Update: 2013 MB ML350 with misfire

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DriveHard

DriveHard

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Nov 24, 2003
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Middle of Iowa
Original thread here:
https://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/4568518/1

So after thinking I had the problem solved, every time I drove the car (my wife's dd), it just didn't seem "right". The fuel economy gauge would occasionally bounce around like it did before, and it occasionally had a slightly longer crank time...it just didn't give me that warm fuzzy feeling of reliability. My wife had her eye caught by a new Jeep Renegade, and with this feeling in my gut, I was happy to jump at the chance to trade in the MB and get a new car with a warranty. So far we both love the Jeep, and are glad we made the switch. This was further increased with a very odd call I got two days ago...

I was sitting at my desk and got a call from Des Moines, IA...usually if it is not a contact I don't pick up, but for some reason I did. It was the MB dealership I took the car to several times...two times having it returned with no fault found, and one time to replace a catalytic converter. He said, "I know this is an odd call, but I just wanted to give you an update as I know how much trouble you had with your ML350". well it turns out someone local picked up the car and started having issues with it as well. Of course they took it to the same dealership, as it is the only one in the area. He said they had the car under examination for almost a week...and finally found several wires that were bad in the main wiring harness. They had to replace the entire main wiring harness!!! He said that "I dodged a bullet"...he wouldn't tell me how much it ended up costing the new owners, but man am I happy I made the trade when I did! I do have to admit I feel somewhat bad for the new owners...but I guess that is part of the risk of buying used.
 
Originally Posted By: DriveHard
Original thread here:
https://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/4568518/1

So after thinking I had the problem solved, every time I drove the car (my wife's dd), it just didn't seem "right". The fuel economy gauge would occasionally bounce around like it did before, and it occasionally had a slightly longer crank time...it just didn't give me that warm fuzzy feeling of reliability. My wife had her eye caught by a new Jeep Renegade, and with this feeling in my gut, I was happy to jump at the chance to trade in the MB and get a new car with a warranty. So far we both love the Jeep, and are glad we made the switch. This was further increased with a very odd call I got two days ago...

I was sitting at my desk and got a call from Des Moines, IA...usually if it is not a contact I don't pick up, but for some reason I did. It was the MB dealership I took the car to several times...two times having it returned with no fault found, and one time to replace a catalytic converter. He said, "I know this is an odd call, but I just wanted to give you an update as I know how much trouble you had with your ML350". well it turns out someone local picked up the car and started having issues with it as well. Of course they took it to the same dealership, as it is the only one in the area. He said they had the car under examination for almost a week...and finally found several wires that were bad in the main wiring harness. They had to replace the entire main wiring harness!!! He said that "I dodged a bullet"...he wouldn't tell me how much it ended up costing the new owners, but man am I happy I made the trade when I did! I do have to admit I feel somewhat bad for the new owners...but I guess that is part of the risk of buying used.


Our sister MB dealer had a customer drive to Montreal and buy a used AMG version of the ML. Montreal is about 2 hours away from here. On the way home from picking it up, the engine seized.

Price for a new motor? Over $100,000! No warranty on it anymore.

Guy just scrapped it. That was a $30,000 lesson.
 
You bailed at the right time with the MB apparently. Feel bad for the new owner/owners -- hopefully they did have an extended warranty to mitigate the electrical issues. Glad also you & the wife like the new Jeep Renegade. I say, "everything is about numbers in life!!"

Dale
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: mightymousetech
Our sister MB dealer had a customer drive to Montreal and buy a used AMG version of the ML. Montreal is about 2 hours away from here. On the way home from picking it up, the engine seized.

Price for a new motor? Over $100,000! No warranty on it anymore.

Guy just scrapped it. That was a $30,000 lesson.


That sounds like the head bolts on the AMG. Or it had a tune. I thought it was something like 25k for a new AMG motor, about 10k for a used one plus installation. Head bolts were bad til some time after 2011.
 
suprised they did not try to sue you for it.

my brother bought a 99 sienna brand new. drove it for a couple of years he changed the oil as per specs. he took it to the toyota dealer to get something checked out in the engine. they said it was sludged up and they won't warranty it. only had about 30k on it

So like a lot of people he decided to trade it in for something else. He traded it in to a honda dealer to get a new oddesey . that dealer sold it to small lot.

the small dealer sold it to someone and they took it to the toyota dealer. guess the toyota dealer pulled up the records and lack of warranty. small dealer took back the siena and promptly pursued legal action on my brother for fraud.

like a normal person when it came to trading cars , we all think it buyer beware. i guess i was wrong. my brother had to hire a attorney. attorney tried what he could to tell them to take a hike. their attorney would not drop it.

in the end my brother attorney told my brother to settle the case instead of going to court as after attorney cost he would be better off. he paid out 5k for a new engine and life went on.

moral of the story is "as is" only works for dealers
 
Originally Posted By: WhyMe
suprised they did not try to sue you for it.

my brother bought a 99 sienna brand new. drove it for a couple of years he changed the oil as per specs. he took it to the toyota dealer to get something checked out in the engine. they said it was sludged up and they won't warranty it. only had about 30k on it

So like a lot of people he decided to trade it in for something else. He traded it in to a honda dealer to get a new oddesey . that dealer sold it to small lot.

the small dealer sold it to someone and they took it to the toyota dealer. guess the toyota dealer pulled up the records and lack of warranty. small dealer took back the siena and promptly pursued legal action on my brother for fraud.

like a normal person when it came to trading cars , we all think it buyer beware. i guess i was wrong. my brother had to hire a attorney. attorney tried what he could to tell them to take a hike. their attorney would not drop it.

in the end my brother attorney told my brother to settle the case instead of going to court as after attorney cost he would be better off. he paid out 5k for a new engine and life went on.

moral of the story is "as is" only works for dealers


Those Sienna's were known for having Sludge issues. Your brother should have gone to small claims court against them. If he had some sort of maintenance records, then I can't see how Toyota could be getting away with this.

http://www.toyotaproblems.com/trends/oil-sludge/

I would have used this to defend his case.
 
Last edited:
I'm no lawyer, but the small dealer should have sued the Honda dealer, your brother never dealt with the small dealer.

Originally Posted By: WhyMe
suprised they did not try to sue you for it.

my brother bought a 99 sienna brand new. drove it for a couple of years he changed the oil as per specs. he took it to the toyota dealer to get something checked out in the engine. they said it was sludged up and they won't warranty it. only had about 30k on it

So like a lot of people he decided to trade it in for something else. He traded it in to a honda dealer to get a new oddesey . that dealer sold it to small lot.

the small dealer sold it to someone and they took it to the toyota dealer. guess the toyota dealer pulled up the records and lack of warranty. small dealer took back the siena and promptly pursued legal action on my brother for fraud.

like a normal person when it came to trading cars , we all think it buyer beware. i guess i was wrong. my brother had to hire a attorney. attorney tried what he could to tell them to take a hike. their attorney would not drop it.

in the end my brother attorney told my brother to settle the case instead of going to court as after attorney cost he would be better off. he paid out 5k for a new engine and life went on.

moral of the story is "as is" only works for dealers
 
Originally Posted By: zorobabel
I'm no lawyer, but the small dealer should have sued the Honda dealer, your brother never dealt with the small dealer.


You and others may be right, but I wonder if the advice was given as a "if you can afford to drop $5k, this'll all be over within the time it takes to cut the check". After all, how much would it cost just in money to fight this?
 
I'm kinda surprised that the dealer called you up and told you what the problem ultimately was. But it sounds like you spent some serious time there, so perhaps it was just a courtesy call (that has high hopes of encouraging you to come back, in the future).
 
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