When Do You Give Up On 2012 GL350
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From: Orbiting the planet
This place is a joke.
Diesel? Run for your life! You will, at some point, have to replace the entire adblue system. Average cost around $9k at a dealership. If you like the car, get rid of it and buy the gas version. You have been warned.
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Joined: Jan 2013
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GL 350
Not sure there is a cheap way to own a Mercedes. If you keep the 2012 GL (I assume its fully paid for), you need to pay a lot of money for repairs. If you buy a new GLS, you need to pay even more for monthly payments.
Sure, the clean diesel components are unreliable, however, I don't believe the diesel is as bad as some members here suggest. I also don't think the gas engine Mercedes vehicles are like Toyota when it comes to reliability. They have problems too, maybe not as much as diesels, as there are fewer moving parts. Given the much better fuel economy of diesel ($1k savings per year) and advantages for towing, the net difference would be negligible between gas and diesel powered Mercedes vehicles.
Sure, the clean diesel components are unreliable, however, I don't believe the diesel is as bad as some members here suggest. I also don't think the gas engine Mercedes vehicles are like Toyota when it comes to reliability. They have problems too, maybe not as much as diesels, as there are fewer moving parts. Given the much better fuel economy of diesel ($1k savings per year) and advantages for towing, the net difference would be negligible between gas and diesel powered Mercedes vehicles.
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Senior Member
Joined: Aug 2009
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From: Central California
GL350
Today’s repair cost $590.00 and supposedly was for an electronic module. I have decided to dump the car and run. I’m going to lease a Volvo XC90 for 36 months/12,000 miles instead of purchasing. I went to CarMax after the repairs but they were closed because of the virus. I have to hope my GL350 will stand by until I can give it the boot.
Senior Member
Joined: May 2013
Posts: 437
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From: Espoo, Finland
2012 GL 350
I'm not going to defend the reliability of the X164 GL, but the majority of what you listed in your original post is maintenance and wear items (tires, brakes, oil changes.) Any car will need tnose things.
You could have saved a lot of money either doing the work yourself (brakes = super easy, Service A = easy) or having the work done by an independent.
My mom used to drive Volvo's until they became an unreliable mess in the 90's. I don't know much about the new ones, though currently living in Finland, you can't swing a dead cat without hitting one. They're all diesel here...just like everything else.
You could have saved a lot of money either doing the work yourself (brakes = super easy, Service A = easy) or having the work done by an independent.
My mom used to drive Volvo's until they became an unreliable mess in the 90's. I don't know much about the new ones, though currently living in Finland, you can't swing a dead cat without hitting one. They're all diesel here...just like everything else.
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From: Palo Alto, CA
2011 GL 350, P1 Package, HID headlamps, Blind spot assist, Parktronic, Wood steering wheel
You are making a good decision. While the gasoline powered GLs mostly seem reliable, but are expensive to maintain and repair when out of warranty especially at the dealer, the diesels are a total disaster. Expect tens of thousands of dollars of repairs for your OM642 diesel motor as your truck ages. Timing chain, oil cooler seal, swirl flaps, DEF system, Turbocharger and DPF will all die young - typically starting at around 60,000 to 80,000 miles... Run away don’t walk.
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Joined: Jul 2017
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From: ATL
2019 GLA 45 AMG
I had a '13 ML350 bluetec. I did the maintenance my self; air, fuel and oil. Had an Indy do the trans, Still at 52K I was very leery, so I traded it for a slightly (900mi) used GLA 45. They gave me $18k for the ML.
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Joined: Jul 2012
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From: Orbiting the planet
This place is a joke.
You are making a good decision. While the gasoline powered GLs mostly seem reliable, but are expensive to maintain and repair when out of warranty especially at the dealer, the diesels are a total disaster. Expect tens of thousands of dollars of repairs for your OM642 diesel motor as your truck ages. Timing chain, oil cooler seal, swirl flaps, DEF system, Turbocharger and DPF will all die young - typically starting at around 60,000 to 80,000 miles... Run away don’t walk.
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From: In my garage
E55, GLS450, GL63, GLE350
I call BS on the $1k savings in fuel per year over the 450. The GL 450 runs perfectly on regular unleaded and probably runs better on it as the vehicle gets higher mileage than premium. I've used it for over 200k miles.
Given those facts, the only way to save $1k per year on fuel from a diesel version over a gasser 450, well, would pretty much be impossible for any reasonable driver.
National average price for Diesel is $2.548/gallon and the 350 gets 23 mpg as rated by fueleconomy.gov. The national average price for regular unleaded is $1.924 per gallon and the 450 is rated at 17 MPG hwy by the same site. Yeah, I too get better than that in my gas as I'm sure you can attest to in the diesel but we needed to set the bar by a standard. Anyway, if you drove the 350 for 200k miles in a year assuming you got 23 MPG the cost would be $22,156. If you drove a 450 for 200k miles, again assuming hwy MPG's at 17 MPG per the government rating it would cost you $22,635.29. Can we put the $1k per year savings bit to rest if talking about a 450? I used hwy because the diesel got it's highest difference in mpg rating over the gasser to give it a chance.
Given those facts, the only way to save $1k per year on fuel from a diesel version over a gasser 450, well, would pretty much be impossible for any reasonable driver.
National average price for Diesel is $2.548/gallon and the 350 gets 23 mpg as rated by fueleconomy.gov. The national average price for regular unleaded is $1.924 per gallon and the 450 is rated at 17 MPG hwy by the same site. Yeah, I too get better than that in my gas as I'm sure you can attest to in the diesel but we needed to set the bar by a standard. Anyway, if you drove the 350 for 200k miles in a year assuming you got 23 MPG the cost would be $22,156. If you drove a 450 for 200k miles, again assuming hwy MPG's at 17 MPG per the government rating it would cost you $22,635.29. Can we put the $1k per year savings bit to rest if talking about a 450? I used hwy because the diesel got it's highest difference in mpg rating over the gasser to give it a chance.
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From: Orbiting the planet
This place is a joke.
I call BS on the $1k savings in fuel per year over the 450. The GL 450 runs perfectly on regular unleaded and probably runs better on it as the vehicle gets higher mileage than premium. I've used it for over 200k miles.
Given those facts, the only way to save $1k per year on fuel from a diesel version over a gasser 450, well, would pretty much be impossible for any reasonable driver.
National average price for Diesel is $2.548/gallon and the 350 gets 23 mpg as rated by fueleconomy.gov. The national average price for regular unleaded is $1.924 per gallon and the 450 is rated at 17 MPG hwy by the same site. Yeah, I too get better than that in my gas as I'm sure you can attest to in the diesel but we needed to set the bar by a standard. Anyway, if you drove the 350 for 200k miles in a year assuming you got 23 MPG the cost would be $22,156. If you drove a 450 for 200k miles, again assuming hwy MPG's at 17 MPG per the government rating it would cost you $22,635.29. Can we put the $1k per year savings bit to rest if talking about a 450? I used hwy because the diesel got it's highest difference in mpg rating over the gasser to give it a chance.
Given those facts, the only way to save $1k per year on fuel from a diesel version over a gasser 450, well, would pretty much be impossible for any reasonable driver.
National average price for Diesel is $2.548/gallon and the 350 gets 23 mpg as rated by fueleconomy.gov. The national average price for regular unleaded is $1.924 per gallon and the 450 is rated at 17 MPG hwy by the same site. Yeah, I too get better than that in my gas as I'm sure you can attest to in the diesel but we needed to set the bar by a standard. Anyway, if you drove the 350 for 200k miles in a year assuming you got 23 MPG the cost would be $22,156. If you drove a 450 for 200k miles, again assuming hwy MPG's at 17 MPG per the government rating it would cost you $22,635.29. Can we put the $1k per year savings bit to rest if talking about a 450? I used hwy because the diesel got it's highest difference in mpg rating over the gasser to give it a chance.
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 4,509
Likes: 1,513
From: Orbiting the planet
This place is a joke.
Today’s repair cost $590.00 and supposedly was for an electronic module. I have decided to dump the car and run. I’m going to lease a Volvo XC90 for 36 months/12,000 miles instead of purchasing. I went to CarMax after the repairs but they were closed because of the virus. I have to hope my GL350 will stand by until I can give it the boot.
Member
Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 104
Likes: 18
GL 350
I call BS on the $1k savings in fuel per year over the 450. The GL 450 runs perfectly on regular unleaded and probably runs better on it as the vehicle gets higher mileage than premium. I've used it for over 200k miles.
Given those facts, the only way to save $1k per year on fuel from a diesel version over a gasser 450, well, would pretty much be impossible for any reasonable driver.
National average price for Diesel is $2.548/gallon and the 350 gets 23 mpg as rated by fueleconomy.gov. The national average price for regular unleaded is $1.924 per gallon and the 450 is rated at 17 MPG hwy by the same site. Yeah, I too get better than that in my gas as I'm sure you can attest to in the diesel but we needed to set the bar by a standard. Anyway, if you drove the 350 for 200k miles in a year assuming you got 23 MPG the cost would be $22,156. If you drove a 450 for 200k miles, again assuming hwy MPG's at 17 MPG per the government rating it would cost you $22,635.29. Can we put the $1k per year savings bit to rest if talking about a 450? I used hwy because the diesel got it's highest difference in mpg rating over the gasser to give it a chance.
Given those facts, the only way to save $1k per year on fuel from a diesel version over a gasser 450, well, would pretty much be impossible for any reasonable driver.
National average price for Diesel is $2.548/gallon and the 350 gets 23 mpg as rated by fueleconomy.gov. The national average price for regular unleaded is $1.924 per gallon and the 450 is rated at 17 MPG hwy by the same site. Yeah, I too get better than that in my gas as I'm sure you can attest to in the diesel but we needed to set the bar by a standard. Anyway, if you drove the 350 for 200k miles in a year assuming you got 23 MPG the cost would be $22,156. If you drove a 450 for 200k miles, again assuming hwy MPG's at 17 MPG per the government rating it would cost you $22,635.29. Can we put the $1k per year savings bit to rest if talking about a 450? I used hwy because the diesel got it's highest difference in mpg rating over the gasser to give it a chance.
Where I live the price of diesel and premium fuel is roughly the same. Per EPA, 2012 GL 450 gets 13 MPG city and 18 MPG highway (15 MPG combined). 2012 GL350 gets 17 MPG city and 21 MPG highway (19 MPG combined). If you drive 15,000 miles a year, you would use 1000 gallon of premium fuel in GL450 and 790 gallon of diesel. Thats $630 difference for $3 fuel cost. Those who have owned a GL 350 know that the real world MPG is significantly higher than those stated by EPA (I get 15MPG towing a 6000# camper). I would easily get 25 MPG highway and 19 MPG city. So, the real world combined MPG for GL350 is closer to 22. That means 680 gallons of diesel (instead of 1000 gallon of premium fuel). Thats $960 for $3 fuel.
You are not supposed to use regular fuel in gas GL, so you are comparing apples with oranges.
I guess I'm going to sign off. We all know those who repeat their opinions more often (and more emphatically) are right more often. Enjoy bashing the diesels.
Last edited by RostamDastan; Apr 8, 2020 at 07:32 PM.
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E55, GLS450, GL63, GLE350
I've been using regular for 200k+ miles. No ill affects. You really think that MB didn't engineer the car to run off regular unleaded?
I showed you the math and the numbers to back it up. Now we have to run premium so your diesel shows $1k/year savings in fuel costs? My average MPG is also much better than what the EPA states but you have to use the averages to be fair when doing the comparison.
https://www.eia.gov/petroleum/gasdiesel/
https://fueleconomy.gov/feg/noframes/31535.shtml
I'm glad you brought the average MPG into the picture. The comparison is even worse when you do the math on average MPG's. When you look at the average economy and using regular unleaded vs diesel and you drove 200,000 miles. The cost for the diesel would be 200,000/19 MPG x $2.548/gallon = $26,821.05. The GL 450 over the same 200,000 miles would be 200,000/15 x $1.924 = $25,653.33. When you look at the average MPG's, the gasser is less expensive to fuel. Not to mention, over this time, the diesel will most likely have cost you an additional $15k to $30k in repairs/maintenance from adblue, fuel filters, adblue tank failure, oil cooler seal failures, and timing chain tensioner failures? One member on this thread, as I recall, spent greater than $30k in repairs in less than 100k miles. Assuming you had none of these issues, the gasser would still be cheaper to operate when running regular unleaded by over $1,200 in the same measurement period.
The lesson here? Don't buy the diesel if you think it will save you money on fuel.
I showed you the math and the numbers to back it up. Now we have to run premium so your diesel shows $1k/year savings in fuel costs? My average MPG is also much better than what the EPA states but you have to use the averages to be fair when doing the comparison.
https://www.eia.gov/petroleum/gasdiesel/
https://fueleconomy.gov/feg/noframes/31535.shtml
I'm glad you brought the average MPG into the picture. The comparison is even worse when you do the math on average MPG's. When you look at the average economy and using regular unleaded vs diesel and you drove 200,000 miles. The cost for the diesel would be 200,000/19 MPG x $2.548/gallon = $26,821.05. The GL 450 over the same 200,000 miles would be 200,000/15 x $1.924 = $25,653.33. When you look at the average MPG's, the gasser is less expensive to fuel. Not to mention, over this time, the diesel will most likely have cost you an additional $15k to $30k in repairs/maintenance from adblue, fuel filters, adblue tank failure, oil cooler seal failures, and timing chain tensioner failures? One member on this thread, as I recall, spent greater than $30k in repairs in less than 100k miles. Assuming you had none of these issues, the gasser would still be cheaper to operate when running regular unleaded by over $1,200 in the same measurement period.
The lesson here? Don't buy the diesel if you think it will save you money on fuel.
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NGL450 w/EORP, S550
Mileage savings are negligible when the maintenance costs are an order of magnitude larger on the diesel vs gas.
focus on the larger picture and drill down only if you need a tie breaker.
In this case I don’t think we need to even discuss the business case - there’s not enough fuel savings to be realized during the expected time before major overhaul / preventive maintenance of the OM642 in particular to make it a close analysis.
focus on the larger picture and drill down only if you need a tie breaker.
In this case I don’t think we need to even discuss the business case - there’s not enough fuel savings to be realized during the expected time before major overhaul / preventive maintenance of the OM642 in particular to make it a close analysis.
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From: In my garage
E55, GLS450, GL63, GLE350
