Merc ML worth buying or stay clear?
Discussion
Have been looking lately at buying an ML for the wife, as we could do with the extra room. I have heard various stories about dodgy build quality on late 90's early 2000's ML's. Will most of the glitches already be resolved on cars of this age or is it best just to stay clear and buy a higher mileage X5?
My 2001 270 cdi realy has been good . Never let me down, had very little other than routine servicing. This year at 180k miles it needed 2 new rear springs (one had cracked and had to replace the shockers at the same time) 1 bottom ball joint and one new injector. Still uses no oil between services and still transports 7 people in relative comfort, pulls the horse box with no problems and still looks fairly smart. It may not be the quickest or quitest 4x4 in the world but I would have another. I look forward to the next 180k miles in it.
Thanks for the replies, was actually looking at a 430 petrol and getting LPG conversion done. Not too concerned about it being lightning fast as I also have a 911 for fun, but 430 seemed to have enough overtaking power for everyday driving. Was expecting around 18mpg from it and with the LPG being half the price, would equate to around 36mpg. Would prefer the X5, but not many of them about for much less than ten grand, where I can pick up a decent 00- 01 ML for almost half that. Any big service intervals to be aware of? timing belt etc?
The 430 is not much worse han 320 on petrol and does perform much better.
There were 3 generations, with build quality improving each time and they were supposed to have 'cracked it' by the third one.
There are definitely some bargains out there!
There were 3 generations, with build quality improving each time and they were supposed to have 'cracked it' by the third one.
There are definitely some bargains out there!
Edited by BAHN-STORMA on Tuesday 30th September 15:22
Mine was horrible, didn't go, didn't handle and rattled, squeaked, groaned and didn't feel like a Merc at all. Only had it for a few months so not long enough to service it so can't add from that side. I got rid of it for a BMW if that helps. Personally I think there's a reason that they're cheap...
Ranger 6 said:
Mine was horrible, didn't go, didn't handle and rattled, squeaked, groaned and didn't feel like a Merc at all. Only had it for a few months so not long enough to service it so can't add from that side. I got rid of it for a BMW if that helps. Personally I think there's a reason that they're cheap...
True, dynamically they can't hold a candle to an X5.I get to drive a 2002 ML at work and its a horrid car (sorry to any owners posting).
Personally I like to drive and I steer clear of this thing unless its the only car left. The steering is terrible, no feed back whatsoever. When braking hard the ABS kicks in far too early and the tyres seem to grip and release on seemingly normal road surfaces making the front end twitch when braking moderately and above.
The seats are unsupportive and it wallows so badly around corners I'm pretty sure a galleon ship would out handle it. The interior is poor quality and there are so many dash warning lights it's like your on the starship enterprise.
The gear change takes forever when pressing on and even when using it in manual mode it doesn't react straight away.
The company had to have a new gearbox fitted to ours at 60000 miles (2 years ago) which allededly cost £7000. Not sure how much truth there was in that though. We also went through a period of 2 years between 2005 and 2007 where it was virtually in the Merc garage weekly being hooked up to a diagnostic computer due to electrical problems. Never did find out what was wrong although whatever was causing the problem seems to have rectified itself.
Why anyone would purchase one is beyond me.
I will say though that for just bimbling around and not having a care in the world (read driving like an old bloke in a Rover) its not bad.
The later ones (facelift) are meant to be much better.
Personally I like to drive and I steer clear of this thing unless its the only car left. The steering is terrible, no feed back whatsoever. When braking hard the ABS kicks in far too early and the tyres seem to grip and release on seemingly normal road surfaces making the front end twitch when braking moderately and above.
The seats are unsupportive and it wallows so badly around corners I'm pretty sure a galleon ship would out handle it. The interior is poor quality and there are so many dash warning lights it's like your on the starship enterprise.
The gear change takes forever when pressing on and even when using it in manual mode it doesn't react straight away.
The company had to have a new gearbox fitted to ours at 60000 miles (2 years ago) which allededly cost £7000. Not sure how much truth there was in that though. We also went through a period of 2 years between 2005 and 2007 where it was virtually in the Merc garage weekly being hooked up to a diagnostic computer due to electrical problems. Never did find out what was wrong although whatever was causing the problem seems to have rectified itself.
Why anyone would purchase one is beyond me.
I will say though that for just bimbling around and not having a care in the world (read driving like an old bloke in a Rover) its not bad.
The later ones (facelift) are meant to be much better.
I bought one at under 6 months old, late 2003 53 plate with 6k miles on it.
ML270cdi Inspiration.
Truly shocking car, rattled, squeaked and creaked.
The thing wallowed so badly I thought it was going to topple, and every passenger complained of feeling ill.
Looked nice though.
I managed to hold on to it for around 3 months, luckily I bought it right and got my money back from Sytners in a straight sale, well I lost £500, but most were up for sale at £5k more than I paid for it so if I had bought one of them I would have been gutted!!
Funny thing is, that car was £40k and the finance company had a balloon of £19k after 48 months, so it would have been sold a few months back if I had stayed in it. There are loads on Autotrader for under £10k at that age and spec. with similar mileages.
Oh, and I have a customer who has the V8, thought it was an ML500 though?? Anyway, he gets between 9-14mpg.
I used to get 17-24mpg in the diesel, so expecting to get 18 is a bit optimistic I reckon?
ML270cdi Inspiration.
Truly shocking car, rattled, squeaked and creaked.
The thing wallowed so badly I thought it was going to topple, and every passenger complained of feeling ill.
Looked nice though.
I managed to hold on to it for around 3 months, luckily I bought it right and got my money back from Sytners in a straight sale, well I lost £500, but most were up for sale at £5k more than I paid for it so if I had bought one of them I would have been gutted!!
Funny thing is, that car was £40k and the finance company had a balloon of £19k after 48 months, so it would have been sold a few months back if I had stayed in it. There are loads on Autotrader for under £10k at that age and spec. with similar mileages.
Oh, and I have a customer who has the V8, thought it was an ML500 though?? Anyway, he gets between 9-14mpg.
I used to get 17-24mpg in the diesel, so expecting to get 18 is a bit optimistic I reckon?
gizlaroc said:
Oh, and I have a customer who has the V8, thought it was an ML500 though?? Anyway, he gets between 9-14mpg.
I used to get 17-24mpg in the diesel, so expecting to get 18 is a bit optimistic I reckon?
The early V8s were the 430, changed to the 500 at the refresh, I think around 2001(?).I used to get 17-24mpg in the diesel, so expecting to get 18 is a bit optimistic I reckon?
Mine was doing around 12-18mpg (3.2 V6)
I've had mine for over 18months now (03 500) which has been LPG'd earlier this year and should have paid for itself by December 
It's never asked for anything other than servicing, brakes (they tend to eat them) and one new set of tyres so far (conti's seem to run better and for longer). It's about to hit 50k which means i've done over 15k in it myself.
It doesn't squeak, doesn't rattle, handles fine for a 4x4, is impressively quick for it's size and weight (check the stats) and holds a lovely 60+litre tank underneath for the LPG giving me good range.
I've got the 7 seat option and it's fitted with almost every option - it's a lovely car and considering i normally change things by 6 months, this one's a keeper!
I would say buy sensibly (meaning buy as late as possible) and these cars will run and run.
All IMHO option
It's never asked for anything other than servicing, brakes (they tend to eat them) and one new set of tyres so far (conti's seem to run better and for longer). It's about to hit 50k which means i've done over 15k in it myself.
It doesn't squeak, doesn't rattle, handles fine for a 4x4, is impressively quick for it's size and weight (check the stats) and holds a lovely 60+litre tank underneath for the LPG giving me good range.
I've got the 7 seat option and it's fitted with almost every option - it's a lovely car and considering i normally change things by 6 months, this one's a keeper!
I would say buy sensibly (meaning buy as late as possible) and these cars will run and run.
All IMHO option
My sister had a 1999 430 and it was pretty awful, she had it from 3 years old and it had to have the engine rebuilt under warranty at about 80,000, i can't quite remember the reason but it was something to do with the oil system.
The interior was terrible and just didn't feel like a Mercedes, cup holders breaking all the time, 'wood' inserts that creaked and felt like plastic.
Once the engine was rebuilt it was very smooth and felt powerful for a big car, although i think they look too jelly moulded.
I wouldn't have one but then it's not my type of car at all.
The interior was terrible and just didn't feel like a Mercedes, cup holders breaking all the time, 'wood' inserts that creaked and felt like plastic.
Once the engine was rebuilt it was very smooth and felt powerful for a big car, although i think they look too jelly moulded.
I wouldn't have one but then it's not my type of car at all.
gav2612 said:
Have been looking lately at buying an ML for the wife, as we could do with the extra room. I have heard various stories about dodgy build quality on late 90's early 2000's ML's. Will most of the glitches already be resolved on cars of this age or is it best just to stay clear and buy a higher mileage X5?
I'm in the same boat. Wife just about to have kid number two and she needs something a bit bigger (and wants a 4x4...).Have been looking into it and £6k does seem to buy a whole lot of year 2000 ML.
Going to look at one tomorrow.
Seems they weren't considered that great when they were new, so I'm not expecting things to be too much better eight years down the line - apart from the fact that I'm looking at paying about 20% of what it cost the first owner, so my expectations have been adjusted accordingly.
marc.l said:
rsstman said:
horrid car with such a bad interior for a supposed merc.
how many miles have you done in one ?Edited by rsstman on Sunday 5th October 12:33
I bought an ML 430 new back in 2000 for my wife. The car was great to drive, but God was it poorly built. Within the first days of ownership, the fault count was 18. This included the air-conditioning packing up, the drivers electric seat packing up, the rear view mirror dropping off, rust on all 7 seat frames and many more. It took 3 months of letter writing to Mercedes' UK MD, meetings with Mercedes Customer Service and the Dealer Principal to get a proper refund (I rejected the car within 7 days and they initially offered me £14k less than I had paid for it a week earlier).
However, saying all of that, cars now on the road, should have worked through most of their problems and I did enjoy driving it. Just go into it with your eyes open - they are cheap because of their reputation.
However, saying all of that, cars now on the road, should have worked through most of their problems and I did enjoy driving it. Just go into it with your eyes open - they are cheap because of their reputation.
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