Done something crazy!

We went up to the property to see how things were after all the rain and to play with the new G. Not much in the way of hardcore off-roading but plenty of hardcore gardening. The track in was almost completely overgrown in places and many mid-sized trees down as well as a lot of tangled scrubby stuff blocking the way.

Played with all the diff-lock buttons but I can't say the track was difficult enough to need them. After about the sixth tree we called it a day before we even got onto the really gnarly part of the hill. Rain has kept us out since then but I'm looking forward to the next bit. Two more trees to go then we'll get to see how capable the vehicle really is.

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h...2/IMG_5980.jpg

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h...2/IMG_5975.jpg

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h...2/IMG_5972.jpg

A few spots where we have pipes under the road are beginning to wash out badly...
http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h...2/IMG_5993.jpg


http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h...2/IMG_5983.jpg

Might need to consider getting a set of mudflaps. I wonder how many thousand dollars Mercedes-Benz charge for those?

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h...2/IMG_6006.jpg

Ah, just found this thread. Now I recognise your G and you can see mine behind in this pic.

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h...C943redG3.jpeg

Its harder to find aftermarket gear for the newer models. Not so bad for old ones and its easier (and cheaper) for me to get things fabricated, like my custom receiver hitch. I am getting rock sliders/steps made soon and modify the front bar for a winch. I dont see the need, for me, for a bullbar although its quite easy to adapt a 70-series ARB bar to suit.

Here is a pic of mine on the same day.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-E...0/P1050552.JPG

And some G's from a different event.
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/im...013/04/727.jpg

I first came to this site for some info on the No5 ex-army trailer I have and have stuck around. So much good info and discussion on this forum.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by solmanic

My dilemma... I'm having an emotional crisis selling the Defender. I keep telling myself that they are both different kinds of 4WD and it would make sense to keep them both.

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I am still having the same problem, some days the 110 has to go other days it has to stay, over the last few years reliability as been an issue which is the main reason I got my G to start with. My 110 is only worth about 15k so it is a much easier decision than if it was worth double that figure. The money would be nice but I am sure I will kick myself one day if I do sell it.

On the other hand I now put about 10 000km on the G and the more I drive it the more I think I would have trouble owning anything else. :o

heres a fun one for you....

whats the data plate on yours say for weights? Im not sure if it applies to just the military ones but I remember reading a review of the merc having a GVM of 4.6T which means you cant drive it legally on a car license you need to have a LR class.

and I dont envy your choices, a ford or a gaywagen....

Quote:

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Originally Posted by cols110

...On the other hand I now put about 10 000km on the G and the more I drive it the more I think I would have trouble owning anything else. :o

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I am now officially too soft. I'm sure Discovery & Range Rover drivers would laugh, but I am now sadly comfortable with the automatic everything. Interestingly, I often see reviews of the G-Wagen where they praise the off-road ability but bag it for its on-road manners, body roll, schizophrenic stability control etc. Having come from a Defender though I can't say I've noticed any problems.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Blknight.aus

heres a fun one for you....

whats the data plate on yours say for weights? Im not sure if it applies to just the military ones but I remember reading a review of the merc having a GVM of 4.6T which means you cant drive it legally on a car license you need to have a LR class.

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Um... there is no GVM listed. I checked the manual and it defers to the relevant placard on the vehicle. Where the placard is meant to be on European vehicles there is just tyre and towing information. Australian vehices list the weights on the compliance plate under the bonnet... But on the compliance plate it just has "GVM kg". That's it. No actual mass listed at all. Unladen weight is 2530kg.

Thats interesting, My Iveco had no such plate either, you can get it registered as either a car or truck. In my case I wanted it registered in the car category so Iveco riveted a plate on the door jamb stating GVM 4490 kg . I do have a HC licence but why register as GVM 5500kg and then pay extra for rego and yearly RWC inspections . Problem when I went to get it registered, because it looks like a truck they wanted to register it as a truck and put it over weighbrige etc , but pointing them to the local GVM plate solved the issue.

GVM 3100 kgs, I wonder if the W463's are 3100 and maybe the W461's which are Military & the Professional series as 4600 kgs.

As for handling our G is by far the best handling vehicle we have but that is not saying much as I am comparing against a 110 & DII. I have never driven a newer class of vehicle with independent suspension such as a D4, RRS, RR etc but I am guessing they would handle far better.

I thought after about a year of ownership it might be worth giving an update on the G for anybody interested.

Firstly - still loving it, and everything still working fine. No breakdowns, no major issues, but still plenty of minor warranty work (and one major recall) that should be familiar to a lot of Land Rover owners.

The major recall was actually an already existing "service measure" that was in place when I bought the car. Seems that the addition of all the bluetec emissions jiggery-pokery had the unwelcome side effect of raising oil temperatures on the 3l diesel engine to the point where some were experiencing sludging. My vehicle having done only about 4000km at the time had little worry of this but nevertheless still took 5 weeks to have the service measure done. Most of this time was taken waiting for parts from Germany since they couldn't be ordered until the lower sump was disassembled and they could get the correct numbers off the crank shaft since the parts are matched. Still, I got to spend those 5 weeks driving just about every other car in Mercedes model line-up.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/

One other owner in Melbourne had a particularly nasty failure on his G350. One of the cylinder liners slipped when he was off on a trip to somewhere out west and resulted in an entire engine replacement. Again, MB came to the party supplying him with a GL delivered to where he broke down so they could complete their journey. I guess this just highlights how important the service back-up is in making even major failures bearable.

The other warranty work I have had done was all minor and would be familiar to most Land Rover owners. A coupe of window regulators and the sunroof chain came off its pulley. The odd rattle and a dodgy bit of floor carpet that Mercedes insisted on replacing despite me not really caring. Some crossed wiring which caused one of the million speakers to whistle whenever the lights were on. And a couple of times the exhaust pipe has had to have brackets replaced due to looseness and vibration noises.

The only thing that was in any way a bother was a clunk in the front steering that was there from new. It took three trips to two different dealerships before it was correctly identified and fixed (I had to find the one person who had already come across this problem as all the previous mechanics were just shooting in the dark suggesting it might be this or that). The cause was typical Mercedes over-engineering. They apparently put too much underbody sealant on in the factory which prevented some steering components from being properly torqued-up. Once they cleaned the excess sealant off everything was correctly re-tightened and the problem solved.

I've only had one service so far and the price was surprisingly reasonable, although I will be supplying my own oil in future. MB has about a 50% mark up on Shell Helix Ultra over say Supercheap. I plan to suck it up and continue with dealer servicing for at least the first couple of years before looking for a suitable independent workshop. The level of customer service from MB is outstanding and quite addictive. Free everything at their in-house cafe including cooked breakfasts and decent coffee.

Things I'm loving:
- Being able to fit into most car parks.
- Effective air conditioning and heating.
- Outstanding sound system.
- Diff locks and the associated confidence off-road.
- Knowing those diff locks are factory standard and no-one will give me grief if they or any other part of the drivetrain fails.
- The Defender-like seating position and visibility.
- The Defender like ground clearance.
- The compact exterior dimensions.
- Rear seat passengers no longer complaining about not being able to see out.
- Being able to make U-turns at will.
- Being able to go through the McDonalds drive-thru without having to do three-point turns around the corners.
- No leaks - not a single one.
- Not getting into an argument every time I have to talk to the dealership.
- A million other things related to now being soft and liking comfy driving.

Things not so good (compared to the Defender):
- Missing those few extra inches in the back and things that now just don't quite fit in.
- Slightly worse fuel economy (but slightly better on the highway).
- Feeling a bit of a ****** with everybody looking at you thinking the same. This is moderated slightly by the blokes you see mouthing the word "awesome" and kids who go ape**** when they see it.
- The car also makes me drive more like a ****** unfortunately.
- Access to decent and reasonably priced accessories. I still can't find a good bullbar and god knows where I will mount the UHF.
- Worrying a LOT more about the vehicle, especially when parked in certain neighbourhoods.

So overall, positive. I notice that when I bought the G there were quite a lot of 2011MY G350s for sale but currently there is only one on Carsales. Mine is also actually a 2010MY despite being first registered in 2013. It seems MB brought a bunch of them over and just stored many for a long time before selling. Weird.

Will I go back to Land Rover? Well that depends on what the new Defender ends up being and whether LRA stop behaving like a bunch of ****** and learn how to effectively service their customers instead of treating them like an inconvenience. They could learn a lot from MB Australia-Pacific.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/

Thats a nice honest report mate.

I am just back from a 2000 km 6 day trip into Oman with mine, it was the first decent trip I have done and it drove like a dream, 5 people onboard, set the cruise at 120 kph and enjoy the ride.

It is a fantastic tourer, it is not quite to the level of my fully locked 110 off road but as an all round package it is way ahead. As you mention the rear is a little cramped compared to the 110 but to be able to carry 5 people in comfort is the flip side.

The only downside is the fuel economy luckily fuel is cheap here as I averaged 18-19 l/p 100 km, on one of the days we were running into a strong 20-30 kt wind for around 400km, with the cruise set at 120 kph it drank fuel to the tune of 25.5 l/p 100km which was quite frightening, but when fuel costs 45c/p/ltr it does not really matter to much.

I might post a report with a few photos.

I have owned my G for almost 6 months now and am really having trouble justifying keeping my 110. My dog is the only one who hates the G as she cannot cruise with her head out the side window as she can in the 110. :D

I have to admit, it was the urban needs that forced the issue with us. The Defender's achilles heel was really it's height and inability to get into most multi-storey or underground car parks. The fact that the G is so close to the Defender in overall configuration and off-road performance was just the best, even considering the price difference. My logic went something like this... You pay a certain amount for a decent off-road vehicle (say a Defender), then pay a certain amount for a decent urban vehicle with suitable levels of luxury and refinement... then either buy two cars or add to two figures together and presto - a G-Wagen.