Rivelite

Good morning all,

Just wanted to drop a note to say how good the content and collaboration is here as I am trying to make it thru all of the pages here!! I am looking to make the move to downsize from a full size 2005 Escalade to a 2008 or later R-Class and and finding great advice on what to look for. I'm pretty mechanically inclined and only take the Esky to the shop when absolutely necessary to perform work on but I am no stranger to working on failed air ride suspension, brakes, audio and various sensors. I do need a third row for the 12 year old and the space behind the third row looks to be on par with what I have now. I see that the majority of the 2008-2011 R-350s I have interested me are at about the 100-115k mileage point with a sharp cost increase between the 2009/10 and the 2011/12. Seems like my best bang for the buck would be a 2009/2010 right at that 100-110k mark. Any thoughts on this? All manufactures have their caveats but is there any particular items that I should watch out for? There are quite a few you tube channels I watch that say stay away from MB vehicles do to their cost to fix but I take that with a grain of salt.

Thanks for reading and I look forward to adding some value to this forum myself in the future if I find the right R-Class!!!

Ray

gforaker

I'd say to stay with 2009 or newer. Most of the expensive problems were sorted out by then and the Command system is a little more modern, though still way behind new cars. I think 2011 and 2012 were updated a little and worth the extra cost. My 2010 has been pretty reasonable in reliability. Given the extra price of diesel fuel in the US, avoid a diesel. There is little to no fuel cost savings and they are more complex engines needing more service and repair. Just my opinion and others here may disagree, especially those living outside the US.

Rivelite

Good call on the diesel. For what ever reason diesel prices have been pretty high in relation to 91 gas here in Chicago and I don't think I'm ready to make the diesel jump just yet.

08_R350

Hello,

Congrats on doing some homework before the purchase. I didn't do that but still got lucky enough to get an 08 so I have avoided most of the hassles that are inherent with these cars.

I am a new owner to mine (1 month) and a new member here today. I do like our R350 (2008 with 124k miles). I will be swapping out the runner flap control with metal mechanism since I have a code but no CEL. I bought it because of our growing family and I hated cramming everyone in our 3 series.

Now we all ride in comfort. I would recommend one of these, after 2008.

Good Luck.