jeremy996

The guys at Urban have been loaned a road registered Grenadier. I must admit I did not hate the side steps they designed as much as I thought I would! Generally positive vibes from the video.

No, nothing useful. I'm supposed to be marshalling a cycle race on Sunday; my LR90 still is missing working rear lights, so no MOT and the Grenadier is "somewhere". I'm not sure whether the cycle race will see Charlie the Vauxhall Agila or Fay the Morgan; neither have the road presence of a full sized 4x4.

I had a great deal of difficulty finding an uncracked 200Tdi head when I needed one, September/October 2018. I ended up testing 5 to find one that was suitable for a rebuild. The engine builder struck out very quickly and made it my problem. My original head had cracked from the combustion chamber to a water galley, so I had small consistant water losses, but it was not detected by a sniffer test or by a compression test. The crack was found by a test on the cleaned up head before getting the valve guides reamed, sleeved and the seats recut. I'd suggest collecting as many heads as you can get cheaply and just get them crack tested, keeping the otherwise unrebuilt heads on the shelf. If you have spairs, they will be gold dust in 10-15 years.

Download the originals from the links provided. You need a workshop manual; the copy Autobook one below looks like a serious attempt. https://drive.google.com/file/d/19br23yy-O9fxlGt4igxjjZygKf8KqMMx/view

My patience is being sorely tried. I spoke to my dealer this afternoon; they are on notice my truck should be with them on the 02/04/2023. They still don't know if all the softwear updates will be available, how long registration, PDI and adding dealer fit extras will take. I'm especially sore about it as I have been caught in the rain driving the Morgan. It's OK when actually going forwards, you just get soggy when stopped at traffic lights! Still, client thought it was funny.

I am assured that everything is moving along; one of the dealers, (Steve at Halliwell Jones Chester), put up a picture of the hardback manual. There has been a little debate about how thick it is!

Welcome, lets hope your td4 lives up to the reputation of being the "less hassle" one.

My local dealer rang me today and said my Grenadier was flagged as ready to be Transported from Hambach to the dealer. They were told to make themselves ready to receive it; he muttered darkly that they have been ready since June! There is still a firmware update due to be applied, supposedly to modify the idle emissions and not a big deal. What did concern me is that it will have to be registered as a "23" plate first and I will only be able to apply my personal plate, (put on retention from my LR110), later. That suggests that Ineos are doing the registration and probably by post, with all the opportunities for lost time and general cock-ups that creates with the DVLA. One small step further down the road!

New YouTube video from "The Underpowered Hour", talking about various things, including Mercedes Lilienthal talking about the Grenadier. Nothing too novel and nearly a hour of talking heads. (IA content from 7:30 to 50:00, US based Freelander content at 52:00).

Stuck clutch, stuck brakes, including the transmission brake, dodgy washer fluid, wipers glued to the screen, sticky relays and if you are really unlucky, organic matter in the diesel. If I had the choice, I'd trailer it nearer for some detailed attention before driving. No choice, bring tools to free brakes, top up all fluids and test all the systems before hitting the road. You can usually free a clutch by warming the engine first, then starting up in gear, but make sure you have lots of runoff to control the vehicle. Driving through the back wall of the garage is a good way to ruin your day!

Sorry, not funny. Spray and flying rocks have led to some big RTCs (Road Traffic Collisions). Having had a toughened glass windscreen come in on me, (Austin Maxi 1750 on the M1), I can confirm it was a bit of a distraction, so simple rules that reduce flying rocks are OK by me. Do any form of motorsport marshalling and you will see incidents that are triggered by spray or other debris. Most C&U, type approval and conformity rules are for the wider public good or public safety. If someone chooses to break them, they cannot be too surprised if society takes a dim view of it. We have it easy in the UK, in terms of vehicle modifications and customisation, especially when compared to Germany or Switzerland. We also have very safe roads compared to the USA and practically every other country.

An MOT only says it meets minimum standards in certain areas on the day in question. If you have managed to upset the spider-senses of the vehicle examiner, an MOT on the same day will not save you. It might suggest to the case manager at the insurance company that they do a "proper job" on you, or just pay the claim, depending on how corporate are feeling about claims costs.

YouTube video from a slightly off stage source, a classic car dealer with a long Land Rover history.

No page missing, it's part of Writer's Rovers and the next page is someone else. As for the MPG, I'd suggest that is slightly pessimistic, as they are using a more rigorous test regime. That said, the driver makes the biggest single difference. Not yet! Ineos will not honour the warranty if you don't use factory parts, so I'd guess that is 5 years away. Ineos are welcoming towards the aftermarket for add-on gadgets and other shiny things, so I would expect most of the usual suspects to develop a Grenadier range, (or more likely, rebadge some existing camping, overlanding or convenience trinkets).

The last road test report I have been waiting for landed today, as my subscription copy of Land Rover Monthly, April 2023 arrived. Gary Pusey uses his bit of 'Writers' Rovers" to cover the Scotland junket. There should be a You Tube video, but I could not see it at time of writing, https://www.youtube.com/@landrovermonthly7806/featured He seemed to like it, after a bit of a wobble about too much electrickery and whining from other hacks about the steering.

I am dreaming about that day! I'm told it has been assembled, but as part of "Batch and Hold", it has not left the Hambach factory. My local agent expects, on not much more than a hunch, that it will be late March. I have signed my contract so I am committed.

Just after 16:00 today, I got an update e-mail from Ineos. Hi Jeremy, In the production update from our Hambach factory earlier this month, our CEO, Lynn Calder, made two commitments. One was that, as Grenadiers reach our first customers, we communicate more frequently. The other was that quality remains our number one priority. PRODUCTION UPDATE In line with this priority, all vehicles continue to be subject to the ‘batch and hold’ process. This means they are still undergoing additional, rigorous checks. These continue to slow us down. But, we’re still making progress. We are now seeing the first vehicles leaving Hambach en route to our retailer partners. And we’ve issued almost 1,000 additional contracts this week as we ramp up production of customer vehicles. CHALLENGING TERRAIN. TOUGH CROWD As Lynn Calder alluded to, the world’s media put the Grenadier through its paces on an epic journey starting in the Scottish Highlands. How did our rugged 4X4s cope with the challenging terrain and weather? There are over 297 first impressions online and available to read, to help you find out. Here’s one to get you started. "So during two full days of off-road driving through the beautiful wilds of the Scottish Highlands, I can affirm I always had every confidence in the Grenadier's old-school off-roading ability. And that included negotiating some really hairy narrow mountainous tracks in pitch dark with nothing but air, gravity, and a prayer between me and the loch far below." READ THE REVIEW > We know how frustrating the wait must be, and we want nothing more than to see you, our customers, behind the wheels of your Grenadiers. We’ll continue to keep you updated with news on your Grenadier. And, as part of our commitment to communicate more frequently, we’ll share another update in two weeks’ time. But, of course, if you have any questions or concerns, please get in touch. CONTACT US > Thank you for your continued support, The Grenadier team

@Happyoldgitwhat did you think? I have been accused of being like a little kid, very, very early on Christmas morning! To continue the analogy, it's about 01:50AM and I am not allowed to open presents until 09:00! Every second drags like a year!

Yesterday i was sent my contract to electronically sign. I checked it to my order and it was correct, so I signed it. I'm told that my vehicle has been built, but is still at Hambach, awaiting a software update, before being sent to my local dealer. So, a little bit nearer.

My experience of modern LRs limp modes suggests that they go into limp for some silly reasons, a bit like a horse bolting after seeing an angry daisy! Some sensor faults will trigger limping, when the only thing that has failed was the sensor and a mid-value would allow the vehicle to function. By all means, light up the dash like a Christmas tree, but don't make it slower than a granny on a bike or brick the vehicle unless it really needs it. Back in the mid-2000s I bought a BMW 5 Series as a work car which went into limp mode, (max 20kph), each time I was on the Bescote acceleration lane onto the M6. Bribing an ex-army mate, now last resort auto-electrician, with a crate of beer to do his electronic voodoo on the vehicle, (as the dealer had failed to find a real fault 4 times), it turned out that the wiring loom had been stretched and the only permanent fix would be to replace the loom. I rejected the car and ended up buying my LR110CSW.

What looks like it should be set in stone is not always - HMRC have some wiggle room if they want to use it. The Grenadier N1 2 seater Utility is likely to be accepted as a commercial vehicle, but at present it is at the discretion of the local Tax inspector. If it is on the list, (circa 2014!), it is an accepted norm. Ineos have to push for it to be on the list and have not done so, yet.

I have seen a lot of very poor commentary about the UK tax situaton of the M1, (Belstaff Editions), and N1, 2 seat Utility and 5 seat commercial Station Wagon, with people expecting to be able to register and recover VAT and avoid the higher Benefit In Kind, (BIK), of cars compared to vans, like the old Disco commercials and Defender Double Cabs. Vehicle taxation in the UK is split into two, and as we do not have joined-up government, what one department says has no relevance to what another believes. The DVLA will treat the M1 Grenadier as a car and will impose the higher VED on registration. The M1 will be subject to the usual speed limits on the various road types. The N1 vehicles will be subject to commercial VED, initially much less and the lower speed limits on the various road types. HMRC considers all Grenadiers to be cars; as the Grenadier is more than 2 tonnes, it cannot be a "dual-purpose vehicle" and as it's payload is less than a tonne, it isn't a commercial vehicle. That means that you cannot recover the VAT on purchase and BIK cannot be on the basis of a van. Tax-wise, that will be a massive disappointment to anyone who wants to run one as their company vehicle. HMRC does offer one lifeline; the Grenadier could be a "Pool Car", but that means it has to be kept overnight at the business premises and a log has to kept of all usage, with minimal personal mileage. (There are some technical adjustments that can be made to minimise the impact of these restrictions, but you will need a clued-up accountant to be HMRC proof!) I reached out to Mark Tennant and Gary Pearson, (Head of Sales & Marketing, UK, INEOS Automotive) and got a response from Gary "Hi Jeremy, thanks for connecting; hopefully either Mark Tennant said I would be in touch or you made the link! Happy to answer this and we are actually prepping a FAQ document to offer to the online forums and Facebook groups that include this amongst other things. On the DVLA side we’re all fine and N1 approved for the lower road tax, road fund licence etc. on 2- and 5-seat non-Belstaff models. HMRC side is trickier (not least because their list of approved vehicles is in helpfully from 2014) so we haven’t made claims regarding VAT, BIK or NIC for that reason. We have focussed on the core competency of the vehicle, not its UK tax status not least because it’s a global vehicle and tax policy can change at any time. HMRC want either a Tonne+ payload or a specification that meets their definition of a car-derived van. They set this out very clearly and Grenadier doesn’t meet either of these in its current form (not the 2-seat or the 5-seat). We know that on the customer side of things, there are many customers with a tax situation where they have their own plans or options but that’s for individuals to investigate. For every 10 customers I speak to I’d say I get at least 6 different views as to what they will do/what their situation is. Personally I would like to see the 2-seater approved as a commercial as I think it fits the bill, certainly far more than many other vehicles that have the status. Approaching HMRC is something we have as an option now we have all of the finalised homologation data but this is not a straightforward matter either. I agree with you that it’s unlikely they would give us the status on the 5-seater. We are constantly updating our information that is held at customer services, in our Press Q&As and on our website and we’re making another change to the website text soon to make it clearer. I hope that helps? Do you think a FAQ for the online groups would be useful? We offered some of the groups this a while back but thought we’d revisit it. Grateful for feedback as we know it’s complex. Best, Gary" If I get any more information, I will post it up, but I guess the situation will not change in the short term. For my own situation, I will own my Grenadier as a personal vehicle and charge my business for all my business mileage. The business is not VAT registered, so recovering the VAT was never on the cards, so I am not mourning the loss of a massive tax saving. Irritatingly, the situation in Europe is much simpler, as the vehicle classification is slightly broader, so no one can blame Brexit for this one!

LROi review of the Ineos Grenadier. My subscription copy landed this morning.

Another review, this time from Drive Arabia (UAE), Drive Arabia Ineos Grenadier Review And this one from New Zealand, Driven New Zealand Ineos Grenadier Review. The light blue with a white roof seems to be a hit.

A Ineos YouTube to cover the basic operating procedure. It's dull, but what do you expect?