Phantom Ownership One Month On
Discussion
I'm sure that you realise that you'll never get the reliability of a production car with any vehicle built on such a small scale. The price tag is irrelevant as it goes to cover the inefficiency of small scale production. In terms of electronic issues even large manufacturers struggle as various systems interact with each other sometimes throwing up faults and warnings for completely unrelated systems. There was a time when you could contact Rolls-Royce and speak with the engineer who designed a system and he would immediately identify a fault or advise what further diagnosis was required. Those days are long gone and the vehicles are so complex that no one knows how everything works. I would consider the main concern to be "am I being looked after?", the price tag should include this. If the answer is yes then in my honest opinion what more can they do?
If I'm reading this thread correctly then in 15 months of ownership, the OP has been without his car due to failures of one thing or another for what, nearly three months?
I'm sorry but this vehicle was knocking on the door of HALF A MILLION POUNDS when it was new.
I can only admire the OP's patience and loyalty here, I cannot begin to think how I would be behaving under similar circumstances. I rarely "flare up" but I think I might struggle to conduct myself with such decorum.
You sir must be an absolute Gentleman.
I'm sorry but this vehicle was knocking on the door of HALF A MILLION POUNDS when it was new.
I can only admire the OP's patience and loyalty here, I cannot begin to think how I would be behaving under similar circumstances. I rarely "flare up" but I think I might struggle to conduct myself with such decorum.
You sir must be an absolute Gentleman.
It is funny how things change - in the early days, the main reason for buying a Rolls, and spending the extra money, was that it was significantly more reliable than any other car available. Whereas today, the most reliable cars are some of the cheapest to buy.
Edited by matt5791 on Friday 13th November 20:49
All I can report at the moment is that the car has now been off the road and with the dealership for the best part of a month, RR Goodwood tell me it as been escalated to the highest levels within the factory and they are working with the dealership who are working constantly on the car to rectify the problems.....
The car was delivered back to me Friday, so nearly 5 weeks off the road. They have also sent me a rather large F & M Hamper. It's gone straight into the garage as the weather has been terrible and the lanes are thick mud so we've been using our 4x4. My wife will be using it this weekend as she is going shopping in London and its easier to get around with a driver so no need to worry about parking, I will then be able to report back if its been fixed, but they have given me assurances that they replaced every possible item that caused the problem, so we are looking forward to some trouble free motoring.....
matt5791 said:
It is funny how things change - in the early days, the main reason for buying a Rolls, and spending the extra money, was that it was significantly more reliable than any other car available. Whereas today, the most reliable cars are some of the cheapest to buy.
I went on the factory tour last week and you're right in that they recount how Henry Royce's original motivation was reliability and quality having been deeply disappointed with the electrics on his first ever car, a Peugeot. Money can't buy your reliability it seems particularly where electrics are concerned. However I know there is much skills and knowledge transfer with BMW so I imagine they'll get to the bottom of it eventually. I had a client with a bespoke Aston Volante LWB and it was back to the factory 2-3 times a year for fixes. Often off the road for a week or so at a time. He seemed equally forgiving as the OP.Edited by matt5791 on Friday 13th November 20:49
Having sold low volume, mostly hand built cars for quite a while what I can say is its amazing how understanding and patient customers are regarding their cars "fiobles" .
Aston Martins from the 70s/80s had a few interesting problems such as Volantes that you couldnt go more than 60 mph in due to wind noise and the roof "bubbling" up...quite awkward telling a customer who has parted with £150K + that "they all do that sir" !
Muzzer79 said:
OP - your patience is commendable
If i'd paid knocking on the door of half a million quid for a Rolls and it had that many issues; I'd be apoplectic.
Firstly, thanks to the OP for sharing. I love reading about/snippets a life I will never live.If i'd paid knocking on the door of half a million quid for a Rolls and it had that many issues; I'd be apoplectic.
As for being raging, I can imagine the OPs life otherwise makes it a little easier to cope with these issues.
ChasW said:
I went on the factory tour last week and you're right in that they recount how Henry Royce's original motivation was reliability and quality
It's a con though, because there is no "DNA" back to the original company. Bentley is more closely aligned with Charles Rolls and Henry Royce in terms of "bloodline". Rolls Royce Aero Engines, even more so.BMW behave rather like the individual who bought a Peerage and an estate to go with. It's all a bit of a fake, in my view.
True, yet the Bentley GT / GTC are really a VW Phaeton with a variety of mods and changes over the years. So neither Rolls or Bentley are much like the original other than the typical leather and wood bits. Rolls seems to use quite a bit of BMW bits and Bentley brims with VW Group parts. On the other hand BMW seems to be far more understanding towards their clients whereas the VW Group has a long history of not standing behind their products when known defects arise... and recently with what appears to be outright deception from the VW Group.
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