Mercedes G Wagon

As I understand it, these have decent engines and diff locks front and rear fitted as standard. Therefore, why arn't they the most popular offroader?

What are they like off road? Are they superior to landies?

Is it just their price that puts people off?

not just the price, but availabilty and parts too.

Im going out on a limb here and will say, yes they are better than landies in certain conditions. For a winch comp truck maybe not. but overland reliability yes. far better.

G

I kinda like them, but they are rearer than rocking horse ****.

They are also a little on the lardy side as well.

There are 3 or 4 that I know of being run as winch challenge trucks.

They look like defenders! I always do a double take, better engine too!

odenne said:

They look like defenders! I always do a double take, better engine too!

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Are you getting confused with santannas?:doh:

the only good thing about g wagons are the axles (as they have diff locks) and the engine) but there are a whole bung of downsides like price, looking like they were designed by a german with a ruler and general ponceyness

go buy a second hand one and youll soon realise why you dont see them off tarmac ! i cant believe just how expensive even early 1990 ones are !!!

vivnap said:

go buy a second hand one and youll soon realise why you dont see them off tarmac ! i cant believe just how expensive even early 1990 ones are !!!

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but isn't that coz they are dead good??? Must be a reason for keepin their value.

dead good ? they look crap! like the mercedes unimog the g wagon is supposed to be better than the best at what it does.
personally i dont like them, the g wagon that is. however the unimog is sh*t hot even though it started out life as a tractor.

question vivnap. can u get a unimog in RHD? would love one but hate lefties.....

Was followin a unimog the other day, looked alright (although i had to tow one out belonging to one of our contractors the other day cos they're too heavy and it got a bit bogged down) but that's not really ts fault - otherwise i thort they were ok - kinda typically german to do the utility thing same as us but in perfect form???

The G wagon has all the benefits of the depender but none of the faults (or please do name 'em!)

mysteryman said:

question vivnap. can u get a unimog in RHD? would love one but hate lefties.....

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definitely available in rhd.

yea, the electricity board use them cos they can get where other lorries cant ! they doo look rather good i must say with them great big fat tyres and hiab on the back and a million other goddies fitted.

They look good.. But parts

I like the G-wagon myself, quite a nice truck. I did a chainsaw test with a guy who had one, he got stuck and I pulled him out with my D90 that I had at the time

They don't have the ground clearance of a Defender, that is a down side. The rest of it, build quality and diff locks etc, seems to be very good.

As for a Mog, I'd buy one tomorrow if I could afford a good one. Anything in my budget is older than me and far from tidy. Have you ever seen the price of a new one? My house was cheaper!!!

The G - Wagon is superior to the Defender in many ways and is the vehicle of choice for many serious explorers. However if the Defender was built to the same price it would have the advantage. A range rover is a fairer match. Drawbacks include steering wheel wrong side, enormous price tag, mercedes poor reliability and build quaility (though getting better again) too expensive to use as a work vehicle and hard to repair in the third world. Looks matter of taste as it is with all things and no real history and marque mystique.

saw a mid 80's one at a merc dealer some years back - it was 15 yrs old with about 80k on the clock - no rust, no oil leaks - saying that though it were £15k OUCH! to rich for the likes of me I'll stick wi the Disco

I 'may' own one that set me back all of £500....(whistle nonchantly)