Carefant
Grenadier Owner
Hi Muxmax. Thanks for this. Only got mine 2 days ago, so still taking it all in. I have already set the panic alarm off by accident, so I’m curious to know how you have ‘killed’ yours? Cheers.The first tank is almost empty and so I thought I'd share my first impressions with you. To be honest, I bought the Grenadier to scratch an itch. I don't really need it and mostly use it for everyday driving to the office and back. My offroad experience is and will be limited to some more or less well maintained dirtroads in the forest and a hunting trip to the Alps every now and then. The one thing I still want to achieve is to get a little more freedom to move by installing a remote office. Unfortunately my thread regarding that has somewhat died out without really producing helpful results. That being said, the vehicle is all that I had hoped for and more. It does have character, the air of timelessness, solidity and beauty and feels just right in these crazy times where everything that you thought was tried and trusted is being questioned in every aspect of life. It just feels good to turn the engine on when my electrified neighbours are still asleep. On top of that, driving the Grenadier for me is what I imagine a yoga session to be: it calms me down. I would describe myself as rather an assertive driver and I sure love to fly down the Autobahn with 250 km/h. But in the Grenadier, there's nothing of that. Sitting in that solid tank (as my oldest sons call it) just asks for some good music and going with the flow. The steering is of course different than that of an Mercedes E 63 S, but it is exactly how I would want it for such a car. As many before me wrote, I got used to it after a few minutes. Even my wife now loves the car and I must say, there is definitely a sex appeal factor to it when she jumps off that machine in a pretty dress.
There are a few minor issues that still need some attention and will hopefully be fixed soon. Not too many bings and bongs, but the seat belt warning did go off two or three times now without any apparent reason. My only bings-and-bongs-going-mad-experience was yesterday, when I had stopped the car and wanted to turn the ignition back on so that my children could listen to the radio. I had the door open and apparently the car doesn't like that too much . I got all sorts of warnings up to the request to push the brake pedal. This, I hope, will be sorted with the software update. Besides that there is a noise when rolling down one of the rear windows, a loose screw rolling around somewhere under the flooring, the windscreen fogs up from time to time when AC is on, the buttons of the rear doors sometimes get stuck, switching from high to low is a bit tough, and the light sensor is too senisitive for my taste. I have adressed all of that with my dealer and we shall see what they can do about these things. Nothing of that worries me too much.
Four things I would say are a tiny bit annoying to me: first and foremost, I really cannot understand why INEOS made a car that relies on the customers to connect their phones and then be so stingy with the power outlets. The ones hidden in the middle storage box are ok, but if you want to use a magnetic cradle and not plug and stow away your phone for every ride, this is a nuisance. Especially since the cables have to be in the very correct position for the lid of the storage box to close. I understand and appreciate the concept of leaving as much as possible to the creativity of the customer, but one or two USB sockets around the front panel or dashboard wouldn't have hurt. The second thing that surprised me is the absolute lack of any storage space besides the middle box that deserves the name. Luckily, I don't need specs to drive, but if I did, I would not even know where to safely put those. The two spots on the dash and below the front panel are only good for peolpe who love their stuff to fly around through the car at the slightest turns. Well, and the glove compartment is really just for gloves (unless you have the manual in there; then its already full). My car is now full of molle rigs to create space for the little things I tend to carry around (like an oyster knife, you never know). The third thing are the reflections. When driving at night, rear and side vision really is not the best since the main display strongly reflects from the side and rear windows. I have dimmed it now and not driven in the dark since, but dimming the screen takes a couple of steps in the menu and is not something that you want to do too often. It would have been nice if the display (and the warning light smorgasbord in front of the steering wheel) would dim with the rest of the interior lights mechanically. Fourth is the turning circle. I know, I could have (and did) known that in advance, but it still is a bit more difficult than I hoped it would be. Pulling in and out of parking lots and garages can be a challenge and definitely is more difficult than with my VW T6 whith roughly the same dimensions. (Before anyone feels compelled to comment that, I know that the T6 ends about 50cm before my feet and thus is a completely different vehicle). Well, if I hadn't killed it already, the panic button would be No. 5. INEOS could have made that optional for the US market or at least program it so that it only goes off when you really want it to.
I had almost forgotten one thing: after a few too short drives on the first kilometres, I apparently interrupted the cleaning cycle of the particle filter. As a result, the radiator continued to run very loudly for several minutes. However, this has not happened since.
All in all, the positives far outweigh the negatives and I still catch myself making up reasons to take another quick trip with the car. Next week I'm going to drive a longer distance of a few hundred kilometres for the first time. I hope I can at least temporarily stop grinning then so I don't get a cramp in my cheeks.
For the statisticians among us: ordered 21 March 2023, went into production 11 May 2023, contract came 10 July 2023, collected the vehicle on 31 August 2023. VIN ...3918.