Hello:
I own a 2009 GL320 with 130,000 miles on it. I bought it about a year and a half ago. I got a thorough pre purchase inspection and thought I had made an informed decision and a good one. My big debate is whether to keep this car or not. I paid about $18K for the car, with 106,000 miles in May of 2016. Since I bought the car I have spent entirely too much money on it. This has become a major source of frustration as some of the repairs have been mysteries and required a lot of time and effort to get resolved. I don't mind fixing my car, and realize that buying a used car is a risk, but I feel like I've never really caught up. Despite being well maintained in its previous life, the car has had the below issues in the last 18 months since I've owned it.
1. Both rear air shocks replaced
2. The Airmatic air compressor
3. The Servometer and Air Mass Meter (or whatever the correct names are) replaced
4. The ignition module
5. A new battery and auxillary battery
6. The driver's window regulator replaced
7. The driver's window switch replaced
8. Multiple oil changes to try and figure out why the vehicle is now using a quart of oil every 400 miles
9. The screen for the COMAND system replaced

My question is this: Is this worth keeping? I love the appearance of the car, the features, the way it drives, the gas mileage, etc. I don't drive a lot. Is this car something I could reasonably keep for the next 10 years? Or am I destined for regular $700-$1000 repairs every other month? If I am subjected to regular expensive car repairs for a car I don't drive a lot, then I need to find it a new home. Thanks for any suggestions from experienced GL320/GL350 owners.

 

You are in too deep now. I would say keep it. The electrical problems are troubling, however.

 

I would say keep it. Yes, the list of items repaired is frustrating, but there are going to be some hiccups along the way with a car that is 9 yrs old. The rear air struts and compressor are items that are well known maintenance items with these cars. The electrical items don't seem that common, but having them repaired by a competent source should eliminate any further work on them. I would recommend getting an inexpensive OBDII scanner to review any items that may come up in the future. Having bought my 2007 GL450 new, I can say that the quality of these vehicles even today is still far superior than many new cars produced. Please keep us posted in the future.

 

I second this.

 

I'd cut your loses honestly

 

Let me say this. I'm not a person who will knowingly sell a broken vehicle to someone without full disclosure. Fix and sell, fix and keep or dump, with disclosure, and run. If it is using a quart per 400 miles, there has to be a leak. Could be a few grand or could be worse.

Take to an independent and have them diagnose, make the determination then. The other issues happen regardless of model but the oil leak could get very expensive.

 

The leak is most likely the oil cooler seals. This issue is rather well documented.

 

The black plastic PCV control diaphragm (it's not really an oil separator, that happens internally) is located at the passenger side rear of the engine. If it has failed you can get a lot of oil in the intake which could leak at the turbo inlet, but it would have to be a pretty bad leak to exit at the weep hole and in that case would probably be obviously bad looking at it from topside.
You can hope it's something like that but the most likely cause might be a leaking oil cooler (or associated seals) which unfortunately is located in the 'V' of the engine under the intake manifolds and involves a lot of labor to remedy.

 

Hi again:

Thanks for everyone's replies. The oil issue is not a leak. My indy mechanic (a really good one in my opinion) has looked on different occasions and no oil leak has been found. He recently changed oil brands on my vehicle from Valvoline 5w30 Synpower to a Penzoil Synthetic Euro blend from natural gas. Last time the oil was checked I had gone 1200 miles, and it was not quite a quart low. Will check again soon to see how it is doing. I'm encouraged by this as they have been flummoxed by why all of the sudden my vehicle has started consuming such a large amount of oil. Anyhow, I'm still on the fence about keeping this vehicle. Like many of you, the car is a pleasure to drive, look at, (love the purr of a diesel), its AWD, and fuel mileage. It has all of the bells and whistles I really want. I have become gunshy because of the $ I've spent, and could spend if something big happens. Most parts are purchased from MB dealer, and because of that are expensive. Who would have thought a window regulator would be $425 just for the part? My biggest fear is something large (like a transfer case, or transmission) with a $3000-$5000 price tag. It would be at that point I would have to sell the car for scrap as I wouldn't put that kind of money back into it at one time. I know there is always a risk with a used, luxury vehicle, but once upon a time with a MB, you knew it would last and last with a reasonable amount of regular maintenance, and patience. I just don't have the confidence level I used to. I may go talk to my indy mechanic again and see if he thinks I'm getting ready to go over a cliff. If so, then I'm definitely selling the car, and find something that minimizes my risk, and gives me most of what I like in a car. In the end, I think you need to really like your car and feel good about its reliability. Any further ideas you all may have would be appreciated. Thanks, Andrew.

 

5w30 seems awfully thin for diesel oil

 

I recently switched to Liqui moly leichtlauf high tech 5w40. It is 229.5 spec which I can run since no dpf. I was using Castrol 5w40 turbo diesel but where I live it was too hard to find reasonably priced. With over 150k I wanted something more protective. In Louisiana summer months it get pretty warm

Was paying about $35 for 5litre

 

I have an '08 GL320 with 258,000 miles. I purchased it with roughly 110,000 miles nearly four and a half years ago, so almost 150,000 miles are all mine.

The issues you have had are not particularly worrisome except for the oil consumption. Even today I am adding only one quart between the 10,000 mile oil changes. I've been using Casterol Edge 5w 40; mostly because it is about the only 229.5 spec distributors carry around here.

My worst period for repairs was the 150,000 to 185,000 mile range. Assuming you get the oil consumption licked and have a sound motor, here is what you have to look forward to in the next 50 k to 70 k miles: New turbo. New transfer case. Replacement of front air bags (if not already done). Replace seals in oil cooler (if not already done). New alternator. New tires every 25 to 35 k. New brakes and discs. Changing out all those fluids MB considers "lifetime".

Of course there will also be those oddball things that fail here and there - sensors, seals, gaskets, hoses, etc.

All in all it has been costing me about $6,000 a year (plus fuel, of course) to keep this car on the road 35k to 40k miles a year - call it 17 cents a mile. The car now has virtually no resale value, yet its value to me is exactly the same as a brand new one.

 

Holy cow! That's very expensive to maintain. Sounds like the maintenance cost on my bi-turbo V12 CL and SL. I have around 250k miles on my 450 and it's been extremely cheap to maintain after the warranty was up. Just had to replace a wheel speed sensor but it was cheap and easy to replace. I still need to replace the drivers tail light bulb holder/circuit board. Looks like the circuit board, if you can call it that, got hot and separated from the plastic backing. Should be around $35 and 10 minutes to replace.

 

Let me again emphasize that this is all expenses other than fuel and that I drive 35,000 to 40,000 miles a year. I should not have included insurance in that as it is a rather wide variable and I have to have a commercial policy for my business use. So better to call it $4500 without insurance or fuel. Beyond that, tires alone run $2,000 a year, oil changes $500 (even with the 10k mile interval), I keep everything serviced above and beyond MB requirements ($300 just this week for transmission oil/filter), and I can no longer physically do any repairs or service myself.

But even so, what are the alternatives? A new one driven as I drive it would plummet in value by $50,000 to $70,000 in just 36 months. At that point I would be pretty much back where I am now with recurring maintenance and repairs. To that I would have to also add the roughly $2,000 more per year that a gasser would cost to fuel now that there are no more diesels.

And adding in everything - maintenance, repairs, insurance, taxes, fuel, everything - I am spending less than 28 cents per mile. If I junked the car today and got absolutely nothing for it, adding in the original purchase price only brings me up to just over 40 cents per mile. I do not know how to drive such a large, eminently comfortable and versatile car from any maker for any less.

 

Keep it. I bought 2011 GL550 new for wife and now has 150K Miles. It has its issues, especially the airmatic system and had spent 5-6 thousands last 2-3 years and about to replace front shock assemblies with Arnott. However it has been relatively good to the family and still cheaper to fix than spend $80K+ for a new GL. It needs to last another 3-4 years before kids goes off to college then I don’t need this behemoth vehicle anymore! LOL!

john

 

With my GL, I switched to 22" rims and get 60k miles on my tires. The stock 19" wheel and tire did need replacement at 25k to 30k miles. My mileage took a 1.1 MPG hit so there was a tradeoff but the 22" tires are more abundant and much less expensive than when I was running the stock tires. What wheel size do you have on your GL?

 

If you are spending $700-1000 every other month, you should not own a used, out of warranty Mercedes. If I had to spend over $1000 per year on repairs and maintenance of my GL and replacing tires every 20k-40k miles, I would get rid of it asap, or make some kind of change to eliminate whatever is causing extra expenses.