What am I letting myself in for

[Mrphil]

Hi all

I'm new here so firstly hello!
I currently own a 59 plate vauxhall astra (ex authority)
For some unknown reason I now have a desire to have an ml270 - no clue why and I'm only 27. I think maybe because they look good, an expensive commodity, I've currently got the newest car in the street, in my opinion the best car in the street, and maybe an inclin of feeling even more high above by what in my eyes is a luxury big jeep..... Personality problems? lol

So I've asked a few people if they would be interested in a trade - considering the people I'm asking there MBs are in the region of x, y, 2001 etc with over 130k on! The one I'm trying to organise has 150k

So I'm dropping from a 59 plate all the way back down. More mileage, less mpg, double the insurance..... Rust...

Could fellow ml owners please let me know what I'm walking in to lol

Just had the best out of £20 worth of diesel - I drive like a granny - £20 so far on 170 miles and not on red - 100 odd was motorway with aircon on. Normally I get about 120-130 and the red is on to £20.

What normally would you get from an ml with £20... 80 miles or less?

Any advice for final decision will be much appreciated!

All the best!

 

[Woodybeefcake]

Never had an ML270 so no idea what they drive like, and I've neve had an old mer neither.

What I did do a couple of years ago was run a Mk1 MX-5 as a second car to a two year old Mini Cooper.

My experience was simple, the older car was mroe fun to drive and much cheaper to run (which an ML no doubt won't be), but I was always doing things to it. Tax was much more expensive and in the yera I had it I had to fix the brakes, wiring, roof and rust. It was a good condition car too. Whatever your budget is, make sure you leave room for repairs! As for getting out of a 59 reg, you are in a near five year old car anyway, so will the extra years make miore of a difference?

Try and get the best on you can for your money, find out what the common faults are and see if they haev already been fixed!

 

[MB8701]

dont do it - the idea is nice but in reality the niggly problems and costs will bother you A LOT..... compared to an astra espeically a 59 plate running costs where the running costs are low the ML270 could very likely throw one repair bill at you that would be the same as running the astra for a whole year.

I have done this before - going from a newish "everyday" brand to an older permium car and wish sometimes I kept the newer car......

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

We've had our ML270 CDi for 10 years now, and it's been a great car - too good to let it go.

It has thrown up a few big repair bills, but the work could have been done for less outside of the dealer network, and if I had shopped around for best prices. In the grand scheme of things the ML270 isn't a complicated car, and so if you're fairly confident with a spanner you could do some repair and maintenance work yourself to keep the costs down.

And don't beat yourself up about buying one at 27 years of age - I was only a year older when I bought ours for Mrs D!

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

PS You asked about miles covered on £20 of fuel. It's been a while since I worked it out but base your calculation on 25 MPG and you may be pleasantly surprised and achieve a little better (31 MPG is possible cursing at 70 MPH).

 

[Meldrew2]

I had an ML270CDi for a few years before buying my ML350.

I seemed to get 25-27 mpg on normal driving, and about 30 ish on a gentle motorway journey (hard driving on Mway drops MPG significantly)

Bought at about 50K miles, kept for another 40K and no real mechanical problems as far as I can remember. Comfort is very good, the visibility from the elevated driving position is excellent and there is still substantial prestige to a MB 4x4.

Rust isn't a massive problem on MLs, and high mileage isn't too bad if it's been well serviced.

If you don't do much mileage you might like to look at ML320s - the petrol engine has peppier performance and doesn't use a massive amount more fuel than the diesel - but you might be able to find newer / lower mileage examples within your budget.

 

[chriscls]

I am sure the ML drives fine but when I was 27, still am lol, I bought an L322 Range Rover, never looked back. You'll get a 2003 HSE 3.0 Diesel for 7-8k and only 100k on clock if lucky. Costs me £45 a week in petrol, driving the same type of style and I do about 165 motorway miles a week.

 

[blondee]

Yes get one... My Mum had one and it was made to her specification way back when they were new out however it would be rare now with all the bits and bobs she had as extras so I reckon you'd get something nice with what you're looking for second hand now. Good luck keep us posted... I wondered whether to have one myself before my current one so wouldn't rule it out in the future.