Sisters really getting tired of her ML
 

Ok, so my sister has a 2003 ML 320. and she is about to give up on it and settle for *gasp* a chevy or some other cheeper car.:confused: Ever since she graduated college she has driven nothing but BMW's but when she met her husband, he wanted her driving Mercedes. So she has a couple c230's and i think an e320, but in 2003 she got her ML and its only 4 years old, and a week or so ago, the power steering hose broke. Since she is an executive of a rather large company and had a big meeting to go to, she had no choice but to drive her ML to the meeting (about 35 miles away) with NO POWER STEERING! the MB tech at the steelership told her that this is commen with the ML's and the MB should have a recall on this. Well today im at work and she calls me. (she is also my head boss at my company :D) when i answered the phone, the first words that came outa her mouth were " so much for german engineering". and then informed me that the ML has once agian broke down. Its making this high pitch whinning noise when its running. My brother in law drove it to the grochery store (since my sister had his trail blazer) and he said it drove thier and back ok but the noise was even worse.even though the store is like litterly a block away. Long story short the VIce president of the whole company is comming tomorrow, my brother in law is a lawyer in chicago and needs his car, so hopefully the MB dealer is open tomorrow since its martin luther kings B-day. she's gonna try and get it over thier (about a 15 mile drive) and hopefully it will be open. she even left them a voice mail today hopeing she could be the first in line or what have you. Also this ML eats tail and side blinker lights like no other.

thier have been alot of other problems with it. My sister is thinking maybe its time to switch back to BMW or just get a cheep car like a chevy or a honda or somthing. I feel bad for her because i love Mercedes-benz, and would not trade mine for anything(k, well maybe the 300D). but i will hopefully always be an MB driver.

any suggestions. anyone else have lots of problems with their ML 320's? think she should trade it in before she looses even more value on it??/

thanks for the replie(s)

I'm guessing the loud whine is coming from the power steering pump running dry because the hose failed, and all the oil running out, loosing all lubrication to the bearings, then distributing all that metal to the entire power steering system. Could be expensive.

The hose failing is one thing. If in fact it is the pump that is whining, then that is the fault of the owner. The owner should have pulled over and parked it. Just like if you get a flat tire.

Did the hose fail, or did a clamp come loose? I thought I read about some sort of recall on 163's with a bad return hose clamp. If that applies to this vehicle, you may get some relief.

Did you see the hose? Did it fail, or did something get picked up off the raod and damage the hose?

On the light bulbs - there was a thread somewhere on this site a long time ago about the quality of certain brand name bulbs. If I recall correctly, one of the manufacturers had a factory in Europe and one in China. The China made units were terrible.

Make sure the bulbs are tight in their sockets, that the housings are attached firmly, and you are not using Made in China lights.

I think.

If she buys a chevy she is a fool. My power steering hose broke on my grand am at 40K miles. High pressure hydraulic hoses break. ML's have improved in quality. Oh yeah and the pump has been serviceable but never right since that happened. Running out of fluid is hard on the pumps.

Power Steering Hose problem
 

Yes there was a recall in o6 to replace the clamps on the power steering hoses for ML owners. If the hose popped off, you may have some recourse at the dealership..... The car never should have been run with that hose off; the PS unit keeps running without oil and that will ruin it and cause a whine.

Call your dealer about this problem and maybe they will replace the PS unit?

she had the pump fixed a while ago, and yes im pretty sure it was the return clamp on the hose. But that was fixed a while ago like 2 or 3 weeks ago. and now this whining just started on wednesday, went away on thursday and came back louder than ever on sunday to the point were she wouldnt drive it. however she had no choice but to drive it that day without the power stearing to the meeting. She has no time to bother with unreliable cars.

Just called her and she told me that it was her water pump that had gone out.:confused: on a 2003?

i want her to keep it because i know if she sells it she wont be driving another mercedes. But at least insurance covers the repair:cool:

Just how long is any machine supposed to be reliable?

It IS a 2003. It is now 2007. That's four years in Chicago weather. Water pumps fail - go to a parts store and see how many they carry for late model engines and how many more they can get in a day. Every manufacturer sells many water pumps.

Pretty soon she's going to need a battery too. I get anywhere from 4 to 7 years on a battery. Does that make the ML a bad car?

Does she get it serviced to schedule? That in itself would probably not have prevented a wp failure. Or maybe it would - when was the last time she had the antifreeze replaced with the proper antifreeze?

DIESEL JIM. Quote " if she buys a Chevy she's a Fool".

When it came to Driving from Michigan to Florida last month for a winter break. We took my Wifes Chevy because I dont trust my ML320 that far from home. If others dont buy what you like,,,they are fools I gather.

If you needed a pacemaker.... and they were made by car companies..Would you take a Mercedes Benz pacemaker over a Honda ?
Install mine built by Honda please.

at least the hose replacement is covered under a warranty extension. 10 years, unlimited mileage. Its was common for them to pull off at the lower radiator fitting, not many are left out there that havent already been done.. the new hose is a bit longer to compensate. Did she not take it in for the recall when notice was given or did she buy it used? (***If they only replaced the clamp and not the entire hose, take that sucker to a dealership immediatly and get the hose replaced!)

water pumps arent that common on 112's but yeah I've seen them fail occaisionally.

Gee you respond by making a faulty analogy! That was very logical of you. Anyone can take a one off antecdote. All of us acknowledge past quality problems.
Had she suggested buying a honda instead I would not have made that quote. While MB has quality control problems they still seemed to be superior to Chevy. GM has a bad habit of doing things like making their customers guiniea pigs for testing new antifreeze. You should always buy what you want. I was stating my personal opinion based on my years of observing GM vehicles. If you want reliable go Honda or Acura or Toyota or Lexus. You will get no argument from me!

If it was my sister I would tell here to trade it in for a Honda or Toyota and move on. This so called Mercedes Experience isn't what its all cracked up to be, Unlike Any Other. My 2 cents. ;)

So, let's talk one of the best cars MB ever made - the 126. Are you saying that one of the best of the best never had a PS hose or a WP fail after 4 years? Jeesh

You wanna drive a Toyota or a Honda - good for you. They have build quality for sure (though that has slipped a bit lately), but I would rather drive my 25 year old 126, my 21 year old 201, my 20 year old 126, my 16 year old 129, my 10 year old 202, or my 9 year old 163 than a new Toyota or Honda that has quality but no personality and delivers no excitement. What is to love on a Toyota or a Honda? If a car is utilitarian for you, then go for it. Me, I enjoy my cars and wish I could buy more. Well, I probably could but my wife would kick me out.

You go waybomb :) Mercedes gets a bad rap anecdotally because German's don't know how to make cup holders and Mercedes drivers are more particular than others. However that being said all that a large majority of women care about is will it get them from point a to b without worries. So I can see why the sister would be fed up with that car. If you are an exec and you demand flawless performance lease one or trade every 2 to 3 years. That is really the only way you are going to avoid these kind of issues in any car but that also greatly increases the chance that you will get a lemon!

Waybomb and you need to start your own website so you can counter all the negative publicy created by this website http://www.mercedes-benz-usa.com/ :bsflag:

Every brand has websites where owners that have had unfortunate problems vent their frustrations. Many more than one. Stick with your utility cars. :) Mercedes doesn't need defending their US sales last year speak for themselves.