What's going on with advertised prices for the Vel Satis? £3000, 4000, 5000, 6000, 7000, 9999!
We are all enthusiasts on this site, I think, and we all know the limitations of these cars. These are not good cars - far from it. They are a great shape, granted, but mechanically and dynamically they fall well short of the competition. They need constant fettling and, being very old by now, parts are impossible to find except for the engine and consumables where the parts are shared with other Renaults and Nissans. A less reliable car would be hard to find,
So, what goes wrong? Bloody everything! Windows, suspension, leaks, drips, ECU stuff, BCU gremlins, locks, headlight levelling, baggy headlining, the awful handbrake system. What appears bulletproof? The 3.5 Nissan engine, body shell...er, that's about it.
I think anyone spending more than £500, maybe £600 on even the very best of these cars needs to take a breath and think about what they are letting themselves in for. My beauty cost me just £200 and my more recent model was a whopping £380. This was originally advertised last year for £2400 with no takers!
Be careful not to overstretch yourself by paying far too much for a Vel Satis as you'll need a fair wedge tucked away once it all goes wrong. Usually on the way home!
Why do I persist with these cars as I have done for the last 21 years? Purely due to the shape and the fact I am extremely tall and can sit in these cars without being wedged in. They are huge. Good luck, folks.
I understand where you're coming from Brad, you've got a lot of chancers at the moment trying to get top dollar for them because they're rare, but then occasionally theres one thats had lots of work done that comes up for sale and they ask a fair amoount for given how much has been renewed/overhauled.
Some of the £6k+ ones I agree are just over the top, but its a sign of the times, general cars at the 1.5-3k mark are battered heaps of trash , most of the time, these days due to the over inflated values of cars, and people are hanging on to their old car instead. The market is a mess currently.
Although, in my view, there is no denying the limited numbers of Vel Satis left and working btw.. on the UK roads, so seeing the prices go up and up is somewhat expected. Classics/Modern classics are now becoming desirable at the 20-25 year old mark as they are ULEZ and also interesting and well built to last, unlike really old cars from the 80s and earlier.
I would have to disagree on them not being good cars. Temperamental, yes, to some extent, but theyre an old executive car and they are not even a tenth as bad as some of the equivalent german exectutives from the time. They generally hold up well and you can still get running gear parts for them, its just a little difficult compared to other more mass produced cars. You can get on top of maintenance with them (sometimes takes a while!) and my Vel Satis gets used regularly and I comfortably go on holiday and road trips in it knowing it wont let me down!