My wife drives a 2013 GL450 which we purchased as a CPO in December of 2016. It had 24K miles at the time and currently has 94K. With it being 10+ years old now I'm concerned about things getting more expensive to fix as we go on. Last year was the airmatic suspension at $4500. Next year will be new tires, service and who knows what. So we've decided to look for a 2020-2022 CPO GLE350 this winter/spring and I'm looking for advice on what options you consider mandatory. I like the look of the AMG appearance package but its not a deal breaker. Also heated steering wheel is a must (we live in Mass). Any particular year to avoid? Thanks in advance.

Dave B

 

Depending on the exterior color you choose, I highly recommend the AMG exterior line and possibly the night package as well. I also recommend the lighting package that comes with the auto high beams. It doesn't do much and I am not sure how much more it lights up the road, but the headlights with the lighting package look sleeker IMO. Make sure it has the premium package so you get the satellite radio and Burmeister speakers. Also I would avoid getting the first model year, so probably not a 2020 because that generally will have the most issues. Since you live up north you should look for one with the warmth and comfort packages which I believe include the rapid heating seats and the heated armrests.

Once thing to check is the build sheet on each car. You don't want a Covid car that is missing options. On a side note, my 2021 GLE 350 only has just under 26K miles and I needed tires and now possibly brakes.

 

Thanks for the reply! Will be looking for polar white / beige color combo. Regarding tires, our GL eats Michelin tires (20K miles) but we've had great success with Conti Extreme Contact DSW although looks like you are in FL so no need for all season tires perhaps.

 

Watch out for the tires. If the car has the larger sizes, they may be run flats and summer only. You will need to get winter tires if you get the summer only tires. Tread wear on the performance tires is also much worse than a set of all season. Replacement costs on the larger sizes are quite high. I have the Polar White with the Catalana Beige leather interior. I think it is a good combination.

 

Just an update. Went to the local MB dealer to test drive either a minimally optioned '21 with just 3900 miles (polar/beige) or a highly optioned '22 with 20K miles (dia white/beige, AMG, night, DAP, lighting, pano etc). The 22 was just sold as we got there and I was ok with the '21 (the low miles/condition is superb) but my wife has decided that the AMG appearance package is a must. So the salesman brought out a "new" highly optioned '23 GLE (polar/black) for us to drive. Well its not "new" in that it has 9600 miles but has never been registered (MB exec car they bought from MB) which confuses the system since it shows up as new on the MBUSA website vice CPO. anyway I drove it. On the highway, around town it was very nice/comfortable. The tech is light-years ahead of our GL. Getting on to the highway you instantly knew it was a 4 banger. A far cry from the acceleration felt in our 2013 GL450. But I think I could get used to it (or at least my wife would since it would be her daily driver). The dealer was asking $71,800 which is MSRP. He stated that the warranty would run to 1/11/28 with unlimited miles (so basically 3 yrs plus CPO). I went home and sent an email asking about the price, basically why would I pay MSRP for a car with 9600 miles? Why not buy a new '24 then? A quick search showed a number of similar '23s with same miles going for about $67K. Salesman got back to me that the GM would knock off $800 and give me $7K for trade-in ('13 GL450, 94K miles, bought as CPO from them and faithfully serviced). I thought the trade-in was a little low (I est $9K) but understand that it would go to auction and they need price protection. But $800 off for 9600 miles!! I thanked him for his time and wished them Happy Holidays!

 

That's a horrible deal. I can put you in a CPO '24 for $66,500 that had a $74,255 MSRP and a 1/3 of the miles.

With that said and to answer your original question, there are very few beer can GLEs out there. 2022 had a lot of issues with constrained options and standard features. Many of them are missing the wireless charging pad and a few without the Burmester sound system.

If you can swing a 2024 I would HIGHLY recommend it. The added ISG has ruined the 2020-2023 GLE for me. It makes up for the lack of power in stop-and-go situations as well as making the stop/start unnoticeable.

 

Stock number please.

 

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