My first year as an Antara driver

Another happy Antara driver added to the country

At least Picador are doing something about them, not like some dealers who will try anything to get out of their responsibilities, enjoy your trek around the New Forest.

First weekend...

Indeed pondpaul, happy so far.
Quite surprised with Picador murphy1, they do seem genuine, or maybe its because I'm still in my "cooling-off" period .
A very pleasant run over the Forest, nice to have some decent ground clearance, NFDC do struggle to keep up with access track maintenance for numerous car parks etc.
We then took a cross country drive, uphill - downdale, to Uppark House (Petersfield) on Sunday, a bit heavy on the old mpg, to be expected obviously, but such a pleasant & relaxed drive.
Have noticed how much a better drive I am finding the Antara, my driving style is definitely changing already.

Cheers,

First refuel,
Almost a week done, decided to refuel this evening, just above the red & showing 150m still to go, but hey Asda Diesel at 129.7, gotta do it , plus same level as first fill.
So what has that given me -
433m on 52.4 Ltrs (11.5 gallons in old money) = a marvellous 37.5mpg!
Very chuffed with that.
Doubled check between BC2 & own calcs & within 0.4mpg & 0.1gal, so I'm also impressed with the accuracy of thetrip computer!
I know it'll fluctuate with weather, trips, age etc etc & it is my first week driving,but I now know it can be done, so that makes me happier again.

Morning Paul,

Indeed a manual. First week owned so have been quite ginger with driving.My current style is to accelerate briskly to speed & change-up at about 2000rpm.
For 40mph roads I'll cruise in 6th & change down as needed.
30mph I'll cruise in 5th & change as needed.
Engine revs at about 1100 - 1300rpm & seems to be enough torque to deal with most profile changes.
Cruise at 60mph on motorway - my commute is only 23m on M27, only 2mins difference for me to sit at 60mphrather than 70+ & rushing it - really do feel a lot more relaxedin my driving over the last week
Had my first standard regen last night, dropped a gear & put revs over 2k for 10+mins - it did its mucky business...
Kicked it a bit this morning along the motorway & surprise surprise mpg down at 30 - and no it didn't save me any time... LOL

Cheers,

Well it's official, I'm keeping the car - appliedthe St George's Crosssticker on the rear on Sunday, a personal tradition .Second refuel has kicked back 35.5mpg (again within 0.5mpg with BC2), but still happy with that as it did involve two higher speed trips along the motorway, plus some more town driving than expected.
My commute is regularly returning 40 - 45mpg, as this will be most of driving I'm very very pleased with that.

Back to my three outstanding issue with Picador, was getting a little frustrated over the apparent lack of action re my issues, however all does appear to be moving along, albeit maybe a littler slower than I would like:

1. Main Key is on order.
2. SAT NAV SD Map Card replaced & now installed .
3. Driver's Door "dink", can be repaired - booked in during my Hols next week .

So, fair play to Picador to date.


Cheers,

First "standard" regen - stand corrected, thought I had my first regen Tuesday night (05 Aug), not so,definitelythis morning - mpg way down, arrived at work at 26.3mpg & the instant read-out never climbed out of double figures!
Driving performance didn't seem significantly impaired, I hadn't managed to clear it yet- do that on way home this evening.

Well that's my first month over & happy to report that I am really enjoying the Antara.My positives;
The ride height & size is spot-on.
Plenty of space.
Very comfortable ride, with very complimentary comments on comfort frombothaNissan Xtrail & anAudi A7 driver.
Very easy to drive & park (really surprised by that).
Easy to clean.
DPF appears to be behaving itself.

Grumbles;
Yes mpg is not the best 36.3mpg current average, but I do see frequent 40 - 45mpg on my 70m return commute, so I'm reasonably pleased with that.
Automatic window demist could be a tad more reactive & efficient - a minor grumble.

Picador dealer has been a somewhat slow in sorting the Main Key & Door "dink", but in this Friday to be sorted - Cc email to Dealer General Manager prompted the elevated response otherwise I suspect I'd still be waiting. Will see how this dealership relationship develops.

Overall a happy camper...

Hallo all, back from a busy period at work, hey ho...
Almost 3months & 5k miles ownership & still enjoying my Antara.

Dealership finally sorted the outstanding issues so fairly relaxed over using them for future Servicing etc - did get much better response out of the Service Dept than with the Sales Rep, I now have a contact in the Service Team, that's the relationship I want to develop.

No problems to report, dpf doing its thing with no issues. Only noting the Auto-regens. No Warning Lamp Regens yet required.
Drive is still excellent, good grip in the recent wet days. Have yet to notice 4x4 to kick-in, obviously not needed to yet...
Auto AirCon is v poor, always have to keep Aircon on in Auto to keep windows demisted. The AutoDemist is excellent, very quick, but once I switch back to Auto & if it deems theAirCon is not required the car mists up again quite quickly, keeping the Aircon this never happens. Think the "ventilation" set-up not quite there in the car.
MPG is a bit too thirsty, manageable, but returning 35.6mpg was hoping to maintain 40mpg on average. Am using it as an everyday car so to be expected.

Missus loves the car, hoping to try out some 4x4 capabilities soon, not off-roading, just poor road conditions, access track dirt tracks & the like.

"lovin it"...

Right, so that's 13months & circa 25000 miles as an Antara Owner / Driver.
No grumbles here, not with the car anyway it's been impeccable, really pleased with it.

Its needs to date have been;

1. Handbrake adjustment on purchase - used car with 20k on the clock.
2. New brake pads all round - as above used car 20k miles - fair enough.
3. 40k Service (no issues).
4. Undertray recall.
5. High Speed Vibration - tyre wear issue, front to rear swap sorted.
6. Wheel Alignment check & correction - not related to the above - a result of me thumping into a roadside boulder in narrow Devon Country Lanes.
7. New Wiper Blades.

General mpg seems to be averaging about 37mpg, personally I think that's bloody good for a 2.2L 2t AWD vehicle.
Although it did drop to 30mpg during our recent South Devon Holiday & all those glorious single track uphill down dale lanes.

No dpf issues, standard regens only, no warning lamp to date.

In all very very happy with the Antara.



Not so happy with purchase Dealer Picador Southampton, who tried to blag £1000 of unnecessary Brake Discs & Pad replacements, moved onto Picador Lyndhurst who have undertaken the40k service, Undertray recall & resolved my vibration issue. All with no agro, no issues & with excellent customer service.



Edited by: paulfs68