Saturday Collection Thread - Nissan-powered VelSatis!

[HMC]

 

[Nullzwei]

16 hours ago, Schaefft said:

I've just got an email that my train will not stop at my original destination, what a great start. It's incredible how fundamentally broken public transport in this country is.

What alternative have the TOC offered you to get to your destination? A free taxi ride from the nearest station en route would be my request in such a situation.

[Schaefft]

4 minutes ago, HMC said:

166 3.0 manual. unless you have one already

 

Of course I do:

Your second guess gets us a lot closer!

[HMC]

1 minute ago, Schaefft said:

Of course I do:

Your second guess gets us a lot closer!

[Schaefft]

Just now, Nullzwei said:

What alternative have the TOC offered you to get to your destination? A free taxi ride from the nearest station en route would be my request in such a situation.

Free alternative train getting me in the same direction. Looks like there will be one 40mins later.

Meanwhile, some prettier sights:

[Schaefft]

1 minute ago, HMC said:

It's too early to reveal anything but you could very much associate Macron with today's purchase! Great guesses so far.

A C6 is probably going to happen eventually. I test drove one of the three or four forum C6s that were for sale on here over the last year, I think it won't be the last time.

[Supernaut]

Safrane?

Vel Satis?

[EyesWeldedShut]

3 minutes ago, Schaefft said:

It's too early to reveal anything but you could very much associate Macron with today's purchase! Great guesses so far.

A C6 is probably going to happen eventually. I test drove one of the three or four forum C6s that were for sale on here over the last year, I think it won't be the last time.

A proper DS then (maybe too old) so ...... a late CX gets my vote

[Schaefft]

After having owned the ex @HMC V6 XM for a little while I regret selling it now, I might have been the only person aside from @maxxo on here who had a fairly trouble free ownership experience. For God knows what reason it's the only car my other half was seriously fond of as well.

A very late turbo petrol CX would therefore certainly be worth a consideration!

I've also owned a V6 Safrane for a few months, probably the most comfortable car I've owned until that point (still pre-W140/Cadillac ownership back then), maybe only matched by the Senator B. It's still on the forum so maybe one day...

It's neither of the two. Stay tuned as we still have a little way to go, don't wanna spoil the anticipation too soon!

[IronStar]

So Vel Satis then?

[Schaefft]

15 minutes ago, IronStar said:

So Vel Satis then?

Does

- commercial failure 

- highly controversial design

- problematic reliability reputation 

- mostly gone from UK roads

sound like qualities that would apply to a VelSatis? You decide!

[Schaefft]

All 4 of these actually apply to trains in the UK as well. We are a few minutes late which is fine as the alternative train to the last stop is a bit later anyway. Trainline still claims that my stop before then is cancelled which apparently isn't true so we'll see what happens.

Meanwhile, I've consumed my tuna and mayo sandwich and fruit salad. No breakfast shots, I'm too self conscious to take photos of my meal deal among strangers!

[JMotor]

The above could apply to an Avantime as well!

[Schaefft]

We are making progress, now in Doncaster.

[horriblemercedes]

14 hours ago, Schaefft said:

I'm intrigued by the Insignia, I'm sure one day I'll own a V6 (guess just VXR?) one.

There are Insignia with V6 that are not VXR. They're about 260bhp and all UK ones are automatic. Here's an example:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/156416409468?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=vRF3Y__2RY6&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=wPwtqsq1QhC&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

 

Police also had them with manual gearboxes 

[Schaefft]

12 minutes ago, horriblemercedes said:

There are Insignia with V6 that are not VXR. They're about 260bhp and all UK ones are automatic. Here's an example:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/156416409468?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=vRF3Y__2RY6&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=wPwtqsq1QhC&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

 

Police also had them with manual gearboxes 

I like that a lot! Great spec on this one. Considering this more or less replaced both the Vectra and Omega I'm wondering how much waft you get in one. They sold them as Buicks as well after all. Knowing that the 2.8 turbo had it's issues I'm wondering whether you might as well just get a VXR to make it all worth it.

[EyesWeldedShut]

https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/live-trains/ 
Tends to be better than either RailEasy or Trainline

[Schaefft]

So apparently they now merged two trains, causing many of the seats reserved in one train to overlap with seats reserved on the other train. I'd be pissed paying 100+ quid for this service only having to stand in a now overcrowded carriage.

Meanwhile, I'm hoping that the trip back in my personal executive express will be a much more relaxing journey.

Time for a Red Bull.

[Bren]

I spotted a possible purchase last week. Unfortunately the thought of four and a half hours on trains - with their inevitable delays - and on the back of storm Bert - put me off. Looking closer to home.

[Schaefft]

Yeah, it's mental. I think many of the train companies around the country would go bankrupt if there weren't enough people apparently relying on them as their only mode of transport across the country. Or people still convinced that this is absolutely the best way to travel. My inlaws sold their car and now 100% rely on trains and local busses to get around (because green party members). I'm not going to bet on it but even they might eventually realize how much convincing/force most of the population would need to follow suit, it's a regular piss take they are exposing themselves to even on short journeys.

Anyway, we are slowly getting closer to the end of our first leg. Naturally I brought appropriate travel literature. The model was so successful that many of the options described never seemed to make it into the production car, including adaptive cruise control (would have been one of the first cars on the market!) and some of the interior color choices shown here. 

The peculiar wood trim did however and really is one of the highlights for me as it just screams early 2000s post modernist aesthetic, like pretty much all of the rest of car.

[JMotor]

Sooo...

Now we play the guess the trim level and engine the Vel Satis has then? 😄

I'm going for pez V6 with Carbon grey leather.

[Schaefft]

Oh oh, not the place you want to collect any car from!

[Schaefft]

Next train has arrived, naturally it's hopelessly overcrowded. Just 30mins to go until our next stop.

[High Jetter]

Doncaster, New St - brave man!

[Schaefft]

We've thankfully escaped the orbit of Birmingham and are slowly approaching Leamington Spa where we arrive just late enough to miss our last connection (bus).

Since collection threads tend to go silent just as people approach the car we'll mix things up and do the reveal straight away!

As @Supernaut, @IronStarand @JMotorhave correctly guess, the vehicle we are collecting today is a Renault Velsatis, the unsuccessful successor to the Safrane that wanted to do things differently and carve out a new niche of executive luxury cars. It is the top spec model of the range as well, an Initiale featuring Nissan's VQ35 V6 so common in Nissans around the world.

Keen followers of the For Sale section will have spotted it before. I think there's lot to say about Renault's final stab at the executive car market, looking forward to seeing it in person for the first time in an hour!

[IronStar]

Looking forward to reading the impressions! Whilst unconventional, the styling hasn’t aged terribly and is a really quirky sight nowadays. They seem like a grand value for money in theory, but I’ve always been afraid of go expensively wrong potential and French wiring of that time. 

[Schaefft]

7 minutes ago, IronStar said:

Looking forward to reading the impressions! Whilst unconventional, the styling hasn’t aged terribly and is a really quirky sight nowadays. They seem like a grand value for money in theory, but I’ve always been afraid of go expensively wrong potential and French wiring of that time. 

It's one of those cars that has sold so terribly that it's flying under most people's radar. Most either haven't seen one (or confused it with one of Renaults Vans of the time) or wouldn't expect Renault to even consider selling a car like this. The Avantime somewhat filled a similar niche but in reality there wasn't a massive overlap despite launching around the same time. There's isn't all that much that both cars share either mechanically.

Surprisingly on the bus now, making good progress!

[IronStar]

3 minutes ago, Schaefft said:

It's one of those cars that has sold so terribly that it's flying under most people's radar. Most either haven't seen one (or confused it with one of Renaults Vans of the time) or wouldn't expect Renault to even consider selling a car like this. The Avantime somewhat filled a similar niche but in reality there wasn't a massive overlap despite launching around the same time. There's isn't all that much that both cars share either mechanically.

Surprisingly on the bus now, making good progress!

Avantime is much closer related to Espace, but bespoke enough for parts availability to become a problem, as Renault doesn’t give a shit about its heritage. Previous owner of my 155 moved to kermit green Avantime and loves it, but told me all sorts of parts (un)availability horror stories. 
I hope the situation for Vel Satis is better 

[Schaefft]

6 minutes ago, IronStar said:

Avantime is much closer related to Espace, but bespoke enough for parts availability to become a problem, as Renault doesn’t give a shit about its heritage. Previous owner of my 155 moved to kermit green Avantime and loves it, but told me all sorts of parts (un)availability horror stories. 
I hope the situation for Vel Satis is better 

I can already tell you that it's not much better, having a common Nissan engine does help though. It's no different to many of my other cars though, you will have to look beyond the UK borders.

Crusty bus took us to the final destination. Let's see what I bought!

[Schaefft]

And here we are, 1 1/2 Renault Vel Satis acquired! Now time to start the 4h journey home, wish me luck!