ivan_divan

Hey guys,

I am new to Mercedes and thinking about buying a 2016 GL350 with 115k miles on it - am i crazy? Heard they are very capable and reliable if maintained well.

It is a 1 owner in a pristine condition (both inside and outside). Guys in the shop who are selling it performed an inspection and gave me the repot - https://www.repairshopsolutions.com/.../r/yuqBzCqaTL8
They will replace all which is marked as "WILL SERVICE".
I got suspicious about point 17.1 Engine oil leaks - TURBO INLET SEAL LIGHTLY SWEATING OIL INTO VALLEY PAN

Could you please take a look at the report and photos there and help me decide if it is worth buying? Carfax doesn't show much unfortunatelly. But if the owner kept such a good care of exterior/interior, i am hoping that he maintained it really good as well.
Any thoughts/advice is appreciated.

I am planning to tow a 5,000 trailer with it, hoping to have it until 150k miles.

kajtek1

To start, what is your DIY experience in automotive repairs and where are you located?
MB is unique brand in America, what not too many shops want to touch, when dealers can drain your equity very fast.
So unless you are die-hard DIYer and willing to learn, don't buy MB without warranty.
That quadruples for diesels.
As for 17.1 the picture shows lot of dirt on engine, not necessary it being oil, so hard to tell what is happening there.

ivan_divan

Thank you for your input!
Nope i am not a DIY person at all. Service shop where i am buying the car (and who did this report i attached) - they specialized in european cars and they said they would be happy to maintain it and help me with it.
Of course they are trying to sell, but if the car is in such a great shape exterior and interior-wise, i hope that all the internals are in pretty good shape as well.

kajtek1

Having a shop you can trust (?) is great help, but did they inform you about oil cooler status and suspension air bags?
How much they charge for service A and how much for service B ?
The deal with those things is, that they fail at higher mileage and when oil cooler seals cost pennies, the replacement takes lot of hours and shop price is in the range of $2000.
Suspension air bags are not cheap, but I am less familiar with it, so hopefully somebody else wilt come with number.
Bottom line, you can buy the car for let's say $10 grand and within a year spend another 10 grands on fixing those things.
Does this still sound like a good deal?
Then at some point the engine will need set of new injectors and new HP fuel pump.
Find quotes for those, before you jump on it.

ivan_divan

Yeah, good point, thank you. The price is 19k by the way they told me it in amazing shape technically as well.

Anyway, i will have to pass on it because of payload capacity and maximum trailer tongue weight (which is 600lbs and my trailer is 700lbs).

kajtek1

They are listed at 7700lb from what I can find, but $19k is not bargain.
I am on the market on this one. Since I am DIYer, I can run it pretty cheap and 2015 was last year, who had Bluetec AEM done and still have extended warranty after.
This one looks good to me, but we already have too many cars and passing it by higher authority is having hard time.
https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-...=myATCsavedcar
Good luck on your search.

Iknownothing

Is your trailer weight of 5000lbs empty or loaded? North American tongue weights are generally 10-12% of trailer weight. The 600lbs rating of the Mercedes hitch is the European standard of 8% of trailer weight, and that is a dead weight. European Caravan ( trailer) towing do not use weight distribution hitches. My 2015 GL is rated for 7500lbs capacity, says so in the book. Mercedes sold these vehicles in this market and they know what the standards are for towing I therefore assume my hitch is capable of taking a 750lb tongue weight. There are threads on here discussing this very issue. Early GL's had cracking problems with the hitch, Mercedes resolved that problem for later model years. I know some members are towing large Airstreams with their GL's with no issues. The only thing that took me time to figure out was how to use the airmatic suspension as it relates to coupling and uncoupling the trailer.

ivan_divan

My trailer is 4800 dry and i guess i have it around 6300 loaded. So my tongue weight is closer to 700 and i am not sure how safe it is considering Mercedes official limit of 600. I know that a lot of people did custom reinforcement of their GL hitches, but i am not sure if it is a good path for me.
Also payload on a driver door sticker is stated as 1180 max. Judging by the numbers i will not be able to fit my family and tow the trailer at the same time.

What do you think?

Iknownothing

Like I said early model yrs had hitch issues, 2015 and 2016 do not, problem was fixed. That payload sticker is passengers and cargo combined. Cargo can always go in the trailer, does your total family weigh in at 1179lbs? I am of the opinion that manufacturers do not cut things this close, I believe there is a safety factor built in to their numbers but that doesn't mean we should push the limits to the extreme, if you are not comfortable then another vehicle is probably in your future. Search this forum, I had lots of questions about towing with my Gl. The Airstream forum is another good spot for info about towing with this vehicle.

kajtek1

GCVW is the number who you suppose to observe beside hitch ratings. It will affect your braking and handling characteristics.
That said, lot of people go way above those ratings and even I always pay attention to reported accidents, don't recall seeing a report that to be an issue.
Typical is 450/4500 class pickups, pulling double decker car trailers with 5 cars on them. I even spoke with DOT officer about obvious overloading, yet his response was "we don't have any reports of that being a problem" . Previously I did camp with F350 and big truck camper, who on return trip from Alaska scaled 9000lb. That is about double what Ford rate those things.
I did tow with older ML quite a bit and my boat was more than 5000lb its rating.
Now I tow my UTV and patio boat with GLE, who has 4-cylinders under the hood. The handling and braking is just fine, but desert, frontal wind can slow me down and that is why I am on the market for GL with V6 Bluetec.
But when ML and GLE are really good tow vehicles due to short rear overhang, GL not only has longer rear, but air suspension, what theoretically is not the best for heavy towing.

Iknownothing

My wife and I downsized to 2022 grand design imagine 17mke with a estimated gvw of 6350 or so lbs. Stayed under the Gl's max capacity on purpose. I find the airmatic works well. I have towed this trailer with and without a wdh and it seems to make no difference that I can tell. I was told by a long time rv'er that to get the best stability out of the whole rig was the longer your tow vehicle wheelbase the better the trailer tows and the Gl has a long wheel base.