[Closed] Mercedes G wagen

Don't have direct experience, but two Mate's Dad's have one each and my Dad's Mate has one. So only really second-hand experience.

They've been making them for nearly 40 years, so if you buy say a 30 year old one it's condition will by far the biggest indication of reliability.

They're not really comparable with Land Rovers, they're bigger and heavier, they're still very good off-road, but because of the weight they need things like Anti-Roll bars to work on-road which limits their suspension travel off-road. They work well in the desert (Dad lives in Bahrain) but not as well as Land Cruisers, which work better than anything.

Some parts that are interchangeable with saloon Mercedes are expensive, the parts that aren't are really expensive.

I don't know about the diesels, but the petrols are really thirsty, when someone who gets free petrol complains they're thirsty (meaning filling up more than once a week on an Island only 30 miles long) you know they can drink a bit, it's not even an AMG.

There’s always this... 😉

http://media.zenfs.com/en-US/blogs/motoramic/G-Class_6x6_top.jp g" alt="" width="610" height="343" />

Whilst the G Wagen is a cool vehicle, I'd question doing serious offroad in it. Certainly won't be as good as a Defender, I would have thought.

^ triple locking diffs would disagree.

They’re deeply cool, get one.

I don't know about off road capability or reliability, but I do rather like them!

Having spent a day in a G350D and a Twisted Defender 110 T40 I can attest to the G's ability to take on proper terrain. And you can look like a drug lord while doing it. Winner.

https://www.pistonheads.com/features/ph-features/mercedes-g-class-versus-land-rover-defender/35821

Solid axles like on the Defender etc will limits its off road ability because as soon as the dif touches the ground you are going nowhere.  Independent suspension will give you loads more clearance before something touches.

Did some work for Mercedes and the guy I worked with had "Fast "Runner" cars that were testing something and needed miles piled on them. It was a AMG petrol swb. I had the impression the manufacturing process started with a solid block of metal which was hollowed out to form the car. ...

Have a look at G Wagon Otto's travels. 900k kilometers. Quite a story.
http://www.ottosreise.de/en/start.html

I had one a couple of years ago and can confirm what's been posted already. They are extremely capable off road but are not much fun on road. They're big, heavy things that suffer from a lot of body roll when cornering and the (admittadly powerful pertrol) version I had remains the only car in which I've ever been able to watch the fuel gague going down during motorway driving!

Otto's story is really good. There''s a quite moving BBC article about it as well. I've seen the real Otto in the merc museum in Stuttgart, it just looks stunningly purposeful.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/special/2014/newsspec_8703/index.html

Solid axles like on the Defender etc will limits its off road ability because as soon as the dif touches the ground you are going nowhere.  Independent suspension will give you loads more clearance before something touches.

You’ve basically got that completely arse about face. Solid axles are MUCH better of road on seriously challenging terrain. Where they are flawed is on the road, (and fast off road, Dakar rally stylee) where the massive unsprung mass makes for a much courser ride quality.

With a solid axled vehicle, when a wheel goes over an undulation it lifts the whole axle up, and to a certain degree the whole vehicle. With independent suspension, the wheel lifts up independently, (hence the name) which is great for ride quality, but leaves the belly of the vehicle much lower, and prone to striking the ground in rough terrain. Another advantage of a beat axled 4x4 off road is that fundamentally, the body has to sit above the axles. An independently suspended vehicle can sit between the wheels, giving a lower centre of gravity, but with a ground clearance trade off. Again, great for road use, flawed for serious off road use.

The G Wagon is a very capable off roader, (probably more so than a defender in factory spec) but is as flawed for road use as is a defender.

Lots of experience with a 'G' , good friend of mine had an older 230 that I used to winch bitch for. I have a Defender and we used to drive various pay&play sites with friends in their Defenders.

As stock they have limited axle articulation compared to a stock Defender so can get cross axled easily, they also have a high CofG and can get a bit tippy as a result. We had the G on its side a few times.

The axle lockers work well although need a little maintenance on the hydraulics if it's an old one.

Another downside is the weight - they cannot follow Defenders over soft ground. Lockers only usually end up sinking you deeper at this point.

Towards the end of its time it ended up with some massive mud tyres, suspension lift, winch and proper bumpers and was really quite capable.

Parts wise is covered above - some stuff is cross reference able to Merc cars and isn't bad, where it's G only then they can be massively expensive. eBay.de became a good source as did the G forum (cost to join)

Reliability was excellent- build quality was leagues ahead of LR stuff. Massively overbuilt.

Rust was an issue - the rear lights/rear quarter panels rust with trapped mud. Replacements are available but need cutting and welding.

Hold their value hence even snotters are over priced - 5digit speedo's, check MOT history.

His new bunny boiler wife put an end to it rather than rust.

There’s always the classic Land Cruiser FJ40 to consider...

Independent suspension will give you loads more clearance before something touches.

Someone’s been taking Land Rover’s more recent cool aid

Thanks everyone.

There's plenty of food for thought there...

If you’re at the point when your Outback isn’t enough for what you want to do, then you need something proper as those things are pretty capable!

I’ve got a Landcruiser, plus I live in Australia where it makes more sense, but I would recommend going for it. The only question I would have is with going SWB. You are buying something practical, yet those missing rear doors and space will be a pain. Sure it’ll be better off road, but if you need that difference, you’re already maxed out!

On road it will be slow, but you soon adapt to an easy does it style of driving. Yeah they are not great from an environmental perspective, but they are less disposable than many cars and anyway, I dont know the rest of your life story so cant judge!

As for costs... if thats an issue, dont do it. Depreciation will be minimal but everything else will suck!

Great cars though...