Who would? You?
- Thread starter cavedave
- Start date
4D55 Performance
Explorer
I have owned many great offroad vehicles over the years but the G Wagon is the only vehicle that is nearly perfect from the factory. Just a few simple bolt on's like a roof rack and some body armor and you are good to go. In stock form it is much more capable than my LX450 was because of the approach and departure angles. What sets the G500 apart from vehicles like the Jeep JK is the chassis. The frame on the G Wagon is beefy and looks more like a 1 ton truck. The Mercedes also makes more than enough power to get out of it own way which cannot be said for most other serious offroaders on the market. The G Wagon is not a one size fits all vehicle but it fits my needs because I have a family of 8 and we all fit nicely inside. I would much rather have a 10 year old G Wagon with a 100K miles than a new Jeep Rubicon. A 10 year old Mercedes will just last longer and do it in style.
Personally I would not keep it bone stock because they are too urbanized. That been said I wheeled some of the toughest trails in Moab in stock form include street radials and running board. If you remove the running boards, add some custom paint, aggresive tires, sliders and some skids and you have a very capable rig. I really have no need to lift the vehicle or make serious mods because I do consider it perfect right out of the box.
Personally I would not keep it bone stock because they are too urbanized. That been said I wheeled some of the toughest trails in Moab in stock form include street radials and running board. If you remove the running boards, add some custom paint, aggresive tires, sliders and some skids and you have a very capable rig. I really have no need to lift the vehicle or make serious mods because I do consider it perfect right out of the box.
Capo
Happy Camper
You need to establish what you need from your G. As you know, there are very different stock Gs available both new and second hand. A Professional will take you to Tierra del Fuego straight out of the box. I bought my two Gs new and for me it was important to get the comfortable features from the non-professional Gs, particularly the excellent but heavy sound insulation of the body, the comfortable seats, the powerful engine and the good sound system. I therefore chose the G400 and the G55K. I normally have to go a long way on motorways and country roads before reaching my chosen off-road areas. That, in my personal case, makes the luxurious G versions a better choice over the Professional.
If you insist on no mods you don't have to modify anything but you obviously must keep recovery gear and a first aid kit onboard. First aid comes stock with the vehicle but REAL recovery gear as you know doesn't.
My personal minimum mod requirements for a luxury G are: stronger tyres, better springs, underbody protection, recovery gear including a winch, extra winch line, plenty of shackles & slings and two snatch blocks. if you never travel alone in your vehicle and always in a group of vehicles, you can make do with less extensive recovery gear (in my opinion).
Good luck!
If you insist on no mods you don't have to modify anything but you obviously must keep recovery gear and a first aid kit onboard. First aid comes stock with the vehicle but REAL recovery gear as you know doesn't.
My personal minimum mod requirements for a luxury G are: stronger tyres, better springs, underbody protection, recovery gear including a winch, extra winch line, plenty of shackles & slings and two snatch blocks. if you never travel alone in your vehicle and always in a group of vehicles, you can make do with less extensive recovery gear (in my opinion).
Good luck!
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DUTCH
Curmudgeon
Not so in the US, where the OP is located.
Capo
Happy Camper
DUTCH
Curmudgeon
Improvise, possibly, yes; but buy a new Professional in the US, NO!
Capo
Happy Camper
Double pity!
That makes the American aficionados of the G an even more dedicated bunch than us Europeans, respect!
cavedave
Observer
I've posted similar questions to the Landy and Cruiser folks. It's interesting to read what everyone thinks of their steed of choice.
I can already identify a difference in the type of personality that each vehicle attracts. It's quite interesting to see the differences.
I've never driven a Gelandewagon, however I've seen them in service in Germany. Very impressive. Perhaps one day I'll own one. I promise it won't be a US model.
By all means, please continue responding! Don't let me keep you from telling the world how amazing the G-wagon is!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I can already identify a difference in the type of personality that each vehicle attracts. It's quite interesting to see the differences.
I've never driven a Gelandewagon, however I've seen them in service in Germany. Very impressive. Perhaps one day I'll own one. I promise it won't be a US model.
By all means, please continue responding! Don't let me keep you from telling the world how amazing the G-wagon is!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Capo
Happy Camper
Cavedave!
Cruisers, Landies and Gs all do the job but differently as I suspect you perfectly know already.
My 30.000 clicks in and out of Zimbabwe were all done on bad roads or off road in a Cruiser model 70 with very heavy loads always. I can tell you that in my ten years of going there I've seen a Landy once, ONCE!! Can you imagine the sloppiness of such a majestic brand losing total dominance on such an important market? It's worse, not only did they lose their complete dominance, they lost it all! We are not talking about one bad management to achieve such colossal disaster, we are talking about generations of inexplicably lousy management. I can say that such management in any of my companies would not have made it to lunch on the first day of the job. It is not fair to the devotees of this fine brand, nor to the loyal workers. It's always the management's fault. Trust me, a very close friend of mine was Marketing Director of Land Rover in a country I shall not name and this person unfortunately could only confirm the continuity of this managerial misery.
Now look at Toyota, going to Africa as the clear underdog with zero African sales under the belt and Land Rover owning the joint. Yet they conquered the whole continent. To me that fills me with the utmost respect because that is indeed no small feat. In all fairness, out of the box, the Toyota is better than the Land Rover - which when you look at it; you can blame management for that too...
I will gladly pat Land Rover on the back when they have done a substantial recovery on lost markets. If you want a Defender then seriously buy a Bowler cause it is sorted and it is what the Defender should have been by now, having had management and owners worthy of the names. The Range Rover is a fine car but when you go to town in Africa, all you see is the Toyota equivalent of the Range Rover. It is such a pity for Land Rover and such a wonderful triumph for Toyota.
The G is clearly up there with Toyota and it is gaining ground world wide. Though I must say that MB missed the train. They could have done better on the civil market earlier. They didn't understand to go world wide earlier.
There is good news for you G aficionados in the States! When the next product placement 4x4 shows up in a Hollywood film popular with house wives, you will see bundles of great Gs at good money for sale. I really had no idea the G hit home with Californian house wives. But I strongly suspect they will all succumb to the green pressure and flip their Gs shortly, so be prepared friends! Look out for the next "Thelma and Louise" with a game changing car placement in it and prepare to go hunting for a fresh G!
Cruisers, Landies and Gs all do the job but differently as I suspect you perfectly know already.
My 30.000 clicks in and out of Zimbabwe were all done on bad roads or off road in a Cruiser model 70 with very heavy loads always. I can tell you that in my ten years of going there I've seen a Landy once, ONCE!! Can you imagine the sloppiness of such a majestic brand losing total dominance on such an important market? It's worse, not only did they lose their complete dominance, they lost it all! We are not talking about one bad management to achieve such colossal disaster, we are talking about generations of inexplicably lousy management. I can say that such management in any of my companies would not have made it to lunch on the first day of the job. It is not fair to the devotees of this fine brand, nor to the loyal workers. It's always the management's fault. Trust me, a very close friend of mine was Marketing Director of Land Rover in a country I shall not name and this person unfortunately could only confirm the continuity of this managerial misery.
Now look at Toyota, going to Africa as the clear underdog with zero African sales under the belt and Land Rover owning the joint. Yet they conquered the whole continent. To me that fills me with the utmost respect because that is indeed no small feat. In all fairness, out of the box, the Toyota is better than the Land Rover - which when you look at it; you can blame management for that too...
I will gladly pat Land Rover on the back when they have done a substantial recovery on lost markets. If you want a Defender then seriously buy a Bowler cause it is sorted and it is what the Defender should have been by now, having had management and owners worthy of the names. The Range Rover is a fine car but when you go to town in Africa, all you see is the Toyota equivalent of the Range Rover. It is such a pity for Land Rover and such a wonderful triumph for Toyota.
The G is clearly up there with Toyota and it is gaining ground world wide. Though I must say that MB missed the train. They could have done better on the civil market earlier. They didn't understand to go world wide earlier.
There is good news for you G aficionados in the States! When the next product placement 4x4 shows up in a Hollywood film popular with house wives, you will see bundles of great Gs at good money for sale. I really had no idea the G hit home with Californian house wives. But I strongly suspect they will all succumb to the green pressure and flip their Gs shortly, so be prepared friends! Look out for the next "Thelma and Louise" with a game changing car placement in it and prepare to go hunting for a fresh G!
Outback Australia is also Toyota country. Especially with mining, farming, tour operators, utilities. Could have been a lot of G Pro's sold if Mercedes could be bothered doing some marketing and selling a competitively priced product (like they did with Sprinter vans and trucks commercially). But they should have been doing this decades ago, far too late now.
Only the recent order from our armed forces (which Landrover did not tender for) will add a significant number of G's to this market. The G Pro was/is not available to civilians here anyway. Plus MB did not want to pollute their luxury brand with "working" versions. Same in USA. The W461 was only available in very few markets.
And you would think that the tooling on the production line was payed off a long time ago, so that is a factor which should have contributed to a lower price W461. Or build them somewhere else :Wow1:
Only the recent order from our armed forces (which Landrover did not tender for) will add a significant number of G's to this market. The G Pro was/is not available to civilians here anyway. Plus MB did not want to pollute their luxury brand with "working" versions. Same in USA. The W461 was only available in very few markets.
And you would think that the tooling on the production line was payed off a long time ago, so that is a factor which should have contributed to a lower price W461. Or build them somewhere else :Wow1:
DUTCH
Curmudgeon
Do you have any idea of what it would take to legally get a non-US model into the states? Unless it's older than 25 yrs, I hope you have VERY DEEP pockets; but if you're at Ft Gordon, they probably won't be deep enough.
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cavedave
Observer
Capo
Happy Camper
Yep, Toyota saw the opportunity, saddled up and went to work. Now it is very tough work for anybody to win market from them.
Congrats on your Gs for the armed forces! I believe they ordered 160 6x6?
What a mistake of MB to believe the Pro would have polluted their luxury standing! Do you have this from a reliable source? It would be interesting marketing wise to learn how they reasoned, or didn't reason - perhaps they didn't see it all together?
Perhaps it's not so much having paid off the tooling as investing earlier and already thinking bigger volumes? I don't know?
DUTCH
Curmudgeon
I call 'em as I see 'em.