2002/3 G270 CDi
I recently went to check out a car I had provisionally agreed to buy from a private vendor in Germany. Having been G obsessed for 12 years since my first 280GEL and having enjoyed every one of the120,000 miles in my present 300GEL over the last 9 years, I was looking forward to the acquisition. The car was mint, really mint; loaded with extras and had not covered many Km's. One request was that I was able to inspect the car underneath. After long drives and superficial checking on top I had it up on a ramp. Rust on a 2.5 year old car? The axles had rust patches, on castings and hanger joints. Any chassis/body connections showed an orange bleeding from between metal plates/abutments. The springs had flaking enamel. The underseal, such as it was, and where applied seemed OK. The car had no signs of having been off-road or towing. But the scuttle was peppered with dead fly/stone chips some of which, not near the seam were bubbling where the paint had broken. Oil change servicing on this model now approx at 20,000Kms, larger service at 40,000kms, so the underbody hadn't seen a grease gun from new. I could have cried, (my old lady gets greased every 3-4000miles.) Question, am I being excessivly critical in my appraisal and any comments?
Not at all, I don't think so.
Mercedes garages worldwide are a bunch of overpaid, incompetent cretins who hate the G and don't even stock a grease gun in their garages anymore (even if they did have one I doubt that the 19 year-old sissies that they employ would know how to use it).
Magna-Steyr (the maker of the G) hate the G because they make very little money on each of them they make because Daimler-Chrysler is now managed by accountants who are starving the suppliers of any profits..... By the way, DC also hates the G because they don't manage to make any money on it either (well, not as much as they make on any other Yuppie-o-mobile that they make). So between Magna-Steyr and DC they have managed to dramatically reduce the levels of quality of the latest Gs made. It is such a shame!
Bottom line: don't bother to buy a G or any other Mercedes made after in 2000 or after. They are nothing but re-badged Chryslers. DC now means DaimlerCr@p
Its not that bad, after 2000 they have had some eletrical problems but howards 51 plate 461 is fine. If your buying the G from someone thats used it were there has been plenty of snow and salt then expect some rusting where you suggest. Paint flaking around springs may just mean the use of an inferior enamel process.
I disagree with all garages are like this. That is the problem of having longer servicing on engines, the rest of the car still needs pads, shoes and a grease gun every so often and thats not the garages fault. I am sure if you read the handbbook it will suggest these lower milage maintainence points need addressing.Old G's servicing is every 6000 but I crawl underneath every 2000 and grease the props. I run a fleet of lorrys and the elusion that the shorter servicing spans elate to less cost is erelavant if the prop falls to bits due to lack of preventative maintanence. Any how if you are buying a g from Germany its a legal requirement for the seller to disclose any faults its had. Its its mint then its mint but it hasnt done the milage in an airconditioned room, its been out in the mountains doing what its supposed to do.
Sorry Peter, I meant to say "don't bother to buy a G or any other Mercedes made after in 2001 or after".
Cheers
Although the service intervals in terms of miles are huge these days, there is also a time period given to the service interval. So a 2.5 year old car that hasn't had a service, hasn't been maintained to manufacturers spec, regardless of how few miles it's covered.
J I think you are being a bit hard, Compared to any thing else being built they are the tops.
And if you don't like MB service take it to some where the passion for the G is like yours
that wouldnt be a little garage in Davetry by any chance would it :wink:
JOIN THE GWOA
This website and forum are provided for the benefit of enthusiasts and owners of all Mercedes Benz off road vehicles, in particular the G Wagen. The costs of development, upkeep and provision of the site are met entirely by the annual subscriptions of club members. If you are using the site and are not a member of the G Wagen Owners Association please consider joining. You will have access to areas on the site that are not open to non members, to club trips and meetings and to technical assistance. In addition your contribution (only £25 annually) will help us maintain and develop our website for future users.
Who's new
- Jaffa_JIM_23
- Wrabstar
- GG
- KTMSCANIA22
- 280ge
