File this one under ‘I had no idea these have gotten so cheap’. This a 2007 Mercedes-Benz R350. I’d classify it as a vehicle that I’m still trying to figure out what it exactly is. It looks like a minivan but has four regular doors and seats six — all captain’s chairs, no less. Mercedes called it a “sports tourer”, a made-up term because they needed something for the marketing materials. It’s too low to be a true SUV, too long and big to be a CUV and Mercedes wouldn’t be caught dead calling it a minivan. I just call it absolutely worthless, unless we are talking R63.
Imagine trying to sell one of these back in 2007. “Well, it looks pretty odd. Reliability will be shaky at best. It doesn’t do anything particularly well. You’ll average 16 miles a gallon even with the V6. It’s a pain in the ass to work under the hood. The interior is a bunch of plastic and fake wood. It’ll be worth the cost of a new iMac in 10 years. And all this will run you about $44,000. Want to go inside and talk numbers?” To the surprise of no one perhaps outside of Untertürkheim, and by Germany I mean Alabama where they were made, the R-Class was killed off in 2012 due to slow sales. I’m sure that had nothing to do with all the reasons listed above and the fact that Mercedes had four other SUVs in their lineup, five if you count the Sprinter. So why even look at one of these? Well, it’s cheap. Really cheap.
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 2007 Mercedes-Benz R350 on eBay
Year: 2007
Model: R350 4Matic
Engine: 3.5 liter V6
Transmission: 7-speed automatic
Mileage: 126,000 mi
Price: Buy It Now $4,950
2007 Mercedes Benz R350 for sale. Mileage is 132,374 miles mostly highway. Good, clean conditions. Never involved in car wreck. Many components have been replaced and rebuilt including: cv axles, transmission, rear air suspension, power steering rack, air intake header.
This W251 for sale in Texas is $4,950, almost half of what a 2007 ML350 and a third of what a 2007 GL450 with similar mileage is commanding. Looking at the seller’s description, this R350 lived up to its reputation with numerous big components needing replaced or rebuilt. This one doesn’t look like it lived a hard life at 126,000 miles, but who knows. My guess is that the seller went to trade this car and received an offer around $3,500 then decided to turn to private sale. The only real advantage the R has is that it has a third row seat, but the leg room is laughable. The GL450 does have the third row too, but again, it’s over three times as much. It’s tough to really screw up a car purchase for under $5,000 and with this specific vehicle you probably aren’t taking too much risk, but who knows where the floor is for the W251. When it comes time to sell an R-Class, don’t expect people to come knocking down your door.
– Andrew
Andrew,
They even had the very rare R63 AMG which final production was 75 or so.
I have looked at these before and was always interested in the diesel option. I’ve had several VW TDIs before. What’s their reliability like? Any running options like the TDI?
i saw one of these with only 22k miles on it, like new interior, 1 elderly owner, and only want 1k more than this if anyone is interested.