Well this is not how I thought it was going to end up….but I have canceled my delivery and asked Ineos to reroute my car to another buyer. I am very disappointed so let me explain how Ineos lost an extremely excited customer.
Everything was great. My car was built, shipped to LA, and it was waiting to be released to the NorCal Ineos dealer located in Redwood City. I was suppose to take delivery before Christmas but then Christmas became January and then communications shut down from the dealer in Redwood City. By talking to other frustrated NorCal owners and then finally Ineos I learned that the dealer in Redwood City was not going to be ready to take deliver of the cars or service customers and it was unclear if/when they were going to be ready. I am guessing that there was a dispute with the landlord of the building and/or city permit issues. Ineos offered to have my car delivered to a Pasadena dealer who would reach out to me and organize delivery to my house. I never heard from the Pasadena dealer. I asked Ineos who would service my car locally and Ineos said any BMW service center could handle warranty issues.
But the idea that BMW would service my car when only their engine is used in the Grenadier didn’t sound right so I dug deeper and talked to more people. I found out that Ineos was wrong and that all service would need to be done by an Ineos service center. That would mean I would have to ship or drive my car 5+ hours to get a software update or to take care of a warranty issue. That is completely unacceptable even for a Toyota, but for a new car that has lots of online reports of sensor and electrical issues it is especially risky.
So I canceled my reservation after waiting for 3 years. I might come back to Ineos and place another order once there is a local dealer and service center but I am now running the risk of a price increase or a dealer markup. So there is only a 50/50 chance I come back to Ineos. I love the idea of the Grenadier but Ineos really screwed up and did it in one of the best car markets in the US (NorCal). So I am shifting my attention to my Land Rover Defender 90 NAS soft top (which is a much cooler car than the Grenadier anyway) and will make some improvements of that car to make it more of a daily driver. I will also look into some other options such as the new Toyota Land Cruiser, a used G wagon, a “rad dad” Defender 110, or maybe something out of left field completely like an 80’s Carrera. So for now my Grenadier journey comes to an end thanks to Ineos not being able to launch properly in NorCal…..what a mess.