Ferrari Mailing List: Re: Merc GL450

[E M (pokiebaron]

I have an old Mercedes 300E with 350,000 kms on it.  It's my daily driver,
lives outside in the freezing winters here, and starts first turn every
time.  Valves are wearing a bit now, alt was replaces 11 years ago, most
other things, other than just routine stuff is original.

I'm looking for another used E Class to replace this one, only because it's
getting a bit tired now.

Mercedes had a lot of electrical problems in the mid later 90s, largely due
to a biogradable wiring loom that did as the name implies, just did it way
early than it should have.  Most all of these issues have been addressed,
and quality for most of the newer models is again as expeced from Benz.

If you shop online for parts, many of them are quite affordable.

Ed
911SC

2009/2/24 <rolindsay [at] yahoo.com>

> Agreement and counterpoint:
>
> There's no doubt that the Japanese cars are rock-solid and dependable. And
> I would never own one. They have no soul.
>
> Rick
> Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: LS <lashdeep [at] yahoo.com>
>
> Date: Tue, 24 Feb 2009 14:19:42
> To: rolindsay<rolindsay [at] yahoo.com>
> Cc: <ferrari [at] ferrarilist.com>
> Subject: Re: [Ferrari] Merc GL450
>
>
> Indeed, this is the kind of stuff that I hear from two friends who broker
> highline imports. They do about 10-12 MBs a week (after not having done much
> of anything Q4 2008).
>
> You guys must have a high tolerance for pain.
>
> I would never, ever put up with the electrical (or maintenance) mess that a
> lot of the German car fanatics put up with. My Honda Odyssey daily driver is
> on another planet with regards to reliability.
>
> Then again, if an Audi S4 was my only car, I'd probably want it to satisfy
> a bunch of desires (fun, practical, etc.)
>
> But I don't need that for a daily...just need it to start every morning.
> And the Japanese (and *some* V8 powered domestics) are much better at that.
>
> I currently have seven vehicles to maintain...the other six are
> not practical daily drivers and, thus are hilariously fun. The last thing I
> need is for my daily driver to require anything beyond oil changes and air
> fresheners.
>
> Jim, is your wife looking for some extra effort for a daily driver? Or does
> she just want it to work right?
>
> LS
>
>
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: "JAshburne [at] aol.com" <JAshburne [at] aol.com>
> To: lashdeep [at] yahoo.com
> Cc: ferrari [at] ferrarilist.com
> Sent: Tuesday, February 24, 2009 4:56:49 PM
> Subject: Re: [Ferrari] Merc GL450
>
> I have never had a GL450 but I have had 4 ML versions going back to 1998 (2
> V6s and 2 V8s) and, while I have been happy with all of them for the most
> part, I would not want to own one that is not covered by a warranty.  I just
> get the feeling that the complexity of the electronics would get expensive
> very quickly if something goes wrong.  A friend of mine has an E Class car
> that needed a new climate control unit and it was very expensive to replace
> as the entire dash had to come out.  I don't know if that would apply to the
> GL but Mercedes-Benz vehicles are sophisticated and complicated and this is
> one area where their reliability has suffered in recent years.
>
> Another example, both of the V8s went through rear, that's right, rear
> brakes very quickly (less than 10K miles), which was very annoying to me as
> that was on my dime.  This was only on the V8s, the V6s were fine in this
> area.  I have no idea whether the larger GL series (all V8 only) has the
> larger rear brakes that the V8 ML series seems to lack but I would guess
> that it does given the larger size of the vehicle.
>
> Other than that, the ML series is very comfortable to drive, has good
> performance and has an outstanding traction control AWD system in my
> experience.  The Benz seems to lag behind the Japanese in terms of steering
> wheel controls.  The safety ratings in a crash are very good.
>
> I would guess that most of the pluses and minuses of the ML also apply to
> big brother GL series.
>
> As a serial owner, I guess that means that the pluses have outweighed the
> minuses, but I can't say that I haven't been tempted to look at the Lexus
> version.
>
> John
>
> In a message dated 2/24/2009 4:22:43 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,
> lashdeep [at] yahoo.com writes:
>
> Buy an extended bumper to bumper warranty...
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----
> From: "jimshadow [at] verizon.net" <jimshadow [at] verizon.net>
> To: LS <lashdeep [at] yahoo.com>
> Cc: The FerrariList <ferrari [at] ferrarilist.com>
> Sent: Tuesday, February 24, 2009 4:17:11 PM
> Subject: [Ferrari] Merc GL450
>
> Anyone own one or got an informed opinion?  Used prices are very attractive
> and its time to replace my wifes Honda Odyssey......
>
> Jim
> Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone with SprintSpeed
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