Would someone in Vancouver B.C. check out a 300GD?
 

I have a friend that is interested in a 85 300GD, a G-wagon, but it's in Vancouver B.C. Are there any members here that might be interested in check it out for him?

I'll do it if he'll fly me from SJC to check it for him :)

Sixto
87 300D

I'm sure he'd be up for that!:P But it's probably be cheaper to fly me up there. I'm a little closer:D

Here is the rig he's drooling over.
1985 Mercedes 300GD 3.0L not turbo diesel 5Cyl. 5 speed manual 4WD

Two livers by the driver seat???

I was up there a few years ago and drooled over a G290.

Sixto
87 300D

I like it too. It's not cheap but the claim is low mileage. Those things tend to rust so I'd want to look at it closely.

You could probably sell the livers on the black market if they are still functioning.

is this it
 

1985 Mercedes 300GD 3.0 L not turbo diesel 5 Speed 4 WD $14300

It has been for sale for a long time, many months now & he has only dropped the price $200 over that time. I conclude it may be in Ok condition but not selling because it is overpriced by about 4K. If you have been in contact with the owner shoot me the info, gist of the conversation and I will try the stealth approach , to see if the story they give is consistent. I was considering one of these last summer but decided on a Landcruiser instead. Let me know Cheers Dan

SUPER***** trying toget this back across the north border.

he probably has 2 pet dogs :P

I wanted to say thanks for the offers to help. Now I just need to figure out the intricacies of importing in a 25yr or older car into the states.

Cheers,
Matt

Someone posted directions for bringing cars from Canada into the US. Maybe Hunter can help you find that post.

I work in Richmond, so does Bens lover. We could check it out for you if you wish. This week isn't good for me, but next week is fine. Let me know. Personally I think the price is high, but then, I don't know much about the value of these things.

Instead of a G, I got myself an 87 Landcruiser, diesel, 5-sp. Lots of rust :-)

I live in central BC and thought long and hard about making the trip to look at this vehicle. However the price in my view is over the top by quite a bit. These babies have quite a propensity for rust, especially around the rear end.

There was a fully restored GD on eBay a couple of months ago that had a rebuilt turbo 617 engine installed. New brake lines, suspension components, new seats, the works. As I recall the buy it now price was about the same as this one.

I am looking for a 4WD of some kind to handle the forest roads here over time and I think I can get something for a lot less than this one.

Emotionally this is incredibly tempting but I can't justify the price given the truck load of parts that any 25 yr old vehicle is going to need.

If you haven't done so already, I strongly recommend you call a customs broker to handle the paperwork and advise you on how to proceed.

Either that or pony up the additional $$$ for the car to be transported down to the U.S. by a carrier that runs its own customs clearances (brokerage). Carriers seem to get far, far less hassle from the border guards (both sides of the border) than do individuals.

I have imported at least seven cars from the US, five myself and two where I paid the extra for the carrier to do it. Four of the five times I did it myself there was some hitch (border guard attitude, pickiness about the title docs, screwups by the broker I had hired, etc.). Never a peep when I let the carrier do the paper (and those cars had the shakiest paper of all the ones I bought).

The most important thing you will need to verify is that there is NO LIEN on the vehicle. I have no idea how they do that in BC, it's a province-by-province matter.

Good luck with it.

IMHO I strongly recommend driving a NA diesel G wagon before buying.

They are around town vehicles, 50-60 is about all they are good for, and getting their is leisurely. Also most don't have AC. Throw on say an 1k pound trailer with an ATV or sled, fill with 3-4 people and gear for a weekend, and head up into the mountains... and your going to be flooring it in 2nd or 3rd gear the whole way at 40mph. Not my idea of fun. OTOH a M119/M113 powered G wagon will cruise at 80mph under such conditions all day long with ease.

IMHO a turbo charged 606 would probably be about the only diesel engine in a G that would be OK in normal traffic. Smaller engines are fine for 3rd world countries with bad roads where you can't really go fast anyway, but we live in the US with 70-80 mph freeways and lots of traffic. IMHO I think the smallest motor in a 4 door G that would be acceptable would be a 606 or M104. Ideally they really need a V8. Sadly there is no way to get the G420CDI version in this country, that really would be the model to get. The plus side at least with the motors we can get here is that the diesel has to work so hard to lug it around compared to a V8 is that your mileage difference is negligible, more so when you factor in the cost of diesel. A gas G500 at 14mpg is actually cheaper to run than a diesel G getting 18-19.


Also old G's like to rust out, get it up on a lift and poke around!

X2. That's why I drive a LandCruiser and not a GWagon.

Now this is what Im talking about! Thanks for all the great information!

Andrew - Thanks for introducing me to an amazing forum!

Zu! - Thanks for the offer, but the more research I do the more I think I want to find a rig that was originally delivered to N America, unlike this G-Wagon that is originally from Bosnia. That said I might still take you up on that offer, if I find a better car for the money (like a 70-series Land Cruiser Wagon).

Mac - Thanks for the carrier idea. I just started looking into custom brokers, but I think a one stop shop could easily be worth the extra $$$. If you wouldn't mind, would you pass along the name of the company you used? I would be greatly appreciative.

Hattersaguy - I am hopefully going to get the chance to drive a 300GD 4-speed manual later this week, and I was able to drive a very rough and out of tune 280GE auto last week. To be honest I am still waivering between finding a 280GE and a 300GD. Its looking like the extra price of diesel will all but cancel out the added MPG and I have always wanted an M-B with the M104, but I love the deliberateness and strategy that it took to drive my '82 300D Turbo quickly and efficiently...as you can see I am still on the fence about this :D Either way I wouldn't be using the G-Wagon as a daily driver, it would be more about heading up to the mountains to explore, hike and go camping with the family.

Zu! & Kerry - I hear you there. I have spent the last few months looking for the perfect 80 or 100 series Land Cruiser but for better or worse every time I think I have found it, someone buys it the day before I can get out to see it...So it goes. The Land Cruiser is definitely the more logical choice, but a W460 G-Wagon has a coolness factor that a Land Cruiser doesn't quite match.

Do you mean the customs broker I used for the imports I did myself? Unfortunately the company I used is Canadian-based only, so they can only handle imports into Canada. You will need a broker on the U.S. side.

If you mean the carrier-broker... actually I used the same one the two times, three years apart. The first time their service was really professional. I got a call when the car went onto the first 'pickup' trailer, then when it was loaded for the actual trip. I got a call when it crossed the border and a predicted arrival time that was accurate within an hour.

The second time it was awful. The car was offloaded by the second carrier in Detroit without explanation. It arrived two weeks late with no explanation or apology (or notification, I only found it was with customs here by calling them) and the wheel covers had been stolen in transit. I got nowhere calling them. I had to assume perhaps the company had changed hands between my first and second experiences.

Be aware that, unless you hire a very upmarket transporter, such as the ones who advertise in Hemmings, you are usually contracting with a broker who then farms the job out to an owner/operator trucker, or a company -- or several, depending on the run -- who get the car there. The fewer the better. No matter what they 'guarantee' or claim up front, the car will only arrive as quickly as they can broker out the run(s) involved in the trip to the actual owner/ops or carrier companies. Anything else they claim is pure cr@p. (Some companies may offer some sort of 'hot shot' premium service where they guarantee that the car will only move on one truck. It might be worth it.)

So if the route involved here is a heavily travelled one, bullay for you. You won't likely have many headaches. If, other hand, one leg involves going into an area with less traffic, you may encounter delays when the vehicle gets dropped at 'hubs' -- which I found out after my Detroit experience, are often (maybe always) the big regional auto auction lots, where they have 'in transit' areas where cars on the move get stored.

So, after all I've said, if you're feeling adventurous, I believe the transporter/broker I used goes by AA-AutoTrans out of San Diego.

And if you know anyone who works in the transportation business... now would be the time to invite them out for some wings n'brew. Somone on the inside might be able to steer you toward a smooth path.

Get one that's already in the states. It will save you the first ton of headaches so that you can focus on the 2nd ton of headaches. Sadly most W460s are on their second or third owners with the first ones having taken good care of their G-Wagens with the second or third owners kicking the crap out of them. My 300GD was a prime example of this. It took me months just to get it up to where it should have been from the date of purchase.

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/open-discussion/305584-search-has-finally-ended.html

Be patient with your search (It took me 5 years) and get the best possible example that you can find. As Hattie said, these aren't performance vehicles. My cabrio is the lightest G and the performance is adequate. That 4 door weighs a lot by itself....start throwing in power window motors and all the other touches and it starts to make a difference. Being good at driving stick is also a must as 4th WON'T get you up a hill. You're welcome to try mine out if you're ever in CT to get an idea.

It's too bad that you weren't looking at year ago as one sold right in your backyard by a peachparts member who knews what he was doing.

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/mercedes-cars-sale/290529-fs-1980-300gd-virginia-pics.html

I can help point you in the right direction for classifieds but I need to know your budget, requirements and expectations.

IMHO if you plan on using it for camping buy a V8!

Save up a bit more and buy a later model G, its the same vehicle just with more bang. Or find a gray market one like Mike did awhile back with an M119 under the hood.

4 door G's do real good with about 300hp.

I'm looking for a 4-door, manual transmission, 460 of say the 1984-1991 vintage. I'm still on the fence on 300GD vs 280GE, I really want 2-3 lockers. I'm hoping to spend between $10-15k. End goal, to build a poor mans G Entdecker.

You've found the best place on the interwebs for Mercedes Info.

Blindranger(Matt) gave me my first ride in a diesel Mercedes in his red 300D around 10 years ago, what year was that car?
You could always find a good clean one with a bad engine, and transplant a turbo diesel into it. If the wifey would put up with that.

I'm in Vancouver right now.
I have seen this ride last week.Been for sale for a while now.I walked away from it...Its too suspicious so many things just dont add up!
My advise? WALK!!

Cheers
Big Dan

Hmm, what stood out for you? What's gets me is that it's a 5 speed and thus its likely a conversion. That can be either a good thing or a bad thing depending on the quality of the work. The fact that someone mentioned that it came from Bosnia is another concern.

Its not the original engine:confused:.has no service record
what so ever.The r/h quarter panel was replaced due to an accident he had in Europe:eek:. Didn't get a good feeling from the seller.

Hmm, i'm surprised that someone would replace the original non-turbo diesel with another non-turbo (Or was it originally a gasoline engine?)

Also those front fenders and rear view mirrors are from a later W463, brush bar looks like some aftermarket unit. Hard to tell anything else without better pictures.

This will probably set off a firestorm, but I am considering a 2002 or later ML320.

Examples with less than 100K miles are readily available around the 10K mark and I have talked to multiple Mercedes indie garages who say that these units do not deserve the bad rap they have as long as they have good maintenance records - consistent use of synthetic engine oil is critical - and you avoid earlier model years like the plague.

That being said they have a ton of electronics and the like that an old tank like the G wagen or my 300SD do not have, but that is the same for any newer vehicle.

Why not get a nissan pathfinder, or a Jeep, get the adaptor plate, and put the MBZ turbo engine into it. It's been done and there are links to it.