greg3852

Can anyone here help me understand the reason for the high cost of these vehicles? I personally don't understand the allure of them. I find them to be boxy and ugly. Why do they cost so much, and are they any more reliable than other Mercedes products? I've never understood it.

Toys4RJill

Solid axles front and rear
Very high up right seating
V12
V8
Turbos
Ultimate 4x4 capabilities
Ultimate prestige. ($200k)
Very nice material
Will last a long time if maintained

Lil4X

MilSpec for small armies. Try pricing a "new" H-1 Hummer - with sling seats, cramped passenger cab, miserable performance, and not even an air conditioner. Add wood and leather details, a good stereo, AC, a few passenger amenities, while sacrificing some of the ultimate go-anywhere-under-any-conditions, and finish with a paint job that wasn't applied with a broom. There you have a G-wagon.

Stroock639

for a start they're hand made in austria on an exclusive production line, and it's literally built like a bank vault. try shutting the door on one, it took me 3 tries because i didn't realize just how much you gotta SLAM it shut. it just feels really tank-like. i mean it's really not all that big, much smaller of a footprint than any modern SUV but it weighs like 5700 lbs because it's just so solid.

the biggest problem is that because it looks "like a big toy" it's just become some accessory for many excessively rich people and celebrities, but it's actually one of the most capable vehicles produced. it's also one of very few true 4x4 cars produced today with an actual proper chassis, so it handles pretty terribly on-road lol

and their purposefulness makes them beautiful

mmarshall

It was originally designed for the German and Austrian militaries back in the late 1970s....one reason for its very tough body and frame strength. Shut the doors, and that alone gives you an indication of how it's built....they are like bank vaults. It has not only the front and rear solid axles that Jill indicated, but also three locking differentials.......front, center, and rear, for some of the toughest off-road conditions imaginable. Most surprising of all, perhaps, is that Mercedes even does an AMG version of it.

Stroock639

there's even a 6 wheeled version of that!




you gotta love a company that even bothers to build something like that

TangoRed

I love them and am a tiny bit scared of the big changes coming in 2 years.

Toys4RJill

What changes?

TangoRed

It'll be lighter, wider, and have an independent front suspension among other things. Off-road capability and boxy proportions will remain the same.

Toys4RJill

Is this confirmed?

TangoRed

No, we're too far out. Dieter Zetsche has spoken about it though. You'll start seeing the mules late this year.

CEOEngr

Everything aside, they have the most unreliable/fickle AC.

Toys4RJill

Lol..........

mmarshall

Dodge did an experimental 6-wheel T-Rex on its Ram series, but, to my knowledge, it never went into production.

mmarshall

It will be interesting to see if they can actually keep the same durability and off-road capability with an IFS. That's one reason why the Jeep Wrangler, arguably the world's most ubiquitous off-roader, has had a solid front axle going back to its earliest days in WWII.