R KLASSE

I’m saddened to report this but my wife and I traded our beloved ’08 R350 this past weekend, it has been a great aid within our household, toting the kiddo around and all his toddler gear, Costco runs, trips to our cabin in the snow etc.. but many of you might recall all the trouble I have had with this car in just one year of ownership, purchased CPO with 25K miles last year.

I took a huge hit, paid $31K CPO last year around Jan, Dealer was asking $42K but I had bought two benz's prior from them an '01 SL500 & '08 C300 and sent my dad to buy a 2010 E350. I traded the R in on a 2011 Subaru Outback Premium 2.5i CVT and got $27K for trade on my R350. Wife & I figured if we didn’t bail on it now we would never see this kind of return on this car and be out of warranty very shortly with enormous repair bills. The plus side is our Outback is roughly the same size cargo wise, just as comfy to ride in and as a bonus gets 30 mpg and doesn’t take premium.

I will still lurk from time to time as I have seen some of you have been through the same issues I had with my R350 jerking and rough 2-1 shifting transmission, power hatch that sometimes works sometimes doesn't, window regulators, check engine light, cam-shaft position magnets etc… so I will try to assist when I can. I haven’t given up on MB and can’t blame them as I got my R used (who knows how it was treated or driven before me) even though it had low milage and was in mint shape when I got it from a Mercedes dealer a year ago. I just need a breather from expensive German cars for awhile.

Thanks to all of you in advance for all the help you have given me on trying to sort out my car over the past year and best of luck with your cars.

-Ryan

AsianR350

Congrats to the new 2011 Subaru.

I bought brand new 08 R350 in May 08 and paid $41,000.(Was $51,000)
Currently, it has 14,900 miles on odometer and I still love it.
Bought 20" OEM rims and I did not have a chance to put them on my R yet.

lsl73

i am so sorry you had to let it go i just bought one this month so far no worries but i have only own it for 2 weeks

R KLASSE

Congrats on your new car, that diesel should be great. In hind site if I had stepped up and got a diesel I probably would be keeping the car.

chilledbenz

You didn't mention your mileage at trade in on the R, but it sounds like you got market value. Kelly Blue Book has dealer trade in value for an 08 with 40k miles at $27k.

On the other side, the Outback is a good ride..Motor Trend sport utility of the year for 2010. And in the current issue of Motor Trend there is a great article about an Outback...in the Outback. They take an Outback to Australia and put it through its paces going through mud rutted 4 wheel drive only roads to crossing streams...and it never misses a beat.

R KLASSE

Oh.. Sorry I had 44K miles on the R when I traded it in. As an FYI though I took it to three different Subaru dealers, two said they couldn't even take it because it would be to hard to sell on their lot as a quote "unusual vehicle" I even tried to explain that it was basically like a Subaru Tribeca but a little longer and more luxurious. They said we would be happy to take it but since they would have to wholesale it out they could only give me about $18K for it. Since we weren’t even talking the same language I left.

My wife had the idea of taking it to a Subaru dealer out in the country where they probably wouldn't know to much about the vehicles. That’s what we did. I told them I wanted what Kelly Blue Book says a "Good" under trade in to be fair with the dealer and they said no problem. I also got invoice pricing for my Outback, going on the day of the super bowl when nobody else came in to buy a car helped a lot . Sticker was $31,700 I left the dealer for $27,200 + Lic & tax. Lowered my insurance, gas bill and car payment with one shot.

Cal

$4K loss for a little over 1 year of ownership and 19K miles of driving the R350?!? That's not a "huge hit". I think you did great. I'd gladly pay $4k a year to drive an MB that much. Congrats on the new Subaru.

supernsx

$4K is definitely not a hit at all. Do you have an example on which car depreciate less than that for one year ownership?

Btw, good luck with Outback.

jlbunting

Funny. I sold my Outback and got my R350. I have actually had great luck with my 2006 R350. I heard the guy who bought my Outback had issues. I wish you good luck.

marcboxx

We just did the same thing trading our fully loaded '06 R350 w/ 89k this week on an '05 Cayenne S w/ 79k miles. With the issues relating to the Cam gear, transmission control module, front air suspension, and potentially leaky pano-roof, not to mention the class action lawsuit against Mercedes, we decided to not take any chances. We got $16,250 from the dealer toward the $19,900 we still owed, but we got a good deal on the Cayenne as it is loaded with all options minus the Turbo. Very solid ride compared to the air suspension we had on the R350.

marcboxx

BTW.....we have the cargo / pet mesh partitian we are interested in selling along with the passenger side inner wheel well fender if anyone would like to take off our hands.

Zoweee

just traded our 2006 r500 for a 2011 Outback Limited....love it and the gas mileage from the 2.5i.....interior has similar appearance to our R and road noise is minimal.....hope you are enjoying your outback as well.

R KLASSE

Absolutely love it, we don't even miss the size difference because the new Outback is soo big anyway. I also love the extra ground clearance, used to get the R high-centered easily on snow drifts pulling out of our cabin, the Outback just plows through them now.

Suprisingly the seats are just as comfy if not more so according to my wife. Our R-Class was the 3.5 V6 and in my opinion always felt a little sluggish. This makes the four cylinder in the Outback feel "quick" I'm courious what you think of the 2.5i in your Outback after coming from the V8 in the R? You are right the gas milage is amazing for something basically the size of an ML. Our last road trip I got 34 mpg taking it easy. In town I useually get about 21-22 ish, so far still tight as a drum, I can't tell you what the service dept is like because the car refuses to go back unlike my R that never wanted to leave the dealer service dept

Yang1815

That is awesome.

I told my better half that if the R starts giving us problems then I am trading it in for a WRX station wagon.

I love Subarus.