So the FFRR will be loaded onto a container in the next 2-3 weeks ready for it's journey to Kenya!

I'll try keep this thread updated with any useful information I receive along the way, including on shipping.

Car just had a service in February so have bought a service kit from Advanced Factors ready for another oil and filter change once the car lands in Mombasa. Also bought new brake pads and discs (Borg & Beck) from AF and these will be fitted tomorrow in advance as existing ones are fairly worn and would rather have someone here do it. Will post my experience as they are used.

Next, car is going into Lookers Park Royal on Wednesday (no choice unfortunately as no booking available at Hadley Green) to have a check for any outstanding updates and warranty items, including a slightly loose NS rear passenger window. have had an annoying rattle/plastic squeak for the last year and have asked various dealers to look at this several times but still cannot get rid of it. Am going to have to live with it I think and put the sound system on loud!

Friday it gets delivered to Prestige Detail near Luton for a 2-3 day paint correction and full detail, with paint protection layers added, to get the car's paint in good shape. Will ask him for photos and put a review on here if it helps for other owners in this area.

Still talking to a couple of freight forwarders to see which one to use and once decided, will post details up here and review of the service as well.

Not sure how I feel about the car being out of sight and rolling around in a container for a month .... MY11 Vogue 4.4 TDV8 - "African Queen"

Will read this thread with great interest.

Where are you having it shipped from/to?

..also ,is this a re-location or a road trip.......sounds interesting. ... - .- -.




Y. O. L. O.
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Its being shipped from UK - will be loaded onto a container with other personal boxes in Essex and then transported by road to the port in Felixstowe where it goes on a ship to the port of Mombasa, Kenya. I'm not sure if the ship stops anywhere on route, possibly somewhere in middle east. I will be at the port in Mombasa when they open the container to pick up the car and drive it 350 miles back to Nairobi, where I will be living.

Stan - its a relocation. I grew up in Nairobi and now looking forward to moving back after 12 years in the UK.

I'm going to keep an eye on how the FFRR behaves itself there and if it does we should have lots of road trips between Kenya and south Africa. Otherwise we are going to keep a land cruiser as well for the trips.

It goes without saying if anyone is visiting, please send us a message and it would be great to put some faces to the members. MY11 Vogue 4.4 TDV8 - "African Queen"

Good Luck Shalz

I hope your still going to participate on the forum  2020 Porsche Panamera Turbo Hybrid (V FAST)
2017 Range Rover Autobiography 5.0 V8
2018 JCW Mini Cooper
2018 Skoda VRS

If your unhappy with it being in a container then I am more than happy to drive it to Nairobi for you.... Pete
I now have permission from the boss to use Y.O.L.O. Enjoy life
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2014 L405 Autobiography SDV8 4.4 Loire Blue Ebony interior
2011 L322 Vogue SE 4.4 TDV8 Baltic Blue. Sold
2012 L322 Autobiography 5.0 Supercharged Ipanema Sand Sold
2002 L322 Vogue 4.4 V8 Epson Green (Fatty Offroader) Sold
-Click for Project Fatty off roader-

And I understand less likely to get it stolen in Africa.

A colleague asked me about buying an FFRR to take out to Africa. I said surely you want a Toyota Hilux/Landcruiser? She said, no everyone has them so they are always getting stolen because there are so many they are difficult to retrieve. An FFRR sticks out like a sore thumb! .
Experience is the only genuine knowledge, but as time passes, I have forgotten more than I can remember
Volvo V70 P2 2006 2.4 Petrol 170bhp Estate SE
MG Midget Mk1 1962

Previous: L322 Range Rover TDV8 3.6 2008; L322 Range Rover TD6 3.0 2002; P38A Range Rover V8 1999

@Jayboy - will definitely continue here as usual. At the moment I've had more help than I've given and would like to change that.

@haylands - I wanted to do that too but SWMBO flat out refused. She thought id have too much fun and not turn up in Kenya.

@joe90 - I'd have agreed with you a couple of years ago but FFRRs and SSRRs are becoming very common, especially with politicians although still no reliable servicing network. Quite a few brand new L405s already there which is unusual as cars usually arrive 3-4 years from release. But your colleague is right, less likely to get stolen as these cars tend to be driven by important and connected people so thugs don't want to hold up the "wrong" person. MY11 Vogue 4.4 TDV8 - "African Queen"

I had a very good friend, who unfortunately died way too early a few years ago, and he traveled the Northern half of Africa EXTENSIVELY. He used old Nissan Patrols because as he put it "the rebels don't like them" with his signature cheeky grin. The Landcruisers/Hi-lux are soo popular because these cars are (usually) very reliable and you can get the parts easily when they do break down.

The only place I know where the FFRR (and SSRR) is abundant in Africa is Lagos Nigeria. Unfortunately I haven't seen much of the rest of Africa yet (even though I do have a good friend in Kenya, he is working in Nigeria most of the time).

Look forward to reading the story and the challenges you are certainly meeting along the way. Please keep us posted. MY 2010 5.0 SC Galway green and sand interior!!
Have the Faultmate MSV2 Extreme to be tinkering with the settings etc. !!

Hi
Really enjoyed Kenya on holiday, great place for a FF I would think, hope it doesn't breakdown! could a challenge getting it repaired. Look forward to following your posts

right, time for an update...

so car went into MD on last Wednesday to have a check up of a few things, no software updates, N/S rear passenger window regulator loose so tightened up and a sound issue I thought coming from passenger side actually turned out to be a tweeter in driver's door that had gone kaput, so new one being installed whilst I wait early tomorrow morning as part was not in stock. Apparently this is not normally covered by warranty but service guy managed to wriggle it through. Some feedback, although Lookers Park Royal have had some slightly negative comments on here in the past, I can't fault their service the last two times my car has gone. Although nothing major was done, service was generally good. Wayne Hamilton is a decent guy there to speak to.

Car got dropped off at Prestige Detail in Luton on Friday morning. I got this from the Detailing World Forum from the sponsors page for London and surrounding areas, had a look at their website and some of their past work on FB and reviews and seemed all OK - Prestige Detail website

Derek Ginger is the guy running this place and a very nice guy with a lot of patience who took the time to explain everything and understand what I wanted, paying attention to the fact the car was being transported this week and was going to Africa so conditions were a bit different to UK. Top guy and highly recommend this place!

Wasn't enough time to do a full 5/6 day correction and enhancement as only had 3 days, so Derek advised on the best way forward, put together a well priced package and I left him the keys to get to work! Got the car back this evening and boy was I shocked - it looked amazing and way beyond my expectations, better than brand new! And the paintwork feels so smooth, I can't stop running my hand across it (SWMBO thinks I've lost it)....I took some pics, unfortunately on the phone, but looks 10x better in reality! Derek has taken some better pictures and is going to do a small write up so will post it here once it's done. My photos below. Was pointed out to me that my wheel nuts had swollen and needed a 24 size adapter to open up rather than the supplied 22 wheel brace! Don't have time to order new nuts off Dan the man unfortunately so will have to see if MD will do it under warranty tomorrow morning! Damn nuts !!

Will update when we drop the car to load on to the container and try get some pics and advice up if I can.... sorry for this long post...

Thanks guys for all the great messages and fingers crossed this FFRR's journey and life in Africa goes well..

@ebajema - i am very sorry to hear about your friend, truly a shame to lose someone early! Glad he got to do some exciting stuff in his lifetime though! Hope you get a chance to come via East Africa if you ever visit Nigeria again...will have a cold beer for you...

Agree on use of Nissans and Landcruisers - Have a sweet LC100 Amazon there just in case and hoping to properly "ruggedise" for all the safari-bashing....

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Kenya is high on my list as a good friend of mine also lives there so when I do get to Kenya, I will most certainly try to meet up .

Good travels and keep us posted please. Car looks stunning by the way !! MY 2010 5.0 SC Galway green and sand interior!!
Have the Faultmate MSV2 Extreme to be tinkering with the settings etc. !!

as you would expect, a bird 'ed over my bonnet the night before shipping. SWMBO, thinking it was helpful, used a quick detailer spray and kitchen roll to try to wipe it off, resulting in some small scratches around the area through the new sealeant .... but i love her so she'll stay...for now...

anyway, car was loaded onto a 20' container last thursday (some pictures below)....there was about 3/4 feet of space left behind the car so they loaded all the rest of our boxes around the car after wrapping it in some sort of industrial jiffy bag! I was told they were going to create a separate partition between the car and boxes and tie the boxes down but none of this was done so i'm not entirely happy but can't do anything about it now. apparently they were also advised by the loading guys that came (who have "loaded 100's of these cars before) that there was no need to disconnect the battery (even though the car is going to be on the seas for at least a month) as this would play havoc with the electrics and screw up the mileage (yeah right!) or use wooden chocks hammered into the floor behind and in front of the wheels...also, after driving the car onto the container, the guy opened the driver window and used that to get out, forgetting to turn off the interior lights (which will only help the battery ) and between his beer belly and belt buckle, i do not want to know what happened as he tried to get out! will have to take a mechanic and battery pack with me when i pick this girl up next month...


you can see my confidence in getting my car back in the same condition i left her dropping somewhat at this point.. nevertheless they have "insured" it for any damage, and the condition report stated that there were no scratches or dents at time of loading so a little comfort there.

at least they managed to deflate the suspensions bags and compressor properly and put it in "build mode" using the IID Tool. Patrick answered my questions (being idiotic on my part obviously) extremely quickly and walked me through the process....excellent guys as always!

So the car was loaded onto a container attached on a trailer in Barking, closed up and sealed, then driven to Felixstowe and I've just received the bill of lading which tells me the ship will leave Felixstowe on Tuesday, make its way to Rotterdam where it will be transferred onto a feeder ship that sails to Mombasa, Kenya via one of the Middle Eastern states.

I've lowered my expectations on what will be waiting for me at the other end... and unfortunately no helpful advice whatsoever on loading into a container other than i'm not sure i've had my car treated properly....

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Good luck. Slightly worried about things not tied down, but you're right - nothing can be done now. Full insurance was a very smart move.

Don't like the no tie-down either But hey, it may all be well.

our container from Holland arrived last week and despite not packed for sea voyage, nothing damaged at all from Rdam to Malaysia.

My GMC went into a 20 ft. container to Oz (also from Rdam and back to Rdam a year or so later) and I had blocks and tied it down myself with two motorbikes behind it, plus heaps of other stuff and no issues. I deflated the suspension "help" airbags myself (wheels were tied down with the bags in "high" position). Also the battery stayed connected (no way to disconnect it as I had to drive it in). Battery was dead on arrival, so in Perth just used my car to pull it out. In Holland I pulled it out myself !!!! Just a rope and some strong leg muscles (I was younger and more stupid) my wife stopped it with the unpowered brakes .

I made my own wooden ramps (that I just gave away since no need for them yet).

Why didn't the numbnuts climb through the tailgate and why not store the stuff in the car and tie it down there.

All these moving companies, promises promises promises but when it comes to doing............

If you have a ciggy plug, the boot 12 V point should be live and you can charge the battery with a CTEK charger or the likes Is that workable for you ?? I mean you'd be charging it for a few hours at least to get enough charge to start it?? MY 2010 5.0 SC Galway green and sand interior!!
Have the Faultmate MSV2 Extreme to be tinkering with the settings etc. !!