Junkyard Find: 2010 Mercedes-Benz GL 350 Bluetec
Last month, we admired a German luxury car that had depreciated from $208,062 to scrap value in 20 years. Parked just one row away from that Audi was a German luxury SUV that stayed on the street for just 15 years before depreciating from $90,134 to scrap value (those are 2025 dollars). Let's take a look.
Mercedes-Benz currently sells a bewildering number of vehicle models they call SUVs in the United States, from the El Cheapo Edition GLA to the High Roller Edition EQS… with 11 others in between. I'm not even going to try to parse the relative snob appeal of the models in the 2010 lineup, except to point out that the GL-Class that year cost more than the M-Class, R-Class and E-Class. Hey, remember the R-Class?
Anyway, the diesel-powered GL 350 was the cheapest GL-Class available in the United States for the 2010 model year, with an MSRP of $68,825 ($90,134 in today's money).
This is a 3.0-liter diesel V6, rated at 210 horsepower and 400 pound-feet.
It's a Bluetec ( officially BlueTEC), which means it requires a urea-containing additive in order to keep nitrogen oxide emissions low. Yes, this truck got caught up in the diesel-cheating scandal and got recalled for it.
The body is in very nice condition for the most part.
The front end has a bit of smooshing, not bad enough to fire the airbags. The hood damage suggests angry prying by junkyard employees frustrated by a stuck latch mechanism.
The interior looks great.
The 2021 temporary plates suggest that its final owner bought it cheap, then couldn't or wouldn't get permanent registration. There were plenty of years-old temporary tags on Colorado streets during the period of near-zero registration enforcement here during the 2021-2024 period, so there's no way of knowing when this car last drove on the street.
A bit of online sleuthing indicates that these trucks were notorious for air-suspension failures, with repairs costing much more than typical GL-Class resale values.
This generation of GL-Class was sold in the United States from the 2007 through 2012 model years.
It was built in Alabama, but I'm still going to call it a German vehicle.
Hans? Hans?
So many standard features.
The Indian-market commercial has an action-movie soundtrack.
2010 Mercedes-Benz GL 350 Bluetec in Colorado wrecking yard.
2010 Mercedes-Benz GL 350 Bluetec in Colorado wrecking yard.
2010 Mercedes-Benz GL 350 Bluetec in Colorado wrecking yard.
2010 Mercedes-Benz GL 350 Bluetec in Colorado wrecking yard.
2010 Mercedes-Benz GL 350 Bluetec in Colorado wrecking yard.
2010 Mercedes-Benz GL 350 Bluetec in Colorado wrecking yard.
2010 Mercedes-Benz GL 350 Bluetec in Colorado wrecking yard.
2010 Mercedes-Benz GL 350 Bluetec in Colorado wrecking yard.
2010 Mercedes-Benz GL 350 Bluetec in Colorado wrecking yard.
2010 Mercedes-Benz GL 350 Bluetec in Colorado wrecking yard.
2010 Mercedes-Benz GL 350 Bluetec in Colorado wrecking yard.
2010 Mercedes-Benz GL 350 Bluetec in Colorado wrecking yard.
2010 Mercedes-Benz GL 350 Bluetec in Colorado wrecking yard.
2010 Mercedes-Benz GL 350 Bluetec in Colorado wrecking yard.
2010 Mercedes-Benz GL 350 Bluetec in Colorado wrecking yard.
2010 Mercedes-Benz GL 350 Bluetec in Colorado wrecking yard.
2010 Mercedes-Benz GL 350 Bluetec in Colorado wrecking yard.
2010 Mercedes-Benz GL 350 Bluetec in Colorado wrecking yard.
2010 Mercedes-Benz GL 350 Bluetec in Colorado wrecking yard.
2010 Mercedes-Benz GL 350 Bluetec in Colorado wrecking yard.
2010 Mercedes-Benz GL 350 Bluetec in Colorado wrecking yard.
2010 Mercedes-Benz GL 350 Bluetec in Colorado wrecking yard.
2010 Mercedes-Benz GL 350 Bluetec in Colorado wrecking yard.
2010 Mercedes-Benz GL 350 Bluetec in Colorado wrecking yard.
2010 Mercedes-Benz GL 350 Bluetec in Colorado wrecking yard.
[Images: The Author]
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Murilee Martin is the pen name of Phil Greden, a writer who has lived in Minnesota, California, Georgia and (now) Colorado. He has toiled at copywriting, technical writing, junkmail writing, fiction writing and now automotive writing. He has owned many terrible vehicles and some good ones. He spends a great deal of time in self-service junkyards. These days, he writes for publications including Autoweek, Hagerty and The Truth About Cars.
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I'm fairly certain this was the model in 2009/10 which came with 19in wheels with very thin tires which were then around $400 a piece retail to replace. Because this behemoth weighed so much, tire replacement could barely crack 10K miles but still the wahmen lined up for them.
Just another tired out SUV with leather seats in the junkyard...