Hi guys. I have a 2015 ML400 that we love. My wife gets to drive it every day and since I take the kids to school I drive the Odyssey. Now it's time to replace the mini-van so I'm looking at a GL550, preferably a 2014 but 2013 is acceptable.

What I am finding (200 mile radius from NYC) is that they are not easily found and the one's I have found and inquired about the dealers don't want to negotiate. I inquired about one today (2014) w approximately 36k miles and asking price was $70k. The sales person told me that was it, no room for negotiation. So I tried another one, 2014 w 20k miles and they wanted $78kand basically I was told no room for negotiation.

My question is this - is there really no room for negotiation on a CPO GL550? Or am I picking wrong time of the month/year to buy one? If anyone has had any recent experience please post as I'm wondering if maybe I have to look at a new Escalade or Tahoe because I don't want to pay upwards of $70k for a used vehicle. Just casually browsing I can get an Escalade for about $76k or a fully loaded Tahoe for about mid $60s brand new and 2016s. I prefer Benz but don't feel right paying over $70k used.

Anyway, any advice or input is appreciated. Thanks.

W

 

A Escalade Platimum is about MSRP$94K and a "loaded" Tahoe is MSRP $86K - so I would check if you are comparing oranges to apples there...

The impact of the internet on CPO prices is a huge leveling force - so best to expand your search to see if dealers in your area are competitive with dealers in wider area - that's the real benchmark..

The other benchmark is the equipment on a particular rig - remember equip/options has a real determinent on price/value.

The 3rd benchmark on price/value is the effective expiration date of the CPO warranty - since the length of your CPO warranty is based on the original in service date to original owner. In short form - the mileage now is not the determinent of warranty - it's the expiration date of the CPO warranty of that vehicle that becomes important.

Use mbusa certified search on mbusa - and with options on the rig then also do a edmunds.com 3rd party valuation based on Certified - compare comparable vehicles on their CPO expiration dates ..

 

Hey Fabris, thanks for the reply. You might be right on the Escalade but the Tahoe is about $66k as per true car for a loaded LTZ. The Escalade might be too bling for me anyway.

All of the 550s I've looked at are pretty much the same, no designo leather. I understand what you are saying about the warranty but the mileage does make a difference to me. Driving a car that's been on the road for since 2013 w 20k vs 2014 w 40k miles would make me want the lower mileage car even though it's warranty would expire sooner. I'd definitely buy and extended warranty anyway.

You're right about expanding my search. I'll see what other parts of the country are offering and compare to my region. Thanks for your input, much appreciated.

 

Frankly - condition and expiration date of CPO warranty are important factors - since MB CPO warranty, again, is by time and not based on mileage - and more miles means lower acquisition cost for that year (edmunds benchmark) and like your example - if you have 1yr more warranty - CPO can be a good thing..

Good luck on your search - I am sure with patience it will all work out for you.

Keep the beat !

 

Other thing is to consider buying it from the first owner and before you make a purchase from him ask him to buy the Mercedes Original warranty which is same\better than CPO as it covers more item and last for 3 years after the factory warranty is up and you have options for miles as well depending how much you drive.
So look for a rig with Private owner have it checked out at couple of places such as Indy shop and at Dealer to be sure what you getting into.

Overall cost with warranty on a private car vs CPO would be same but with Private owner you get all the history as well as 1 year extra warranty compare to CPO which is 6 years and not sure if its extendable.

Thanks

 

I wish you the best on your search. I've been driving Tahoes since the '97 model. The high cost on a '16 LTZ with the options we wanted pushed us into the GL450. There's more distance between them when you get into the GL550.

 

I just went through this when purchasing my 2013 550 and experience the limited inventory (across US) and dealers unwilling to negotiate. I started with looking for 2014, but ended up purchasing 2013 with low mileage due to price (and the fact there was no meaningful difference the models).

I purchased it non-cpo and from non-mb dealer, so am planning to purchase 3 year extended warranty from MB.

good luck with the search...

 

hey everyone, thanks for the advice. So I found a dealer that was willing to negotiate with me and then another that wasn't that all of a sudden is. Its funny how that end of month quota changes things. Both are White exterior and 2014 models. The differences are one has heated steering wheel and rear entertainment, beige interior, but 35k miles, vs the other one that has wood steering wheel so no heated but it looks good and its an auburn interior, and it has night vision (not something I was really looking for, but no TV. On the plus side it has only 25k miles.

I'm going to go check them both out tomorrow and see if I can get me a good deal considering its the 31st of the month. I really like the guy thats been helping me with the auburn interior one. He was willing to negotiate from the get go and has been very polite and professional vs the other one thats only been so so. I"m not so upset about not getting rear entertainment because the kids have iPods and iPads but it would have been nice to have.


Dreamsalone - I have to finance so i can't buy from a private owner. Plus I have a trade in and it complicates things.

I'll post up again if I buy one and fill you in on the details like price and all that stuff. Thanks again everyone.

 

Auburn interior with Diamond white looks amazing (Im biased as mine is same ).

Good luck....negotiate hard!

 

Yes it sure does look amazing esp with the diamond stitching. Almost purchased one, 2014 cpo GL550 with 13k miles with B&O system, pretty much every option except pano and it was priced so cheap at $

 

So here's a sad update. I went to the dealer today w every intention of buying it. I spent over an hour w my sales guy reviewing the condition of the car and features and what not and all was well. Then I took it for a test drive. It was not what I expected at all. To me, the ride was floaty and boat like, and I didn't like how huge the hood seemed from behind the wheel. We must have driven it for a good hour on highways, twisty back roads, and city. After the test drive we returned to the dealership and let my sales person know I was not certain I wanted it anymore. I felt really bad because I know he was counting on the sale, just like I was counting on buying it, and I can tell I broke his car heart when I told him I was going to hold off. I feel really bad for him but I don't want to make a $70k mistake.

The pros
A little turbo lag but picked up speed quick
I am 5'10" and fit fine in the third row
Couldn't even tell how fast I was going on the highway
The heated and cooled seats are cool. My Odyssey and ML currently only have heated so having both would be nice.
The Night Vision was pretty cool
3D camera was cool

The cons
Felt disconnected to the road
Felt like I couldn't confidently take the twists fast
I felt like I might need a CDL to drive it
Looks like I'm stuck w my odyssey cause outside of the GL550 there is no other 7 passenger car I want. I had considered the Americans but have changed my mind.


I drove my ML400 tonight and it felt connected to the road and I felt like I was getting feedback from the car. It was very different than the GL. So for now I'm not going to persue it anymore. I'll prob look at and consider a cls550 in the late summer and split my time between the mini-van and the coupe. I've always like the cls550 and the jag XFs.

Anyway, for what it's worth I still think that in terms of looks there is nothing nicer than a White GL550 on the road.

 

Look for one with Active Curve. It is a much better handling / driving experience. The limited body roll inspires a lot of confidence in the handling of the big vehicle. When I was looking for my truck about 6 months ago I test drove one without active curve and one with active curve back to back. It was a night and day difference. I first drove the one with out it and at the first highway on ramp the body roll had me questioning the choice of vehicle. Then I drove the one with Active Curve on the same route. The difference was pretty dramatic and I couldn't be happier with it even now. The light steering took a little getting used to but I don't even notice it anymore. Try and find one with Active Curve and test drive it to see if you like it better before you give up on a GL. It's certainly harder to find one with Active Curve but they are out there. I lucked out and found one near where I live right after it was traded in and it was equipped with everything I wanted (everything, including B&O) and the dealer offered a great deal because it was the end of the month as well. But it took 3 months of looking diligently and willing to travel if I found the right one.

 

Thanks for the advice Jim. I have looked for that option but haven't had much luck and all of the dealers I have spoken to, about 5 so far, all tell me that its a very rare feature to come across. If I do happen to see one that has it I will certainly keep an open mind and go test drive it.

Also, what did you think of the initial pickup capability of the GL5550? It didn't hit for me right away but when it did it sure accelerated fast. I was doing 80mph before I knew it and it felt like 40. That can be both a good and bad thing. Anyway, I'll keep an open mind and see if the perfect GL550 appears somewhere before I end up picking up something else. Thanks again.

 

The airmatic suspension does isolate you from a lot of the road 'feel'. Personally, I like it that way for road trips. I also forget how crappy our Colorado roads are until I hop back in our sedan. I can still throw the GL around with less body roll and nose-diving under heavy braking than my old Tahoe.

 

Yeah, I'm not getting a Tahoe. I'd decided on a GL or sticking to my mini-van and getting an nice sedan. For now it looks like the latter unless I drive a GL with active curve and it makes a noticeable difference for me. Btw, Jersey roads suck, my wife has shredded 3 tires and beat up 2 rims on her ML400. Good thing I bought the tire and rim protection. It's already payed for itself.

 

I hear ya'. I'm done with low profile tires after having them on my sedan and getting wheel dings from things like recessed manhole covers. Impacts aren't as severe since changing the OEM tires to Michelin, but it's not a fun feeling to have a raised overpass expansion joint give you the sensation that the entire front suspension just got ripped off of your car.

Good luck in your quest!

 

Same here.
I loved my X5, but the ride, though sporty, got tiring quickly in our horrible Houston roads. The Airmatic on the GL is night and day compared to the Bimmer, and I can always put it in sport mode if I have winding roads that require it.

Neurobit

 

Great hearing your experience on the test drive. Hate to ask, but did you put it into sport mode? The difference between the lofty comfort mode and sport mode is pretty drastic, at least for me. It's also a really big and heavy SUV, so the term hitting the twisties is somewhat for more sport orientated cars/cross-overs - so not sure what you were expecting in this category. It is a luxury SUV after all and it's supposed to have those traits.

I came from years of owning Land Rovers and find the ride of the GL550 perfect in comfort, mellow and luxurious with everyone on board getting a nice, relaxing ride on local trips, which replaced that same feel I got from the Land Rovers --- and in sport mode, well... that's just an added value for me when I want to get somewhere a little faster or buzzing down the highway. The power is there - more so than you realize. The V8 is a masterpiece IMO and it's much faster than you think. Published numbers 0 to 60 is 5.5, but the mags put it at 5 seconds. That's insanely fast for an SUV this size... Especially when you think back that a 2006 M3 did 0 to 60 in 4.9 seconds.

Also, in sport mode, you'd be very surprised at how much you can truly push it through a corner. When I got my GL550 I took it easy for a while - but after getting more confident and learning the vehicles' thresholds, it takes corners, sharp corners such as a left turn with high throttle incredibly well... It puts a smile on my face every time I do it. Anyway, I know the feeling of wanting something and it not meeting what has been established in one's mind. Sleep on it and maybe take it for another spin.

Oh, as for the giant hood, raise the seat a bit, the seat setting is usually on the lowest point, so it can feel like a car not an SUV... Raise it up a bit and you'll feel more composed. Just a suggestion.

 

^^^ Agree 100% ^^^

Neurobit

 

There is a 2015 550 at Prestigue Mercedes in Paramus with Active Curve. Go drive that one and see if you like the handling better and then you know if the GL is for you.

 

+1

 

I dont think that car has Active Curve, it only says in the options listed, whereas it only got Night Assist.


Thanks

 

Not to stir up a wasp nest - a MB dealer can choose to selectively to "not" list a specific CPO vehicle on MBUSA CPO web listing..

Like the 2015 GL550 attached... Designo Black Interior, On/Off-Road package... since with the feature set on this rig it will sell locally readily..

Happy hunting !

 

Thanks everyone for your input. I'll try to answer some of the questions posed here and also provide an update.

I am only looking for a white GL550 so in my search it was very difficult to find one w the Active Curve System on a White 550. At the time of my search ACS only existed on one CPO car and it was in San Francisco. I love San Francisco but I'm not willing to go that far for a car or pay for shipping it across the country.

When I test drove the vehicle I was in sport mode most of the time, especially on the highways and backroads.

The truth is, maybe I was unfair to the car. I was expecting a sporty ride probably because its got this monster engines and very aggressive look that I'm absolutely in love with. But as someone mentioned, its a Luxury SUV, and comfort in this car trumps sport.

As for the twisties, i just expected to feel the road more. I remember the sales person saying "yeah, you're driving a mini-van now, it can't have more road feel than this" to which I replied "actually I do think my odyssey does". He was completely in disbelief of my answer.

Funny thing is when i got home my wife reminded me that when we got he ML I didn't like the feel of the steering wheel at first when I compared it to my previous vehicle and now I love it. She has a good point. In city driving the steering is fairly light and easy, and on highway speeds it does tighten up a little bit. I believe the GL would be the same way. Let me know if anyone can confirm that.

Update - I think she (wife) really wants a GL550 for herself so I'm going to go back and drive that car as second time, this time with my wife, and if she likes it i'll probably buy it and just let her drive that and I'll drive her ML. I really don't want to have 4 cars, I have 3 now and I'm ok with that number. 4 cars is unnecessary for me so if I can replace my mini-van with a GL i think it would help me feel better about that. Anyway, we're going to see about giving the GL550 another drive and maybe i'll like it better this time. I have seen another 2 driving around in my town and every time I see one I drool

 

Thanks for the tip. I probably missed that one because its black and I've been filtering my searches by color, meaning White only. I appreciate you looking into that for me.

Thats why I love this car forum. People are generally cool and willing to help one another out. I know on some of the other car forums I'm on, if you happen to write a review about not liking something about the car, people jump all over you, LoL. Thanks again.