Thinking of a 99 ML430
06-24-2003, 09:34 AM
#1
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Thinking of a 99 ML430
Its got 55k miles on it.... I haven't looked at the car yet. The dealer said it'll be available for test drive tomorrow.... They're asking a little less than 21k. Thoughts? Things I have to look at? How's the maintenance gonna be with this kind of milage?
06-24-2003, 01:43 PM
#2
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Wanna buy mine? :p
I have a 99 ML430 Brabus with 80k. Maintenance is is crazy on these cars so be prepared. Not sure when the service on this one , I believe it's 60k, I could be wrong.
Check out my profile and see my web page form my car.
And check kellybluebook.com
Check out my profile and see my web page form my car.
And check kellybluebook.com
06-24-2003, 01:57 PM
#3
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My experience
I had a ton of problems with my 99 ML430 during the first 60,000 KM, but since then it has behaved itself quite well. Most of the problems I have had have not been drastic must repair details, but more along the lines of problems you should not see in a Mercedes. My single biggest complaint about my ML is the tremendous amount of noise from the body when travelling over anything other than smooth pavement. When you test drive, make sure you seek out bumpy roads, potholes, and perhaps some speedbumps. If you take the speedbumps on an angle you will most likely hear noise from behind you as the doors and panels rub against each other. The frame is supposed to be extremely rigid in these trucks, but you will still get noise in the cabin from the small amount of flexing that happens.
For the record, I do take my ML offroad, but these noises were present long before I began doing my offroading. Offroading for the ML means logging roads and the like, but not a lot of serious slogging it. It does handle great on steep grades and some messy stuff, but I wouldn't push it.
There is also a great deal of wind noise (and perhaps a bit of vibration) regardless of alignment at highways speeds (around 100+kph) particularly if you have more than two people in the vehicle. Closing the sunroof cover reduces the noise quite a bit, but you will still feel vibration.
Other than that, prepare to replace your brakes quite often, as this truck eats them like crazy.
That said, the truck looks great, and my experience with Mercedes service (in Vancouver, BC) while frequent has always been superb and effective.
PM me if you have any other questions.
For the record, I do take my ML offroad, but these noises were present long before I began doing my offroading. Offroading for the ML means logging roads and the like, but not a lot of serious slogging it. It does handle great on steep grades and some messy stuff, but I wouldn't push it.
There is also a great deal of wind noise (and perhaps a bit of vibration) regardless of alignment at highways speeds (around 100+kph) particularly if you have more than two people in the vehicle. Closing the sunroof cover reduces the noise quite a bit, but you will still feel vibration.
Other than that, prepare to replace your brakes quite often, as this truck eats them like crazy.
That said, the truck looks great, and my experience with Mercedes service (in Vancouver, BC) while frequent has always been superb and effective.
PM me if you have any other questions.
06-24-2003, 02:04 PM
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Thanks so much for the replies. I'll definitely look for those things when I go test drive the car.... Getting new brake pads more often is fine for me.... coming from a VW, I'm used to little problems here and there 
Hell I had to replace my windows regulators twice.
What are some of the common problems for a 99 ML430? Maybe I can see if they have been fixed on this one already.
I'm more concern about big problems like transmission or engine....
Hell I had to replace my windows regulators twice.What are some of the common problems for a 99 ML430? Maybe I can see if they have been fixed on this one already.
I'm more concern about big problems like transmission or engine....
06-24-2003, 02:14 PM
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Specific problems I have had:
Noise power steering pump (at extremities you get a high pitched rubbing noise).
Loud fuel line noise (believe there was a recall to replace the pump anyways)
Driver profiling computer has gone wacky on me once after a bad O2 sensor started acting up. Caused a stall. Has been replaced though.
Noisy front suspension on my ML. Greased bushings, replaced them to no avail. Finally they replaced the whole front shocks (free of charge though) to get rid of embarrasment encountered every time I went over speed bumps in my parking garage.
Overall, the powertrain has been good for me. Your 99 ML will probably still have some coverage for some major components, so check on that.
Noise power steering pump (at extremities you get a high pitched rubbing noise).
Loud fuel line noise (believe there was a recall to replace the pump anyways)
Driver profiling computer has gone wacky on me once after a bad O2 sensor started acting up. Caused a stall. Has been replaced though.
Noisy front suspension on my ML. Greased bushings, replaced them to no avail. Finally they replaced the whole front shocks (free of charge though) to get rid of embarrasment encountered every time I went over speed bumps in my parking garage.
Overall, the powertrain has been good for me. Your 99 ML will probably still have some coverage for some major components, so check on that.
06-24-2003, 07:12 PM
#6
MBWorld Fanatic!
I bought my ML430 with 32K miles on it this past September. I paid $28K for it with 4 new tires (michellin all terrains)and 1 year starmark!
I had to replace the sound system because the stock one sucked. I put in about $2K into a new sound system. The radio sounds great now, also installed Sirius sat radio....Love it.
As far as road noise...hey its a truck....don't sweat it! Just turn the radio up!!!
So far my truck has 39K miles on it and no complaints. This baby goes through anything. We had a crappy winter up here in Connecticut and this beast killed all the roads! Even last month when we had crap loads of rain, this baby plows through the puddles like they are not even there!!! I'm talking some deep puddles!!
Only thing that has gone wrong for me so far is my driver's side head lamp collected some water inside and I had it replaced...not covered under starmark...oh well. Probably from driving through all the puddles.
As far as Mods :
I replaced the stock grill and replaced it with the 2003 ML500 grill.
I added Hella FF100 fog lights to the front bumper.
New radio head unit, amp, tweeters in door sils, new speakers front and rear, 12 inch subwoofer in rear, 6 disc changer in the glove box and satelite radio
Did I get lucky with this vehicle so far....maybe.
I had to replace the sound system because the stock one sucked. I put in about $2K into a new sound system. The radio sounds great now, also installed Sirius sat radio....Love it.
As far as road noise...hey its a truck....don't sweat it! Just turn the radio up!!!
So far my truck has 39K miles on it and no complaints. This baby goes through anything. We had a crappy winter up here in Connecticut and this beast killed all the roads! Even last month when we had crap loads of rain, this baby plows through the puddles like they are not even there!!! I'm talking some deep puddles!!
Only thing that has gone wrong for me so far is my driver's side head lamp collected some water inside and I had it replaced...not covered under starmark...oh well. Probably from driving through all the puddles.
As far as Mods :
I replaced the stock grill and replaced it with the 2003 ML500 grill.
I added Hella FF100 fog lights to the front bumper.
New radio head unit, amp, tweeters in door sils, new speakers front and rear, 12 inch subwoofer in rear, 6 disc changer in the glove box and satelite radio
Did I get lucky with this vehicle so far....maybe.
06-24-2003, 07:34 PM
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I had some moisture come through the light/garage remote area as well when going through a car wash once. Very strange.
One thing I forgot to mention is that if you plan on doing any dry road offroading where it will be dusty, plan on buying a vacuum. The left cargo panel (where the first aid is stored) has a tendency to get filled with dust. There must be a vent in there, but it seems to be by design as there is a foam filter built into the panel so that not too much gets into the truck.
As for going anywhere during winter, I have gotten stuck once, but it was in some huge snow and previous tracks hidden under fresh snow ended up getting me slightly high centered on a snow crest. Doh!
That said, we had to drive point over the Rockies in a blizzard because none of the other vehicles, SUVs included could blaze a path on the highway with the confidence we could. They all had to drive in our treads (good thing the 430 has 275s!). The ML is a fantastic vehicle, but does require some teutonic TLC.
One thing I forgot to mention is that if you plan on doing any dry road offroading where it will be dusty, plan on buying a vacuum. The left cargo panel (where the first aid is stored) has a tendency to get filled with dust. There must be a vent in there, but it seems to be by design as there is a foam filter built into the panel so that not too much gets into the truck.
As for going anywhere during winter, I have gotten stuck once, but it was in some huge snow and previous tracks hidden under fresh snow ended up getting me slightly high centered on a snow crest. Doh!
That said, we had to drive point over the Rockies in a blizzard because none of the other vehicles, SUVs included could blaze a path on the highway with the confidence we could. They all had to drive in our treads (good thing the 430 has 275s!). The ML is a fantastic vehicle, but does require some teutonic TLC.
