how much is this worth?

[Indiana Drew]

From looking at Sean's profile (P3 SeanIT72), it does look like his truck - I never got out with him when I lived close but he was plenty friendly on email (email listed on P3) so it might be worth it to try him. Maybe there is more to the story ... Glad Ben popped up with some good info ... :victory:

 

[michaelgroves]

hmmmm, ok good stuff to consider.
if i do end up with it, i won't be selling it for quite a while. i plan to use it to 110% of its capabilities in the dirt. it will probably rarely see pavement. the only value a vehicle has to me is how much fun i can have with it as a toy versus how much i've spent, so making money on it is not really a concern.

A G-wagen tends not to be a great "toy", IMO, unless money is no object. Parts are not cheap, and any damage and consequent depreciation is expensive in proportion to the premium price these trucks command.

In other words, if you have a £1000 old banger Hilux, and you off road it hard, it will probably depreciate by half, costing you $500. The same applies to your $8000 old banger G-wagen, so it will cost you $4K. And this doesn't take into account that any replacement parts and repairs cost you a lot more during the time you are playing with it.

YMMV, of course, and the pleasure of driving a G-wagen might make it all worthwhile anyway!

 

[19psi]

Hi there,

Drew let me know that you were looking at this truck. I have some knowlage of the truck, I think the owner invited me to go wheelin' with him once or twice and I have seen the truck in person a few times. It belonged to SeanIT72 over at P-3. I am very suprised that he did not have the Coin to fix it or at least pay the bill owed, but I guess the economy is bad right now, maybe he fell on hard times. Unless repairs have been proformed in the past year, it has some rust in the rocker panels, where the seam meets up close to the rear wheel on both sides, the drivers side is going to require a bit of work to straiten it out, although most of it is hidden by the rubber body molding. The winch did work, unless something seized up from sitting. The A/C is an aftermarket Behr Unit, I don't know if it worked. I am not sure on this, but I think this truck might have an issue with popping out of low range in the T-case... I know three of the five W460's I know around the Louisville area had T-case issues, one is at my shop, one has disappeared and did not have a t-case in it at all the last time I saw it, and the last one I think is this one, which ever one it was would pop out of low range in reverse. That is fixable with a few hundred worth of parts, but if you don't want to tear into the t-case a used one runs anywhere from $1k-$2K. The owner was looking for a radiator about a year and a half ago, so that may have lead to the dead engine, might still need a radiator unless it was replaced. It has new shifter bushings in it and a new clutch slave cylinder in the past couple of years. I don't think Sean ever did any front end work on it, so I imagine that it is close to needing atleast a wheel bearing job.

As far as what it is worth, I would say $2K-3K is about the tops, maybe more if you REALLY want it. If it was running and you could tell the exact condition of the drivetrain it would be different, but there are a lot of expensive parts that a G can need.

Cheers,
Ben

^Thanks for the info. Great first post, how in the world did you find this thread to comment on first?

If that is all true and it is indeed the same vehicle I'd be inclined to low ball. I see big dollar outlay getting that truck reliable again.

For the cash required you might be better off to pass and move up in price range to get something that runs.

INdeed. for much more money, i'd just as soon dump it into my cherokee which is much cheaper and easier to work on and just as capable in the dirt.

A G-wagen tends not to be a great "toy", IMO, unless money is no object. Parts are not cheap, and any damage and consequent depreciation is expensive in proportion to the premium price these trucks command.

In other words, if you have a £1000 old banger Hilux, and you off road it hard, it will probably depreciate by half, costing you $500. The same applies to your $8000 old banger G-wagen, so it will cost you $4K. And this doesn't take into account that any replacement parts and repairs cost you a lot more during the time you are playing with it.

YMMV, of course, and the pleasure of driving a G-wagen might make it all worthwhile anyway!

haha, you're correct there, but depreciation doesn't bother me, i've modded every vehicle i've had for the past 12 years or so and took a pretty big loss on every one when i sold it. when it comes to vehicles for me, they're just expensive toys, and i never expect to come out ahead. is it bad financially? sure, but that's my only vice, so i'm fine with it.
that being said, my off road vehicles i've been fairly lucky with, even the jeeps with their weak axles; i'm not a throttle jockey, so i'm able to keep the junk together and not have to fix things every time i get back home. the Gwagen i'm sure has much stronger axles than a jeep, so that part should be fine.

I am concerned about the t case though, as mentioned by Merz Ben. i sure dont have the coin to just biuy a new one for a couple grand, so i may be rebuilding it myself. not a big deal though, i was a dealer mechanic for many years at the high end import stores.

 

[Indiana Drew]

^Thanks for the info. Great first post, how in the world did you find this thread to comment on first?

Just remember the G Mafia are everywhere! I purchased my yellow/blue 280 from Ben in '07 when I lived in Evansville ...

INdeed. for much more money, i'd just as soon dump it into my cherokee which is much cheaper and easier to work on and just as capable in the dirt.



haha, you're correct there, but depreciation doesn't bother me, i've modded every vehicle i've had for the past 12 years or so and took a pretty big loss on every one when i sold it. when it comes to vehicles for me, they're just expensive toys, and i never expect to come out ahead. is it bad financially? sure, but that's my only vice, so i'm fine with it.
that being said, my off road vehicles i've been fairly lucky with, even the jeeps with their weak axles; i'm not a throttle jockey, so i'm able to keep the junk together and not have to fix things every time i get back home. the Gwagen i'm sure has much stronger axles than a jeep, so that part should be fine.

I am concerned about the t case though, as mentioned by Merz Ben. i sure dont have the coin to just biuy a new one for a couple grand, so i may be rebuilding it myself. not a big deal though, i was a dealer mechanic for many years at the high end import stores.

I don't know that the axles on 460 are that much stronger, but as you said, you are not a throttle jockey. There is a step by step description of a Tcase rebuild on P3 by ElevatorBernie I believe. The links on my page should give you plenty of options to the parts suppliers for Gs. I have no business affiliation with anyone I link to ...

 

[19psi]

ah i see!
you guys sure have been helpful, it's always good to know that whatever vehicle i have, there's g ood online community to help out!

 

[Indiana Drew]

ah i see!
you guys sure have been helpful, it's always good to know that whatever vehicle i have, there's g ood online community to help out!

Between forum searches, members and suppliers there is an incrdible data base for the G even though it is a more unique community ...

 

[19psi]

i like unique. i had 2 mitsubishi galant vr4's, of which there were only 3000 total in the US.

 

[delmartin]

82 GWagen, but with a blown 280 gas engine.

Did you buy this?