2003 Mercedes-Benz M-Class

SUV

3.7L 3699CC V6 GAS SOHC Naturally Aspirated

Automatic

4JGAB57E53A403074

Clear

Gasoline

This is an affordable dream car. Huge interior and lots of cargo space for luggage and outdoor gear. It handles amazing in the mountains and in city driving with incredible Mercedes performance. It will be a steal for whoever buys it because it has the busted plastic bumper cover that is super cheap and easy to fix but will likely keep the price of the car down because it looks bad until that gets fixed. It drives really well in snow and ice and it handles the high altitude of Colorado ski towns really well with no loss of performance even up crossing the passes above 12,000 feet. Also, the body style is still pretty similar to the newer models so it looks sharp parked at the curb but still is a value because it is a bit over ten years old. For this model it really doesn't have that many miles on it and can probably drive another hundred and fifty thousand miles with regular maintenance. These ML 350s go forever from what I've heard. The interior is in really pretty nice shape for the age of the car and was obviously well taken care of. There is a bleach stain on the carpet in the back cargo area. Other than that, interior is pretty good condition. The moon roof has no leaks at all and works perfectly. The passenger window is the only thing that has had any issue since we bought the car. About a month ago the window made a pop sound when we were rolling it up and it apparently popped loose from the power window bracket. It should be an easy fix with just an hour or so of labor at a body shop to take the inner door panel off and re-connect it, but until then the passenger window is in the up position. All the other windows work perfect as does the hatchback and rear windshield wipers and window defrosters. Only other minor issue is that we re-set the four digit PIN code on the stereo system and computer console and then lost the piece of paper where we wrote the PIN down so it needs to have the Mercedes dealer reset the PIN, which should only take about five minutes, but the nearest Mercedes dealer to where we live in the high mountains is about 2 hours away so we haven't done that yet. We bought it to have as a daily driver where we live near the luxury ski towns of Breckenridge, Vail and Beaver Creek. We bought it with the broken bumper cover and the vacuum leak and whining power steering module for a steal at just under $7K because we knew we would get a better deal if we bought a Mercedes that needed a bit of TLC and fixed it than getting one in perfect shape. Since we bought it we paid $1700 to get the vacuum leak and power steering fixed by a top end Mercedes mechanic so everything works great now, but we still haven't ordered the plastic bumper cover so that still looks rough and will keep the price low. To fix the bumper cover, you can order them online or from the big auto body parts warehouses for the exact year and make and color. On Ebay they are about $250 to $300 brand new or about $400 from the big auto body warehouses like Keystone Inc. It will install in a few minutes with pliers and a screwdriver because they just clip onto the actual metal bumper underneath. The bumper underneath seems in good shape. The story on the broken plastic cover is apparently a snow plow pushed a pile of snow up onto the bumper cover after a big storm this last ski season when the car was parked in a parking lot overnight. The snow bank froze solid and when they pulled the car out of the parking spot the bumper cover was frozen into the snow bank with ice and broke loose from the bumper. Selling this car is kind of bitter-sweet for us. We have only owned it for a few months and it is an amazing car we have fallen in love with. Its our first Mercedes and we have always owned Suburu Forresters and Toyota 4 Runners and Honda SUVs in the past so its been a real luxury upgrade getting used to the dash board that is basically like a space ship compared to the more basic brands of SUVs. However, we have just purchased a 52 foot sailboat to go cruising in the Caribbean, Mediterranean and South Pacific for a few years with our young family, and even though that's a big boat, it isn't big enough to take the Mercedes with us. So my wife says we have to sell it rather than parking it for several years and watching as it gathers dust and the value of the car depreciates. We have to leave town next week to go get our sailboat ready to cruise so we put this on a super fast 3 day auction with no reserve. Somebody is going to get a super sweet deal on this amazing ride. I just hope it goes to a good home. Only thing we ask is that you pay for the car within 24 hours after the auction because we have to head out to Annapolis. If you are buying it long distance and need some time to come and pick the car up, that is fine. It can stay parked where it is fine for a few weeks and we can mail you the key and the title once you pay for it. If you have any questions about the car, please ask them before bidding rather than after. My name is William and you can reach me at 970 319-4361. This is a serious car for a serious buyer who wants to get an amazing Mercedes ML 350 SUV for a song. These are hard cars to find on the used market because their owners love them and don't usually sell unless they are trading up to a newer model of the same car. The auction closes on Tuesday just after lunch time. If you want to win the auction make sure to get your best bid in early or set the alarm on your phone and tune in for the final few minutes of the auction to make sure you don't get out bid in the final moments. Good luck bidding. Hope it goes to a good home with someone who will take it out into the high mountains every weekend like it deserves!!!