"Francois" the Vel Satis 3.5 V6 Privilege Shed

[smilo996]

Possibly like the Fiat Multipla? A great idea and some real innovations but dressed up like something only your mother could love?

I owned a Multipla and they are really clever and practical but the sense of horror at looking at it never faded though your French Chariot has a V6 and looks much better. Will be interesting to hear more about it.

[Vee12V]

Love these. Could only be French. Shame about the quality though.

[madmatteo]

Always had a soft spot for these after my dad had one (a 3.5 V6 also) when he was working for Renault in the early to mid 2000s.

Remember him picking me and a few mates up from the Peak District and travelling back to Bucks after a school trip. All of the other parents turned up in their estate cars and similar and the Vel Satis stood out a mile in amongst them. I suspect that no one had any idea what it was (and probably still wouldn't). I always liked its obscurity.

That said, I can totally understand why that prevented it from selling in anything but small numbers. However, I remember liking it as it always felt as though you were being driven around in your living room. I also remember it feeling reasonably fast at the time from the passenger's seat anyway. 245hp if I remember correctly so not too shabby.

Best of luck to the OP with his.

[omgus]

W00DY said:

Awesome. I look forward to hearing about it and how it is to live with.


There's having balls and then there's buying someone's 3rd best Vel Satis! Good luck.

[omgus]

muhnkee2 said:

I applaud your choice, i owned an avantime for 3 years and it still my favourite ever car - i loved it more than E60 M5 that replaced it!!
Keep on cruising...

You should never have sold that car!

It was by far the most interesting thing in the car park.

[405dogvan]

Avantimes are awesome and their values have been climbing for a while - these are less-so but still cool

Just DO NOT damage it because bodypanels etc. are basically impossible to find (there's one in the local scrapyard because it needs a new doorskin - that's it, a doorskin!)

[spreadsheet monkey]

405dogvan said:

Avantimes are awesome and their values have been climbing for a while - these are less-so but still cool

(Goes away to look at Avantime prices)

Bloody hell, you're right, £5k and upwards. Nice they're being recognised.

Love the Vel Satis OP. Great shedding. Much better choice than some of the recent SOTWs featured on PH...

[Jeenyus161]

there is only one avantime available on autotrader in the whole country!

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...

[Freds]

Jeenyus161 said:

there is only one avantime available on autotrader in the whole country!

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...

Could anybody look at this on my behalf ? ........ I avantime.

[Notanotherturbo]

Had one of these for about 3 months 10 years ago :0). Being an avid Renault fan over the years I have seen many of my friends buy older ones and seriously regret it :0). Mechanically they are no worse than any other Renault but the electronics are shot to pieces. They don't drive bad in a fast MPV sort of way and are usefully quick . Not as comfy as you would hope though. Didn't buy it off my mate Joe in Mottingham did you? I know he had a few and was getting shot of some cars :0)

[Kringle]

I must say I was expecting around 5 replies for this, 31 was a surprise so thank you all!

Freds said:

God bless You, Francois and the local auto electrician. Stay strong my friend...... http://www.samaritans.org

Oh I've already had an electrical issue!
The operation of the gearbox for some reason runs through the right rear light assembly. Basically it appears as a box stuck in 4th and selecting reverse gives an almighty thump! The bulbs were okay but on inspection I did notice that the wires were cable tied into the bulb holder!

Swapping the right with the left resulted in a working gearbox but now Francois says to me "Warning sidelights faulty"
A rummage through my spares has come up with another bulb holder. Earthing issue I believe but for now problem solved!


Dodgy holder in question.

muhnkee2 said:

I applaud your choice, i owned an avantime for 3 years and it still my favourite ever car - i loved it more than E60 M5 that replaced it!!
Keep on cruising...

The avantime is my true favourite, apparently they were Matra build and the build quality can be patchy but the Vel Satis was Renault built so they are supposedly more sturdy...

Twoshoe said:

Gosh, the Vel Satis - I'd completely forgotten about these! Can't remember the last time I saw one, but fair play to you for taking this one on.

Does it have the 'dotted' wooden trim bits inside? (Or am I thinking of something else?)

Sorry sir but this comes with wooden trim with an unnecessary level of orange tinting.

[maxdb]

Jeenyus161 said:

there is only one avantime available on autotrader in the whole country!

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...

And only up the road from me!

[Kringle]

Jeenyus161 said:

there is only one avantime available on autotrader in the whole country!

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...

There's 3 on eBay too

[James P]

Gearbox issue sounds the same as dad had on a v6 R25. It was a company car but I recall that the control unit to fix it was £650 in the late 80's.

[Mr Happy]

Kringle said:

Jeenyus161 said:

there is only one avantime available on autotrader in the whole country!

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...

There's 3 on eBay too

Surely those, along with the OP's must account for about 60% of all of the Vel Satis sold new in the UK?

[wst]

The adjustable speed limiter in the mid 00's French large cars is a godsend. My C4GP has one and it's fantastic for use in towns. Set it to 31 and you don't ever have to look at the speedo while negotiating the various hazards towns provide. Much better than cruise control for that kind of thing.

I just wish mine would work more than 10 miles into a journey. For some reason my cruise control/speed limiter functions turn off when the car's just hitting it's stride.

[Rensko]

You still see plenty bumbling along in France. Obviously the patriotic choice over a 5 Series/E-Class/A6 of the same era!

Did they ever come with a V6 Manual - now that would be splendid!

[BlueHave]

Mr Happy said:

Kringle said:

Jeenyus161 said:

there is only one avantime available on autotrader in the whole country!

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...

There's 3 on eBay too

Surely those, along with the OP's must account for about 60% of all of the Vel Satis sold new in the UK?

I remember seeing two Vel Satis beside one another in my local Sainsbury's.

Avantime would surely be good buy at £2-3k. In a few years they'll be going for £20k.

[ottothedog]

Always had a strange love of these ........ and currently doing my research
Am i mad ....? or would a 4th car be just too much.....
hhhmmmmm

[adingley84]

I wonder if the tuning options are as good as the Avantime?