i am very interested in buying a mercedes g class. How are they to own and drive? anybody have experience with cost to maintain and reliability? are cars with 100k miles too much? my max to spend is like 50k. I originally wanted the g wagon cabrio but later found out there are only around 70 in the us and they go for crazy money.

 

I have owned a 2003 G500 for over 7 years since new and have put 102k miles on the odo.Obviously I love the truck and so does my wife who has become its principal driver. However do not expect a car like ride. It is built like a tank. They are known to be somewhat expenxive to maintain so a warranty is adviseable. In the last 3 years and 50,000 miles I had around $4500 of repairs which was not too bad and is basically what the extended warranty cost me.I am out of warranty now but figure the maintence will be a lot less money tnan I would have to spend on an almost identical looking newer model. The G500 has been well worth the price.

 

You may also want to check out the G-CLass forum at mbworld.org

 

I am on the fence on trading my 2005 G500 for a 2011 Bmw X5d. The only hiccup I have had was to replace the air conditioner compressor at 68k miles at 73k now. Small issues are the interior door handle are prone to breaking (about $100 for the part and about 5 minutes to replace) Window regulators are common failure($300 or so for the part)

The drive is subjective. I consider it a military truck with leather interior she considers it a 1970s mack dumptruck.I love it the wife absolutely hates it. Don't expect Lexus soft suspension or cayenne/x5 handling. Reliability was way better than my previous Range Rovers.

Now for the major drawback. Gas Mileage or lack there of. I knew is was bad going into it. Just didnt realize how bad. Straight driving on the Parkway is averaging 10.8 Around town is between 9 and 10.

I would buy another one in a hearbeat but with BMW's ecco credit and holiday cash on the X5 its almost too good of a deal to pass up. I noticed you were also on long island. If you want I could meet up with you. I am letting mine go for way under $50k. If you want PM and we can set something up.