Buying review Mercedes GLK (X204) 2008-2015 Common Issues Engines Inspection

Hello and welcome at another car buyer review,

Today we take a look at the GLK from Mercedes-Benz, this generation is the X204 and was built between 2008 and 2015. It is kind of a baby G-class, it is smaller then a G-wagon but shares the same kind of design features. It’s debut was at the 2008 Beijing motor show.

These cars are quite popular in China and the United States, and since China has the worlds larges car market, Beijing was the perfect place for its introduction. The name GLK is an acronym for Geländewagen Luxus Kompaktklasse, in other words a car for in the terrain, that is luxerious and still quite compact. The succesor however is called GLC since this shares its platform with the C-class.

In this buyers review I will explain what issues have been reported with this first generation GLK, and when buying such a car what to check. In 2015 there was a new model, we will discuss that generation in another video. The GLK shared the same platform as the C-class W204.

The car when on sale in Europe in late June of 2008, with the first cars being delivered to there new owners by autumn of the same year. These early models where the GLK 220 CDI 4Matic BlueEfficiency, a GLK 320 CDI, the GLK 280 4matic and the 350 4matic.

In 2009 new engines became available, like the GLK 220 CDI blueEfficiently, with and without 4 matic. The GLK300 4 matic and the GLK 250 BlueEfficientcy. The car has good results as being a safe vehicle in multiple tests. It received 5 out of 5 stars from EURO NCAP.

Here is an overview of available petrol and diesel engines.

Now lets inspect this car for its strong points and its weaknesses.

Strong points:

• Comfortable
• Its appearance
• Quite spacious
• Solid car

Weaknesses:

Points of attention
• Body and interior
• The panorama roof can leak, check if you can open and close it to check for proper functioning.
• Leakage of the windscreen washer fluid.
• The pre-facelift models have wipers that draw quite a few stripes.
• Squeaky mirrors when folding in is a complaint that sometimes occurs during the first years of construction.

Drive line
• In the early years of construction, there have been some faulty / leaking transfer containers.
• Injectors of the diesels will need replacement at some point which is costly.
• If you hear rattling at the diesels (especially the V6), this may indicate a stretched chain. This must be replaced before more damage occurs.
• The automatic gearbox (7G-tronic box) is reasonably reliable with proper maintenance, but oil change / rinse is recommended if you want to extend the longevity of the gearbox.

Electronics
• In early GLKs, the engine of the electric boot lid is a weaker part.
• Try all the buttons! Electronics is not a specific weak point, but there can be a lot on and on a GLK, test them out of they work.

Overall quite a reliable car in other words.
The early models are now 10 years old and the youngest is 3 years old.

Thanks for watching this buying review of the GLK, hope it was useful, if so subscribe to my channel.

See you guys in the next video.