i commute that distance every day with no problem. Ride is fine for me...but again i have driven lifted trucks and Land Rovers for some time so we might not have the same idea of "comfortable". Gas is 9-10 around town and 14-15 hwy with a light foot. I would say it takes a special kind of driver to be able to enjoy a G on a daily basis... If your asking these questions chances are your not going to be happy... my .02

 

Hi,

My previous daily driver was a Grand Cherokee, and an E Class Mercedes before that. I recently got a G500 and I am very happy with it. Of course you should get behind the wheel of one before making the decision, but my personal (slightly biased considering my affection for the G Class in general) opinion is that it is very comfortable and not hard to drive at all.

Doing 80 MPH on the highway is no problem at all, when u go above 100 MPH because of the poor aerodynamics it starts to get quite noisy though.

Mine burns ~20L/100km around town, which if I am not mistaken is roughly 12 MPG

Hope this helps.

Regards,
Krasi

 

Hi,

I am entertaining idea of buying G500 as "bad weather\winter" car - i commute 20 miles each way - suburbia with may be 15 lights along the way (big stretch goes thru forest preserve) - so the mix of stop and go and relatively long go.

I never drove the G - been a passenger in one during MB demo.

So is the G comfortable for long drives ? Any problems doing 80ish on highway ? Do i need to keep myself from rolling it over ?

There is no diesel G on horizon ? V8 gas mileage is .... in double digits ?

My wife has been using a G500 as her daily grocery getter/kid hauler for five months and is clocking about 2k miles a month (busy life). She loves the car, having moved up from an E320 wagon.

We recently went on a long trip to the beach with our three daughters and all of our junk. Everyone was very comfortable and the G is very good on the highway, IMHO. You have a great view and no one cuts you off. (Far more comfortable than the days when we made the same trip in an FJ62, to say the least.) It was around 100 degrees F outside and the G temp gauge never budged, even when stuck in traffic with the A/C on high.

Our mileage is ranging from 12mpg(US) in town up to 16 on the highway, but I can only do 16 with cruise control at 65 mph and a reluctantly light foot on entrance ramps.

Steve
02 G500
00 M5

 

Why I am concern about comfort - I drove rental GrandCherokee from Chicago to Niagra falls 5 years ago - man it was noisy inside. Wind noise arround door seals mostly.

Than I drove a rental Wrangler convertible arround SF and nappa valley - that POS had no stability under braking, it took 100% of my attention to keep it in one lane on a highway doing 60 (i coudn't dare to go any faster) - my best memories of that trip (with 3 girls) is when I drove of from airport in my Audi.

 

If you're willing to pay the gas bill, then it's an OK commuter car.

 

Love it - I do 38 miles one way in a G500. I hardly want to drive anything else.

 

the ride is harsh compared to other suv, the mileage sucks, and for the most part you cant parallel park it because you cant see over that damn tire, then there is the problem of clearance in parking garages....

I dive mine about 3.5 hours -100+ miles a day... average 9.8 mpg and i would trade in tomorrow on a 08 if i didnt have so many other cars.

 

Hard to park? One of the easiest cars ever. You know EXACTLY where the front/back/sides and corners are! Height is an issue. Be careful at Ohare. If you pull into the United Terminal parking garage do NOT go all the way to the left. The hanging PVC pipe WILL hit the top regardless of the marked height it claims to be.

How aggressively you drive and stop/go frequency are a big factors on mileage. I go 38 miles, about 34 of which are on I55. Once I get onto I55 I hardly have to touch the brakes or get the RPMs much over 2600. Today I got 17.5 mpg on the drive. If traffic is bad and I have to slow, stop, and accelerate frequently I'm more in the 14.5 range.

(Driving aggressively around town - lucky to break double digits!)

 

yeah, clearance is an issue. I used to have a montero with a big basket rack on top with 6" sides. I could still fit in my garage, that has a standard 7' door. The G by itself with no rack just clears by an inch or two.

Gas mileage stinks, but hey, its a 5,500 lb. SUV that can haul you, your family, your gear, your boat, the dog, etc. all at once anywhere you want to go in any weather or extreamly rough terrain (assuming you have an all terrain boat trailer...haha). It takes a little gas to be able to do all that. So don't expect it to be a Prius. If you do want to save on gas, do what I did and buy a G320. Mpg is better than the G500, towing capacity is the same, and it runs on 87 octane fuel vs. 91 for a G500. You do pay for that in less acceleration, but I don't think its that bad.

 

I drive my '85 GD 300 everyday, and it is very comfortable. So I am sure your G500 will treat you very well....although I can't get anywhere close to 80MPH.

 

yeah, clearance is an issue. ... The G by itself with no rack just clears by an inch or two...

Measure your clearance with the sunroof popped up. Mine caught on the garage door. Fortunately I was looking for just such a problem.

 

No, it isnt easy to drive.

Frankly, when compared to a sedan, it isnt easy to drive. It is bulky, a gas guzler, and not all that easy to park at times.

I don't commute with mine because of those reasons. Love to drive it, but I do so because it is different to drive, maybe fun.

Like the H1, I don't recommend driving it every day.

 

I think a test drive will answer your questions pretty quickly. I'd say it's pretty quite given it's shape, but it's still not silent at 80mph. It's heavy all the way around so if you don't mind a heavy feeling vehicle. i like the stiff seats so i don't feel like i'm being swallowed, and while it takes getting used to i do think i can parallel park it in very tight spaces because you can tell very well where it's located (assuming you can roll the window down to see out the side of the vehicle). If not it's a little trickier, but removal of the spare cover actually improves your visibitiliy because you can see between the spokes of the rim. Long time running average mileage is 14mpg mixed driving... with 11 to 17 being the range i've seen. I usually drive 65-75 on the highway though so it'd be worse if i was always cruising 80mph.

in storms and bad weather the headroom is really nice for taking on and off jackets and sweaters or what-ever. In fact you can climb from front seat, back seats or even rear cargo area pretty easily since there's so much space above the seats

 

I have to agree with many above...the G is easy to park! I do appreciate the parking assist sonars.

 

I do about 60 miles per day in mine and I love it! My wife keeps stealing it from me to drive our 3 year old twins around. She'd rather drive the G then her Audi A8L!!

 

My wife and I do the same thing. I leave for work before they even get out of bed, and sometimes I just have to dump those car seats in the garage and leave her the VW.

 

I think the big picture explanation here is that the G is a great all around vehicle, can tackle almost any task, including the provision of a safe and comfortable commute. Will it be as quiet and commfortable as say an S-class for example? Nope, but it is quiet and comfortable enough, and your S-class won't get you home in a blizzard, or let you go blasting through the median to get around a bad accident, or tow your boat. And I wouldn't recommend throwing your dog in the back seat of an S-class. And you can't drive the Rubicon in an S-class. Except of course if you have a 4matic and have installed a 12 inch lift.

 

If you are used to a Mercedes sedan ride Id say no...The G is basically a military vehicle which is fancied up. I dont mind the ride so I take my older 460 SWB G everywhere. My wife doesnt like it and we use her C280 on trips though.

 

Commuting in a G is like showing up to a tennis match wearing a football helmet. It's great as long as you can deal with the encumbrances associated with being somewhat over-equipped. Personally, I'll take the G over the daily commute in my F350 crew cab dually. It's all in what your used to. If you can afford the gas and maintenance, I'd say the G is an excellent commuter vehicle. We're planning on replacing the Rover with a 500 (or maybe a 320CDI ****fingers crossed***) soon and the wife will commute 60 miles RT daily in it. But...we've only ever owned SUV's, trucks and the like so I have no frame of reference regarding sedans.

 

..........the G is actually not that big. It is very narrow. Front to back, it is actually quite short. For example, it is shorter than my W210. Its height is 6ft 5inches. This is the same as most other full size SUV's. Because the G is narrow, it gives the impression of being very tall. At 6ft 5 inches, it will probably clear 99% of parking garages. Garages usually have 6ft 8 inches or more of clearance. Parking is easy. As for commuting with the G, I feel the safest in my G and that counts for something especially if you will spend half your life in the car commuting. The ride is a bit sharsh. I travel from Atlanta to Miami often. Rather than Fly, I prefer to take the G.

Ted

 

I agree on Ted regarding size, etc. 80% of the time I grab the keys i opt for my 2002 G. love our '07 S550 but gravitate to the G for some unknown reason.

my 2 cents, bo

 

I agree with Ted regarding size, etc. 80% of the time I grab the keys i opt for my 2002 G. love our '07 S550 but gravitate to the G for some unknown reason.

my 2 cents, bo

 

Lovely for weekend visits to the city or the seaside but crap as an everyday driver. Too high and thirsty and there are a lot of SUV's out there better suited to use as an everyday car (Mercedes ML or GL500). I only put 3000 km on it a year but they are fun km's I must say.

 

I drive my G500 40 miles round trip everyday, and I am enjoying my G.

I don't have much complaint about my G compared to other cars and suvs except MPG.