How did you end up with a Elgrand ?

[Geoff lee]

Old man had a toyota granvia.
Almost the same as the Elgrand.

 

[ahoward87]

My Mrs and I have 2 x 2-seaters and needed something in addition to stick all the camping gear in for our camping trips and although I have Toyota 'in the blood', the Elgrand took my fancy more over the Alphard.

 

[foxhandybread]

Grew up in Hong Kong. Elgrands are all over the shop there, I was always interested, became something of a dream for me. 20 years later, I finally have one! Talk about delayed gratification..

 

[Blippi]

Had a delica back in the day that I had planned to camperise but had mechanical issues and had to get rid due to bad situations and timing.

Couldn't get the camper idea out of my head and when looking at vans was put off by wet belts in transit customs so started looking at JDM vans and found the Elgrand might not look like the delica does (mine had snorkel, big wheels and roof racks etc) but can look pretty awesome to.

 

[skystalker1]

We were looking for a td4 that I wanted to convert until I realized just how expensive they were and how very basic the interiors are ! We noticed a Elgrand driving along the seafront and we both said we like it had a look on autotrader when we got home late that evening phoned him up in the morning drove to north devon and bought it he gave us peanuts for our current vehicle but he new we could not drive both home still did not feel to bad as the autobox was playing up .

 

[ELSib]

Interesting topic.
I'll start too.
I live in a region of Russia (Eastern Siberia), where since the early 90s a stream of JDM cars from the city of Vladivostok has poured in. In the USSR and post-Soviet countries, you could only find native cars (Lada, Moskvich, UAZ, Volga). At that time, the cost of a new domestic car was comparable to the cost of an imported JDM car with low mileage. Then the state had not yet raised customs duties and other things. In general, I spent my entire childhood observing these outlandish cars. Toyota Corolla 80s, 90s, Toyota Sprinter (Trueno, Carib), Toyota Carina, Vista, Mark 2, Cresta, Chaser, Crown, Land Cruisers, and Nissans such as Sunny, Safari, Terrano, etc. My eyes ran wide..
As children, we bragged about our knowledge of cars and badges..That is, it is clear that the idea of JDM has been in my head since childhood)
In general, I owned different cars (Patrols, UAZ, Isuzu Bighorn). But I remember when I was a teenager, my friend's father had a GrandHiace, it was just an airplane. That's when the dream of having a van was born.
In general, having sold the Bighorn, the search for a van began. There was not much money, so I immediately dismissed Toyota (and a boring 4x4 without modes and an obviously exaggerated price). Love for diesel engines directed me towards Nissans, yes, the TD, QD series, and if the factory added an immortal transmission and engine + van body, you get a Nissan Elgrand E50. Having a modest budget, I could afford a van that was not in the best condition (traces of accidents, oil leaks, corrosion), but the engine works perfectly despite the mileage of 290 thousand km (rolled back), also according to the documents, the Elgrand was from 1990 (strange, knowing that they appeared in 1997), but do not forget that this is happening in Russia, and yes, this happened to us, when newer cars were imported under the documents of an old car, and the documents indicated "body replacement", this really saved a lot of money, since the customs fee for spare parts (body, engine) is much less than for a full-fledged car. And such cars were called "Constructor" in Russia. In general, this is how I became the owner of my Elgrand 1990 (1999) E50, QD32 diesel, "Constructor", with the mileage rolled back and the condition "still alive". Now the mileage is very, very far beyond 500,000 km. The engine has factory compression. The body has been re-welded, it remains to be painted. The interior is in the process of restoration... An 8 cm lift has been made. The car is driven every day (50 km home-work-home + mileage on work). It serves as a truck, towing vehicle, transportation of animals (there were 3 dogs, now 2), camper and everyday family comfortable car. Now the Elgrand has become part of the family, I do not want to change it, since there is no replacement now.
Perhaps someday I will buy an E51, but as an addition to my E50...

 

[pemmo]

I had always fancied a more flexible vehicle which could be used as a camper part time. The Jap imports seemed great value for money and loved the Elgrand after trying one at Worcester Road Motors. Then just had to convince my wife! Luckily she felt the same after a test drive. So traded an MX5 for the E51.

We had just ordered a large electric Skoda, so cancelled that and bought a small runaround for daily stuff plus the Elgrand for longer family trips. 3 plus years in and the family still love it. And LPG still works for us most of the time as we are lucky to have some locally.

 

[lee1983]

I had a Nissan largo that after owning for over 10 years it was getting very tired so needed another 7 seater and wanted another jdm that's when I got myself a E50 had that for a year then wanted a newer one so got the E51 had that five years then yea you guessed it got myself an E52 which is my current car, was thinking of going back to the E51 again as family has grown again lol

 

[Rhysd2]

Pretty much as per my intro thread in that forum... I test drove them about 3 years back, but was a little nervous about the engines burning oil, and didn't want to go quite that large. But loved them when I test drove them. I bought a Nissan cubic in the end but with 6 of us in it's getting too small.... so here I am again heh. In the process of paying for a newly imported 2007 highway star E51 with very low mileage. Clearly loved it when I drove it before as it just seemed the logical and best choice when I considered upgrading from the cubic. Cant wait to get it.

 

[Bog]

Like most, we were thinking of getting a small camper/day van and liked the idea of a VW. The fovid came along and the prices rocketed, the scene became full of bell ends in manky converted builders vans, so that put us off them. Started looking for alternatives, and not sure how, stumbled across Alfred's and Elgrands..... Elgrands won our hearts and that was it...

 

[GazTel]

Whilst visiting my elderly mother at the sheltered accommodation she lives in, I noticed this large white vehicle I'd never seen before.
On first sight, I immediately thought what a beautiful looking car it was and started looking up the make & model. I had driven a Qashqai for around 3 months in 2015 as a Company vehicle and it was the nicest car I'd ever had the pleasure to drive but I hadn't seen or heard of these Elgrands prior to spotting this one.
Anyway, once I saw how reasonably priced they were to get hold of (comparing to VW Transporters - which I had always aspired to getting but simply didn't have the money for) I started to seriously look for one not too far from me.
I found a White E51 for sale in Garstang and went to have a look one Saturday and was immediately in the mindset of "I want this"
The next day, I got a lift up from my Son-in-Law and bought her. Loved it ever since. And love the people on this forum for all their advice, knowledge & humour

 

[eblimegreen]

The wife wanted one so here we are

Chris

 

[Elgraman]

So traded an MX5 for the E51.

That's something which many people, including car magazines don't get. You read 'you can't compare those', especially in comment sections in magazines and youtube vids, when people discuss car A against car B, but people 'cross shop' whenever they are buying cars all the time.

 

[Gwilo365]

At the time, we had an XC90 that decided to start having electrical issues - final straw was a brake caliper binding on at 70mph.
As I had two kids in stupidly bulky car seats, a mother -in-law and a distinct inability to pack lightly for any journey past the end of the road, the only contenders were Peugeot vans and VWs - though not the VW as it's expensive.
The Elgrand fit the criteria of large space, comfy chairs, elevated driving position and lots of toys. It also pleased me it was an automatic.
I told myself our mileage wasn't a concern with the fuel, but a few months of putting £30 in just to do the nursery run every week soon made me splurge on an LPG conversion.
Engine and build quality never let me down.
But rising costs on fuel, insurance, food, utilities etc, meant downsizing eventually (because selling your offspring into servitude is frowned upon these days).

 

[Jeddles]

I’ve a mate that is obsessed with Nissans, especially 90s ones, and he kept pestering and pestering at me to buy one, and eventually I did, built it into a camper, and it’s sat there neglected ever since…

 

[NZBarry]

I first came across an Elgrand a couple of years ago when I rented a sleeper van and that's what they provided. I liked the way it drove and the smoothness of the engine and thought it would be nice to have one.

Then the Jeep I use to tow my caravan stopped working and I catastrophised a bit, thought that was the end of the Jeep and got my E50. It's bog standard but an airbed and barbecue turn it into a camper. As for the Jeep, it needed new injectors so now I have a choice when it comes to trips away.

 

[parcel]

I was passing by, coming back from seeing another car, which didn't work out. Saw this an thought, hmm.
Mite be ok. It had only just come in. Gotta wait till Mon to get it (hopefully).
Wasn't really looking for one.

 

[parcel]

I’ve a mate that is obsessed with Nissans, especially 90s ones, and he kept pestering and pestering at me to buy one, and eventually I did, built it into a camper, and it’s sat there neglected ever since…

Well u cant win em all.lol

 

[Danny1986]

I was looking at T5s, transits etc but couldn't bring myself to paying that much for a van with a few builders seats in plus the Newcastle Ulez scam. After a trip the Centre Parks and trying to squeeze everything in the A8 and my wife's ill health (more so the mobility side of things)since having a baby I went and looked at a few and bought one yesterday. And I don't have a clue what I have bought Lovely to drive and it's easier on my wife.

 

[2affar]

I was driving through Worcester and saw a bunch of elgrandes on a forecourt. Emergency brake. Reversed to the showroom, bought an Elgrand

Fitted 2 LPG tanks to it and never looked back. Brilliant car

Will get round to updating the entertainment system to work in the UK one day