Man with world’s cheapest G-Wagen says it’s eating his bank account alive

The Mercedes G-Wagen is one of the world’s most iconic SUVs.

Germany’s best-known 4×4 vehicle is one of the longest-enduring vehicles of any brand.

Yesterday, a YouTuber who owns the world’s cheapest G-Wagen uploaded a video.

And he claims that his G-Wagen is decimating his bank account.

Mercedes G-Wagen: A car of interesting origin

While many of you know the G-Wagen as a car that’s extremely customizable, its origins might surprise you.

The now-luxury SUV actually owes its existence to Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, otherwise known as the Shah of Iran.

In 1973, the Shah was one of Mercedes’ largest individual shareholders.

He went to the German brand and recommended producing a military vehicle that also appealed to civilians.

And that’s exactly what Mercedes went ahead and did.

Mercedes and Steyr-Daimler-Puch of Austria, who had a military background, created a joint company to test the concept.

In 1979, the first generation Gelandewagen – German for ‘off-road’ – was born.

The next two decades saw the car grow and rise in popularity, particularly as more luxurious models were created.

And the G-Wagen has never looked back since, becoming one of the world’s most iconic SUVs.

YouTuber claims SUV is destroying his bank account

TJ Lamb is a YouTuber who runs the channel Magnacars.

He also happens to be in possession of the world’s cheapest G-Wagen SUV.

The YouTuber explains in his video that, two months ago, he bought his G-Wagen for just $8,800.

He then took it to a Mercedes dealership, who quoted him a whopping $36,000 to fix it.

As a result, TJ took it to his personal mechanic, who gave him a far more reasonable quote of $4,000.

Unfortunately, one of the cylinder heads had cracked, and coolant leaked into the engine – so TJ can’t actually drive it.

This leaves TJ on the hunt for a new cylinder head for this particular G-Wagen.

Can TJ fix the world’s cheapest G-Wagen?

The hopeful owner was left hoping that his mechanic could help find a new cylinder head, as well as potentially a connecting rod.

His mechanic explained that although the problem is fixable, it’s just ‘inconvenient and annoying.’

TJ and the did guys manage to ‘drive’ the G-Wagen into the workshop and get it out of the elements.

But in an interesting turn of events, his mechanic explained that, as an option, he could get a new cylinder head from Mercedes.

It would cost around $3,000 – but it would come with a warranty alongside being a brand-new part.

Instead, TJ and the guys come up with a different solution – try and get a compatible engine.

Once he’s got the engine, he’ll swap a cylinder head from one engine to another in order to get his SUV running properly.

After that, the goal is to build up the bought engine when he has enough money, and swap it into the G-Wagen.

We wish TJ the very best of luck with what could be a genuinely cool build.

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