The Safrane.Info Forum!

Hi all,

Looks like a great little site, had a look in the common problem section and it's already helped massively. Joining here now that I have a Safrane myself, but been in regular contact with Dave (SafraneV6RXE) for a while - thanks for all the help.

Last week I spotted this car on Ireland's version of Gumtree. Called the seller and that evening I was on the train from Belfast to Dublin to pick it up. Here she is!











It's a 1997 Executive model with the 2.5 20v Volvo lump. I bought it off the man who bought it new and am glad to say that the car is pretty much mint! The interior anyway is as fresh as day one. It's nice to have the full whack of options as well including the air cushions which all work!



It ticked over 100k miles on the faultless drive home



I've now been living with it for 5 days and am astonished at what a fantastic and underrated car they are. I actually prefer the drive to my Vel Satis! There are a few issues to sort. One rear electric window doesn't work, the passenger door doesn't seem to lock with the central locking.... the voice synthesiser also randomly warned of a "system malfunction" the other day, the car didn't drive any differently and the message disappeared, maybe just a French car moment.

Anyway the car has joined my fleet of French cars - A Vel Satis, Avantime, Laguna V6, numerous Méganes, Citroen CX, Xantia V6, Peugeot 306 Convertible, 406 V6.... so it's got a good home

Very nice! i see someone has even gone through the effort of fitting ergomatic seats too! Those were not available on the UK models so I assume someone either fitted the ergo packs after scavenging the parts or they imported them from the EU somewhere.

I see you also have the original renault footmat too! Those are rarer than hens teeth. We have them in ours and they're very good quality but you can't get replacements so look after it! (The plastic can wear away and leave a hole eventually).

The car itself looks mint! Very nice condition. As for the ride quality, you're not alone in preferring it over other cars. I've known plenty of safrane people who like the safranes ride comfort over other luxury brands such as Mercs, Jags, Beemers etc. Met a guy once in the local tesco car park driving a really beaten up 2L phase2. We got talking and he said when he was married, he'd had loads of top end exec cars by the above named companies. He got divorced, she got the car so he bought himself his scruffy safrane as a temp car for a couple of months. Two years later he was still loving it over his previous cars and said that despite the scruffy looks, he just couldn't part himself with the car as he'd come to love it so much!

I've had several colleagues fall for it too. One of them was a young guy with a bright red BMW that was his chick magnet. We went to find the burger van once so took the safrane. He was absoutely gutted with his BMW when he jumped in the safrane, he was really taken back by the interior, gadgets, ride quality etc. He couldn't stop comparing his BMWs lack of features to it lol.

I checked at work and this Safrane came with the ergomatic seats from new,a first for me,i guess it maybe an Irish only option.

Seriously? Thats incredible!

Looks wise, your car is identical to mine (minus the ergo seats lol!!) Honestly, the car is stupidly underrated and such a great driver. Enjoy!

Thanks guys! Yep, great to know that the ergomatic seats were original - guess it makes the car that little bit more special. Yes, full set of original mats, another little sign of what a good life it's had. I've driven the Vel Satis once since getting this Safrane, and can't help thinking that anyone who traded their Safrane in for a Vel when they arrived would have been very disappointed in the drive and ride after the Saf.

The damage on the O/S/R wing is a bit strange,is that its only bodywork fault,if so do you plane to get that done?
Notice the drivers door seal is torn,every Safrane i,ve had is the same,except the car i broke up earlier in the year,it was mint,went straight onto my L reg V6(Which had a little tear)
Does look nice in Fjord Silver and with the chrome grille,very nice.
I,am surprised you like it more than the Vel satis.

I've never rated the Vel much to be honest V6, likewaise I think the avantime is a very strange beast too. I've only ever seen a Vel close up when I was talking to the owner of one in a car park once but never been in one. I did look at an avantime once on a sales forecout, sat in it, noticed the lack of toys and really didn't like the thing. Nothing like the safrane at all.

Although the safrane is knocking on age-wise and many people have never heard of them or look down their nose at them, they are wonderful cars IMO. I'd find it very hard to find anything that could replace it for banger money.

@R9UKE, that 100k on the clock is nothing. The engines in these cars are from the Volvo 850 and can drive for astronomical mileages. I saw a safrane on ebay a couple of years back with 450k on the clock. In volvo circles they say they're only really run-in at 500k. The engine and box will outlive the car..

R9UKE are your ergomatic cushions linked to the chair memory? - Reason I ask is that I have one chair that a mate hacked the ergo cusions into (passenger side) but for the drivers side I've no idea if it should be memory linked or manual and if I'd need another computer if it's memory etc.

Thanks!

(PS IF you sell it / break it I was first refusal lol)

The ergomatics are independant not memory set.