Crown

Earlier I got rear ended by a kid in his brand new Audi right in front of my own driveway.

My G did a 180, but apart from the bumper and the dented wheel cover, nothing else was damaged, even the rear door wasn't even dented and can be opened easily while I think his Audi is close to a total loss, frame is a bit bent seeing how the passenger door is misaligned already.

There was a stop sign just up the road about 200 ft away, and the road is a 30km/hr zone, but most kids just ignore the stop sign and speed down the road as it's a straight road for about 800m till the stop light at the end.

Seeing how damaged his car is, I would never believe he wasn't speeding, as it's right in front of my own house I checked my own security camera footage and my 3 ton truck jumped a couple feet off the ground while spinning around.

I firmly believed in mass of the car, the heavier it is the safer it is. That's one of the reason I picked the G, there isn't really anything else for sale that has more mass and as well built. This thing is simply a tank.

Was talking to the Police officer responded at the scene, he told me his brother is in the Canadian Army assigned to Afganistan, his brother was in a armored version of the G and the truck rolled down an embankment and landed on it's roof, the 4 soldiers opened the 4 doors and walked away unhurt. The G is simply unreal.

Wow that audi is really bashed ! Good to hear nobody got hurt in the incident. 

The G sure took that hit like a champ, it looks like no real damage was done except dents and the broken fender, and those are an easy fix. I feel sorry for the kid in his new A5 but at the same time there's no way he wasn't speeding for him to get so much damage on the car. 

First of all - sorry for the accident you had with that new car.

Hehe... that G is indeed a tank

The Audi has the airbags (side/front) opened - means he had a certain speed, cant have been that slow. Also - lots of sheet metal pealed off - the Audi is build light weight while the G is heavy duty. 

Always loved the G.... what a car

Glad no one is hurt . But it hurts always to see damaged cars. That kid hopefully learned his lesson, but I get crossed to see people speed in zones were young kids could be running around . He was for sure speeding.

Your G is a tank . Unbelievable the small parts that are broken !!

 997.2 C2S, PDK, -20mm

Good that you're safe and there is minimal damage - but still a major PITA to have to deal with insurance & repairs. Hope all gets resolved swiftly and painlessly. 

991 (what a car!) XC90 - Black/Black 2 kids, 1 dog

just love the G-Class - now even more !

I had a 90k slot machine jackpot haul from Vegas this past weekend so it does ease the pain of damaging the G somewhat :)

I am more pissed with the city not listening to me and my neighbours' plea for speed bumps on our road as a big park is just across the street. The road is a hot spot for kids flying down back streets at speed as the local police has been doing speed traps on the main artery road a couple roads over. I have recordings from my security camera of Ferraris and Lambos running the stop sign and speeding every night but I was told the video wasn't admissible as evidence :( 

It was surprisingly mild inside the car of the collision, I didn't hit anything inside the car and while my 12 yr old son bumped his head on the head rest  and went to the hospital for a check up, he came back fine. But he is experiencing a little bit of post traumatic stress as it was his first crash ever and been asking questions about the crash the whole night, I think he is more curious than anything else. 

These mainland Chinese kids are what gives ethnic Chinese a bad name. He called someone after the crash to pick him up, I overheard the conversation between the 2 of them and they were talking about oh it's nothing and he will call his dad to buy him a new car tonight. 

Stupid kid is only 17 and he probably has no idea how lucky he was and how serious it could have been for him or me and my son.  Not to be insensitive but I had wished Darwinism had taken hold. 

My driveway is just about where his car's rear bumper is, so I think he was at least braking somewhat or maybe that my car jumped up a couple and then his car soaked up most of the rest of energy in the collision as his car stopped about 2 car length after the initial contact. 

--

Guess the G-class is first class on safety - when you have kids in the back it's a priceless feeling of some "additional" security riding with you !  Congrats on the slotmachine - I would "upgrade" right away to a G63 too if I'd be that lucky !

Pardon the intrusion, but what happens when you get a $90K slot machine win? Does it spill quarters onto the floor like in the movies? Do lights flash and scantily clad roller skated dolls with full red lips congratulate you? (most I've every "won" is £70 but I'm sure I put £100 in the thing to "win") 

991 (what a car!) XC90 - Black/Black 2 kids, 1 dog

Whoopsy:

I had a 90k slot machine jackpot haul from Vegas this past weekend so it does ease the pain of damaging the G somewhat :)

Congrats. I once won 200 USD and lost everything again. Since then, I do not play in Vegas, I just enjoy the shows, the food, the atmosphere and Lake Mead or the Red Rock region. People wonder why I travel to Vegas with my kids if I'm not gambling but we always have a great time. We usually stay 10 days or so.

I am more pissed with the city not listening to me and my neighbours' plea for speed bumps on our road as a big park is just across the street. The road is a hot spot for kids flying down back streets at speed as the local police has been doing speed traps on the main artery road a couple roads over. I have recordings from my security camera of Ferraris and Lambos running the stop sign and speeding every night but I was told the video wasn't admissible as evidence :( 

I love speed, I love fast cars and I love to drive fast in fast cars  but I always respect legal speed limits in the city, no exception made. Always. I am also extra careful in residential areas which usually have a 30 kph speed limit in Germany. I live in such a residential area and sometimes cars are passing my garage at speeds way over 60 kph, which is just insane. I talked to the city about it but they never do something about it but whenever I pass the local church, there are no people there at that time, there is a video trap (some sort of automated video camera in a car, hidden behind a tinted back window) there, trying to cash in on people who drive faster than the allowed 30 kph. Oh great. 

It was surprisingly mild inside the car of the collision, I didn't hit anything inside the car and while my 12 yr old son bumped his head on the head rest  and went to the hospital for a check up, he came back fine. But he is experiencing a little bit of post traumatic stress as it was his first crash ever and been asking questions about the crash the whole night, I think he is more curious than anything else. 

I feel so sorry about your kid being hurt. I would have been outraged. Glad to hear he seems to be fine. The G class is indeed a very good family car and your experience actually confirms my decision for going for a SUV as a family car. The Cayenne may not be as solid as the G class but it helps.

These mainland Chinese kids are what gives ethnic Chinese a bad name. He called someone after the crash to pick him up, I overheard the conversation between the 2 of them and they were talking about oh it's nothing and he will call his dad to buy him a new car tonight. 

Tell me about it. We have drivers here with ethnic background who drive like nuts, giving these ethnic groups a bad reputation too. 

Stupid kid is only 17 and he probably has no idea how lucky he was and how serious it could have been for him or me and my son.  Not to be insensitive but I had wished Darwinism had taken hold. 

In Germany, people can get their driver's license at age 17 but they cannot drive alone, they need to be accompanied by an adult with a valid driver's license and this particular adult needs to be "registered" as an official companion. At age 18, you get a driver's license but it is "under probation" for two years. One ticket (parking tickets not included) and you have to participate in some sort of educational seminar and the probation time is another two years. If the young driver is caught within three months of the first ticket again, he needs to return his driver license and do the whole exam all over again.

Speaking of driver education and driver's license exam over here in Germany: It cannot be done by friends or family, it needs to be a certified driving school and the cost can exceed 3000 EUR for the whole thing. The driving school is quite thorough and the driver exam pretty tough. Almost every third candidate fails and has to repeat the exam (after taking additional driving lessons). Public schools do not offer a driving school (like in the US for example), driving is a private matter and you have to pay everything by yourself.

RC (Germany) - Rennteam Editor Porsche 991 Turbo S, Cayenne GTS (958), BMW X3 35d (2013)

Ouch, hope you are well!

- HS (Belgium)  -  '14 Porsche 991 GT3 (oct build) - '06 BMW 335I Coupe  

It is because of these ' kind of people' that the law on speeding has become so severe in Switzerland .

In a 30 km/h zone, if you exceed the speed limit between 18 and 19km/h  =  1 month license suspension + $ 700 fine

between 20 and 39 km/h  = minimum 3 month suspension ( depending if it is your first time or not ) + fine according to your revenue 

over 40 km/h = 1 year jail sentence + 2 years license suspension

But I suppose with these kind of fines, we pay attention to the speed limits !

And these kids would lear something if the license suspension is long enough 

 997.2 C2S, PDK, -20mm

glad no one got hurt...G is a tank for sure...then again the Audi went 'under it' which saved you a lot of damage.

enjoy in good health once repaired.

Sorry to hear about your accident, but good to know that nobody was hurt.

Obviously you chose the right car.

The secret of life is to admire without desiring.

I have been considering a G for a while but I always worried that because it is such an old design it can't compete with more modern big 4X4s because it is such an old design and has not benefited from modern design in terms of energy absorbing crash structures which are supposed to totally crumple up to the rigid passenger cells, bit like the Audi in this case - I hear what you say about mass and would love to hear other's take on this subject in particular referencing the G class?

BTW glad your OK 

3.9  GT2 2011 make over

With regards to the G crash test results, this is a funny ad :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_p1c8d_Hieg

911 Club Coupe, 993 4S Riviera Blau, 12' Audi S4 Avant

Going to take over a month to fix the G :(

My body shop just told me while the damage is superficial, every single part needed has to come from Germany as Mercedes Canada did not stock a single part for the G. Sales number too small for them to waste valuable warehouse space.

Estimator commented had I been in say a ML, the damage would have been a lot more extensive, more than likely the car would have been totalled as from his experience the rear body panelsl would have probably crumbled all the way to the rear wheel and the body cell could have been bent also. But the Audi might not have suffered as much damage.

He put it this way, it's like a soda can hitting a brick wall, and had I been in a ML, it would be a soda can hitting a soda can. Mass always wins in a collision, simple physics.

TB993tt:

I have been considering a G for a while but I always worried that because it is such an old design it can't compete with more modern big 4X4s because it is such an old design and has not benefited from modern design in terms of energy absorbing crash structures which are supposed to totally crumple up to the rigid passenger cells, bit like the Audi in this case - I hear what you say about mass and would love to hear other's take on this subject in particular referencing the G class?

BTW glad your OK 

I consider the Mercedes G class to be the 911 of the SUV world. 

RC (Germany) - Rennteam Editor Porsche 991 Turbo S, Cayenne GTS (958), BMW X3 35d (2013)

Amazing, hard to believe that was the same accident! The Audi is totally wrecked! I absolutely love the G-Class, you can really feel the fit and finish and robustness in every single part! Hope they fix it up speedy for you!

1991 BMW 535i Granitsilber/White Leather

Ex: '91 BMW 318i, '89 BMW 525i, '74 Mercedes-Benz 280E, '87 BMW 325is, '86 BMW 325e, '05 Ford Focus ZX4 S, '85.5 Porsche 944

Wow Whoopsy, that must have been quite a nasty experience.

Glad to hear you and your son (and the ML  ) are ok!

I never really understood the appeal of the G-series, but I have to say that appeal becomes a lot more clear now!

Take care and be safe mate! The other week I was browsing through my photos of the trip (will post them soon), and they still make me grin like an idiot, especially the one of me in the Macca! ;-)

Cheers Joost

Joost:

 The other week I was browsing through my photos of the trip (will post them soon), and they still make me grin like an idiot, especially the one of me in the Macca! ;-)

Someone's holding out on us ! 

For the sake of playing devil's advocate (because Whoopsy, I am very happy that you have minimal damage). I don't think the GWagon drives near as well as a new Range Rover or many other SUV's at that price level and most big cars  of the G Wagons weight will stand up equally well to an Audi - i have an F450 (Big ford pick up for non-North Americans) that was hit by a station wagon and I thought  a mosquito hit me, meanwhile the station wagon was smashed.  

This reminds me of my greatest accident. I backed into a parked Honda Accord. Entirely my fault

Honda damages were about $1800; my Jeep total repairs were $18.

First of all, 

glad that your son and you are fine! Guess you have some alternatives of individual transportation in the meantime. Would you receive a rental car from the other driver´s insurance company? This would be the case here in Germany for two weeks at least.

The G-class (and presumably the F450) uses a latter frame construction, while all modern SUVs including the Mercedes ML and the new Range Rover feature an integral body. The latter is lighter and cheaper to build and each panel can be tailored to meet the requirements in rigidity. In collisions like the one above those panels are able and  supposed to absorb part of the kinetic energy.

On those latter frame vehicles, this energy is primarily absorbed by the other involved vehicle. This only becomes an issue when the car collides with an immovable object, such as a concrete barrier. In those cases, the lack of energy absorption by the vehicle will lead to higher acceleration peaks the passengers have to endure.

bhnyc:

For the sake of playing devil's advocate (because Whoopsy, I am very happy that you have minimal damage). I don't think the GWagon drives near as well as a new Range Rover or many other SUV's at that price level and most big cars  of the G Wagons weight will stand up equally well to an Audi - i have an F450 (Big ford pick up for non-North Americans) that was hit by a station wagon and I thought  a mosquito hit me, meanwhile the station wagon was smashed.  

The G is the worst handling car I have driven, bar none. lol. 

On second thought, it actually have company, I had a Land Rover LR3 before, that one rides marginally better, body rocking motion is about the same but it soaks up bumps a tiny bit better, has a better steering feel but it was way short on power, that thing drives like a pig. The G63 at least has straight line agility. 

Sorry to hear of the accident but glad you are fine and after all so is your G63!! 

turbolite