Considering a higher mileage GL
 

Hi everyone,

Been a while since I was last active on here and I could use some advise. So the time has come to finally get another vehicle and this time the wife and I are looking for a 3-row people mover. The GL seems to fit the bill but I am just not sure if these trucks have stood the test of time. I've heard some horror stories regarding the X164's and that I should only really consider an older x166 (2013 to 2015 since those years tend to be in our budget). Of course like many Mercedes models, the older GLs values plummeted like a rock in a pond so there are some really nice examples for pennies on the dollar, but I would like to hear from you all to see if these older trucks are really worth the hassle or if I should just stick with the x166 models.

In the x164 there’s only two things to watch out for, one is the idler problem that manifested itself on a couple of 2007s, and the other one is the diesel engine. So if you shoot for a 2008 through 2012 X164 you are pretty well insulated from outside the norm problems. Same with the X166 avoid the first year due to engine cylinder, linings flaking off and causing lack of compression and misfires. That seems to be right in the range that you’re looking to buy - do not recommend..

Common to all GL is the need to stay on top of maintenance for the airmatic system, as well as regular maintenance and upkeep of the drivetrain. If this is done properly, you shouldn’t have any problems.

Don’t ever buy a car that has water in the trunk or underneath the front seats. This is my recipe to avoiding problematic ownership, I rocked my 07 450 now for going on seven years and it has been the most unproblematic car I’ve ever owned.

I appreciate this response very much! We've owned several different Mercedes, last one being and still own today is our 2010 S550 which we absolutely love. It has given us hardly any issues to date. Ive seen some 2008-2012 Gls in my area that look really clean so I may end up checking them out now.

Buy the latest X164 you can afford. The naturally aspirated V8 is going to be very reliable with the exception of those early models suffering the idler gear failure. Even with the idler gear failure, my 2007 GL450 was one of the best, most comfortable, safest, and most reliable vehicle I've ever owned. Water intrusion ended up killing the vehicle with close to 300k miles. It ate regular unleaded, rocked Arnott air struts, 10k mile oil changes, and first spark plug change at 200k. Oh, don't bother repairing the intake flappy valve when it goes out. Doesn't affect enough to pay for the repair which will just break again over time.

Too add what has already been said, as with any older vehicle look for documented maintenance. Carfax reports are pretty useless at telling you what was don't by the owner and many smaller shops, but they do show previous owners. I passed on a decent looking 2010 GL450 with 105K on it becasue the original owner sold it at 85K in 2019, then it had 8 more owners in its last 20K miles, red flag. Expect a 15 year old car to have a few owners, but 8 owners in 20K miles was a big red flag for me. I bought a 2008 GL450 with 135K that I got from the 2nd owner. The only thing that didn't work was the back up camera (he mentioned the dealer told him $1000 to fix). It ended up being the camera module under the spare tire that I found used for $35. The tires were just about worn out too, but they were worn very even and he had the receipt when he got them and they had almost 50K on them.

Check all the fuse blocks for signs of corrosion and wire splicing/repairs, I wouldn't chance buying one with butchered up wiring. Most electrics and all lighting are handled by a SAM, if something is not working, you'll see a fault on the dash for it when you try to use it. If there's a light out, don't assume that it's just a bulb, people generally don't sell a car needing "just a bulb", so assume they tried to change the bulb already and expect the worst. A light not working with no fault could be a bad SAM, and they are pricey to change. Check that all the functions work, press all the buttons. Check around the battery/front SAM, and around both rear quarter panels (the rear SAM is in the right rear side) and make sure the insulation is dry, you can check the left side by pulling out the box that the first aid kit is in.

If you find one that has been taken care of and doesn't have issues, I wouldn't hesitate buying it.

Just be aware that it was an expensive car to start with, so parts are going to reflect the original purchase price, not depreciated value. I'd budget about $1-2k a year for maintenance on an older vehicle, if you want to keep everything working. If your happy to run it into the ground it will be cheaper.

Doing it at home and hunting OEM parts makes it alot cheaper, but not cheap.

That said you get a lot of car for next to nothing.

Thanks y'all for your help. I ended up picking up a 2015 GL550. It was too good of a deal to pass up. I'll be over in the x166 threads.

So much for the reliability of a naturally aspirated motor.

@BlownV8 Your summary was perfect. Here's the nutshell: You can get down to a pretty low cost per mile with these things, but this is achieved not by lowering the numerator but by raising the denominator; fortunately, the overall chassis and interior is robust enough (as @alx said, this truck ages well) that mileage through to 300K is reasonable.

I was a little hesitant about the non-naturally aspirated motor, but I got a good deal and the one I picked up was a clean example with plenty of service records. Another driving factor was the fact that I used financing and my bank required that I find a car that was no older than 10 years old, so that basically chopped out all of the x164s from my search. Either way, the advise given was sound advice and I appreciate it.

Didn't mean to make it sound like I was faulting your decision. Lots of these GLs are driven very gently. Do the same and you should get a nice long life out of your turbo motor. If you aren't using the turbo to boost the intake, which will only happen when you open the throttle significantly, you're running something pretty close to a normally aspirated motor anyway.

If you go around making full use of the turbochargers, the life of the motor will be very short. In essence, the turbo just increases the effective compression ratio of the motor - by pre-compressing the intake - without increasing the stroke. Full throttle on a turbo motor is very hard on it, but part throttle ain't so bad.

Heck, I go easy on my normally aspirated motor purely for longevity reasons.

Just go easy on it and change the oil (which is used to lubricate and cool the exhaust turbine bearings, unless I am mistaken) at least at recommended intervals. And use the recommended oil.

I did not take your comment that way at all, all good man... Thanks for the tip. Its mainly going to be driven by my wife who has a very light foot as it is so yeah I am looking forward to a long life with the GL. So far we've been loving it. Once I get my S Class repaired, then she will be toggling between the two vehicles, further extending the life ;).