My Elgrand drove perfect today!!!

[nobby62]

A great thread.. I paid approx. £8k for mine three and a half years ago. Its a 2005 X 3.5L. It had 40k k's on the clock backed up by the import certificate (25k miles) selected from auction in Kobe by Japautoagent Sam and Paul (would probably have cost 12k plus from a UK dealer at the time). Now has 50k on the clock, is in amazing clean (inside and out) totally rust free condition. I drive it to work every day and also use for camping trips including twice through France. Have replaced tyres once, drop links, re-gassed the aircon, brake pads to the front, plenty of oil and filter changes, she still purrs like a pussycat and we love it. I run her on premium fuel and can get 30mpg on a long steady motorway run although 20mpg is nearer my average for short trips, I have a replacement SS exhaust (insurance advised), a towbar for my bike trailer (also insurance advised). I also use her for classic motorbike rally's and sleep in the van, very comfortable (I used to ride and take a tent)... we have an inflatable drive-away awning for longer trips... I am considering new plugs and PC valves next year. I would def buy another. I would be totally confident to jump in and drive anywhere anytime... a great car and after 3.5 years ownership, if she died tomorrow she wouldn't owe me anything!!

 

[Lize]

Even with all the costs of mods/parts for your/our Elgrands, it would still be a better financial option than owning another manufacturers van

I was thinking exact same thing about mine the other day.

Paid £5500, spent more than that on camper conversion then suspension, wheels and now body kit and I reckon I’ve still got a little cash to spare.

Done a bit of expected age related maintenance - brakes, bushes, battery but so far it’s been very reliable and no sudden problems.

And of course it is far better to drive and I wouldn’t have joined this club and enjoyed tinkering.

 

[Highway Dave]

About time this thread came up , apart from wear and tear stuff my baby has treat me well and just seems to feel as though she will for a long time to come if that makes sense---should have married her really

 

[peter strokosz]

They also do have a knock on effect .. the rest of the cars in house also get cleaned ,oil checked wheel pressure etc ...just not to the same high standard you give to your Elgrand..

 

[peter strokosz]

But nothing will give you the “Contentment effect”, I will explain you will be driving along in your bus and say a Porsche of Aston Martin will go past you , you will think for a second would love to be driving that, then you realise that your happy to be in your bus and that’s all you need ... dont get me wrong would love to rag the shit outta any high powered car ...but my bus means more ...I’m on holiday and daytime drinking is compulsory...hic

 

[Karl]

@peter strokosz - You get jealous of Porsche's and Aston Martin's flying past, until you realise they are breaking their neck to get a look at your bus... then the smug "yeah, you know" look creeps across your face

 

[Tanglefoot]

Well, after taking ownership of a 2.5 Black HWS a week ago I can say "Bloody Hell" they don't half go a bit. Did 2 trips to Pontefract since and it was nice to drive in comfort. A good point is my daughters dog (rescue and nervous) settled straight away in the dark interior, lying on his blanket on the dropped seats. Yep, a great car.

 

[Phil G]

7 months in,
lpg conversion and a set of tyres, (used local mainly)
1trip South to see Simonlpg, 2 trips to Scotland , no problems so far,
Love driving it

 

[Parentalnightmare]

I brought my 2nd Elgrand from @bliksem after my first one got stolen not long after I purchased it.
I purchased it for £6000 and on the way back from collecting it from Swansea I broke down, but it was a faulty fuel gauge which Nissan have repaired free of charge on a recall.
Done all the usual stuff
Underseal £200
did the decat myself
Changed the stereo my self
Changed all pads and disks too.
Serviced it my self oil and filter.
Repaired drivers seat at a cost of £150.
It runs great and not done a load of miles in her around 3000kms but she's lovely.
I added a reverse light which cost around £20, so icansee when reversing when dark.

If you read all the things that goes wrong on here it's does make you thi k about what's going to go wrong next, but as you drive your Elgrand more and more miles you begin to trust the car that your driving and you need to trust the car you drive.
As someone said, "all cars have problems maybe you'll have one some day but we're all here to help you out with your problem as I've helped people on here.
Thats why we join, it's a great place.

 

[Elliematt83]

Had my e50 11 days and I love it find myself looking out the window at it in the morning and I drive to work with a on my face haha

 

[Elgrandpa]

They also do have a knock on effect .. the rest of the cars in house also get cleaned ,oil checked wheel pressure etc ...just not to the same high standard you give to your Elgrand..

That is so true. I try and keep our Elgrand as clean as possible for a daily driver. Can't remember the last time my Audi A3 got washed and it shows lol. The TT is not much better but I hardly ever use it as my wife finds it too low these days and the dog doesn't fit in!

 

[Reverend RobP]

You won't believe it......



Just driven home from work and it was perfect. Put some tunes on, sat back and shuffled through the rush hour traffic in bliss.

 

[Ja2432]

I'm having a couple of small teething problems with mine. But this in no way takes away from the gorgeousness of this luvlee machine. Its much many more betterer than the German shite I parked next to today and saw the owners face drop when he realised he had dropped a bollock

 

[Hoobajoob]

I bought my 2002 e51 3.5 V6 in pearl white just over a year ago and I can say it has been the perfect car. I was the 2nd uk owner so i has the rear cats decored right away. I had a major service done as I do with all new cars and had new disc and pads on the front due to a warped disc. I fitted a awesome pumpkin head unit. Unlike some Elgrand it used no oil or water. I can truly say it has been faultless and I've loved every second of ownership. I love this forum and the wonderful caring people that frequent it. Sadly due to a change in personal circumstances I have had to down size to a less thirsty beast. Having said that I will have another as soon as is humanly possible. This time with all the trimmings.

 

[362bkr]

Well the only money I have spent on my 22year old e50 is on fuel . No breakdown no mechanical failures no electrical gremlins and has never failed to start 1st time in all the time I’ve owned her ..........and that’s over 2WEEKS .

 

[Elgrandpa]

Had our 2003 XL for just over 5 years now. Bought from a 'business man' (nothing to do with cars) that self imported 3 of them, idea was to keep the best one for his wife and sell the other 2 to cover the cost of it. Basically, his wife hated driving it as it was too big so he put it up for sale.
I'd only ever seen 1 Elgrand in my life, got talking to the owner and he convinced me they were worth looking at. Next day I found the above on Gumtree and my wife and son went to see it as I was working. I later got a call at work saying she'd bought it! I'd not seen it, driven it, or known anything about them.
Long story short...One of the best moves we've ever made. We needed a car/van that could accommodate furniture, go camping and take a whole family on airport runs, the Elgrand easily covers all these requirements.
The Elgrand has been more reliable than any car we've ever had...and we're old lol!
Total cost of ownership over the 5 years is probably less than many would expect to lose in a year. Cost me less than £6,000 back then with 106,000 kilometres. Over this time the only costs incurred have been the same as for any other car, routine servicing etc and removal of rear cats. We did have a battery drain problem that plagued us for ages but that turned out to be the screen mounted TV aerials sorted out when we bought a Pioneer double din.

 

[korkythekat]

Was after a camper after seeing a Mazda BongO so had a look around a few places online. Wanted LPG, Pop top and kitchen. After months of looking finally Ellie came up that had all three things (plus undersealed!) about 16 months ago. First thing was to decat rear cats thanks to this forum.New Brakes and disks all round. No engine probs whatsoever, starts first time every time. Hope to keep it for another 3 1/2 years at least. Love it!

 

[Markcurn1]

Spent all day driving mine around delivering (as I do every day), and believe me it doesn't get old at all,as it's totally de-baged I love the WTF is THAT look on their faces when I rock up.in 8 months as a daily drive including a couple of long motorway drives she hasn't missed a beat, wouldn't swap for anything.

 

[Reverend RobP]

Well I just had to tempt fate didn't I.....
Got up this morning to go to work and thought ooh that tyre looks a bit soft. Called into petrol station to pump it up and found a big ass nail poking out
Seems to be holding air ok though so it can wait for the weekend to get sorted.

 

[Phil]

had mine just over 3 years. No breakdowns. Only spent out on essentials & MOT advisories. Cheap tax, cheap insurance. Drives great

Only small problem is I have to have the windows down when it's hot because of the rear air con pipe problem. Must get it fixed sometime.