Thread: Test Drove a G-Wagen

I have not read the whole of this thread so may be repeating what others have already said, but the G-wagon is not built by Mercedes. It is built by Magna Steyr (formerly Steyr-Puch) in Austria. Steyr-Puch amongst other things, was the manufacturer of the formidable Haflinger and Pinzgauer vehicles. Magna Steyr is a Canadian owned company (see Magna: Vehicle Engineering & Contract Manufacturing | Capabilities).

STI Steyr, which was part of the Steyr-Puch conglomerate prior to it being broken up, markets a range of military oriented vehicles (see High mobility tactical armored vehicles for all missions and terrains), currently sourced (in part) from IVECO or Bremach. STI Steyr is part of the Italy based CNH conglomerate.

Cheers
KarlB

This makes fascinating reading four years on.

I have sent Spudboy this link to my one year review of the G-Wagen. But it is interesting to re-read some of the comments made back when I first test drove one...

Originally Posted by Didge

I'll bet it leaks just like a Def

No. No they don't.

Originally Posted by wagoo

I agree, but why don't they discontinue it? The poor reputation of the later defenders surely must hurt D3/RR/RRS by association.
Wagoo.

Behold, Wagoo the prophet.

Originally Posted by isuzurover

So let me get this straight? You want us to help you get a cheaper merc, just because you don't like accessories and think the defender has no future.

I stand by my decision and Land Rover appear to have supported it.

But, I have recently come across a very annoying issue with the G. You cannot turn off the damn sensor alert when reversing in long grass...

Yeah - big thanks to Solmanic for his advice.

I took one for an extended drive a few days ago, and was pretty impressed in general. Not sure if I could live with one, and the dealer and I are about $10K away from each other on price.

The good things were:
- Solid as - Makes my PUMA look flimsy. Reckon it will do 1,000,000 Kms!
- Driver environment - very plush
- Looks - Reckon it looks great

The not so good:
- It is HEAVY - with heavy vague steering and feels like it is always understeering.
- Acceleration not huge - for a 3.0L (the weight does not help of course)
- Noisy when pressing on - at higher revs some fan must kick in as it 'howls' above 3000RPM
- Fuel economy - gauge showed an avg of 16.1L/100 for a 60Km round trip from Adelaide up to the farm (in the hills) and back again. My Puma is consistently 10 to 10.5L/100 on the same drive.
- Load space in the rear is not that big
- The brake pedal is set too far forward - you really have to lift your foot off the accelerator to brake.
- Seat doesn't have enough legroom if you are tall like me
- Just HEAVY and ponderous all round, which is not so joyful on tight windy roads.

That sounds like a big list of negatives, which is a bit unfair as it is a great car. But I think at the price they sell for, I can see why they hardly sell any.

We'll see what happens if the dealer reconsiders on the price!!

Cheers
David

Also, devaluation of the merc is about 0.5 defenders per year.

That's true! This one was $161K in 2011, so in 4 years it has lost (at least) $60K, so about $15K per year.

It had 30,000Kms on the clock, so that cost someone $2 per Km just in depreciation

Originally Posted by spudboy

Yeah - big thanks to Solmanic for his advice.

I took one for an extended drive a few days ago, and was pretty impressed in general. Not sure if I could live with one, and the dealer and I are about $10K away from each other on price.

The good things were:
- Solid as - Makes my PUMA look flimsy. Reckon it will do 1,000,000 Kms!
- Driver environment - very plush
- Looks - Reckon it looks great

The not so good:
- It is HEAVY - with heavy vague steering and feels like it is always understeering.
- Acceleration not huge - for a 3.0L (the weight does not help of course)
- Noisy when pressing on - at higher revs some fan must kick in as it 'howls' above 3000RPM
- Fuel economy - gauge showed an avg of 16.1L/100 for a 60Km round trip from Adelaide up to the farm (in the hills) and back again. My Puma is consistently 10 to 10.5L/100 on the same drive.
- Load space in the rear is not that big
- The brake pedal is set too far forward - you really have to lift your foot off the accelerator to brake.
- Seat doesn't have enough legroom if you are tall like me
- Just HEAVY and ponderous all round, which is not so joyful on tight windy roads.

That sounds like a big list of negatives, which is a bit unfair as it is a great car. But I think at the price they sell for, I can see why they hardly sell any.

We'll see what happens if the dealer reconsiders on the price!!

Cheers
David

Interesting considering it's such an old design..

Originally Posted by spudboy

That's true! This one was $161K in 2011, so in 4 years it has lost (at least) $60K, so about $15K per year. It had 30,000Kms on the clock, so that cost someone $2 per Km just in depreciation

You could go back to a L322 tdv8 2011 model for less money.

Originally Posted by spudboy

...
The not so good:
- It is HEAVY - with heavy vague steering and feels like it is always understeering.
- Acceleration not huge - for a 3.0L (the weight does not help of course)
- Noisy when pressing on - at higher revs some fan must kick in as it 'howls' above 3000RPM
- Fuel economy - gauge showed an avg of 16.1L/100 for a 60Km round trip from Adelaide up to the farm (in the hills) and back again. My Puma is consistently 10 to 10.5L/100 on the same drive.
- Load space in the rear is not that big
- The brake pedal is set too far forward - you really have to lift your foot off the accelerator to brake.
- Seat doesn't have enough legroom if you are tall like me
- Just HEAVY and ponderous all round, which is not so joyful on tight windy roads.

Hmmm, that fuel economy doesn't seem right. I think every single tank I've put in mine has averaged 11l/100km give or take a bit. Like the Defender, city & highway driving seem to return similar figures due to wind resistance at speed.

Can't say I've noticed the heavy steering since my other car doesn't even have power steering. You're right about the ponderous nature of it though. I always need to take it easy around round-abouts.

I've never had issues with the acceleration. A few times I've actually chirped all 4 tyres. Sure, it's no V8, but it's a hell of a lot more than I ever had in there Defender.

As for the noise, there is an electric fan that tends to go on and off a bit with a mind of its own. The fan sometimes stays on for 5 minutes after you switch the car off but I'm buggered if I can work out why as it happens whether it's hot, cold, dry or wet.

As for the leg room, are you sure you pressed all the seat buttons? Depending on which option yours has, some have a bunch of additional seat adjust buttons on the side of the bottom cushion, but the main ones are on the door.

THE most important thing to ask though is whether the one you're looking at has had the sump service measure done, and when was it done? As I mentioned in the other thread, one of the guys on the AGOA forum had his engine replaced due to a dropped cylinder liner. This was put down to the fact that the sump service measure was done a lot later in his vehicle's life than most.