Double Eagle

I have had many SUV's over the years and would definitely get the hitch even if you don't tow. I currently own a 2001 Yukon Denali which has a powerful engine and includes the hitch as standard. Last year, it got hit in the rear in stop and go traffic on the I-5 by a large Ford E-150 Pickup with a custom bumper. His vehicle had the entire front bumper knocked off and it punctured his radiator. He had to be towed away. He accepted full resposibility for hitting our SUV. The Yukon had two minor paint blemishes on the bumper and no strucural damage at all. The hitch took most of the impact. You never know when you might need to tow something and it will definitely help in resale, in my opinion.

I'm looking at possibly getting a new ML500 to replace our Yukon but not sure if the rear storage area will be big enough for us to carry my wife's paintings and display grids to shows. The earlier Ml's had major design faults from seat folding mechanisms to small carrying capacity but hope this new design is better. My wife and I will both be driving them on Friday here in Southern CA at the El Tore rally. The last time we did this we bought a new E-500 to replace our older model E-320.

I'm dissapointed to see the MBUSA web site doesn't list specifications for the new ML. The inability to say if the off road package will be sold in the US is also a MAJOR error by MBUSA. Consdiering the many problems with the early model 2003 E's and terrible reliability on the first ML's, I may "wait and see" before ordering an ML even if the cargo capacity is big enough.