Thread: Done something crazy!

Originally Posted by AndyG

There is one slight difference...
Base model featured only. $157,804.55

Nooo, never pay retail!
However, I didn't give an example of the "urban" vehicle in my explanation... how about say a Mercedes E class + Defender. That's probably about the right sum total and a lot of the interior appointments in the G are similar.

Thanks for the fantastic review Solmanic... way out of my price range, but very interesting with regard to what the 'new Defender' could be...
Cheers
MrLandy

Originally Posted by solmanic

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.



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.