Mercedes 350 ml 2006 .

[gtfpv]

a friend said he has put a dep on one at a sydney auction .
apparantely its silver with leather and has 83000km on it .
price $30,000.
not knowing anything about these cars . What do you guys think ?
trouble ? good buy? problems? bad choice ? good choice ?
8 years old ? should he have bought a new suv for 30- 35k ?

his worried there may be something wrong with it as being at the auction it's undriven for test drives etc .

can anyone find the link to this car for me . and give your OPINION ? CHEERS THANKS .

[Polyal]

For $30k your safer in terms of risk with a 12month old Tez.

Buying a cheap euro can be hit and miss, and when you miss it hurts dearly and you should have just bought a new Tez instead with warranty.

[gtfpv]

Thanks Polyal . It's not me . i would buy the 12 mth old Tez privately at that , or dealer . not auction , and not euro .

[Polyal]

yeah its hard because you look at the quality, and they are usually nice, they typically use less fuel and I guess you get a bit of brand power aswell.

But if you are using it as a family bus well Im not sure if there is value there. Parts just hurt and then if its a major repair you want to take it to a specialist and not Ultra-tune. Well thats just me.

[Rodge]

Much will depend on how well the Mercedes has been serviced.

If the 7G Tronic gearbox hasn't had a full servcie since new tell your mate to do it straight away.

Big risk buying any vehicle of that age at auction without a full independent mechanical inspection and proper test drive but if its been maintained properly in my experience Mercedes-benz are extremly well engineered vehicles and he should be okay with the usual caveat over servicing and spare parts prices. (I presume he was knowledge about servicing costs going into this).

I believe the leather in that model is a man made artico leather look-a-like but it wears quite well from what I've heard.
The little 3.5 naturally aspirated petrol Mercedes engine has a good reputation for reliability according to my Mercedes-benz dealer but is an unloveable modest torque unit in my opinion.

[FG50T]

30k isn't worth buying it un-driven though? If he was in Vic he actually probably overpaid for it.

They're good but expect some creaks. Not spectacular on fuel but have a 100L tank, don't handle well, does ride well, have a few small problems that can come up. The sunroof seal might fly off the roof with the roof open one day and the engine light to come on with a balance shaft problem that costs $7k to fix. Tell him to check to see if the engine number starts with 272 or 273.

[gtfpv]

which one is known to have engine faults , 272 , or 273 , or both ?

[stevz]

I was recently a passenger in a 2011 model and I couldn't get over how cheap and nasty the interior was for a Merc. I had high expectations but came away very disappointed.

[2Fordfanz]

Originally Posted by gtfpv

which one is known to have engine faults , 272 , or 273 , or both ?

The 272 is a v6. 273 is a v8. It's a 272 issue. The balance shaft issue is few and far between but big $$$ if it happens. I work for merc and wouldn't touch one with a barge pole.

[2Fordfanz]

Also should add the 273 v8 engine is known for the same issue worldwide . I have not personally seen a 273 failure though.