I'm thinking of purchasing an SUV. My natural choice would be a mercedes since I previously owned a 78 280E, 85 300SD, 91 420SEL, and currently own 97 E320.

My delima is that consumer reports gave the ML 320 an awful reliability forcast. This seems to be quite strange since my previous sedans were extremely reliable.

Insights and opinions on the ML 320 would be much appreciated.

Thanks
Richard

I have not seen the write up as of yet but do thank you for your question. I will need to reference the article and see how the reliability rating was obtained. I have seen very few reliabilty issues related with the M. I do think if you are expecting car like road feel out of a SUV the M is as close as you are going to get, but it isn't a Mercedes car. It is a truck.

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Benzmac:
ASE CERTIFIED MASTER AUTO TECHNICIAN
LEAD TECHNICIAN FOR 14 BAY FACILITY
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PARTNER IN MERCEDESSHOP.COM




[This message has been edited by Benzmac (edited 04-18-99).]

I read the same data that you did on the ML. My wife was looking for something to replace her BMW 3-series (NEVER DO THAT)and we looked at the ML.

We went ahead and purchased a brand new one ('99) about a month ago. My opinion on the "poor reliability" is that it's a first year problem. Afterall, the plant in Alabama was specifically opened to manufacture the ML. Add to that a brand-new design from the "ground up", and you have potential for first year problems.

Granted, I would assume that MB wouldn't encounter such "first year" problems as other carmakers do, but it appears they did.

The jury is out on ours (we've only got 750 miles on it), but it certainly seems to have all of the quality and workmanship of my C-Class. And she loves it.

I would be interested in hearing how your Benz's have stood up over time. I'm nervous because my C-Class just went out of warranty. Any $2,000 repair bills on the horizon?