Not exactly sure where to put this, but we’re visiting my in-laws this weekend (who live in Maryland, in a close suburb of Washington DC) and I decided to go shopping for a new vehicle to replace their 20 year old Toyota Highlander. It’s served my father in-law very well over the years, but both of their current vehicles are not roadworthy, nor safe in my opinion (either rusting through or lots of ominous sounds coming from the brakes/bushes/bearings/etc., but the straw that broke the camels back (so to speak) was the fact that my father in-law backed into my grenadier sitting in their driveway (thankfully, there was no damage, as it was Toyota plastic bumper vs. grenadier steel bumper). Anyhow, I feel they desperately need a new car with all of the modern safety features (such as a rear view camera and proximity sensors) - not as much for their safety, but for the safety of others.
So, I went to their local Toyota dealer (driving my grenadier), and parked right at the front/main entrance of the building. Upon arriving it seemed like everyone in the dealership (sales people and customers) migrated outside and crowded around the grenadier looking both intrigued and bewildered by what it was (maybe a Land Rover, maybe a Mercedes, what is Ineos?). Others were taking pictures of it. And, the best was that one of the salespeople said to me “this is the one they’re making in India, right?” To which I responded, no - Hambach, France and tried to provide a quick background of what Ineos is and where it’s built. And, lots of questions ensued: “how much did this thing cost?” “Are you trading this in on something here?” “Are you interested in selling this?”
Anyhow, I wanted to share this adventure with everyone here, as I found myself chuckling from the attention it received and the image it may have created sitting outside of a Toyota dealer.
As an aside, still haven’t found my in-laws a new car. I test drove a brand new 4Runner and a new highlander to their house to show them, but they weren’t impressed with either of them. Inadvertently, by this experience driving the 4Runner, I validated my feeling that the Grenadier is priced fairly, as I was not impressed by the 4Runner whatsoever (boring to drive, didn’t feel as powerful as the grenny, very outdated interior and technology, etc…) - and the MSRP on the sticker was only $15k less than a base Grenadier.
