Replacing belts and pullies is pretty straight forward. The big V8 is like working on a chevy 350. Underneath the skin you are dealing with a vehicle that is 30 year old technology. I had to replace the shocks and steering stabilizer and it was about as straight forward as it gets. You undo a bolt on each end remove the shock and the install the new shock. I had to repair the Tcase actuator. I bought a rebuild kit from rockauto, it took me ten minutes to remove the actuator and about an hour to rebuild it. The dealer wanted $700 for the repair and think I paid about $120. Parts can also be had at a 30-50% discount from online sites that sell only OEM Mercedes parts. This really eases the sting and makes parts affordable.

Parts for Mercedes are always going to be pricey but they are high quality parts. Personally I have never thought parts are outrageously expensive. I think its gas that's the killer when it comes to the budget.

My insurance is $10 more per month than my 2000 Montero.

When I first bought it I was skeptical about being able to repair it myself but the more I work on it the more I realize it's just like working on a rig from the mid 90's. Most parts wont be available from your local autoparts store but the dealer has everything and the online websites are great because they have diagrams of every part.

Somethings I do not bother with like the oil changes. Because my intervals about every 15K miles(a sensor tells you when to change the oil, it measures the particulates) I get the oil changes at the dealer. I like to go to the dealer every now and then because hand wash my car and they have sandwiches, cookies, soda etc. I like to be pampered every now and then.