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The Vel Satis Club, for all things Vel....

241K views 427 replies 77 participants last post by  hu88ertvelsat 
#1 · (Edited)
Thought i'd start this new thread as there were quite a few Vel Satis owners chating on the "Vel Satis Problems" thread, but its title seems a bit negative.

Perhaps if all problems, questions or general chat relating to the Vel were posted here, then it would give us all a focal point of info which is specific to our model (as to be fair, most problems experienced, seem to be bespoke to the Vel.)

Perhaps this thread may become a valuble resource.

Anyway, after all the hick-ups with mine, I can now say that even after all repairs and including the purchase of the car, I still only spent £6000 ;) on this top of the line, and totally individual motor, so i'm well happy!

Even today when I was trying to get filters, people were still saying... "A renault What??"

Love it.
 
#148 · (Edited)
I reckon you've got three alternatives - another VS, there are a few late ones around registered on 05 and 55 plates - or a Fiat Croma, looks like that has suffered even more depreciation wise than the VS, and lasted an even shorter time in RHD form - or a late Mercedes W124 estate, L to N reg. They last forever, and unlike the later ones, don't go rusty. Had my 54 plate VS for just over two years now - I've done 50 of the 60k on the clock and extended the warranty through Renault to 5 years/100k miles. XCouldn't bear the thought of driving a VS that wasn't under a decent warranty. Will probably go back to an older Merc when I change the VS - have goneoff Renaults today after shutting the door on my other half's Grand Scenic and watching the window drop off the runner and fall down in the door frame. Not happy.
 
#149 ·
Love the VS but cant believe a side light bulb replacement is a main dealer job, according to the manual anyway.

I had a quick look under the bonnet, and indeed, the headlight clusters are buried in the engine bay with no obvious way to get to any of the bulbs!

Soon renault will make it so the bonnet itself can only be opened by the main dealer, so that even to top up the water, you have to have you wallet hit!

Has anyone changed their sidelight bulb themselfs here?
 
#154 ·
Love the VS but cant believe a side light bulb replacement is a main dealer job, according to the manual anyway.

I had a quick look under the bonnet, and indeed, the headlight clusters are buried in the engine bay with no obvious way to get to any of the bulbs!

Has anyone changed their sidelight bulb themselfs here?
yep

i've done them both, pass on my 2.2 with HID mains and the drivers on my dad's with just normal bulbs

basically - with HIDS - BE VERY VERY CAREFULL! as there is a huge voltage running through the balast packs and if your sensible - you'll take the battery off and leave them for 10mins to discharge!

if you want pm me your address and i'll email you the *cough* workshop manual over ;)
 
#156 ·
18" wheels 'going spare'

Not wishing to be caught out 100's of miles from home at the dead of night with a flat tyre, I acquired a full set of 7 spoke 18" wheels for my VS. In order to give myself a 'full-size' spare. I now have 3 wheels (no tyres) which I do not require. If anyone is interested in creating their own 'full-size' spare? All reasonable offers will be considered. I'm in Hertfordshire. You will need to remove the tyre pressure sensor, so as not to have 5 wheels on your wagon!
 
#158 ·
Bit of a long shot, but....

I want to put LED side light bulbs in place of the standard ones to loose that horrible yellow light they gove off. I know they work but you get that annoying voice message telling you the side lights are faulty every time you put the key in. I think this is because on newer cars the fault sensor works on low voltage instead of no voltage like older ones.

Is there some way of stopping this?
 
#159 ·
Hi Jamesy - this matter has been raised a couple of times in the past - to overcome the problem you will need to fit resistors - so the resistance remains the same. I believe it may now be possible to buy LED bulbs with resistors built into them:)

I thought about doing this on my Laguan II then it dawned on me I can't see the side lights when I am in the drivers seat and I'm too old for having a posing machine - not that anybody would notice me anyway.:d
 
#160 ·
Well i'm sure these do have resistors bult in, but it still does it.

I not its not too important but I just have a thing about it, got these excellent brilliant white headlights, only to be let down buy what looks like candle light for sidelights.

I recently fitted xenons to my Fiat Coupe and as its a bit older it accepted the LED sidelight bulbs fine and really looks good with everything the same colour.

I'm just trying to replicate this with the Vel and also my VW Eos, which just cost me 30K yet still has these crappy little yellow sidelights, just ruins the whole look of the car.

Eh well.
 
#161 · (Edited)
If you put a multi-meter across the LED and a standard bulb you could compare the difference in resistance:) That would settle the problem. It is possible to do a fix by soldering resistors into the circuit - there is a post somewhere in the forum on how to do - just can't find it at present. Oops here we go - have a read through the post below

http://www.renaultforums.co.uk/electronics/31761-led-side-light-fault-laguna-2-a.html
 
#162 ·
Thanks, and I have just read the thread, very entertaining. I cant believe the depth the thread went to over a question about side light bulbs.

Anyway just ordered some resisters so i'll see how it goes. I'll try them on my Eos first as the sidelight bulbs are easy to get to. If they work fine I do the same on the Vel.

I must say I'm surprised the car manufacturers still use regular sidelight bulbs nowadays when all that effort is put into the main headlight with Xenon technology etc. Even if its just for asthetics, they spend alot of time and money making the rest of the car asthetically pleasing so a few more quid in the lighting department wouldnt hurt.

I especially like it when you see £60k range rover sports with Xenon headlights but yellowy looking halo's using 15 year old technology around the outside! Totally ruins the look, and when your spending that sort of dough.....
 
#163 ·
Hi Jamesy - Xenon lamps are nice but replacements are pricey. A headlamp unit costs around £120 plus - a bulb at approx £50 - plus the necessary ballast at about £100. These are after-market prices and that doesn't cover the cost of fitting which on many new cars involves removing the front bumper - I'll stick with my good old halogens thank you. If you had a slight front end shunt it could cost £1000 alone to replace the headlights:crazy:
 
#164 ·
Unless your insured 3rd party only, why would you be worried about the cost of repair after a prang?

Also, I disagree about the price anyway, the lamp/ballast kit for my Fiat were £70 all in, and took only minutes to fit. The improvement is not only asthetic, but practical as they perform so much better in area's with out street lights.

Plus I dont mind a little tinker with my cars, some people like golf, some like a walk, I like my cars. Gets me out if the house.
 
#165 ·
Under European Law Xenon lights can only be fitted where there is a headlamp self-levelling system and headlamp washers. Yeh the Fiat stuff is generally cheaper than the French spares. Personally I hate the darn things simply because they dazzle other poor motorists like me cos the self-levelling system reacts too slow. Even with fully comp insurance and having to pay any excess during a claim and then the loss of any bonus it can still prove expensive. At least with the standard lights they can be bought cheaply enough as after-market items.
 
#166 ·
Yeah I read that about the washers, not sure about the self leveling. I know mine are adjusted right though so shouldnt dazzle anyone else. For the record the xenon kit I bought is gineric. It will fit any car, you just have to specify the original bulb fitment. You simply connect the plug that went onto the original bulb to a wire that feeds the ballast, then the other wire from the ballast has the xenon bulb already connected to it so you just pop it in fix it all in place and thats it.

As far as European law goes, I dont think many of us give a damn, no one asked me if i wanted to be governed by hash smoking cyclists in a place where prostitution is legal!

Plus it passed the MOT with the xenons so thats it really. Anyway my resistors have just arrived so I will post the outcome as to if they work or not.
 
#167 · (Edited)
Hi Jamesy - you should in fact be thankful for the pot smokers in Europe because under UK law Xenons are technically illegal but the DOT have bowed to pressure from the EU to permit them as long as they comply with the EU rules. Generics xenons wont always work simply because the lens in the headlight glass in various cars is different.:)

See link below

Department for Transport - Aftermarket HID (Xenon) headlamps
 
#168 ·
Wow, what a load old rubbish that article is!

Anyway, the lights on my Fiat are already the projector style with the small spherical lenses, there is no pattern on the plastic cover to bend the light in any way and there is a physical shield inside somewhere that kind of cut the upper portion of the beam off so as not to blind oncoming drivers. You can see this clear line between light and no light if you pull upto a wall with the lights on.

Anyway, since no one is policing this issue, then i'm not too bothered if its legal or not. I'd rather they clamped down on booming aftermarket exhaust pipes, as to be fair, you could argue that xenons give off improved lighting which is a good thing. After all, manufacturer dont put little blue LEDs all over new cars, why, because they are unnecessary and have no safety value, however a half decent brand new car these days allways have xenons.

Case in point.
 
#169 ·
Hi Jamesy - you say it is a load of old rubbish - I was merely pointing out what the government said on the issue of xenon lights. If you chose to ignore it thats OK. But in the event of an accident insurers could get pernickety and refuse to pay out - and who could blame them especially where someone decides to flout the law. In all honesty they would have my wholehearted support. Furthermore you state you are not bothered if its legal or not - in other words it appears you are prepared to flout the law. This is extremely unfair to us law abiding motorists who each have to cough up an extra £30 a year on out insurance for those who willfully decide to bend the rules. In total this costs the UK motorist a total of £360 million per year - money which could be spent on much better things Im sure you'll agree. Maybe better hospital treatment for a favourite friend or relative for instance.:crazy:
Xenon lamps may give the driver of the car to which they are fitted a better and safer view of the road but unless they are fitted with a self-levelling device every other motorist is liable to get blinded evry time you drive over the slightest rise or fall in the road surface. But then again if you are not bothered as to whether they are legal or not maybe you just don't have the safety of other in mind when you drive the roads in darkness. It must be remembered that proper xenon lamps give out much more light therefore there has to be some means of prevent glare to other drivers. Thank goodness I don't have to use the same roads as you. Also parking you car and shining the lights against the wall sounds like a very scientific means of judging your lights are OK:rofl:
Many thanks for you somewhat skewed comments - I haven't had such a good laugh in a long time - keep the jokes coming:rofl: :rofl:
 
#170 ·
I cant work you out, you've been helpful with advice in this issue in some of your posts, yet you clearly disapprove of what were discussing. I cant believe I even got drawn into this so deeply over some light bulbs.

You came across as a bit of know it all/jobsworth in that other thread you pointed me to, and your proving consistent now! You are entitled to your opinion but you seen quite persistent in getting it over to me. I actually couldn't give a stuff on your personal views about this, I was asking advice initially and I thankyou for what you gave but the bottom line is this...

This thread is for Vel Satis owners to share information, and as you dont seem to have one, why dont you go and annoy some fellow laguna owners on their thread.

Bye Bye!
 
#172 ·
Hi jamesyboy5593 - yes you are entitled to your opinion - which all goes to running a successful forum - good open healthy discussion is no bad thing. No hard feelings whatsoever on my part and I would like to wish you good luck.:)

What make syou think I don't own a "Speed Sufficient" - Vel Satis:)
 
#173 ·
Worn pads but no warning!

The Vel Satis has a large array of sophisticated warning lights etc but I've just found out that there is no warning when your brake pads are low/warn. My old Citroen used to give you plenty of warning and you could drive for several miles before they were in urgent need of replacement.
Last week after Mondays storms I heard a slight noise from the rear when braking. As it was only 1,800 miles since my last service, where the front pads were replaced, I thought I might have picked-up a stone. Only to find the following day, when I was out on an mission of mercy, that the noise got progressively worse the further I got from home.
Upon close examination it was pretty much metal to metal contact! How pads which were only reckoned to be 50% worn 1,800 miles earlier wear out so quickly, puzzles me. But, also how useful would a warning light/message have been?
Net result 2 new discs (they were not reckoned to be that bad at time of service) and pads and one very difficult to rewind piston as it had come out so far. Thankfully my local Renault dealer managed to fit me in straight away and get me back on the road.
 
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