Mercedes ML 390?

"Hamtractor" (johnny-bullet) 06/02/2020 at 20:08 • Filed to: None

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Opponauts... my daughter is looking a for a reliable ride for $4k. She actually wants a Camry, lol... but my buddy who works at a stealership just took a 2005 ML 390 one-owner, 106k miles on trade in, and he’ll get us employee pricing, so we’d be out the door for around $4200... tell me about maintenance costs, known issues, etc...

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Hamtractor 06/02/2020 at 20:28

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I don’t know much about them but 106k seems like light use spread across 15 years. Could be worth it if you aren’t afraid of replacing a few big ticket items up front.

There are lots of options in that price range but almost none of them will not require some investment for a trouble free future. One car that can slip through the cracks is the Chevy Cruze. The 1.4 engine was not very reliable but the less common 1.8 (mostly on LS trims) offered near identical performance and is pretty bulletproof. Supposedly the transmissions are a weak point but I’ve not had much trouble with my 120k mile 1.8 auto example, bought two years ago for $4,900. They are hard to get at 4k but won’t need much more and parts are cheap and available. Not to mention the 5 stars on the small front overlap crash test isn’t common at all on this end of the market.

https://asheville.craigslist.org/cto/d/hendersonville-2012-chevy-cruze-less/7124801856.html

fintail > Hamtractor 06/02/2020 at 20:32

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ML350 - that year is the final run of the W163, the original ML. As W163s go, I think that’s the year to have, but tread with caution - I’d want a PPI at the very least, and a good shop can give you hints about running costs.

It won’t be like a Camry where you more or less just change the oil and add gas other than consumables every several years.   It’ll have MB running costs even if nothing breaks.  

415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) > Hamtractor 06/02/2020 at 21:19

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Well that Merc will be a lot more money to maintain than a Camry over time for sure . Honda or Toyota products for less, I always have one of the two for a DD. 

pip bip - choose Corrour > Hamtractor 06/03/2020 at 04:32

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run

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > Hamtractor 06/03/2020 at 09:24

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350* as fintail said. Honestly the biggest thing you need to worry about is keys. How many working fobs does it have? Are they in decent physical condition inside and out? If it’s got less than two and they’re not in good condition, walk away. This might sound ridiculous but you can’t get new keys for them anymore. The company that made them went under. You can only get a “Mickey mouse” key, which is just a mechanical blade basically with a chip for the ignition. Those work, but fuck all that. Then there’s the fear of all the key tracks being used up. You can only program, at most, 24 keys (8 tracks, 3 per track ) to these and for some reason that seems to happen a lot where all of those slots get used up on 163's. This is a normal setup for MB, but other models doing stuff to have the issue of running out of key tracks.

Engine and trans should be pretty solid, but there are some normal items. Valve cover gaskets and rear main will likely leak, but they often won’t even leave drops on the driveway. Crank sensor and MAF might need doing at some point, actually I’d do the crank sensor preemptively, they’re easy. Trans services are very important, every 4 years/40k miles. And do the electrical connector at the same time because those leak, they’re very cheap.

Otherwise, if it’s been reasonably well cared for, it should be fine. They don’t eat through tires very fast, or brakes, and those are normally priced compared to many other vehicles. Sometimes these will get blend door motor issues that cause climate control system temperature setting trouble. But that’s mostly 90's models, and even still not crazy common.

It’s a fifteen year old car, so things like water pump, hoses, coolant reservoir, radiator are all possible, especially if it lived in a hot climate.

These drive like a truck, but I personally really like them. 2005 is by far the best year. But a Camry, especially if that's what she wants, is probably the smarter choice.

Hamtractor > Hamtractor 06/04/2020 at 13:12

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So we found a meticulously maintained (through three owners and 180K miles, ALL recommended services and intervals at the same dealership ) 2005 Camry. Brand new tires, s potless in and out, even the factory wheels are completely free of curb rash! Best part? Dude had is advertised for $4200, managed to get it for $3700. Leather, auto, all the finest accouterments from 2005.  Pretty stoked she got a good car, her last car was a 2004 Grand Am...