ericjburd

Hey everyone, well Ive bought my first Mercedes and I love it. My Infiniti FX35 lease is ending next month. I may have to make the fleet all german. The guy I bought my car from at Mercedes has an 80 year old woman that was looking to get rid of her 2003 ML350, it has 50,000 miles, the rep said its like new cause its been driven like an 80 woman drives. Always maintained at dealer. Price is way under book. Havent seen it yet. My question is what to look for? What are some common problems with this model and year? Any tips advice would be much appreciated.

Gustaf

Considering it has been regularly maintained by the dealer I would assume most of the service bulletins have been addressed so, that is a plus. The window regulators (like most german cars) often are in a state of "about to fail" any noise like clicks and such may indicate one is going bad. Door locks go bad too. Primary cats crack also...ask me how I know

The sticky at the top of the forum has great info on this topic!
Anyway good luck with your search and I think you will really enjoy the 163 ML.

ericjburd

Thanks for the help, my main concern is having major repairs. I basically want this car so my girl can get from a to b and not leave her broken down, and of course be there when I can't fit something in the E class. A 10000 car is not such a good deal if I need a 3000 repair in the first year.

Gustaf

I totally understand, that's what my 02 ML provides. My wife is a stay at home mom and uses the ML M-F, the miles show 55,300.
The main draw to why we got it is beacuse the people we knew had ones with 110k mikes or more with no major repairs, 5000lbs towing, good looks=win in my book

ericjburd

Thanks for the input guys, now lets just see how bad Infiniti hits me on the lease return for the minor body damage and wheel thrash. What do you guys end up fixing and what do you end up letting slide when you hand your cars in?