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It felt like the day would never come but we finally picked up the new addition to our family – a GLE350D. Ordered back in the beginning of January and arrived in mid-April, but we didn’t have time to pick it up until May 13th. I spoke to two dealers before closing a deal with one that was three hours away from us. Our local dealer wanted full price, the second dealer offered 3.5% off list, but the third dealer’s offer at almost 6% off won our business. As I understand it, dealers here in Canada make approximately 8-9%.
In three days I put 1,000 kilometres on her and got about 800 kilometres on a tank, which is pretty good considering it included some very spirited highway driving. So far the things I like outweigh the things I don’t like and I’ve only had fairly minor issues, which are all listed below.
Build
MY16 GLE350D
Obs. Black Met./Black Artico
Premium Pkg
AMG Pkg
Lighting Pkg
Running Boards
3 Yr Extended Warranty
Things I like so far:
Feels like a boss sitting up high, especially when my car is practically sitting on the ground.
Extremely comfortable ride
It doesn’t feel that big when I’m driving around
Massive amounts of torque
Fuel economy
As I understand, you can fit three car seats in the back (Clek car seats), which may be important to us.
Things I don’t like so far:
Tiny mirrors. I always reverse into spots and I find myself looking at the camera more than I would like
Speedometer font is tiny. I have to look carefully to see how fast I'm going.
Big SUV but small cargo room. I went to buy a Weber BBQ and the box was so big it looked like it would barely fit in the car (with the seats down).
Steering is light and numb.
Problems so far
Day 1:
On the first day I picked it up, I noticed that the passenger door on the driver side sticks in the open position when it’s pulled to hard. As a result, it won’t latch into the closed position when I close the door so I have to jiggle it a bit. I don’t have an issue with the handle when I pull on it softly to open and then open the door by physically holding the door instead.
Day 2:
A warning light came on the instrument cluster with an audible alarm and went away so quickly I couldn’t even see what it was. Consulting the manual suggests it was the distance warning (which is red with an audible alarm), although there were no other cars around me.
Day 3:
The brakes started squealing when I come to a gentle stop. At first I thought it was the other cars around me but then it did it when no one was around. This does not happen every time.
Congrats! Your day 2 problem is the same we have also. It happens quickly and randomly, and always when there's nothing around. Unable to get a good look at the symbol nor able to replicate the problem.
Seems like a hassle long-term though as you bought based on 2.5% additional discount on a $70k truck (less than $2,000) and now you have to drive 3 hours for service at the selling dealer?
Seems like a hassle long-term though as you bought based on 2.5% additional discount on a $70k truck (less than $2,000) and now you have to drive 3 hours for service at the selling dealer?
Yikes.
No big deal for us as we're in the GTA every other weekend anyways. I may just have it serviced locally or use my MBTN discount at one of the approved dealers if the discount is attractive enough.
MB Durham is under new ownership and I imagine it's a much tighter ship now - aside from price, how was your experience?
I had a good experience. Someone recommended that I try going there. Everything was done over email and phone, including the negotiating and formal offer. I would recommend them based on my experience. I dealt with Craig Little.
Cool, my 350d is on the railroad as we speak. I can't wait to drive it home. I have to agree with the lack of discount pricing, at least here in Montreal. Dealers don't want to negotiate at all, even with a "Car Cost Canada invoice vs. MSRP" build sheet.
I agree the trunk space should be larger, considering the Jeep Grand Cherokee was developed together and its trunk is more than 30% larger.
Did you ever figure out #2? Where you driving when it happened? Both my current MB do something similar. If there is a car, even a considerabe amount in front of you, and you are gaining on it to fast, the car will beep. It happens a lot to me if a car is turning out of the lane in front of me and I don't slow down because I expect it to be gone before I get there. Could that be it?
Congrats! There is a digital speedometer that maybe useful in your case.
I did find that! I actually needed to figure out how to change from KPH to MPH since we were in New York on the weekend so started flipping through the options while I was driving and found it.
Originally Posted by BACnMercedes
Did you ever figure out #2? Where you driving when it happened? Both my current MB do something similar. If there is a car, even a considerabe amount in front of you, and you are gaining on it to fast, the car will beep. It happens a lot to me if a car is turning out of the lane in front of me and I don't slow down because I expect it to be gone before I get there. Could that be it?
That could be but don't recall anyone there at all. It hasn't happened again though. I am still having issues with my rear passenger door handle sticking.
Love how it sparkles at night! So glad we waited for the metallic paint.
On page 274 of the online manual there is a section titled "Selecting permanent display".
"The Permanent Display: function allows you to choose whether the multifunction display always shows the outside temperature or the speed. the speed display is inverse to the speedometer."
In the US my GLE will either display the temperature or km/h. I'm not sure if that's because I have a car made for the US or not. If it is, presumably yours would allow you to have mph permanently displayed where the temperature normally is. May be worth a look...
On page 274 of the online manual there is a section titled "Selecting permanent display".
"The Permanent Display: function allows you to choose whether the multifunction display always shows the outside temperature or the speed. the speed display is inverse to the speedometer."
In the US my GLE will either display the temperature or km/h. I'm not sure if that's because I have a car made for the US or not. If it is, presumably yours would allow you to have mph permanently displayed where the temperature normally is. May be worth a look...
I'm wondering if anyone else gets brakes squealing before coming to a full stop? It doesn't happen all the time but it happens. It 's more likely to happen when I apply the brakes gently and sounds more pronounced on the driver side.
I'm wondering if anyone else gets brakes squealing before coming to a full stop? It doesn't happen all the time but it happens. It 's more likely to happen when I apply the brakes gently and sounds more pronounced on the driver side.