Eric,
I was one of the early buyers from Elliot Bay last year in April. 15,000 miles later I am very happy. After a 1,500 mile shakedown cruise throughout WA, OR, and ID, Elliot Bay fixed my problems and I drove it home to Alaska and love the car. We get a lot of snow, have a long winter, and have some seriously bad roads in places. It’s just the car for me.
The car had some initial new model problems: HVAC issues, transfer cases assembly problems, software delays, door lock problems, and some software features that drove everyone nuts. Here is my assessment.
The transfer case and door lock problems arose from factory assembly errors that most likely resulted from new employees OJT. The transfer case issues were addressed by Ineos early on and are no longer an issue. The door lock problems arose from improper lubrication on assembly. The problem is well understood now and is being addressed by a factory recall. Neither issues should be a problem for new buyers.
The HVAC issue appears to have resulted from inadequate training for dealer delivery preparation relating to properly vacuum filling and bleeding the heating and cooling reservoirs and allowing the computer system to recalibrate. I had a big problem initially. Drove from PDX to SEA in the rain with windows wide open to avoid heat exhaustion with inop AC and heat. This is a completely avoidable problem now. EBA certainly knows since they fixed mine. The system works very well when properly set up. I have had no problems from -10°F up. No one should accept less than optimal HVAC or complicated procedures as it’s not necessary and indicates an improperly delivered system.
The most annoying feature is the nagging speed control warning system. For me it’s an easy problem to minimize if the fix is programmed into favorites at the dealer. I start the car, hit the favorite button which starts to bring up a menu button to turn off the warning, put seat belt on, switch the warning button off, hit the autostart button off (which also annoys me), and then drive. The whole (unnecessary) procedure takes only maybe 20 seconds.p and it’s now part of my routine, just like starting my plane. However the next software update I supposed to allow us to perm at disable and the speed warning and the autostart feature. Ineos promises it’s coming but the software issues are taking them longer to address than everyone thought. None of this affects the utility of the car and we all hope this will be addressed in 2025. We will see.
The one issue that is vexing me somewhat is that the windshield is prone to getting dings from gravel picked up by other vehicles. This is a common problem in other, mostly older vehicles with similar flat windshield geometry like Broncos, Land Rovers, etc. We have a pretty good mix of pavement and gravel up here and I am amazed at the number of stone chips I have picked up.
If you are going to spend your life commuting on I-5 and want something that rides like a Buick, you might want to consider something else. The Grenadier has some quirks they’re part of the charm. But if you want a serious, very rugged and mechanically well built off-road machine, you won’t find a better one.
Pete
