JD Power & Associates haven't been giving the R and GL class high quality ratings. These 2 models were supposed to restore Mercedes-Benz quality back to the old days so I don't understand. Does anybody own an R or GL class? Do they really have quality problems? Please let me know as I am interested in the purchase of one of these vehicles. Thanks!

The JD Power ratings are useless nonsense. What they measure is initial quality. In other words, how many problems are reported per vehicle in the initial 90 days of ownership. At best, this is an indication of the efficiency of the manufacturing process, but the individual purchaser won't care much about what happens while everything is 100% covered under warranty and the dealer is still fussing over you. The owner will only judge quality over several years of ownership, in terms of durability and reliability. The GL and R classes are simply too new to evaluate.

Mercedes-Benz has new buisiness practices that have improved quality but I have to echo the first post. JD power is highly overated and is not an accurate way to determine vehicle reliability.

Consumer reports even worse as Toyota seems to have been lining theyre pockets for years.
I am not a Toyota hater either, my fleet includes a 2006 Lexus RX400h that I absolutely hate and I'm about to trade it in for a ML320 cdi.

I have had many MB's and presently own two that are 13 years apart in age. They are very different , the older has qualities that people still rave about today so I understand where they are coming from but the new cars are not as troublesome as their reputations sometimes are. My favorite benz I have ever owned was a (Alabama built like the R and GL) 2005 old bodystyle ML.

The truth is- Mercedes-Benz customers expect the best (understandably) and in turn complain the most. Reputation has suffered accordingly.
I would not let exagerrated reliability concerns deter you from buying either cars your considering.