WillieMack

Bought my wife a 14 ML350 a year and half ago for our two babies. Put 20,000 miles on it so far (67,000) as a daily driver and it has been reliable. Only scheduled service B maintenance done and stuck brake calipers replaced under CPO. CPO runs out june 2019. Are these ML350's well built for the long run? I'm trying to figure out if I should just pay it off and if it will be a fairly reliable for the next 8-10 years and I can take it to 200,000+ miles without any major issues. Or would, you trade it in for a 2014+ Lexus ES350? Looking for something reliable and decent on gas as I will be purchasing a larger truck.

peter2772000

Diesel or gas?

WillieMack

Gas. Averaging about 17mpg mixed driving.

peter2772000

Gas versions are relatively trouble-free compared to diesels. I'd hang on to it myself.

JDowney

Hi,

I have a ML 2013 Diesel with approx 50K miles, and have never had any problems with it; other than scheduled maintenance... Wife loves it!

Jeff

DanD.

Its all about how much money you are willing to lose ))
Our 2014 ML BT is losing about 1000$ usually more per month as Trade In value.

I do KBB screenshoots time to time to see how fast its falling. Car getting old, high maintenance cost on old cars and value very close to 0.

So, now I really considering leasing a GLC or any other.

pjw1967

We bought a '14 ML350 CPO 2 years ago with 30k on the clock. 2 years later@44K, it has been trouble free. It has options out the wazoo, so replacing it with a comparable new GLE will be very expensive. So we will extend the CPO warranty for the additional 2 years in March. BTW MPG at today's fill up was 19.3 (actual miles divided by gallons). It is only a 2 wheel drive model (4matic in the South is not so necessary). I suspect the reduced weight and reduced friction account for that nice number.

Diabolis

That is simply not true. While the crappy high-biodiesel-content fuel that is now widely used in a number of states in the USA does pose a number of challenges, the diesels are no less reliable than the gassers. If you live in a state where you are subsidizing corn farmers and are too cheap to pay for an additional oil change to the prescribed once-per-year minimum, then yes, a gasser may be a better choice for you. If you change the oil more frequently and/or live in a place where the biodiesel content does not exceed 5% (B5), then the diesels are easily just as reliable as the gassers if not more.

rostrom

I agree with peter2772000 that the M276 engine is rock solid. It will give many years of very reliable performance and is in a lot of models so parts are everywhere. DanD makes a good argument about trade-in value declining, but in my view once the value drops below $10k it levels off and you might as well keep it. This is the period of car ownership where you can put on a lot of miles and years without losing much value so the cost to you is very low. If you are the type that likes to have the latest model then doing a trade-in at peak residual value is smart. I own Mercedes because even at 10-12 years old they are really nice cars that perform and are reliable (in most cases) so I buy them 2 years old I keep them at least 10 years.

My vote is keep it.

WillieMack

WillieMack

pjw1967

Yikes. In addition to the '14 ML350 mentioned above, we also bought a '14 GL450 CPO a year ago with 43k on the clock. Coming up on 60k by the end of this month. Got new motor mounts awhile back but otherwise no real issues. Intend on keeping it and extending the CPO warranty.

C280 Sport

I would hang onto it. We have a 2015 ML350 4M with 27,000 miles on it. Plan on keeping this thing for over 200,000 miles at least. It is a basic N/A Engine, trans is nothing special and standard spring set up. Our car has P1 so nothing major to go wrong.

MBS430

even if when repair is needed, you can always go to MB indie shops. In my part of town (Portland, Oregon), there are at least 4 MB indies and they charge 25-30% less than dealer. My My indie does not charge $250 diagnose fee. If the car needs less than $3,000/year in repair, that's not too bad, is it? cheaper than new car payment/lease ... granted, you don't drive the latest shiny new MB ... my two cents