agree it is ridiculous
i love my truck but bought it at 75,00 miles and it had a ton of stuff done under warranty and then after warranty the truck had well over 10 grand in repairs before i bought it

these were all dealer repairs, EVERYTHING was done at the dealer on this truck
the vmi is like a book

then i had to replace the transfer case because the chain tensioner broke off 2000 miles after purchase

the steering gear was replaced by the dealer around 40,000 miles and is leaking again, that is bull****


nuts, and weird to me that mercedes feels this is acceptable

i have a 2008 diesel, oil cooler seals and swirl motor done before i bought it

and you have a 2011 and other people with newer ones are still having this issue....
the steering gear leak issues are still a problem, at least i think they are
transfer case and front diff problems on so many of them

i have an excellent indie and there is no way i would own a mercedes without him

it is just too bad, really like my mercedes cars but i definitely wonder if i should have bought a lexus or something else

2010GL550

I feel the pain sometimes too. We REALLY love the SUV, but both of you are correct. It's crazy that there are so many problems and it can cost a small fortune to repair. Our warranty is long-gone and I often feel like I am "rolling the dice". The truck is fully paid for and we'd love to keep it for another two years, but man-0-man...

joshd2012

I haven't had as many issues as some of you, but what are the alternatives? For me, I wanted a diesel for the better mileage, and my only other option is to squeeze into a Q7. And of the SUVs I've driven, I haven't found one that has better road manners than the GL. I don't like thinking about the expensive repairs once my extended warranty is done, but I don't know what I would trade it for.

clvincent

I agree john

I am pretty much in the same boat

Just really disappointed that the same problems are not being resolved by the 2012-13 models, that just seems crazy

dieseldoc

My 2008 was full of bugs. Air suspension/ oil leaks/rear Sam/ steering rack. Thank God for the extended warranty. Just got a new GLC. Hope it is better. My C class has been great so far.

clvincent

Dieseldoc please chime in from time to time and let us know how the GLC is doing

I am hoping mercedes is changing things for the better

dieseldoc

Will do.

islandbeef

Not having CPO would be a deal breaker. I've had previous experiences with Euro brands that were out of warranty, I had to open my wallet wide when the check engine lights came on.

EWT

Mercedes lost a bunch of money on my CPO warranty extension (engine and trans apart, new steering rack, new radiator, front shocks etc. etc. etc.). Fortunately, it has mostly stopped breaking now that it is out of warranty. The only things I've had to replace outside of routine maintenance are the rear air springs and one of the front shocks (which you could argue are routine maintenance on a GL).

clvincent

island would be interested to hear about your experiences with other brands and their issues

i have heard bmws break as much as the mercedes but i wonder about audi etc

joshd2012

I own a Q5, owned an A4, and my parents owned an A4, RS4, and A3. The RS4 needed some warranty suspension work, but the others never had anything more than wear and tear.

We bought the GL because the Q7 just wasn't big enough (no real third row). Of course, we also dropped a few thousand in repairs the first year.

YMMV, but as much as I like out GL, the second Audi builds a larger SUV, it will be sold. The reliability hasn't been anywhere close to the Audis I have had experience with.

sak335

I've been a BMW guy for more than 20 years; this is my first Benz. The BMW's that I have owned have been predictable. The cooling systems are universally weak and the front suspension bushings and bearings you replace on a mileage schedule. My wife has a 2013 328i that just turned over 26k miles and it's had nothing but oil changes. My '96 M3 I sold at 155k miles and it had a water pump fail under warranty, a radiator/overflow tank that failed at like 120k, and nothing much else. The rest was just normal maintenance, though there were some electrical issues on that car (trunk wiring failed from opening/closing and a couple sensors.) Once out of warranty I was easily able to fix everything on it myself. Same for my old E28 5 Series; that thing was dead reliable until I sold it with 165k on the clock.

My 2012 GL 350 has 50k (bought at 19k) and under my ownership has had a door handle, ignition, oil cooler seals, and HVAC blower motor replaced. And the maintenance costs are easily double a normal car (9 qts of oil apparently derived from a base stock of unicorn tears...) It does drive nicely and still has a belt-driven power steering system which gives nice road feel. I don't have an extended warranty and will likely end up buying a star/das system to be able to work on it when something eventually conks out. I can't justify trading/selling it at this point as I'm in the worst part of the depreciation curve. But I won't be buying another Mercedes based on the experience. Way too many better cars out there right now.

BlownV8

It's not an MB problem it's a 320/350 diesel MB problem. The gassers are very reliable. I have 200k on my GL450 and, so far, it has been great. The only odd thing I had to replace is a leaking water pump and of course the usual air bag failures, Airmatic compressor failure, turbine speed sensor in the transmission, trunk latch, wheel bearing, and peeling window trim.

Of course, that's a lot in repairs but the extended warranty covered most of it. The first 100k were the most problematic. After that, the GL has been very reliable. It still runs and drives like a new car.

joshd2012

There are a ton of reliability issues not related to the diesel (many of which you just named). The diesel can have some added complications, like the turbo seals, but the big money issues are independent of the engine.

I'll likely be doing turbo seals, sway bar links, and whatever else my indy finds this summer. I hope it doesn't break the bank, but as long as the truck doesn't leave me on the side of the road, I'll be a happy owner.

clvincent

i agree with josh, the diesels have some issues but the power steering rack leaks, diff and transfer case problems, rear hatch issues, keyless go door handle issues etc were on all of them

but think blown V8 has done really well on his gasser, not a bad amount of repairs for 200K

i am hoping mercedes is working on some of this stuff and the newer cars in the next few years wont have all these issues... but it may be wishful thinking

BlownV8

I disagree. The big money issues are diesel engine dependent. The oil cooler seals are big money to replace due to labor. Also, there have been tIming chain issues, fuel system issues, intake flap issues, adblue heater failure, and much more frequent fuel filter changes. All of which are diesel dependent. The differentials seem to be failing much more frequently in the diesels too. My guess is the engine operates under peak torque most of its life and owners are more likely to tow so it is causing more wear and tear.

islandbeef

I come from a Mercedes family but I was part of the minority who went against the grain and purchased a couple BMW's (2001 740i Sport, 1999 528i Sport Touring). All in all, the pains of ownership were the same, you had to be honest with yourself that you will drop a decent amount of money (and time) to keep these Euro-hoopties running well (when original factory warranty ends/lapses).

I have friends who own Audi (glorified VW) but they're so enamored with the brand, they're willing to look past the pains of ownership (which are comparable to BMW, Benz).

At the end of the day, it's your money. How you feel about your purchase is more important than anyone else's opinions.

Haters are going to hate.

ddruker

I own both a 2011 diesel GL 350 and a 2013 diesel Audi Q7.

Sample size of one, but the Audi has been problem free. We treat the Mercedes more like a truck, and the Audi more like a station wagon, so the Mercedes definitely gets more abuse - and I use it to tow our Airstream.

That said, the whole mess over VW rigging emissions tests may crush the resale value of the Audi.

My perspective is that the level of initial quality with the GL 350 was fine, but the long term reliability - both of the GL platform AND of the diesel motor - is very much sub-par. I have experienced an unacceptable failure rate in both areas.

This is exacerbated because both the cost of parts and the cost of labor at is so high - hence forcing the requirement for an extended warranty. It also seems clear the diesel motor was not designed for easy servicability - aka oil seals - so what should be simple, minor repairs become ghastly expensive.

clvincent

the V8 gas motors seem to be pretty solid but there were some problems with V6 in the ML trucks

i agree the reliability is lousy and ridiculous to repair cost wise

there are too many issues on these trucks that tend to be recurring
things that were breaking in 2007-2008 should be resolved and they are not

definitely the diesels have had more motor problems but to me there are a lot of other issues

the air suspension stuff to me is more wear and tear items but recurring problems with steering racks, differentials going out at low mileage etc is just not right

very interesting that the audis seem more reliable
since they are VW cars/trucks do any of them have ad blue at all?

joshd2012

The 6-cylinder diesels do, which is why a software fix will take care of the emission problems, but the 4-cylinder diesels don't. Everyone was wondering how they did it without AdBlue, and now we know -- they didn't!

clvincent

Lol

Are the 6 cylinder audi diesels having any problems with their ad blue systems like Mercedes and some other manufacturers are?

BlownV8

MB has issues with the pump going out.

revets

Concur with the title of this post. Also, BlownV8 is absolutely right about these issues. The majority of our issues are engine based (documented on this board), but as DDruker says there are too many issues both with engine and non-engine related issues. It's really a shame. For a truck in it's class it's unique. And I'm cringing being in Cali thinking I'll have to go back to a regular gasser.

ddruker

Since I wrote this post originally, I continue to have both common and uncommon problems with the GL 350. A few months ago it was both front wheel bearings - they thought it was the front differential, so this was actually good news. Then it was the passenger side blind spot warning system - for the second or third time.

And now it is the ad-blue heater. I will be going to the dealer next week to get my ad-blue tank and heater replaced, under extended warranty. Check engine light came on earlier this week and the code is indicative of the ad-blue heater failing. I'm also asking them to fix a couple of trim parts where the clear coat has started peeling, on their dime if it's not covered under warranty, given how many problems I've had with the truck.

I'm still amazed my air suspension bags haven't failed yet. Only about 9 months left on my 7 year extended factory warranty. I was joking with the service tech about just replacing them all anyway since we all know I'll be coming back in soon...