greenbeast

Hi guys...

I'm just need help and suggestion of a ML430.

I sold my SUV and ready to buy another on.
I was thinking a Lexus GX-470, but the price is a little out of my pocket.
But recently I was testing a couple of cars and I saw one particulary that could be the choice to buy.

It is a ML430 2000.

I would like to know some good/bad input about this SUV to know if it still good idea to buy it or not.
The car feel very good and confortable, but I still need opinion from guys that own this car and know its trouble.

The car has almost 50k miles, but I know that Mercedes's engine handle a lot more miles. But I'm thinking about the bearings, terminals, halshaft, trans, ect. could be a problem with that much miles.
The car is selling me for about 29k and I think I can get it for about 26k or 25k. But before I negociate the car, I need to know input about it first.

Thanks for any comments!!!!!

timdf

I have 2000 ML430 with 44,000 miles, un-marked insdie /out, recent tires and brakes all round (ML's eat brakes btw).

I recently tried to sell / trade it only to discover I'd be lucky to get $24,000 for it. (Decided to keep it for now).

The market is flooded with lease returns, this combined with the war / recession makes the used market for all cars very soft - but especially so for the ML.

If you do decide to purchase, check it's service history - I'd wager it's had it's share of problems if its being sold at just less than 50,000 miles ie nearly out of warranty !

If you can get it for $23,000 - $24,000 that'd be better, the money saved can be used for the inevitable repairs....

Check out http://www.carsurvey.org/model_Merce...z_M-Class.html for more info.

Good Luck !

amb9800

If you can get a good deal on the '00 ML430 and you have inspected it throughout (and a carfax) then that may be a good option, but considering the fact that you were looking at the Lexus GX (which is $46-50k), maybe you should go for a later model ML, like a 2001 or maybe even an '02. Many changes were made in each of the model years, especially between the earlier ones and the '02 and the '98/'99 to the '00. If your budget is in the $30-40k ranges, you could probably get a nice '01 430 or for that matter maybe even an '03 ML320 with discounting.

Starmarked ones will have a lesser chance of being a lemon. Overall, the '00 ML wasn't a bad car. A few did have problems, but most did not. An issue with all of the V8 MLs though is that they all 'eat brakes.'

greenbeast

Thanks for posting.

I drove the '00 ML430 and it is very fast.
I notice the car is a little heavy.

Does this car is assambled in U.S. or Germany??

Thanks!!

amb9800

The US-sold MLs are made in MB's plant in Tuscaloosa, Alabama - it was the first production MB made in the US (except some Unimogs of the '50's that may have been made here). Yes, the quality and build of the ML do not match the 'bank-vault solidity' of German-made Mercedes, but the later models ('00-'03) are better in this regard.

It is naturally going to be heavier than the normal sedan, being an SUV with a V8 engine and all the MB technology. But you come to expect that with this size of car, and these days it's actually not (relatively) too bad, with everyone driving 6000lb Excursions just to go shopping. BTW the Mercedes SL also weighs about as much as ML just fyi.

C-rod

l currently own a 1999 ML 430....Let's just say, that l have had my fair share of problems....Everyone is correct...these ML's go through brake pads quicker than any vehicle l've ever owned!!!! lf you are looking at Lexus...."Please don't compare it to the ML Class", thier is no comparsion......l previously owned 2 Lexus', and the quality of my ML doesn't even come close....These ML's were built in the States, and the quality is more consistent to Chrysler standards not Mercedes.....ln fairness to Mercedes, the newer model ML's, 2001- to 2003, are far better....but lf l had to do it all over again, l would have kept my 1999 RX 300....Sorry...l have to be honest....BTW: l work for Toyota....so l know a little bit about quality....

amb9800

Just a note - the RX330 is also built in the US/Canada BTW.

C-rod

You are mistaken............l work for Toyota Motor Mamufacturing, in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada......We build the Corolla, and the Matrix..and use to build the Solara....The Solara has been moved to Kentucky, and we will be building the 2004 Lexus RX 330. This will be the first Lexus built out of Japan, so my 1999 RX 300 was built in Japan .......There are no Toyota plants in the Unites States that build a Lexus.....l have visited all the Toyota plants in the States,as part of the Pilot project for the Lexus.....There was not one Toyota plant in the States that could match the "5" Time JD Power Gold Award Winning Plant that resides in Cambridge Ontario...that is why we receivced the Lexus in Canada....Maybe if Mercedes had done thier homework, they would have never considered building a vehicle in the United States....let alone a Mercedes.....

Some Pete Guy

LOL!

You write that as if it means something.

I take it that you don't understand how The JD Power "awards" work.

To compare an ML to an Rx 300 is like comparing the ML to a jacked up station wagon.

They have entirely different capabilities.

C-rod

l was wondering, when l was going to get a rise out of you Peter. Yes...Peter, l will agree that the RX 300 is a "jacked-up station wagon," l should know...l owned one for two years...l actually owned a 1994 ES 300 as well, for three years, so my Lexus experience is evident...Having said that....This is my story in a nut shell....As l grew tired of my RX...(boredom), l purchased a 1999 ML 430, slightly used with 45,000 KM...l'm sure you are prepared to hear what l am going to say....That is when my problems began....l won't bore you Peter, with all the mechanical defects that l have experienced with this vehicle....There are more than enough "ML Forums", for you to get that information...This is my point Peter. l'm not comparing capabilities, l'm comparing quality...and reliablity..that is what JD Power awards are about... "Intial quality". Come on Peter..l've always respected your out going opinion..but now you are going to tell me that the ML is a well built vehicle....l shelled out $50,000 for a vehicle that on average , spends one to three days a month at the dealership...My comments are about "Quality and Reliabilty", not about whether the ML can go 4 x 4'ing down the Andes mountains....

amb9800

That's the reason why I said US/Canada and not US for the RX330. Yes the RX300 was made in Japan, but being that the RX330 is Canada-made and that all the drivetrain parts are shared with the new Sienna (e.g. the 3.3L V6), which is US-made, those components are probably US-made. Correct me if I'm wrong on that, but that's why I said US/Canada and not the US.

The US plant was MB's first North American plant, so, for example, would you say the first US-made Toyota matched the Japanese-made car?

I'm not saying MB deserves to be excused for the issues in the early ('98, '99) model year MLs, but the problems were almost all fixed by the '00 and '01 model years, so there is really no merit in continuing to criticize the MB production - look at it this way, if MB had not set up the ML production in N.A., the ML would have been made in Germany and a base ML320 would have costed in the $45k range, which would make a lot less people be interested in it, and thereby the midsize luxury market would have been created, so the Lexus RX, BMW X5, Acura MDX, Porsche Cayenne, etc. would not have even existed in the first place.

Some Pete Guy

Again, I take it that you don't understand how The JD Power "awards" work.

Your comments are about the quality and reliability of your vehicle.

Every manufacturer has problem vehicles.

This simple fact doesn't mean that all, a majority, or even a significant percentage, of those vehicles has the serious problems that you experienced.

C-rod

My only remark to you Peter is this....l can only base my opinion on this 1999 ML 430......You may correct, in the fact, that l may be a bit narrow- minded in my assessment of this vehicle...but be honest with me Peter,(if you were in my shoes) would you shell out another $50,000 dollars for a "Mercedes".....