SaniDel

http://www.motortrend.com/oftheyear/...cedes_benz_gl/

T4Fun

fugly if you ask me, all of MB cars in general.

lets see a MB outlast a Lexus

patgilm

I actually like the GL but when I was cross shopping this with the GX, the price of the options made it way to pricey for the price range I was looking at. The GL450 with a lot of options is in LX territory and I would probably pick the LX if I was going to pay that much.

watch37

This award is the most ridiculous award of all time! There were only 11 contenders on the list, and no BMW X5, no Lexus, no Audi Q7 or Q5, etc. The competitors were a Hyundai, Subaru, Ford Escape,etc, That's like bringing a bazooka to a knife fight,. Absolutely the most misleading award of all time!

Craig B

Mercedes must do a lot of advertising in their magazine...

dinardalvi

+1
Award or no award GX is an excellent truck, on my recent trip in Utah mountains having the GX made me feel really safe knowing that the truck is not going to breakdown in the middle of no where with no cell signals. There were times when I did not see another car for 100+ miles.
In my trip I never saw a Merc ML or a GL in any of the National parks. I was the only GX with remaining ones Fords, Chevy, Honda Pilot, Jeeps and Subaru.

We did do some off road driving with few Jeeps in the desert near Kingman. One driver later told me that they had expected to see me stuck and being pulled out of the sand and muck. GX was absolutely stellar on dirt track and very comfy on road.

Now if I had a GL I would be thinking twice on the trip route I took, i am glad that I got the GX.

seahaul

I have a buddy with a GL, he likes it but he likes it becasue of the diesel, he hates the MB service. I showed him my GX and he 'claim' his next vehicle is a Lexus. All that said what we really need is a GX diesel that gets great mileage for all you diesel nay sayers. Bring on the torque!!

brycejaq

Wow. The only one that was remotely close in price & optins was the JX,,,yet another crossover. Since when did crossovers become the best SUVs? I'd still take my 06 GX hands down over any of MT's 2013 SUVOTY competitors.

T4Fun

what lexus should do is make a hybrid gx, forget the diesel.

one day, there will be only electric suvs if they are even made. instant torque and speed of electric motors make them much more quicker than gas counterparts.

Craig B

I had a BMW X5 twin turbo diesel that I traded for my GX 460. I had a lot of check engine lights and once a year, or every 11,000 miles, the diesel exhaust fluid had to be flushed and filled.Diesel fuel is also higher than premium unleaded. It got great mileage on the highway 27.5 MPG...

SaniDel

So does the GX 460 ... without all the mess, stench and maintenance (what the #e11 is "diesel exhaust fluid" and why does it have to be flushed and filled every year or 11,000 miles?) of diesel:

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/gx-...y-mileage.html

One thing diesel does well is torque ... for grunting up mountains it can't be beat, but for driving in the real world I don't see the value.
Regards,

SaniDel

SaniDel

We owned a hybrid for over four years. We bought a 2006 RX 400h in June 2005 and traded it for our 2010 GX as soon as one was available… February 2010.

I agree with you about making a hybrid GX, but not about making an electric. If done properly, hybrid vehicles combine the advantages of gas and electric while minimizing their disadvantages. You get the high torque, quiet operation and high mileage of an electric in local traffic, plus reasonable mileage and the full range of a gasoline engine on the highway.

I doubt there is a case for an electric SUV. No less a company than Toyota has abandoned their program to produce an electric vehicle of any kind, not to mention an SUV:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/dalebuss...lly-kills-evs/

It would be easy to enumerate the problems with electric vehicles, but a better argument is to ask why there are no successful electric vehicles other than niche or specialty vehicles such as Fisker and Tesla or fork lifts and golf carts? Electric vehicles have been around for over a century and yet have made little progress in overcoming their fundamental limitation… storing enough energy in a battery. Conversely, hybrid vehicles have been around only a decade or two and only because technology became available to make them not only feasible, but also successful, which they are!
Regards,

SaniDel

Craig B

Every new vehicle that uses diesel must use urea fluid, even over the road trucks starting last year. It cleans
the emissions coming out the exhaust. The fluid has to be flushed and filled at least once
a year on BMW, or every 11,000 miles. I think the fluid breaks down and has to be flushed
and filled. I think Mercedes might have a cartridge? The BMW had two tanks. There is no
smell from the exhaust on a clean diesel. The only smell you get is filling up at the gas
station if you get diesel fuel on your hands. I used wear a glove when I filled up. Diesel
fuel around here is about .75 per gallon higher than regular unleaded. I don't know if
I would purchase another diesel again, I don't think there is much of a savings when
you have extra maintenance and the cost of the fuel is higher as well.

SaniDel

Wow ... I had no idea ... thanks for this interesting tidbit about diesels. Here's more than I want or need to know about 'DUF':

http://www.dieselurea.com

I agree with your assessment about the cost, complexity and nuisance of diesels.

My only experience with diesels is avoiding gas station 'islands' that pump diesel ... they are inevitably filthy. Gasoline smells bad enough, but diesel is a lot worse and the stench doesn't dissipate. It seems there is always an "oil slick" surrounding the diesel pump, presumably from when the shut-off failed and the diesel overflowed ... imagine standing on that and getting it on the floor mats.
Regards,

SaniDel

seahaul

Not true, Dodge ram 2500 & 3500 does not use urea, the exhaust system takes care of emissions. The Mercedes cartridge is sometimes exhaust gas recirculation. Also, many of you don't care, but Diesel is cheaper in Canada than regular gasoline (usually) and way cheaper than premium. Lastly some of us dont want a POS hybrid which are no better on fuel outside of the city, can't pull $h1t and will eventually need battery replacement where some third world country will get them dumped on.