1998 Continental R - one year on - Running costs

[matt5791]

Small Car said:

The social history side is fascinating.

Yes I agree....I think a previous owner of mine may have had a run in with the police!

Edited by matt5791 on Saturday 16th August 08:53

[matt5791]

Byteme said:

.....They are, by far, the worst company I have dealt with!

Sorry to hear that - I can only go by my own personal experience. Just for the record: I've ordered from them 4 times and every time had excellent fast service, very personal attention, and very competitive prices.

My advise would be to email them with what you want and then phone them on the back of that email.

I really would encourage people to give Roberts Hall a try because the more competition in this market the better and it is in the enthusiasts' interest to have as many independent parts specialists as possible! The market is heavily dominated by Flying Spares and Introcar. I've not used Introcar, but I have used Flying Spares - and they are excellent, and very efficient - but at a price.

Edited by matt5791 on Monday 18th August 11:01

[awg454]

I Have also used Roberts Hall recently had no problems,order delivered correctly and quickly

[Small Car]

matt5791 said:

Looking at that car transporter, isn't that a bit wierdly loaded - 2.5 tonnes on the top rear end and a little Audi below!

Edited by matt5791 on Friday 15th August 18:24

There was also a trick looking Nissan GTiR rally car on the upper deck. A strange combination!

Out of interest, how long does the pressure of the brakes take to come up on start, ie the light go out. Mine is about a minute and I wondered if this was normal.

[Olidanides]

Regarding the brake pressure light, on my car the light goes off within 10 seconds when the car hasn't been used for 2-3 days. 3 or 4 seconds if the car has been used more recently. A minute seems excessive to say the least.

[graemel]

My 1991 Turbo R I try and use once a week. I'd say mine takes about a minute on average.

[matt5791]

If it hasn't been used for a while, say, a couple of weeks, then 30 seconds to a minute would probably be about usual.

[Byteme]

When these cars were new, the test was, would the lights extinguish in 45 seconds after standing for a couple of days and then level on the rear suspension after two minutes. In reality few cars were this slow and in most cases the lights would go off almost immediately and the rear suspension would not have dropped.

It always stuck me as mind numbingly stupid that Crewe allowed it possible to engage gear until at least one of the pressure warning systems was confirmed fully operational and that it was sufficiently pressurised (at least) to extinguish the warning light. Such a system would have been simple to design, construct and incorporate into the gearbox actuator.

Crewe engineers knew from the Silver Shadow that very few owners ever had the optional hydraulic services carried out but instead only had minimal repairs carried out after a problem occurred. SZ cars have far lower reserve braking capacity and are therefore more prone to poor performance. Madness, particularly when they also knew that MOT tests had no provision for adequately testing this type of braking system.

Edited by Byteme on Wednesday 20th August 21:06

[Small Car]

Thanks. I will time mine. Seems like a minute as I sometimes get frustrated sitting there, but will check. Thanks.

[Byteme]

Don't get too hung up on time, even when these cars were new it was only an indicator. The only real test as to whether the warning lights are doing their job is to connect a pressure gauge and check the accumulator pressures.

[d8ean]

where is the best place to source the Avon tyres?

ours has just been dropped off for detailing - should take around 2/3 weeks i think

so problems i notice with the car:
brakes are terrible
when i touched 70mpg today in is there is a slight vibration from the back left wheel - could be balancing
front end feels very floaty and again some terrible vibration/feedback coming through the steering wheel

we really need to get it booked into a specialist to look and give a full run down of what is required - according to the clock its only done 25k - 2k by us in the last 3 months

pic attached


bodywork wise a few rust spots along the top of the doors, and i can feel them appearing under the front wings by the sills - not sure how to get those sorted yet
a few minor dents here and there, nothing major

[graemel]

d8ean said:

where is the best place to source the Avon tyres?
brakes are terrible
when i touched 70mpg today in is there is a slight vibration from the back left wheel - could be balancing
front end feels very floaty and again some terrible vibration/feedback coming through the steering wheel

Marcus at Wembley Tyres 02084596191 NW10 1DG
I had a very similar issue.
All new wheel bearings on all four corners and all discs skimmed.
New tyres, now perfect

[d8ean]

any ideas on what sort of cost we should be looking at if i require the same?

[matt5791]

I might be wrong, but I don't think there is a suitable Avon for the wheels on your car. I think you need Pirelli P-Zero.

If they are Avons, for my car (255 55 17 Turbospeed CR228D) they come in at £320 including vat & fitting. I've had that price (or in that ball park) quoted to me by about 3 places. But you'll find some places will try and charge much more so it does pay to shop around.

As has been said - you may need the disks skimming, especially if the car has a low mileage as if the car hasn't been used much, which is the kiss of death for nice smooth running brakes.

If the front end is floating around, then have ball joints checked. Again, prices for these vary a lot and the best price I found was Roberts Hall. I had all mine replaced which made a big improvement.

[d8ean]

thanks for the reply, its currently running some chinese rubbish kumho or something!!! they look terrible....

i defo think the ball joints have had it, and the brakes being so terrible certainly need some attention - the wheels are from the azure i think?

[Olidanides]

Byteme said:

This makes interesting reading.

https://www.opencompany.co.uk/company/07327435/rob...

Hmm... Byteme, would you mind to elaborate as to why this makes interesting reading? I have had no dealings with this company and it seems opinions do differ about them, but I fail to see where this is suppose to lead.

[Olidanides]

Why the suspicion?
I may not be a serial poster but I am a pistonhead and visit this forum on a daily basis as a genuine Bentley owner and enthusiast. As such I use independent specialists and i am curious about others experience of businesses that I may use in the future. You posted a link to what seem to be (to me at least) pretty irrelevant info. You obviously implied something. I do not know Roberts Hall and hadn't heard of them until mentioned on this forum.
It looks to me that you're the one hiding something.

[Olidanides]

And thanks for mentioning the duplicate posts... I wasn't aware of this and don't quite know how this occurs. I have erased them.

[Contimaz]

I have just seen the thread and read the comments with interest. I have recently purchase a Conti R 1998 with quite high mileage 70k but with only 2 prev owners and a proper full service record with mind numbing invoices since new. The disappointments are the fact that the rad surround is chorme and not colour coded - so I need advice on how to change this. . . . and the radio is a heap of unintelligible modern DAB crap, which I simply cannot fathom since it has about 1000 settings all controlled by 3 tiny buttons. Is it possible to refit with something nearer the original ? - if so, any idea of who would do this would be of huge assistance - Surrey / Sussex / Hampshire. The first 350 mile trip was also a bit disappointing with lots of wheel judder coming up the steering and a lot of creaking and groaning form the bodywork around me - all forgiven due to the fact that the car itself is simply stunning to look at but something that needs investigation - it seemed that the judder lessened after 100 miles and I wonder if these juggernauts misshape the steel belting in the tyres after standing for a time.

Are there any highly regarded non main dealer specialists in my area , that anyone can recommend - having seen the bills from Sunningdale Motors and P & A Wood, I would prefer to start with a properly quaified independent before i spend the cost of the car again on a few odd jobs.

[Vixpy1]

Phantom motors in crondall near Farnham , great guys and reasonably priced