2006 Mercedes-Benz M-Class ML 350 from North America - Comments

The vehicle gave me an oil lamp warning a week after I got it home. The oil was low and the dealer placed oil in it for free. The lamp came on again a week later and the oil was low again. The problem has not came back since.

The parking lamp bulbs keep blowing out. Each time they blow out I must wait two hours to have MB service replace them.

The SUV caught my eye when I purchased it. It was one of the first 2006 ML's on the road. It is comfortable and quick. The dealer service is terrible and the scheduled services are way too expensive. BMW did not charge for the first few scheduled services and they continue not to charge.

"BMW did not charge for the first few scheduled services and they continue not to charge."

Isn't this review supposed to be a review on the 2005 Mercedes-Benz M-Class ML 350?

Unfortunately, I believe many of these "reviews" are from other car manufacturers.

Just look at all the negative comments on the ML-series, it's been spammed due to the lack of verification of ownership.

I have read all the comments and think everybody had similar problems. I see positive comments only from new, little used owners. These seem to be genuine problems..

Unfortunately, the pre-2005 M-Class had many engineering and quality problems. DaimlerChrysler's problems weren't only limited to the M-Class, with the A and C-Class models suffering in terms of build quality and reliability during the cost cutting days.

Well our family has an ml 500 2004. the teal blue colour that seems to grab everybodies attention. it's a very good car. specially for the winter. one of the problems that I have with it..its that it drains too much gas, it keeps on eating and eating, and most of the parts are expensive for it, I broke the side mirror on my 2001 ml320 and the part was very expensive. and the new generations of MLS are by far the nicest bodies I have ever seen.

I think if you buy a two tonne vehicle with a five litre V8 engine, you really have to expect high fuel bills. Maybe the diesel next time...

I agree, this site seems to dispropotionately have the ML in a negative light.

Go to other owner-written reviews online (like epinions) and you'll see that the 2002+ models were rated much more favorably than you see here. It is suspicious.

It's human nature, people who are irate about their MB "experience" will vent here to prevent someone else from experiencing the same problems. If their experience is a positive one, well that was the expectation, so nothing to report.

The people with the negative complaints are more than likely real, and they are trying to help. The trick is to get the happy consumers to report here too.

Many happy customers write their experiences on carsurvey. org too. Just look at the Toyota Echo/Yaris section or Hyundai Getz where it's nothing, but smiles.

The pre 2005 M-Class was a failure for Mercedes. Dedicated sites such as benzworld. org have forums full of owners experiencing the same common quality problems. The M-Class consistently featured in the bottom 10 of the BBC Top Gear car survey.

If you really want to see an unhappy review check out the new review on the ML350, though I believe the owner means a ML500.

I own an ML350.. I am a genuine owner.. and I couldn't give my car away if I wanted to.

I currently have my car stored in my garage cos the transmission went out, and I can't afford the $9K for a new transmission or $6K to rebuild this one. Look me up on ebay.. going to start parting it out this month.

The car - if it was running, would net me about $4500 on trade. That's not even close to the $8K I have already spent fixing things on it since purchasing (second owner, bought with 38K on the clock.. now sitting at 91K). Maybe I got a lemon.. maybe it's common to have problems with these cars.. I don't know. I bought a Civic (a 1999 model with 201K miles on the clock) for $1600 about 2 years ago (when this ML first started becoming majorly unreliable). I now have 280K miles on the Civic - original transmission and engine and it runs like a dream. Only did oil changes on it. My dad said Mercedes used to be built like this as well. Wonder what happened to them?

I bought my ML350 2006 fully loaded for over $50,000 late in 2005. I was the only owner of this auto. I am still making payments, and last Friday 10/09 I notice the car was not performing the way it always do. There seems to be oil leaking, but I was not sure were, so I took it to the dealers, and they diagnosed the auto and found out I need a manifold and new plugs plus other little parts. The final cost was over $3000.00. I told them to go ahead and fix it.

They called me later to inform me that it was now in top condition and I will not have another problem any time soon with the engine. So I took it home on Friday of the same week. By Monday it failed and broke down for the first time since I owned it. I called them and they told me to bring it in. When I brought it in, they told me it needed a new engine, which the cost would be over $11,000.00.

I asked them what about the warranty on the worked that was done. They told me that was already done, and if I can't pay to get the new engine, then I could come and tow it back to my location. I was not allowed to get a refund or nothing.

So I will be taking this further and I hope if other people complain to the proper authority. If this was done we would not be ripped off. I am doing this to prevent others from going through this again.

Please contact me if you have similar problems with any other dealers. We as citizens should not allow dealers or anyone to rip us off like this.

Please do not shut up! If you do they will continue to rip off the consumer.

Take action, my email is charm3bran@aol.com, send me your comments.

I posted my comments over a week ago regarding a complain that I had with the Mercedes dealers.

I end up being a happy customer after posting such complain.

The company contacted me and decided to put in a new engine free of charge.

Thank you Mercedes! This shows that there are still honest people around in every company that is against injustice.

My voice was heard! Thanks to the website for posting my complaint, keep doing a good job. Consumers, continue letting your voice be heard, don't shut up, speak out for justice and equality.

charm3bran@aol.com