Got to drive the Grenadier again today in Melbourne, so here are a few points:
1/ The RHS footrest "issue" is still a non issue.
2/ The Steering"issue" is a non issue.
3/ The Windscreen wiper "issue" is a non issue - I drove one with a dusty windscreen. I noticed it before I got in the car, but then after the drive I realised that I didn't notice it at all whilst driving.
4/ If you want to run an electric brake controller, then you will need to run a new wire from front to back yourself, there is no wire in the existing loom designated for this purpose.
5/ As mentioned, the Alternator is 250Amps which is more than adequate in my book. My V6 Amarok has an 180A alternator.
6/ The single battery is adequate to power the car, the winch, and auxiliary electrical functions of the car - including those that will run of the additional switch panel. This means that if you have gone without the second battery, you can easily install your own battery and wire that up specifically to other functions like fridges, Inverters etc.
7 They are definitely planning on holding some owner/driver days so new owners can familiarise themselves with the offroad capability of the car. These will probably take a format similar to the drive days that we have experienced- but everyone brings their own car.
8/ They definitely notice a spike in orders after each drive day that they have run, as reservation holders have now driven the car. Yes there are apparently a lot of reservation holders still - which is staggering in my book, as they have to pay the new price now, not the old price.
9/ There are a lot of people who are buying this car that don't care how much it is, or whether it gets utilised for what it is - they just are falling in love with it. They went as far to say that it is already a "cult car", and the "marketing" that they are doing at the moment (drive days, shows etc) is enough to fill their allocations.
10/ Lead time is around the 12 month mark, however this will come back as more production slots become available.
11/ They also said that they are getting a bit of shipping availability at the moment as they are flexible as to where the cars land in Australia. Apparently Melbourne has such a vehicle shipping bottle neck at the moment, and the big guys have to drop off their cars at these main locations. This means that slots in Wollongong etc for smaller volume cars are opening up, and Ineos are grabbing them. So it will mean that they can get cars to OZ quicker than they were originally planning, so more will be on their way downunder. Apparently the 92 cars coming to OZ, haven't left yet but are on the docks.
12/ They are expecting another large release of contracts to OZ this week as well, as they knew a batch went out last night.
13/ I was thinking that the Ute may be better from a business taxation perspective in OZ - as it might reach a payload of 1000kg, however whilst they haven't said anything concrete, they doubt that it will. Not because it cannot handle the weight, but more due to the homologation process where that is not necessary or allowed in other countries. So it looks like there wont be any great commercial tax benefits to the dual cabin ute.
I took my far better half today with me, and she really liked it - and understands why I talk about it all the time. She was very impressed.
Also now she knows why I am on my computer all the time is genuinely because I am actually looking at "The Ineos Forum", and not other internet content.
Happy Days.
