Mercedes R350 Reliability - What say hive?

I've been casually browsing craigslists for R350's for a couple reasons. Looking to Off the glass transmission Odyssey before it well, glass transmissions. Replacing it with another minivan is an option, but a boring one. On top of that, buying a minivan from craigslist is possibly the worst. I don't love the minivan experience, and I think the R is beautiful.

I found a 2007 R350 with 77k on it, with complete service records, new tires, new brakes, for under 8k. It's immaculate, and well taken care of. My excitement was reduced a bit when I just noticed its AWD. I live in Atlanta. There's no snow, no ice, and if there is, we shut down and act like the world is coming to an end.

Should I drop the R from my search list, or find one that isn't 4matic?

Out of the frying pan and into the pit of molten lava.

Flush the trans fluid, budget a couple thousand for the trans rebuild that you may eventually need (including the two "side" engine mounts that are far easier to replace with the subframe out), replace all of the idler pullies AND THE TENSIONER when you get the timing belt done every 90k (the tensioner is the first part to fail and should be the primary reason you're in there, not the belt) and recognize that you're on the far greener side of the fence, grass-wise.

OTOH I have customers with Odysseys with close to 200k with the original trans. And I know some people who can eat a torque converter every 60k like clockwork. So it has to at least partially be driver habit/maintenance habits. Ultimately, if YOU want a nice shiny Mercedes in the driveway, that's all the justification you really need. Just expect larger repair bills and more expensive maintenance. (The correct oil is more expensive than generic 5W20, for example, and there's a lot more of it, and the filter is pretty expensive too, and you really should ignore the Mercedes oil change interval since that was engineered to make people who lease for 3 years happy, not engineered for long engine life for people who plan on keeping the car.)

Can be good expensive to fix if the trans or engine garlic balancer gear go.

They drive very well on the highway but are pigs on gas. I would personally choose a suburban/yukon over one.

I think I need something with an engine garlic balancer.

Friend had a R500 purchased new for his wife and it bleed them to death in repairs. I looked at some of it and things like steering racks and pumps and electrics. All are 2-4K repairs every time. And the new car warranty was a joke. The dealer would always find some reason not to cover the problem. After two years and 20k of "normal" repairs per the dealer they bailed on it.

I am not sure I would want one if it is free. These things can suck money out of you like no other car that I have seen recently.

Are they still sold new?

dean1484 wrote: Friend had a R500 purchased new for his wife and it bleed them to death in repairs. I looked at some of it and things like steering racks and pumps and electrics. All are 2-4K repairs every time. And the new car warranty was a joke. The dealer would always find some reason not to cover the problem. After two years and 20k of "normal" repairs per the dealer they bailed on it. I am not sure I would want one if it is free. These things can suck money out of you like no other car that I have seen recently. Are they still sold new?

Only in China.

My E55 went through steering racks and pumps at an incredible rate as well but all under warranty and that car was gone the minute the warranty ran out.

We got an 06 R350 @ 7 years ago for my wife when our third child came along. It had 79K miles on it, so no warranty, but what the heck you only live once. As has been said they are great on the highway, ours has been to FL twice and Austin TX once from Ohio and everyone was comfortable. We get 16 to 18 mpg around town and mid to low 20's on the highway.

As to reliability, ours has not been bad and not too expensive as long as you stay away form the dealer. What Knurled said about the van is correct. 9 quarts of syn oil is not cheap and the filters are like $24 from NAPA last I checked but I can get them for $12 from the indi guy I have taken it to or $8 from Rockauto. I change it every 5K miles so yes that can get pricey. Ours had just 180K on it and I have done the serpentine belt, tensioner and idler pulleys once. With the v6 it is an easy job, lots of room. I am sure Knurled just mistyped, but they have timing chains not belts and if the oil is changed they should last the life of the car.

Aside from the normal stuff like brakes and such we have had some things that needed replaced and none of them have been cheap. The air compressor for the suspension died, one of the air lines was rubbing the body and got a hole in it and the pump burned out. I took it to and indi shop to get it fixed and the transmission fluid changed. That total bill was like $1800. That was in the first year we had the van. Then with about 100K miles on it I replaced all of the air springs. From the dealer the bags are stupid expensive, like $1500 for one front bag. I got all 4 from Arnott for less than that with a lifetime warranty. The last issue we had, and are still fighting, was in the intake manifold. My wife said that the car was driving "funny" so I hooked up my code scanner and found out it was missing on 3 cylinders, joy. After poking around on the web and looking at the motor it turned out to be plastic parts on the manifold that are known for getting brittle and failing. There are a few aftermarket parts made out of aluminum that fix the issue once and for all, at the same time I replaced all of the plugs and coils just because. To replace the broken part the intake has to come out and in putting it back together I messed up the intake and had to get a new one. From the dealer the intake was $2K but I got a new on off of ebay for @$600. The thing still has an slight, intermittent miss at idle that I have not been able to figure out yet.

Sorry for the wall of text. Here is my advice, shop wisely and maintenance parts are not too bad, it has not been bad to work on and to be in it is way nicer than any minivan I have ridden it. If you have any other questions let me know.

In reply to Rusted_Busted_Spit :

Hi your  post is very insightful. Thank you, I just got an r350 runs good but one side at the back is down any ideas thank you