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| But why at Nismo Omori Factory? Read on! |
So I have finally answered the call from family, friends, and even co-workers at Nissan to get a "practical" vehicle. Admittedly a minivan or SUV makes a lot of sense - I can haul lots of shopping around, the kids and their friends, and if a Nissan, I would finally be able to go to Nissan events and not have to "park in the back" (with the Lexus) or at least be met with some puzzled faces.
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| Yeah, not sporty at all... at least not yet |
In deciding between an SUV and a Minivan, it all came down to practicality versus my desire to get the top-of-the-line vehicle with all the options. Nissan's top SUV here in Japan is the X-Trail (Rogue) but the premium version is available only as a 5-seater. All the cool advanced tech is in it, but I would have to give some of that up and move one grade down in order to get the somewhat cramped 7-seater option. This was an issue, and another factor in my decision was lowered entry, which aligns with the need to haul my aging relatives.
So, I settled on Nissan's largest minivan here in Japan, the Elgrand. And it turns out there are many variants of this car too; 7 seats vs 8 seats; 2.5L inline 4 or 3.5L V-6; front wheel drive or 4 wheel drive (which automatically includes the Cold Climate Package); full leather interior or half leather seat interiors. This one is an E52 variant, which was sold beginning in 2010 (and as of this writing, is still being sold after 2 facelifts in 2014 and 2020).
In the end, using one of the used car websites I found a 2016 (December registration) top-of-the-line VIP version being sold up in Saitama (I found others in Nara and Kyushu but that's a bit far...)! The VIP versions have ALL of the factory options, including twin glass motorized sunroofs, all of the advanced (for 2016) safety tech, heated front seats, and even a small refrigerator up front! They also have VIP-specific features which I will discuss soon.
The price was unbelievably inexpensive, mainly because the car has almost 99,000km and the Japanese are allergic to anything over 100,000km (but for me, this is ONLY 60,000 miles!). The asking price was just a bit under 2 million yen, which after sales and vehicle taxes, some minor maintenance, road registration, and the inevitable dealer-offered ceramic coating package and extended warranty (i.e. mark-up), came out to a bit under 2.5 million yen. Still, that is about US $16,500 (less than 1/3 of the price new!) so I think I got a really, really good deal, given how rare this car is too! It also helps that compared to the Toyota Alphard/Vellfire, Elgrands are not popular and therefore do not hold their value as reflected in low used car prices.
The VIP version comes in two versions (both 3.5L V6, with either FF or 4WD); most I have seen are the two-row 4 seater type (so REALLY VIP, with those airline business class type seats, and a partition separating the driver from the passengers), but Nissan also offered a three-row 7 seater. I chose the 7-seater for obvious reasons. And yes, it is a bit down on the luxury front compared to the 4-seater but I have some plans...
This is a heavy car, so my concerns about the Nissan CVT notwithstanding, I wanted a car with the 280ps 3.5L V6. Also, I plan to go skiing and road trips with the family, so the 4WD was a must. No accident history, the exterior and interior are in great shape, and no strange aftermarket add-ons.
I think this combination must be quite rare, so given the price (which was about half of what I had budgeted) I was thrilled, even though I know I will be spending some money to get this up to my usual OCD standards.
Anyway, here are some photos from when I picked it up from the used car dealer (just as sketchy as used car dealers everywhere I think). Not going to waste space here discussing.
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| Yep. I got those light-up green license plates. Always wanted to try them out but no way on my Lexus or GT-R! But on this Elgrand VIP, why not? |
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| Second row has captain's chairs |
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| Most Elgrands are "HighwayStar" or "HighwayStar Urban Chrome" - have to admit the "VIP" emblem looks kind of lonely there. |
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| Electric sliding doors on both sides |
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| Unexpected bonus #1! - Dealer Installed Option "Safety Illumination"- this is either a stand-alone option or part of the dealer-offered alarm package... I suspect the alarm package given the alarm sticker on the back window. |
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| Issue #1 - what happened to the front seat floor mats? |
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| Unexpected Bonus #2 - Dealer Installed Option "Magical Illumination" (57,242 yen) - provides mood lighting in various colors, as well as illuminating the footsteps on each side. |
After picking up the car with almost no gas (dealer was too cheap to fill it up I guess), I left the lot, filled it up, and then drove down to Nismo Omori Factory, as you saw from the first two photos.
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| Immediate inspection by Ochiai-san and Midorikawa-san |
The reason I took the car to Omori Factory was not to get it fitted with Nismo parts (not yet anyway); rather, it was a convenient place for Midorikawa-san from Nissan Prince Fukushima to meet me with a flatbed carrier(!) to take the Elgrand to his shop's service facilities. (In a future post I will explain why I am entrusting this car for the moment to him). Omori Factory is also minutes away from Nissan GHQ, where I had to go to attend a very important meeting afterward (and so Midorikawa-san chauffered me to work in my Elgrand VIP... what a great feeling LOL!)
Between the time I ordered and when I took delivery, I did a lot of research and discovered several items on the car likely to need work at the 100,000km mark. Even though the used car dealer performed maintenance for the car to pass the mandatory "shaken" to get the car registered, there is NO WAY I trust any independent (non-manufacturer associated) used car dealer who I know is minimizing costs to maximize profit.
And I am glad I did this, because in addition to the problems I noted, Nismo's Ochiai-san spotted something, and once in his shop Midorikawa-san and his techs found some more problems.
So for those of you who have followed my adventures with my GT-R and/or Lexus IS-F - yes, I plan to mod this car, but it will be a balance between modernization, the pursuit of more luxury, and the pursuit of more performance. I honestly do not know how many English language readers will be interested in this car, or what I do to it, but for me, this will serve as a memoir of my adventures with it (just like how the GT-R blog started)!
But first, in my next posts, I will talk about what the Nissan Prince dealer inspection revealed, as well as my first mods.
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