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Comments
Steve, Host
The Parktronic only activates when the car is in first gear or reverse (maybe there is a speed sensor too). Anyway, if there is snow, mud, or any other debris on the bumper, the Parktronic will not work properly. You have to keep the bumpers clean.
A funny thing happened, when I was backing in my garage the other day, I noticed that the rear indicators lit up suddenly without warning me about what was behind the vehicle. I hit a wooden box in my garage and was shocked that the Parktronic didn't work (no damage to vehicle). Well, I found out why. A friend of mine who has an S500 with Parktronic parked in my garage and the same thing happened on that car... it didn't work.
When I was at Costco I bought those electric bug things that gives off a signal that only bugs and rodents can hear.... well, it apparently effects Parktronic. Once I unpluged the "debugger", the Parktronic resumed normal operation.
Mark
Currently, ML430 drivers are leading in their Class again in the 2003 Paris to Dakar race. And, things are looking good: they have won that race for the last couple of years and I read that about half of the entries in this year's race had already fallen out as of the stage 12 but all 14 or so ML430s were still in the race.
MB M-Class Owners: Problems & Solutions
Steve, Host
I just got it back from a B service and noticed that they didn't change either the brake fluid or coolant. I went back through the service records and it appears they haven't done either of these fluid changes in the two A and two B services since the truck was new.
These are supposed to be done on calendar time rather than miles - I think one is every two years and the other is every three.
Is anyone else having the dealer do these services under the free maintenance program?
FWIIW, I got 25K out of the front brake pads and 40K out of the rear.
- Mark
Did have two minor problems that the dealer corrected when I got it. The radio head was not sending a good "wake up" signal to the CD changer in back. You'd press CD and it would say "No CD player installed," which was wrong. So the dealer promptly put in a new MCD/radio. Works great now.
The other problem was a little more interesting. Prior to my purchasing it, they had 'cannibilized' the antennae lead for the Teleaid ant to fix another car quickly. When they tried to get a new lead from MB, MB said no, they had to get the whole harness. Despite the dealers arguement with MB, MB insisted. So, they replaced the entire interior wiring harness this week. Seemed like the long way around, but everything seems to be working - for how long, we'll see.
http://www.imakenews.com/autospies/e_article000105067.cfm
Now your post has got me thinking if might be the board under the hood or something. Any further details that you can provide about the noise like where it was coming from, etc. would be very helpful. The dealership folks are dumb and are usually not very helpful.
Thanks,
--Bon Bon
Hatch lock somehow locked itself when upright, in that the lock moved from the accepting position to it being locked. Thus the Hatch would not lock. A few tries with the fob to activate the lock did not work, and eventually quit activating the hatch, but the rest of the locks work. I figured carefully how to reset the lock and it closed and locks. Now it won't open, it stays locked. I noticed the solinoid is just to the left of the first aid kit, but Im not messing with it. When I lock (using the fob) the truck, the lights on the outside do not flash now, and the overhead light does not turn off automatically.
It would appear the truck does not think the hatch is closed.
Did I: Blow a circit or fuse? (I doubt one would be dedicated to such a small function, or part of the locking system)
THe manual latch both inside and out are just dead. By that They just are limp when pulling on them. I thought I did not force anything at any time. I Perhaps a rod or latch un did itself, but one would think the motor would still try itself, unless it is just jammed?
My ll year old simply put his book bag and closed it. 10 min later I put my briefcase in and when I closed it, it just would not latch itself. Amazing what children can do!
Any ideas for self fix before I engage the talents of others at $75 per hour???
After saying "no!" to the MB extended warranty (can still change my mind I suppose) because of its
1. High cost - about 7% of the vehicle's retail and
2. limited coverage - most of the electronics are not covered - e.g. radio head, etc.
I'm wondering if anyone else on this forum has any recommendations of third party warranty companies. We have a "Royal" warranty on our mini-van and have had little issue with claims with them (over $2500.00 so far) but I'd like to hear about other options - or who I might want to steer clear of...
Steve, Host
I'd strongly caution you to think long/hard about buying a Touareg in the first model year, especially if you are someone who doesn't want to deal with lots of service trips to get stuff fixed. It's got tons of strikes against it: 1) first year, 2) completely new platform, 3) extremely complex electrical systems, 4) German SUVs have a terrible history of first year problems, especially electrical (ML and X5), and 5) recent VW's have had sub-standard reliability in general.
But I'd also be very hesitant about buying a new ML in 2005. Wait a year and the odds improve dramatically.
Reliability wise, the state-of-the-art SUVs of choice today are (unfortunately) the GX470/4-Runner and Pilot/MDX. I say "unfortunately" because I much prefer the design of the German SUVs, but I would never buy a first-year model.
- Mark
Any talk of a hybrid power plant, or is Mercedes leaning more toward the fuel cell for the future power plants?
All in all, time is on my side (I may not purchase for quite sometime), so I'll just sit back and see how things develop.
Considering several options:
ML 350 looks nice but dealers are not discounting much - normal. They are saying about $1500.
Still some ML 320's out there - both 2002's and 2003's and there is evidently hidden $1500 factory money, on top of what you could normally negotiate with dealer
Currently in mix on my radar screen:
2002 - ML 320 with and without Xenon
2003 - ML 320 with and without Xenon.
Local dealer has 2 cars which were driven as Rep and demonstrator cars, he is trying to sell as "new" with a little more discount.
2002 ML 320 with Xenon lights and 16000 miles
2003 ML 320 with Xenon lights and 9000 miles.
I am about to make offer on the 2003, as a "used" auto and "used" pricing, on condition he Starmark Certify it, and give me 2 years extended warranty.
Any thoughts on these cars, and this approach?
If he doesn't take the offer, then I will look at "new" 2003 ML 320's at other dealers. Have selection of Xenon and not Xenon. Is the extra $ for the Xenon worth it? Or is it just about $850 for a gizmo to show off?
Lastly I will look at 350's, but was looking more strongly at 320 because the pricing.
Any thoughts would be appreciated.
mvhanson
Edmunds' Incentives page says the dealer incentive is $2,000 on the ML320, not $1,500.
The ML350 will probably sell for only $500 above invoice in a lot of places soon if it isn't already -- any price spike is due to it being "new."
Remember that the spread between invoice and MSRP for MB vehicles is not very much (especially compared with Lexus), so there's a bit less room to discount. But also remember that you're dealing with a vehicle in its last model year, whose supply is good and sales have been weakening, and incentives have been readily available. Thus you should get an excellent price on a still-excellent vehicle.
Good luck.
I am centrally located to be able to trade anywhere from Minneapolis, to Chicago, Kansas City, Omaha and Lincoln, as well as good old Des Moines - whose dealer has a reputation for not negotiating much at all because he thinks he is the only game in town.
thanks
mvhanson
mvhanson
But we really don't know and maybe the Touareg will break the pattern. It would be too risky for me, but what is life without some risks? It's just a car and the warranty and lemon laws give you something of a safety net. Certainly the initial reviews of the Touareg sound like it is a great SUV.
When I bought my 2000 ML320, I based my decision on getting the SUV I wanted, and was willing to put up with some glitches. With 40K, the truck has settled down without any recent problems, although I'm still hesitatant to take it out of the warranty period. I'll probably get a Pilot in the next year, but if the truck has another good year, maybe I'll solider on - I really, really like design of the ML and the way it bridges between a rugged, tow-worthy, off-road worthy truck and a well-mannered highway car.
Good luck with your decision.
Here is a site that has some shots of the new ML. I have no idea if they're accurate or not.
http://www.whnet.com/4x4/w164.html
- Mark
The squeak started a year after I took delivery. So, I was surprised that it came after 12,000 miles of driving. My selling dealer told me there was a bulletin on the dash squeak that required some welding to be done under the windshield wiper area. He told me that it was located where the A pillars meet the fenders and the metal from the lower windshield area.
The squeak sounded like it was the rubber part all across the bottom of the windshield. I too, couldn't pin point the exact spot.
After the fix was done, I drove back to my other home 1,800 miles away for the winter. To my surprise, it squeaked again but not as bad and more towards the passenger lower windshield. I was livid!!
Once I reached my winter destination, I called my local dealer and explained what my purchasing dealer did to the vehicle. They seemed unaware of the bulletin. Also, the squeak only happened when I was on the interstate and not in the city. I thought I was going to pull my hair out driving on long stretches of concrete pavement. It was worse when I drove over the expansion joints. It made a nice rhythem though!!!
The second dealer kept my ML for about 3 days and could not duplicate the squeak. (how frustrating is that!) So, they suggested I take the service manager for a ride to see if I could make it happen. We drove for over 50 miles on all kinds of pavement/bumps, etc. It didn't make one single squeak. So, my guess is, is that it settled down and hopefully will not come back.
People were flashing me all of the time so I took my ML back to dealer where they were adjusted. No flashing since.
Mark
Has anyone else on the board experienced this squeaking problem ? It seems as if it comes from behind the NAV LCD but could be somewhere else too in that area. It drives me nuts that constant sqeak, squeak, squeak... all the time. It sounds as if there are two rubber parts rubbing against each other.
One other member (Thor, I guess) suggested that we should ignore these noises and focus on the quality of the vehicle. Sorry but I cannot. It drives me nuts and I would like to get it fixed if I can. I also own a lexus RX 300 and it is now four years old but still puts ML 500 to shame when it comes to noise level inside the vehicle. Otherwise I have no other complaints with the ML and its a 02 ML 500 with 9000 miles on it now.
I too have a 99 RX300 (wife's) and a 99 ML430. The RX's quality is far superior, but I tolerate my squeaky, quirky ride because it far outperforms the Lexus in accelerating, handling and fun to drive categories.
I tried relentlessly to get the dash fixed by the dealer and had them take it apart on several occasions. They lubricated and attached felt on several contact points. It has improved, but on a really cold morning, any decent bump at low speed will bring it out.
Like many here, I am probably more frustrated with the Dealership and Mercedes response than the actual vehicle. I expected some quirks, but thought I would have a reputable company to back up the vehicle. No such luck.
I shot an offer on the 2003 ML320 Rep driven car with Xenon. Ball is in his court. We'll see.
mvhanson
Wally
After market wiring just for 4-pole would be one of the directly battery driven relays. But I wonder if there would be trouble in electric feedback and sensor systems.
I'm picking up a 2003 ML 320 on Sat, with a dealer installed hitch. I just couldn't get excited about an after market job.
mvhanson
Thanks
The other item is a 22ft fishing boat on tandem axles, is over 5000lbs no problems either, many times I get in a steep boat landing I use the low range, the truck handles beautifully, one good thing about the ML is that short overhang on the rear placing the hitch close to the axle, as you know the closer you are to the axle the less swaying a trailer will do, providing you trailer and load is properly balanced.
The ML 500 has a bigger and torquier engine and bigger disks in the brakes. I used to be into horses, I will go by memory and say a tandem axle two horse trailer depending on the build and brand is between 1200 and 1500lbs and a horse is between 900 to 1100lbs for a big horse, everything below tow rating.
To summarize you have a vehicle that is more than what is needed.
If it makes you feel better I took this picture at the factory, very few SUV's will have a beefy transmission like this. Press HI RESS for better viewing.
http://www.funtigo.com/MLtransmission
The ML does well. I'm especially impressed with the flexilbility of the engine and transmission. The body-on-frame construction lends a little peace-of-mind as well.
As you approach the towing limit of 5K lbs, I'd start getting a little nervous - I'd really prefer something like a Suburban or heavy-duty pickup based platform for this. But if you are conservative in your driving, have good trailer brakes and hitches, etc. you should be fine.
I'd never go over 5K though and I don't think the V8 buys you the ability to tow more - just tow with less effort and strain by the engine.
- Mark
Steve, Host
tidester, host
Do you have another dealer to go to? This one sounds incompetent.
- Mark
You mention that your dealer "proceeded to replace the cat converters..." did this help the situation?
As far as other comments posted, clogged converters can cause trouble in the engine. Too much backpressure in the exhaust will cause less than ideal clearing of the gasses in the chambers which could result in some misfiring or other trouble. A friend of mine had a T-bird that was running reliably and then over a week's time it became almost impossible to drive. Interestingly it idled OK - just did not want to accelerate. Replacement of the converter solved the trouble right away. The mechanic said the issue might have been some "bad" gas or simply that the converters got too clogged for the engine to run any more. The car in question was at 102K at the time.
I have a ML350 and I am finding it difficult to get the gas nozzle into the filler neck properly in cold weather. I'm currently on a trip in Ohio and they, as do other states, have emmission control gas pumps as well as pumps with the "splash-back" protector on the nozzle. In cold weather these rubberized plastic devices might as well be made of steel as they are difficult to bend and sometimes will just not allow you to put in the pump's nozzle all the way into the filler neck. And if you do manage to get it in all the way, getting it back out can be harder. When it's 3 degrees F with a 20mph wind blowing the last thing you want to do is take your gloves off to bend back the pumps splash-back protector so you can put gas in the truck.
I'm thinking all of this stress on the fill neck housing can't be good for it and I'm wondering if other's have had this issue and if so, what they could suggest to help mitigate the problem - if anything.
As much as this beast wants to go to the gas station : ) one would have thought access to filling the fuel tank would be a little easier. To me, it looks like tilting the angle on the filler-neck outboard just a couple of degrees would help a lot - but I'm sure there is more to it than that.
The first time it snapped off I didn't know why. After the dealer fixed it under warranty I noticed it was much harder to get the gas nozzle in. When I really pushed it in one time, I watched the tab break off and realized the car isn't built to accomodate that nozzle collar.
Losing the tab does not reduce the gas door locks efficiency so I didn't have it fixed again. I am sure many others have broken it off without realizing what they did.
I hope that this helps.
Wally
A bigger problem than VW quality is their dealer network. More than a few of the VWOA dealers are very substandard and have very poor service departments.
The Touareg is a very interesting looking vehicle, but I'd wait a year at least. Let them get the bugs out first. And maybe by then VWOA will have improved the dealers.