Test drive Mercedes Benz G-class W463 since 2012 SUV

$9000

Mercedes G.
Is it possible to buy, for example, in Germany a used car with honest mileage? Well, this is unlikely to say experts and in general will be right. Nevertheless, you can. If this car is Mercedes G.
 
Honest mileage
Gelandewagen of the old, 460th version (produced since 1981 and still standing in service with the Bundeswehr) may be some 80 grated year of release and have real mileage, say, 170-180 thousand km. Why is there so little for such an advanced age? Because this car is not for every day. On the streets of German cities, the old Gelendevagen is not often found. There are many of them only near military towns, in areas with developed horse breeding (G is popular as a tugboat for trailers) and on juper or hunting parties. And military exercises, transportation of horses, creep on dirt and hunting are episodic things. Therefore, G in Germany lives more in the stall than on the road. Hence the modest run with long years of life. Not always, of course, but usually.
Hide the spare tire away from sin
We have never heard a single bad review of this machine. Of course, she once flies something, but all the characteristic diseases are so far delayed by mileage and age (if the owner is not a murderer) that she is lying eternal. And with the troubles described below, you will most likely not encounter soon, or maybe you will never collide.
Let's start with the body. He stands on the frame very high above the road. This is a plus of a persistent factory anticorus - good protection against rust. Despite the fact that the body is neocying, it practically does not rot. There are only two weaknesses: under the rear lights and under the moldings of the thresholds. Corrosion there is most likely if the car is very old. This, as a buyer, is a good tip to clarify its true age: I looked behind the plinth - and everything is clear.
It happens that the lock and loops of the back door begin to seize. The fault hanging on the door door - under its weight, the door gradually sags. Best prevention: immediately remove the spare tire inside. True, the council is relevant only for owners of large 5-door cars. In a short 3-door reserve will eat too much luggage space.
The engine from the passenger car?! Who not? ..
In the gamut of engines for G, the most popular is a 2.3 -liter gasoline engine of the famous model 102 (it is mainly that it was also placed on car Mercedes with bodies of 123 and 124). And experts consider the best engines from the gamut a 2.4-liter diesel and 3-liter gasoline.
What requires special attention in the engines? Firstly, a pump. She lives for a long time if you use antifreeze certified company (Mobil and Castrol are recommended). But on our antifreeze, the pump is capricious: it happens that it begins to leak after 10 thousand km. Secondly, the fuel filter. The company advises to change it after 30 thousand km, but this advice is given for German fuel. With our fuel - dirty and often diluted - it is good to change the filter after 15 thousand km. Thirdly, the inadmissibility of the engine overheating: the oil can flow from under the gasket of the block head.
The rest in the engines serves long and reliably. Somewhere by 120 thousand km of run, the elongated timing chain may rattle - replace without waiting for the cliff, otherwise you will have to change the entire head of the block. After about 150 thousand km, valve hydraulic compensators can be posed: change them complete with oil -removable caps. By the way, both replacements - the timing chains and compensators with caps - are profitable to produce together, since they are almost nearby, so as not to pay twice for disassembling -assembly (the norm is about $ 60 at the corporate service).
The old gelding of the furrow will not spoil
The transmission and chassis of Gelendevagen are made in a military kondovo and therefore, as a rule, do not create big problems. The clutch goes 300 thousand km or more. Manual checkpoint is truly eternal. It is more complicated with a machine gun: it is eternal if after 60 thousand km to change oil, filter and a pallet laying in it (obviously not a military option). The rear brake pads live 100 thousand km, the front - 30-50 thousand km each.
Particular attention should be paid to the following. After 15-20 thousand km, syringe the slots of the cardan shafts. Use only branded lubrication; Our Litol is not very good for the Mercedes. If the suspension was packed (after 150 thousand km, and even then not always), change the silent blocks of the longitudinal levers. Well, of course, follow the oil seals (semi -axles, handouts, hinges of a swivel fist) - sooner or later they begin to flow. G, as a rule, is late - after 100 thousand km.
Branded parts for G are expensive. In the free market, 2-3 times cheaper, but it is bad that the choice of spare parts for this car is very poor. And good - the car allows you to put on some non -native things. For example, instead of a branded radiator, a radiator from the old five BMW is suitable. Instead of an original fuel pump, at a price of $ 300, you can choose, say, Boshevsky for $ 110-180. Instead of branded windshield ($ 100-110), you can find suitable for $ 50. And even cheaper - cut glass in any bus park for n bottles of vodka, since all the glass of G is straight.
Having bought an old Gelendauger, it is better to immediately invest money in it and adjust everything to the maximum. With this approach, old gelding will not spoil the furrow for a long time
Mercedes G-Klasse
Working engine of engine (cubic cub) 2299
Power (L. S. at about./Min.) 125 at 5000
Maximum speed (km/h) 145
Average fuel consumption (l/100 km) 14.5-15
Prices for Mercedes G in Moscow
YEAR OF ISSUE
1984 $ 6.5-9.0 thousand
1985 $ 8.5-16.0 thousand.
1986 $ 9.0-16.0 thousand.
1987 $ 12.0-17.0 thousand.
1988 $ 14.0-17.5 thousand
Prices for spare parts and consumables in Moscow
Brake pads per./Ass. $ 125/$ 250
Fuel filter $ 30
Air filter $ 60
Oil filter $ 30
Farah $ 80
Turning Meter $ 200 chain
Sergey Sorokin, Alexey Ilyin (photo)
 

Source: "Autopilot"

Video test drives Mercedes Benz G-class W463 since 2012