Am I insane for loving the Avantime and the VelSatis?

Pedrocas

9gag reposting troll
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Set?bal, Portugal
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Citroen ZX 1.4i Tonic
I've always loved the Renault Avantime and VelSatis since the moment both came out. Had I the money and I would buy one second-hand right now. They're so cheap here in Portugal because people find them ugly. But I loved them so much, especially the Avantime. Are these two cars reliable and can they be used as daily drivers without any worries?

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I also think they look awesome, simply because Renault had the balls to try something different. That's what the French are good at (or used to be good at - yes I'm looking at you, Citro?n). A French car is supposed to look a bit insane - otherwise they just do generic small cars anyway...

On the other hand, they are Renaults and therefore not to be trustworthy at all...
 
Not so sure about the Vel Satis - looks a bit like the current Lincolns - but I always rated the Avantime. Sure it was the answer to the question nobody asked, but as those go it was a hell of an answer!
 
I don't think you are crazy for liking cars with a bit more character than typical euroboxes. The Avantime is a still a great bit of design, and it certainly doesn't look like a car released ten years ago.
 
You're not crazy for loving them. However, you may be a bit wonky in the head for wanting to own one :tease:
 
He actually got me looking to see what Avantimes are out there for sale on Auto Trader in Ukania.

Currently none. :(
 
I wouldn't buy one, just curious about what they go for. The Vel Satis can be had for as little as ?1000 rising to ?2500 for a lower-mileage diseasel.
 
I've seen Avantimes go for anything between ?2k to ?6k.

I too have a serious soft spot for these two, the Avantime in particular and I'd really like to have one at some point. I think the Vel Satis was made simply so that French politicians and diplomats had something 'premium' to be driven around in.
 
Wasn't the Avantime one of the few cars all Top Gear presenters liked? I like the Avantime as well, but am not so fond on the Vel Satis.

I've heard servicing the thing can be quite expensive though.
 
You're not crazy for loving them. However, you may be a bit wonky in the head for wanting to own one :tease:

He already owns a Citroen. Nothing an Avantime or Vel Satis would throw at him would be a surprise.

He actually got me looking to see what Avantimes are out there for sale on Auto Trader in Ukania.

Currently none. :(

They only sold less than a thousand of them in UKania, and that was a full decade ago. That's not really surprising. Maybe Pistonheads' classifieds might have some. The Avantime is definitely something that appeals to that crowd.

Wasn't the Avantime one of the few cars all Top Gear presenters liked?

Statistically, that's a good indicator for insanity.

Well, one of the others was the Subaru Legacy, so some sanity must have crept in there somewhere. However, if memory serves, they had nothing really bad to say collectively about the Citroen C6...

If you like it, go for it.
 
I would buy an Avantime in a heartbeat given the money. If you haven't ever sat in one - the TG presenters are completely right on this one. There is just more space. The Vel Satis was an excellent and cheap luxury car that has the wrong market view of it, but there's not much you can do about that. Its not as special as the Avantime, but then not much is.

I would personally trust the reliability of them (waiting for a billion and three to come and complain about how because they're French they'll fall apart) but then I'd also be happy to throw money at it to drive something as awesome as that.
 
Yes.
 
No. I think they're both awesome. I've the Avantime since I found out about it around the same time it came out. Its on my list of cars I one day hope to import to Americaland. - along with the Audi RS2 and manual T5-R wagon.
 
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