jeremy996

My wife thought the colour choice was dull until she saw the colour choices at the dealer. Then she decided I'd done the best of a bad job. I quite like Magic Mushroom, but I suspect it is the name I like, (remembering I am red/green colourblind).

Mine used to shimmy rarely; it took a pry bar and Big Col to show that the steering box could move a very little bit. After some dismantling, descaling, paint and a proper tighten up it never happened again.

It's a real G4 V8 - you can hear his wallet scream when he revs it!

I've driven a couple of hundred miles now, I'm still slightly intimidated by it, (nearly 3 x more powerful than my old LR110), but I'm starting to get over the sticker shock, (3 x more than I have ever spent on a car before), and seeing where the value is. Driving wise, think of a better P38; it has live axles and it feels like it has them, but quieter and better controlled, the Eibach springs and fancy dampers are earning their keep. It is quieter than my wife's Fiat 500C and has a much better ride, the seats are really good and it has plenty of power, coming out of junctions can be a blast. Ergonomically, it is a mixed bag; the primary controls are excellent, (lights, wipers, indicators, transmission selector and pedals), but the secondary controls are going to need learning so that muscle memory kicks in. Think cockpit drills in WWII movies; on Sunday, I was marshalling a cycle race and forgot, (or never remembered), that there was a switch to turn on the 12V and USB power sockets when the ignition was off, so my mag mount orange beacon was only on when the ignition was. More 'Operator Error' than a vehicle fault. I don't trust the reversing camera yet, so parking is not as simple as it could be and I'm finding the parking sensors a little hysterical; I know it is wider than a Defender, but it is still a square-cornered vehicle that is not that difficult to place. I've never had a camera or sensors before, so this may just be a simple learning exercise. Over the miles i've done it says, digging through the touch screen menus, that it is doing 23.7mpg, which sounds about right for a stiff 3.0l diesel engine driven by a heavy-footed racer still adjusting to automatic transmission. When it is run-in and I am on a long trip, I can imagine high 20s and even the odd 30mpg - it's a big vehicle with squishy tyres. I regularly got 30mpg with my LR110, but it was lighter, had smaller tyres and was driven slower, (as the racket got unbearable quickly). Issues; nothing really, sometimes the driver's door bounces on its seals, so does not latch property, (solution; shut the door a little harder), and sometimes, the infotainment seems a little slow-witted, not picking up that I have put my seatbelt on, so the warning light and buzzer are on longer than expected. It sorts itself out, but by then I am in gear and moving. The integration with ApplePlay, my phone and the dashboard seems to work realiy well. Voice activated dialling works, voice activated navigaton via Google Maps works much better than I thought it would, (finding Toolstation by asking Siri and getting directions). I need to play with Waze to see it I can make that the navigation app of choice. Next project is putting a dash-cam in, Costco have an OK one on offer, I need the details from Ineos to put it in properly and hang it on the prewired switch and outlet. The fancy 3D workshop manual is not yet out, so I may be pressing Ineos again. (Picture: Out with Leicestershire & Rutland 4x4 Response, marshalling the Classic CiCle race at Burley on the Hill, Rutland, D2 Td5, G4 D2 V8, and newly minted Grenadier).

That is the sort of thing I am looking for - discrete until you turn the blighters on!

Collected - more pictures and some comment on the Members Vehicles forum. The next postings I'll make in the Grenadier Forum will be getting a dashcam fitted and some orange beacons added, when I see some I can tolerate, (I don't want to look like a Christmas tree or "Walt" highways maintanence). . .

Collection tomorrow at 11:00AM is on; the VRN is now on the DVLA website, insurance is bought, (from Admiral, as it is the cheapest I can get), the vehicle software has been updated to the latest specification and my wife is keen to act as chauffeur to get me there. Impressions, pictures and thoughts to follow, but may not be until late Sunday. We have booked a visit to Burghley House on Saturday afternoon and I am marshalling a cycle race on Sunday.

I've been told the initial registration, so it has been registered, FP23 MDN. It's not on any of the active databases yet so all the insurance look-ups are going "Computer says NO!" I'm struggling to get a decent insurance quote; NFU want almost £1000, Admiral want £666, Adrian Flux want £1515, LV want £745. I'm not sure I have forgiven Admiral for the almighty screw-up they made with my wife's insurance about 10 years ago and the compulsory £700 excess does not help. Direct Line will not quote for a N1 station wagon, although they will charge £645 for a M1 Fieldmaster with a retail price of £10k more than my humble N1. Muttering darkly, I'll go to bed and have another go tomorrow.

Had a conversation with my dealer this afternoon; he is hoping to deliver my Grenadier to me on Saturday, all being well. It's not a wholly done deal; there are some software updates to patch, the tow ball needs changing and we do not yet have a registration number, but if Ineos do what they say they will, then all will be well. It's unlikely the tow ball will be replaced in time, but I am not planning to tow anything for a few weeks, so that's not a deal-breaker. I'm helping marshal a cycle race on Sunday, so it is not a moment too soon. I was hoping to get orange beacons and a dash-cam fitted, but that will have to wait until I have understood the nature of the pre-wiring fitted to the Grenadier and bought said dash-cam and beacons. The Christmas Eve feeling is back!

If this is the usual Autocar "imaginations", I would be astonished if the final result looks anything like that! The article is interesting and the statements from Lynn Calder seem reasonable, I hope that Ineos are able to make a better fist of a second vehicle launch. I don't think I will be buying an early version of the BEV; the warranty of my Grenadier won't be up, but never say never.

Sometimes I swear they are mocking us! My LR90 has been off the road for 5 years and is avoiding a MOT by failing minor components each week. Last week was brake lights, this week the indicators stopped working, together with the heater fan and the fuel gauge sender.

This is one of those awkward situations where neither of them are in the business of giving you advice; for advice you need to pay someone you can sue if they are wrong, like a tax accountant. I think Ineos have been clear; they meet the DVLA requirements for the differential VED rates, but today, the HMRC VAT and BIK are a fail as a van. I'm not a tax specialist, I'm an IFA that used to be a company accountant; for Benefit In Kind, it is a car, so will cost you an arm and a leg as a company car. This is default position of HMRC on everything, so it does not get any worse. You ought to be able to persuade your local Inspector of taxes that a 2 seater utility Grenadier is a van, (on the same basis that a New Defender 110 is a commercial; there appears to be tacit acceptance of that after JLR lobbying), but that is at their discretion as the definitive list is not definitive! My solution for my circumstances is to buy the vehicle personally and charge my business, business mileage. (My advice to anyone is worth exactly as much as you paid me for it).

I did, it depends on the actual use case; so far as BIK, only the pool car scenario will work. The Grenadier is too heavy for "Dual-purpose vehicle" and does not have the required 1tonne payload for Goods vehicle govened by MAM.

Just had a LinkedIn mesage back from Gary Pearson, Head of Sales & Marketing UK, MENA at INEOS Automotive. Hi Jeremy, I’ve got someone checking on what final checks your vehicle needs prior to delivery. I’ll let you know asap tomorrow. It’s all complete with regards software etc but as with the majority of vehicles it will have some final bits to be done to it. This is more prevalent with new products as so many updates happen early in the production ramp-up and that’s what your vehicle and the others on site are waiting on. I saw the Facebook comments and can dispel the mentions around registration system, N1 etc. We do have the DVLA’s automated reg system which is called RAV and it’s been used for all handovers thus far. We did have a hold up on that so Chandlers and others were not wrong to tell customers that but it’s in good order now and we had the manual process prior to that which is actually quite fine anyway (Lotus use a version of the manual system, as an example). N1 classification is no issue whatsoever either; I saw that mentioned on Facebook as a possible issue. Gary Pearson 6:12 PM Beautiful Morgan! But no good for supporting a cycle race. I am still confident of getting you the vehicle for the 23rd as per your previous messages and the offer of a loan if not still stands. (I asked permission to post some of our conversation on social media) Gary Pearson sent the following message at 8:36 PM You’re free to post everything I said, we’ve nothing to hide and are keen to try and talk to people directly as much where they want the conversation. Myself, Lynn Calder and George Ratcliffe are in contact with customers daily whilst we have this clunky phase in our launch. I’ve offered stuff like q&a’s etc to Steve Kettle, (Admin of FaceBook Group, Ineos Grenadier Owners Club), previously as well.

No - I still don't have my truck! I went to see it at the dealer today and asked about progress; nothing much since last Wednesday. I've paid, so I will be chasing Ineos quite hard. I'm told the big issue with my truck is registration, as Ineos have to do that by paper with the DVLA. Chandlers have 6 Grenadiers on site, the four you can see here, (mine the blue one with the white roof), a silver one with no loadbay windows and a black one.

Just done my usual Wednesday afternoon call to the dealer to ask his best guess for delivery, apparently before the end of the month. Apparently, the software release has been given, so they are updating the vehicles on site; it takes about a day for each one. Some accessories are in short supply, (mainly roof racks due to a steel shortage), and the towballs need changing, (under specification). The big question now is how and when will they be registered? Ineos have to register the vehicles, apparently by post with the DVLA, so the dealers are out of the loop. I've told Richard I'll pay as soon as we have a delivery date set, so as to meet the "2 days before delivery" deadline set by Ineos. There is no way I'll pay earlier, the interest will be minimal, but it will be mine!

I was a little startled to see on the Ineos portal that I have been sent my invoice for payment, no later than 2 days before handover. As the dealer cannot give me a delivery date yet, I will delay payment until I know when it is available for collection. I hope to hear from the dealer before the end of the week. I'm told they have 5 Grenadiers for customers, one is in the PDI bay at the moment, (so not in my picture above), but no idea when Ineos will sign off on the software updates/version checks. So near and yet so far!

No, I'm not really expecting much until the dealer gets back from his holidays, (tomorrow) and Ineos send me an invoice for payment, (not a clue). They have 4 Grenadiers tucked behind their premises, none of which seem to have anything done to them since last Tuesday, (other than mine that has been moved across the yard and tucked into the little row.)

There are a lot of threads with purchase advice, although finding them can be a bit of a pain with the site search facilities. Pumas are modern cars to me, so I am no expert, hopefully someone will be along in a moment.

It does for me, so I cannot recreate the fault.

Nope, 69Mb for just the one touchscreen; much of that on how to operate the infotainment. It's not a FFRR.

The PDF of the standard owners manual is now available for download. This isn't the manual I really want, as I want to study the workshop manual closely, but it is a start. Unfortunately, it is too big to be saved here, so the link is:-

There are pictures around of people sitting on it, Sir Jim Radcliffe included!

Delivered today to Chandlers of Belton. Like every other retail Grenadier, it will remain a 2.7T paperweight until given a software flash and registered, (they haven't asked for the final balance yet). Thoughts? Mostly wild excitement, but I think I should have specified the ladder at the back, it looks a bit bare.

Richard Young at Chandlers, Belton has gone on holiday for a fortnight and from what other eager prospective owners have said not much is expected to happen in the next week, so I've clamed down and thought of different things. As for Urban, a bit faux London, but I was more impressed than I expected on their process. I think their side step looks better than the Ineos one I have added as an option. When I break the fitted step or it rusts through, I'll have to look at Urban for a replacement, as my Mother and Mother in Law will need a step to get in.