£22k Bentley Continental GT - running costs?

[sturrick]

I've been offered a 2004 Bentley Continental GT 6.0 W12 Coupe, in black with blue hide, for £22k. It's a first refusal i was offered by a relative who owns a franchise car dealership (not Bentley, Toyota) and the £22k is the book price it was taken in for.

It has full Bentley service history with all receipts, invoices etc, but it has done 115k miles.

What are the actual running costs of the car, comparable to something like a used BMW 5-Series/Audi A6/Mercedes E-Class for example? The reason i ask is that i would have normally gone for a German executive at around £25k but this is tempting.

Will i be expecting 4-figure bills regularly - even for minor services? and consumables like tyres/brakes/exhausts etc.

Fuel isn't an issue as i only do around 10k a year mileage. Insurance is fairly cheap (i'm 27) and tax isn't an issue either. It's more if something fails and the service cost and as mentioned consumables?

Thanks
Carl

[daveco]

You'd have to assume brakes pads/discs, tyres, oil changes etc would all be far more expensive than your run of the mill middle size Merc or BMW.

It's a heavy, fast car so it will probably chew through these things far quicker too.

[sturrick]

Yes i know that, but i want to know how much more. I don't mind paying more for something more special, but if it will be - and continue to be outrageous then i may give it a pass.

any comparable experiences? thanks

[Cupramax]

You say its got all the receipts, have a look through and see whats been done. If its had brakes, gearbox fluids, suspension bits etc etc done recently then it'll probably be fine. Its hardly likely to be a stressed drivetrain. Not sure what the lifespan of the cam chain is, that I can imagine would be a horrific cost.

Remember, you only live once and you're not coming back

[ehyouwhat]

I think I would want to budget £6k-£8k a year for servicing, consumables and general W&T repairs...whilst remembering that the odd huge bill could crop up too.

[excel monkey]

daveco said:

You'd have to assume brakes pads/discs, tyres, oil changes etc would all be far more expensive than your run of the mill middle size Merc or BMW.

Are any parts shared with the VW Phaeton? I know, hardly cheap, but at least it's a point of reference.

[theironduke]

22k....bloody hell, thats some stonking depreciation, what would it have cost new? over a 100k?

[K50 DEL]

You might get an accurate guide to costs by posting the Bentley forum on here, I know there are a few owners of that model here.

I'd say go for it, if you're in position at 27 to spend 25k on any type of car then ongoing running costs for a CGT shouldn't cripple you.

[CooperS]

K50 DEL said:

I'd say go for it, if you're in position at 27 to spend 25k on any type of car then ongoing running costs for a CGT shouldn't cripple you.

Well thats not true, he may have 22k in his back pocket but may not have much more and is looking to see if his remaining pennies will cover the running costs.

Cant assume that people go in thinking got 25k to run a car i'll put 15k into the car and 10k left over for running and the what if's.

[SooperDan]

As a reference, Amari do a GT 6k service at £399 and a major 18k at £849. Not sure if that's including VAT however..

http://www.serviceamari.com/independent-bentley-se...

[Fox-]

Cupramax said:

You say its got all the receipts, have a look through and see whats been done.

Exactly this. You've got a paper record of exactly what it has cost to do 100k miles in a Conti GT. Study it. Work out what was descretional and what was required and use this to estimate future costs.

[anonymous-user]

ehyouwhat said:

I think I would want to budget £6k-£8k a year for servicing, consumables and general W&T repairs...whilst remembering that the odd huge bill could crop up too.

That sounds a bit excessive to me, do they really cost that much to run?

[gabbo]

depends what your annual mileage is, without this the answer is either not much more or an awful lot more

[Fox-]

gabbo said:

depends what your annual mileage is, without this the answer is either not much more or an awful lot more

10k a year, as he said.

[Muncher]

Fox- said:

Exactly this. You've got a paper record of exactly what it has cost to do 100k miles in a Conti GT. Study it. Work out what was descretional and what was required and use this to estimate future costs.

I'd take an average of the last 3 years worth of bills, add 30% and assume it's probably going to cost you that, it shouldn't be far off.

[LongLiveTazio]

You say fuel isn't an issue but sub 20mpg for 10k miles is an awful lot, especially as I wouldn't put anything less than something like V Power into it. Compared to, say, a diesel S Class then it's a massive difference.

[Saddlebag]

Look at brake pads on e-bay. I think you maybe surprised.

I was thinking of one a while ago, and I managed to get ALL the faults that have been recoreded at the factory since launch. There is nothing to worry a buyer-it made for easy reading.

[Johnboy Mac]

A 2004 6.0 with 115k on the clock! I'd advise strongly that you look at what else you can buy used for 20-25k first, considering 10k in the CGT would cost approx 5k on fuel alone before an unexpected bill! Still, if it's the car you want..............

[Baz Tench]

It may be internet hearsay, but I read somewhere on here (I think) that it costs about a grand in labour just to replace a sidelight bulb on these.

I'm assuming that pretty much the front of the car needs to come off for that?

[Deva Link]

theironduke said:

22k....bloody hell, thats some stonking depreciation, what would it have cost new? over a 100k?

I reckon it's over-priced, at least in percentage terms. My 2004 Merc, which cost £36K new, is worth in the region of £6K now.