Which GLK to buy, based on annual costs and engine life span?
How much more is the annual maintenance cost for the diesel engine?
How many more miles will it last vs. the gas model 4MATIC?
Pro and Cons...which one to buy?

 

Note that the diesel is also 4matic.

The diesel emissions controls are complex and prone to issues. Search for NOX sensor issues, DPF issues, adblue problems. When they go bad out of warranty it costs a lot to fix.

The older 4matics seem to have a lot of transfer case issues - the transfer case is combined with the transmission so when it goes bad they both have to be replaced at a premium price. The last generation has not been around long enough to give a good sample of longevity so with a 2015 you are on your own. Look in this and the other forums for the 4matic problems.

If you are looking for a nice small suv that will last a long time with minimal maintenance costs get a 350 with rear wheel drive. Others will disagree, but that is my opinion.

I do not intend to keep my RWD 350 past 100k miles as so far that seem to be around the point where expensive things start to go wrong.

 

This is the same advice I got when I was shopping around couple of years back. I ended up buying RWD 2012 GLK and so far no issues, except that one incident when it died on me w/o any warning and the next day it worked again. For my regular use RWD is good enough, I do drive to ski resorts couple of times a year, but facing 4matic issues for that may be a bit too much.

 

Non-turbo, RWD is probably the way to go for bet reliability and easier maintenance.

 

I would say it depends on several things, including your typical commute and how proactive you plan to be about maintenance. Our GLK250 is at 86k miles currently, returns an average of 36-38mpg depending on how heavy my right foot is, and can regularly do 600 miles on a tank of fuel. It may not be a sprint racer from stoplight to stoplight, but on the open road it surprises most. It cruises quietly and comfortably at 80+ mph all day long and I wouldn't have any other SUV.

Yes, the exhaust system is complicated and can be troublesome to diagnose & fix properly (and affordably), because MB stealerships see very few of these Bluetecs compared to the zillions of gassers they typically service.

I would advise you to drive both, see which one you fancy more, work out what your commute and expected maintenance costs will be and you'll have an idea of what it'll cost to own. Then make an informed decision and don't look back

Drive more, worry less.

 

That is very impressive mileage. With GLK 350 on gasoline version, I seldom cross 20 mpg, how is others experience with GLK 350?

 

 

That is odd. I almost never get below 20 in my gasser. On the highway I have seen as much as 32 mpg if I set cruise control to 64 mph. If I let my foot do the regulating in traffic I get 24-27 mpg.

 

32? I've never seen 32mpg on 350. Wife managed to get 25-26mpg on highway when forced to go 50-60mph, which is seems close to what you have. Also what GLK says is not real mileage and it drops as you drive and is even lower when you measure it.

 

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I've gotten 39 mpg on a two hour trip before.

 

Nice, do you have any tips on maintenance?
I use 91 rating gasoline and mine is still under warranty with prepaid service maintenance with dealer and done all of them on schedule.
Wondering if there are any others things to do to increase the mileage go beyond 20 here (my commute is a mix a mix of freeway and local roads)

 

If the GLK350 is also 4Matic, you'll probably experience low 20's MPG at best. This will be hand-calculated over several fill-ups, not going by the computer guesstimation.

I supposed a RWD GLK350 can reasonably reach 30 MPG at a steady speed on the highway, but that's far from saying it can average 30MPG on a tank of fuel. Most likely, 24-26MPG is the best you can expect.

Compared to the Bluetec, it's not much of a contest. I've had roadtrips where the computer displays as much as 44 MPG for a time. When hand calculated at next fill-up, however, it's corrected to 38MPG.

As has been said, if you want to avoid the potential costly exhaust system on the Bluetec that is totally your call. Get the vehicle that you think will serve your particular needs and wants, not what some anonyms on the Intarwebz say. It's your money

As for me, why spark when I can glow?

 

I was looking at 2013 GLk 350 with 100,000km.One owner all history repairs.Is there anything I should look out for?.Of course I have my mechanic check it out first but is there any specifics I should point out to him..

 

I am picking up my 2015 GLK350 4Matic tomorrow. I chose the gas over BlueTec because of a couple reasons.
1.) Replacing my old W203 that gave me near 0 issues I wanted a good run around car that was solid and reliable. The V6 N/A with the 7 Speed is a proven powertrain set up.
2.) MPG is not that much more for me to pay the premium over the gas model and since it will never see more then 10k miles a year I am not too worried
3.) Too many issues I keep hearing about with the Bluetec engines
4.) Diesel is hard to find where I live and for some reason only like 2 stations carry it
5.) I can do the work myself on the N/A V6 that I have in other MB's and I am familiar with the setup already.

 

Im picking up a 2014 GLK 350 next week also,read so much horror stories about the Blutech particle filtration system aka catalytic convertor on regular gas cars that cost $3000cdn to replace in Canada.Seems the 2013-2015 GLK 350 are very reliable and some what easy to fix by what my mechanic said.

 

When you choose between the cars, it is all about what you intentions. these are quite different vehicles even though they look the same.I bought a new GLK 250 BlueTec in 2013, it has 66,000 m on it with no big expenses.
I made a discovery some time back and discovered everybody wasn't like me. So what works for me may be the worst thing for someone else. I bought my first Mercedes diesel in 1973 and my wife has been driving them since.
I have always liked the economy and reliability of diesels.But that is me.
Today, you don't just get a car. You get a car and you get the emission system that goes with it. that cannot be understated. Modern diesel emissions systems demanded by the US EPA are so strict that they are almost impossible to meet. Look at what Volkswagen had to do. Ram trucks and jeeps are settling class action suits right now, and I can't say what Mercedes has had to do. these EPA standards have virtually ruined the value of manufacturing and ownership of diesel powered vehicles. I believe we are throwing generations of engineering and research and development away because the California Air Research Board, US EPA, and other world regulators are drinking the global warming koolaid. I will admit, man caused global warming or not it is better not to have particulate matter put in the atmosphere IF it causes lung cancer.
that said, if you drive short distances and start and stop after short trip, especially in cold weather, DO NOT BUY A DIESEL POWERED VEHICLE. The maintenance required to avoid expensive shop time is very hard to do and no one will tell you what you have to do make you car last.
If you drive an hour each way to work, or make longer trips often, the BlueTec could work out fine.There are many things the diesel emmission system requires on a new diesel, and the dealer is not necessarily the right source of the information you need to properly keep you car serviced. In other words, if someone has to tell you your have a low tire or you don't know what regeneration means, BUY THE GASSER.

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^^ This

 

yukondon I agree to a point,but when Mercedes Blutec DPF starts to fail early and dealers want $3000cdn to replace it and Mercedes ignores the issues its not about the driving habits but about unwanted early expensive replacement to the owner.You cannot blame the EPA for this, the whole world is leaving diesel or banning diesel.Yes the concept of the engine is good with less care and more km but Mercedes application for clean diesel is flawed.Go on any Mercedes forums you read about the DPF headaches and in Canada Blutec GLK are everywhere for sale at $2000+ cheaper than gas GLK.My own mechanic who is very good even told me to avoid the blutec he seen how cost skyrockets when the filtration system fails.

 

My comments were intended for someone who is deciding whether to buy the gas or the diesel.
I totally agree with what you are saying. the willingness of these large companies to have bypass systems that work during testing is where I got my thoughts on the strict regulations. It seems these companies decided that they could either shelve hundreds of millions of dollars of research and development, marketing expenses and good will or figure out a way around the regulations. I believe these companies do not agree that the exhaust coming out the tail pipes of these vehicles is harmful, therefor the cheat mechanisms would do no harm, in their opinion. but they got caught and the law is the law, so they have, except for a few, pulled out of the diesel passenger vehicle market. Those of us who bought the vehicles are now stuck with the systems that, when working all the time are expensive and troublesome to keep on the road. Depending on your stye of driving, you may have to change oil every 2000 miles to keep the car functioning.
There are other dirty little secrets as well, like having to pull the cylinder head to change the glow plugs because of all the carbon build-up on the glow plug tips that insulate the glow plug tip so it's heat does not help the engine start, and have built up so much that they wont come out thru the glow plug mounting hole. So pull all you glow plugs and clean every 50k mi while the low plugs are still removable. thank you EGR. So we can bite the bullet and sell the car and buy the gasser or fight the battle on our own.
But to the individual who was looking at a used BlueTec, RUN LIKE HELL!

 

I myself had a older Jetta Diesel for 5 years as a work car and drove it until it was written off by a accident...190,000km and ran great.Maybe the blutec is not as bad as it seem since car forums are a small segment of the overall ownership and those owners are car lovers but I seen lots of blutec cars for sale in my area.I'm buying the GLK350 because majority of the reviews are positive and my mechanic cousin owns one and she has over 150,000km of almost problem free driving with the exception of wear and tears items and some electronic issues like window regulators and failing A/C.I love diesels but it seems they are dying and EV cars are the future.

 

good luck on that 14

 

I have put up with my Mercedes glk250 for 3 years now. Nice driver and great fuel mileage but constant problems with the Adblue system, too long to list here. As an engineer I have studies this system and there are many points of failure. I do not take it in to Mercedes because I am sure it would be thousands of dollars and the problems will return. I am currently driving with 2 CELs, P2201 an P24C6. My mileage and performance are still good so I just drive it and don't look at the CEl light.
I did have DPF dif. pressure high but it comes and goes. The car is always on the highway which would cause a regen to clear the code.
I like the vehicle so I will be probably do a DPF/SCR/EGR delete along with new code. I don't like doing it but if the governments and manufacturers can't build these systems reliably they should not have built them to begin with.

 

Compboy, those look like NOx sensor and DPF temp sensor codes. I agree that the Bluetec system is overly complicated and thus prone to failure. The options don't look good as far as cost goes, unless you have some sort of warranty. I'd say hang on to it at least until the emissions investigation of MB is completed; we may yet see a software "fix" and extended warranty much like VW was forced to produce. We bought a fixed 2014 TDI and it comes with a 10yr/120k mile extended emissions warranty which includes the engine itself, the fuel system, many sensors, the entire exhaust system and more. It's worth the peace of mind.

Perhaps MB will end up having to do something similar. Otherwise, I'm in the same boat: ditch the DPF and the complicated electrical system attached to it, update the software and keep trucking along.

 

I thought the emissions warranty was 7 years? no?