Sold the GL After 8 Years
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: May 2013
Posts: 437
Likes: 84
From: Espoo, Finland
2012 GL 350
Sold the GL After 8 Years
Finally sold my 2012 GL 350. I probably wouldn't have, especially after exporting the car to Finland a year and a half ago, which was a bit of an ordeal, but now we're moving to the UK and it doesn't make sense to drive a left hand drive car there.
Since arriving here, the car has done pretty well, but was heavily taxed and therefore expensive to own. I only did a couple repairs; the DEF heater failed and I had to change the seals in the oil filter housing again due to another big leak. Other than that, it performed well and still has super low miles (140k KM, or roughly 87,000 miles.) I bought the car with 20,000 miles on it, so didn't really put a lot of miles on it in 8 years. Overall, the car required a lot of repair work, but fortunately most of it was done under warranty. I did all the other work myself so only incurred parts cost, which were terrible.
Not sure what I'll get next, but I'm leaning towards a Porsche Panamera e-hybrid (gas is EXPENSIVE in the UK.) We'll see.
The car sold for €33,000 which seems like a lot, but I paid €12,000 in taxes when it got here, and $3,500 to ship it over. I consider it a push since I would have had to buy or lease something here anyway. It sold really fast as GL's are pretty rare here, and obviously suited to the climate.
Since arriving here, the car has done pretty well, but was heavily taxed and therefore expensive to own. I only did a couple repairs; the DEF heater failed and I had to change the seals in the oil filter housing again due to another big leak. Other than that, it performed well and still has super low miles (140k KM, or roughly 87,000 miles.) I bought the car with 20,000 miles on it, so didn't really put a lot of miles on it in 8 years. Overall, the car required a lot of repair work, but fortunately most of it was done under warranty. I did all the other work myself so only incurred parts cost, which were terrible.
Not sure what I'll get next, but I'm leaning towards a Porsche Panamera e-hybrid (gas is EXPENSIVE in the UK.) We'll see.
The car sold for €33,000 which seems like a lot, but I paid €12,000 in taxes when it got here, and $3,500 to ship it over. I consider it a push since I would have had to buy or lease something here anyway. It sold really fast as GL's are pretty rare here, and obviously suited to the climate.
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Joined: Jan 2007
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From: CA
11 ML550, 95 Supra TT, 14 Audi S4
Good luck with whatever is next. The Panamera is actually on my long list of potential GL replacements. I'm not sure which engine they use in the hybrid, but the V6 turbo they use in the Macan and Cayenne has an issue with bolts breaking on the timing chain cover which creates an oil leak that requires an engine out to fix. Porsche apparently used aluminum bolts that aren't up to the job. Might be worth some research to see if the version in the Panamera has the same issue.
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Joined: Jun 2013
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From: Staten Island, NY
2010 MB S550, 2017 MB SLC 300
If I could get 8 years out of my GL it will be 18 years old and my son will be 17. If I am able to pass it down to my son as his first car and maybe squeeze another year or two out of it would be phenomenal. Can a GL550 with 65,000 miles make it to 20 years?
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From: CA
11 ML550, 95 Supra TT, 14 Audi S4
I don't see why not. Ours is 13 years old with 216K. They have some issues well documented on here, but properly maintained, the big stuff stuff seems to be pretty durable, and the exterior (with the exception of the plastic roof panel) and interior have held up far better than any car I've ever owned. Our seats don't look "new", but there are many cars with 1/5th the mileage with more wear on the stuff that gets touched regularly. They age remarkably well for a German vehicle.
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Joined: Jun 2013
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From: Staten Island, NY
2010 MB S550, 2017 MB SLC 300
I don't see why not. Ours is 13 years old with 216K. They have some issues well documented on here, but properly maintained, the big stuff stuff seems to be pretty durable, and the exterior (with the exception of the plastic roof panel) and interior have held up far better than any car I've ever owned. Our seats don't look "new", but there are many cars with 1/5th the mileage with more wear on the stuff that gets touched regularly. They age remarkably well for a German vehicle.
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Joined: Aug 2003
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From: In my garage
E55, GLS450, GL63, GLE350
Sorry, had to LOL. I've got over 250k miles on my 450 and it is still plugging along. It, for sure, will make it but will need the basic repairs all GL's suffer from over that time.
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Joined: Jan 2010
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NGL450 w/EORP, S550
Yeah man nice close out of the saga.
You did something unusual with a US market GL and came out allright.
best of luck with your next thing, but rest assured that no EU government is car friendly.
You did something unusual with a US market GL and came out allright.
best of luck with your next thing, but rest assured that no EU government is car friendly.
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Out Of Control!!
Joined: Sep 2018
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From: unbegrenzt
2017 GLE350 4MATIC
Good luck with whatever is next. The Panamera is actually on my long list of potential GL replacements. I'm not sure which engine they use in the hybrid, but the V6 turbo they use in the Macan and Cayenne has an issue with bolts breaking on the timing chain cover which creates an oil leak that requires an engine out to fix. Porsche apparently used aluminum bolts that aren't up to the job. Might be worth some research to see if the version in the Panamera has the same issue.
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Joined: Jun 2013
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From: Staten Island, NY
2010 MB S550, 2017 MB SLC 300
Super Member
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 622
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From: CA
11 ML550, 95 Supra TT, 14 Audi S4
@EWT On the failing bolts, is a link or document (TSB, recall) available on this? I’m a regular on Rennlist and haven’t seen this mentioned.
Out Of Control!!
Joined: Sep 2018
Posts: 14,663
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From: unbegrenzt
2017 GLE350 4MATIC
M274 owners with cracked pistons with mileage or age out of warranty are SOL. The options for them are new engine or new car.
So it seems the Porsche examples are no different than Mercedes.
I'm in the market for a Cayenne at some point in the future, so if you dig up more on the bolt failures, please post here. The 9Y0 platform doesn't seem to have much/any of this (yet).
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: May 2013
Posts: 437
Likes: 84
From: Espoo, Finland
2012 GL 350
I did a big read up on Panamaras yesterday and have not found any issues on timing cover bolts. I've certainly not read all the Rennlist threads, but a search didn't produce anything but Macan stuff.
Funnily enough, I sold my GL through a dealership here (that took a very small commission) and the only other GL on the lot was also a north American model that somebody imported, though it was a 2009.
Funnily enough, I sold my GL through a dealership here (that took a very small commission) and the only other GL on the lot was also a north American model that somebody imported, though it was a 2009.
