Americas Would you buy a Grenadier if the closest dealer was 250 miles away?

[Dadams]

Should I be concerned regarding having access to a dealer for warranty work?

 

[singlefin]

That question is really for you as many have no issues but a a return to the dealer every 12 months might be needed for annual service or light reset. Does staying overnight for longer work make sense? Okay with the round trip for something minor? I drive 3 hours to a specific shop I trust for my van, so I don’t think it’s unreasonable.

 

[Bruce B]

I suppose that depends on your desire to travel that distance for service. One can hope that a vehicle will not ever need warranty service but in all of the many vehicles that I have owned, I’ve never experienced that Nirvana…
My current 2022 F-150 is perhaps the most trouble free vehicle I have owned to date and it’s been back several times for recalls and software updates.
250 miles is not a terrible distance to travel but remember, vehicles never consider your schedule when they act up. If you need to get to work and your car develops a sudden problem requiring a trip to the dealer, you won’t have much choice but to take that trip.

 

[Zenbox]

I was in a somewhat similar situation with the closest dealer being 400 miles away. I decided to go ahead and purchase anyway. I just could not stop thinking about the Grenadier and decided to take the risk. If my Grenadier was one of the problem children like others have had, I would be very bummed out. So far, so good though!

 

[255/85]

"

Would you buy a Grenadier if the closest dealer was 250 miles away?"​

We did.

 

[KBKLR]

Very much yes if you want a grenadier. If you don't want a Grenadier, then probably no?

 

[anand]

That's a personal question to ask yourself as every person has a different mindset about it.

When mine finally arrived this past April, I purchased from a dealer >10hrs from me. I've made several trips for warranty repairs (a brake hose and A/C leak), a windshield, and my 12k service to a dealer about 2.5hrs from me. Next week I'll be having another warranty repair done (pinion seal on the rear diff leaking) at a newly opened dealer that is only 20 minutes from me.

Earlier this year I drove from Maryland to Flagstaff, AZ for Overland Expo West, taking major interstates the whole way, and at no point in that drive was I within the 100 miles of a dealer (what the free towing coverage provided by the roadside assistance provider offers). At no point in that drive was I worried or concerned .

With all that being said, the shop that works on all of our vehicles is just over 5.5hrs (if we time it without traffic, otherwise closer to 7) each way from me, and I'll happily make that drive for something as simple as an oil change if I don't want to lay in the driveway in the winter to do it myself because I have a long relationship with them and a lot of trust.

There are plenty of others who want a vehicle that can have full warranty/service capabilities in every small town across the country. This isn't that vehicle, and there is nothing wrong with that mindset or desire, but it is important to assess what the Grenadier is and what it isn't, and not go into the purchase/ownership expecting it to be something it explicitly isn't.

 

[[ Adam ]]

I bought in Seattle, drove a few days to Moab, Denver, Chicago Philly and then DC, and when I needed service it was several hours away in Philadelphia. I honestly think the trip between DC and Philly used to be faster by horseback.

I'm grateful we have a local dealership now - thought I haven't had need of them, maybe I'll go get an oil change today.

 

[Zimm]

I'm 304 miles, I have a boogered zf8 that runs but downshifts 2-1 like a 16yo with his first manual, and vibrates at stop lights like an elephants dildo, a broken door handle, and some other various doo dads. I'm waiting until more stuff shows and any rumored program updates are anounced before working out getting it back. I'm sure if you live in the middle of the Yukon Territory this is just business as usual, but frankly, I find the whole thing a big pain in the dick.

I've talked to two other people around me with the truck, and both have had issues they would want the service dept to look at but proximity or lack thereof inhibits normal practice. Almost all new cars have something at some point, so, what the actual issue is will affect ones irritation levels. Think, HVAC is completely jacked up v inaccurate fuel levels. Some issues are worse than others and return trips can be a burden.

I like the truck but, combined with whatever is transpiring at Ineos, those are dice I wouldn't toss again.

 

[SQF1]

I never would have bought mine if the dealer was 250 miles away. Luckily RDS is 241 miles away so I had no worries. If it were my only vehicle I would have had some pause but I am fortunate enough that if one of my vehicles (work or private) has an issue I can just grab another set of keys off the shelf and deal with the problem later. I have to drive to Philadelphia once or twice a year for work so my plan is to schedule light resets etc around those trips.

 

[Dadams]

Thanks so much for all the replies! I do have another vehicle so unless I am in it when something goes wrong there is another option. I keep hoping they will open a dealership closer or offer affiliate repair center options but there does not seem to be any movement on that front. I will likely wait a bit and see if some of the “new model” issues get worked out. It seems some guys have had a number of warranty issue and others have not had very many.

 

[Zimm]

Thanks so much for all the replies! I do have another vehicle so unless I am in it when something goes wrong there is another option. I keep hoping they will open a dealership closer or offer affiliate repair center options but there does not seem to be any movement on that front. I will likely wait a bit and see if some of the “new model” issues get worked out. It seems some guys have had a number of warranty issue and others have not had very many.

The last word on the production restart was spring. That's 5 months away minimum. If you're not trying to take advantage of an end of year off the lot sale, have fun and go order one. Half the fun is shopping.

 

[canikony]

I'm hesitant and my closest dealer is just over 100 miles away.

I guess part of it will come down to what kind of year end deals they have if I bite the bullet lol.

 

[Trialmaster]

NO - 250 miles is too far for me. Mine has been back to the dealer 5 times, in 16 months. Service and three recalls and two other jobs at my request. Remember mine was an early vehicle. Therefore, normal logic would be a service and two other visits.

 

[255/85]

NO - 250 miles is too far for me. Mine has been back to the dealer 5 times, in 16 months. Service and three recalls and two other jobs at my request. Remember mine was an early vehicle. Therefore, normal logic would be a service and two other visits.

The true early adopters have suffered a bit. The recent vehicles seem to have a lot of the wrinkles taken out. I really only monitor this forum so my sample size is ...small? Large? I dunno.

 

[Mountain4x4]

These units are startlingly reliable. And they are built very robust. Our dealer is 378 miles, but we have family there so a once a year trip is no biggy. They are opening new dealers as well. Just saw one in Ohio and San Antonio coming online. Hopefully we will see a day with one in each state, and 2-3 in large states like Texas.

 

[Commodore]

As a data point, I picked the Grenadier that I ordered about a month ago. I have 2,500 miles on it now and 500 of those are in the dirt. It is very well build and the only issue I had was the firmware glitch where it blew cool air out of the front vents and hot air out the back. That was fixed by turning the car off and letting the computers go to sleep before restarting it.

I do think that the more recent builds have a lot of the issues sorted out. I’ll even speculate that when production restarts they will have all of the issues fixed.

 

[Mad Hatter]

My dealer where I bought the car from and where I will return it for maintenance is 279 miles away. What’s the problem?

 

[anand]

I keep hoping they will open a dealership closer or offer affiliate repair center options but there does not seem to be any movement on that front.

The number of dealers are on track to roughly double from launch (Nov. 2023) to the end of next year (Dec. 2025). At this point there is a new dealer nearly monthly, although I wouldn't expect one in Tulsa or OKC in the near future necessarily.

 

[Mad Hatter]

Seems like the grenadier is really taking off in the states, more so than Europe perhaps