Paul,

I got a great deal on my '98 ML in July 2000. It had 57,000 miles on it. It was well taken care of and the previous owner maintained all records. You are right, it appears that most ML owners are not Do It Yourself types. However, I owned a Jimmy 4 years and never took it to the shop. Personally, I enjoy doing the regular maintenance on all my vehicles.

I was quite surprised to find out how simple it was to do an ML oil change. It raised my curiosity about other maintenance items so I ordered the maintenance manuals direct from MB to see how simple it is to do other maintenance such as fuel filters and spark plugs. I think I will leave the big stuff to MB.

The ML appears to be a very reliable vehicle! Another reason we are not seeing much stuff on the ML is because the 3-year warranties and extended warranties are just beginning to expire since it was first introduced in 1998.