I will continue searching/reading, but there's potentially a deal to be had here, and I'm wondering what to look for or ask about before bidding: https://www.hagerty.com/drivers-club...mEpgzycS1BfJTj

It feels like 70k-ish miles in good condition, this could end up being a good buy for my wife's Colorado car, and a fun road trip home! I've been looking more closely at E350 wagons, but I've always been a fan of these as well.

Thank you!

 

I'm always skeptical of cars I can't drive prior to bidding, but it looks good at a very cursory glance.

The common issues on a 4Matic (AWD) are the front driveshaft (breaks off at the front differential yoke, causing lots of damage), front output shaft U-joint (interna) failure in the transfer case (causes play at the rear of the front driveshaft), and motor mounts (which are a gold-plated bear to change on a 4Matic).

That said, if the car does have a good service history, chances are it'll be a solid, reliable vehicle for a whole lotta miles and years.

 

GLK works well on highways, secondary roads, substandard surfaces, and even unpaved county roads. It’s okay in mild off-road situations and better than a wagon because it has good ground clearance and a short wheel base. It’s not really an off road machine like a G Class or a Rover.

Search this forum for transfer case, front drive shaft, and 4Matic issues. Make sure it has complete maintenance records. Well maintained ones are going 180-200k miles.

 

Thanks for the quick response! Agreed on not being able to drive it... it's too far for me to see it in person before it ends. Those failures sound catastrophic - do those things typically happen at high mileage, or is it a luck of the draw kind of thing where only certain cars are affected?

 

Get maintenance and repair receipts , get it inspected , like at 70000m brake fluid should have been changed twice and transmission serviced .

 

Looks nice and looks clean. It has the "wrong" headlights so I hope your night vision is good. It never ceases to amaze me how many GLKs were shipped to the U.S. (or ordered that way by dealers) with the economy car mediocre headlights.

A little bit concerned about the peculiar Mercedes star on the steering wheel air bag. Have never seen a version like that before... after market? Air bag replacement?? Why?? New style installed by Mercedes after the air bag factory recall?? Just the star replaced with a Bling version??

 

From my limited observations, I'd say that the catastrophic failures (front driveshaft and transfer case problems) seem to be the exception, not the rule. The motor mounts are more of the rule (if your newer GLK is like my X204 2011 model, the poor things live about 1" below the exhaust manifolds. If you can feel the engine start or idle, or if it seems that the drivetrain is a little too noisy, you're gonna need to bite the bullet and do the mounts. It's DIY-able, though not an easy one.

 

Agreed !! Have never seen that, and highly doubtful MB would offer that.

Personally, and where we live, and our driving requirements, an all-drive is overkill, which would include more expenses. Just an opinion, esp reading experiences out here.

 

Good catch on the tri-star on the steering wheel airbag. Even after replacement under Takata program, they’re still just a chrome star in a circle.

That piqued my interest, so I looked harder. It has California emission certification labeling. I don’t know if that’s normal for New York deliveries, but it’s not for Texas. It also has a California mercury warning about HID headlamps, but doesn’t appear to have them on the car. Maybe the original data card should be pulled from lastvin.com and compared to the car in the pics. Any deviations would be evidence of owner mods or unreported collision repairs (it happens and CarFax protects themselves in the fine print). Last, owner #3 had the car 2+ years but odometer reading is only 39 miles more than owner 2 last mileage. Now it has 7-8,000 more. Maybe Michigan doesn’t do yearly registrations and inspections.

It might still wind up a good buy, but maybe those points can be posed to the seller for explanation.

 

Wow, great investigation!!

 

Update:
Mileage records are not an issue.
Michigan does not do yearly safety inspections except in a few local townships that do not report it to the state. They do yearly registration on the owner’s birthday (!) by mail or online and do not record mileage, only collect the tax.

 

You need a side gig as a freelance used car investigator 🙂

 

I got connections … and until I can get my shop back up and running, plenty of spare time.