G55 AMG as DD

[370z TT]

I just got a great offer for a 2008 Mercedes G55 AMG, with few miles and at a great price. Has anyone ever driven one or owned one and how reliable are they. Are they relatively cheap to maintain? Does it ride nice or is it more for off-road since it is military spec? I'm going to see it this weekend and wanted some background info before I bought it. Also I searched through their forums and the people had very different opinions about the car and I couldn't make a decision based on that.

[HKYStormFront]

heavy weight a brick shaped aerodynamics along with a supercharged v8 equate to abysmal gas mileage and anything AMG is really, really expensive to maintain. they have AMG specific brakes, larger wheels (which means more expensive tires), require synthetic oil and you probably have to get everything done at the dealership to get any warranty issues covered. i would avoid owning a vehicle like this unless you can afford to buy it new.

[m4a1mustang]

Very expensive to maintain. If anything ever goes wrong, even if you can fix it yourself, it still ends up expensive as hell because you have to have an MB tech use the STAR diagnostics system to go perform some voodoo to make it work again.

A $50 sensor on an MB ends up costing you $700 when it's all said and done.

They are awesome if you own them under warranty, though.

[HKYStormFront]

which is why the resale value tanks right after the warranty is up

[tonybui]

LOL, have you been living under a rock? lol

AMG is not cheap to maintain man, you might switch ur 370z to be ur DD and the AMG to be your weekend car. With that said, If you can afford it then go for it !

[oro]

I used to work at a Mercedes specialty performance shop, Mercedes brakes on the AMG's are super soft for performance and smoothness, pretty much your pads and rotors will run out around the same time every time so don't expect for your rotors to last much longer than your pads.

The 55 engine is expensive to maintain but it is bullet proof, your oil change intervals will be around 6k and will require a specialized filter from Mercedes, which they will check if there is ever a warranty issue so remember to stay with the Mercedes recommended filter. Your oil changes with full synthetic and filter will run you around $130-$150 every 6k.

Most of your money will be spent on service, after working at the shop for 2.5 years the only AMG we ever had in for actual engine problems was because it ingested water when the freeway flooded. The engines are extremely solid, predictable and require very little maintenance aside from the scheduled (though expensive) maintenance.

You will have parts that wear out over time of course, flex disks on the drive shaft etc. But for the most part, budget your maintenance for your Daily Driven per year mileage, and add in a possible 2k for brakes for every two years depending on how aggressive you drive.

M4 is right on as well when it comes to the Merc diagnostics, just like BMW they rid themselves of dipsticks and they check oil level for example on the same DAS powered computers. Also actuation of a lot of systems can only be done through Merc. Merc does license their software to private repair shops though, which is what we did and will save you some money, while BMW keeps theirs strictly to their own dealerships.

Budget in everything above and see if it is for you. All that being said, they are extremely comfortable and for a big brick they haul some serious bootay especially with come Kleeman upgrades.

[JACKPAC]

I'm a big fan of AMG, but have never seen a reason to AMG up the G wagon beyond the "cause we can" line of thinking. This also applies to turbo Porsche SUV's. I could spend that money a lot better.

[AlphaSnacks]

I would never own a used AMG. Absolute nightmare in reliability.

[HKYStormFront]

Originally Posted by JACKPAC

I'm a big fan of AMG, but have never seen a reason to AMG up the G wagon beyond the "cause we can" line of thinking. This also applies to turbo Porsche SUV's. I could spend that money a lot better.

yea but the cayenne is all independent suspension (vs the G-wagon which is solid axle front and rear). i've driven the cayenne turbo and it preforms really well for the size of it, the electronic suspension really works wonders on that thing not to mention the rush of torque off the twin turbo engine. the G-wagon is really a "cause we can" vehicle whereas the cayenne was designed from the get-go to be the turbo variant and the chassis is made for it

[ImportConvert]

MB is about the least reliable vehicle made, and they aren't cheap to repair.

Unless its FULLY warrantied. Pass.

-or-

You have...some money.

[JACKPAC]

Originally Posted by HKYStormFront

yea but the cayenne is all independent suspension (vs the G-wagon which is solid axle front and rear). i've driven the cayenne turbo and it preforms really well for the size of it, the electronic suspension really works wonders on that thing not to mention the rush of torque off the twin turbo engine. the G-wagon is really a "cause we can" vehicle whereas the cayenne was designed from the get-go to be the turbo variant and the chassis is made for it

Anytime I see a SUV like this, I can't help but think that these SUV's would be too tall, heavy and with 20 inch rims and skinny tires, too harsh to be any good on the road, while being terrible off road as well (mostly due to tires). I'd spend that money on an equally harsh road car.

[HKYStormFront]

yea i'm not gonna argue that, but... you'd be surprised what something like a Cayenne Turbo or (my favorite) the GTS version can do in the twisties while still, thanks to clever electronics, suspension and traction control, do decently "soft roading". if you are gonna go track a car, get a sports car, if you wanna go crawl rocks, get a jeep (or xterra!) but if you only want one vehicle and want it to fall somewhere in the middle and do most things well instead of one thing excellent, Cayenne's make a strong argument for that. they are still expensive to own and maintain tho, but out of all the "crossover sports SUV's", it's the one i'd have.