I have been enjoying my time with the '02 G500 I bought back in July. It's a treat to drive; the color is gorgeous; and it is far better as a daily driver than any ex-military vehicle has a right to be. It's also been surprisingly reliable, with the only maintenance performed so far is addressing some oil leaks flagged by the PPI I had done prior to purchase.
Well, it had to happen. There had to be a reminder that I'm driving a truck with 150,000 miles on it. The first sign was a no-start condition outside a store after driving the truck for an hour. And then, it happened again outside an neighbor's house. Finally, in what was a worst case scenario, the truck died while running in the school drop-off line for my kids.
I had it towed - with some suspicions confirmed by my mechanic. Over the summer, when left to sit for a week, the truck was dead when I came back to it. So, the battery was losing a charge when not used, In addition, the G-Class is known to suffer from faulty crankshaft position sensors, and mine was full of oil from a slightly weepy rear main seal. Put two and two together and a bad alternator, likely killed off by our cold snap, and a crankshaft position sensor overdue for replacement, and you have a periodic no-start and shut-down when idling.