Aston to Bentley, should I, shouldn't I ?

[craigjm]

If you want to seat a six footer behind another 6 footer with room to move the Maserati GT is your only choice in that style of car. Unfortunately its quite long in the tooth now though.

[JulianPH]

Bluebottle911 said:

JulianPH said:

My wife is 5'7" and my 11 year old daughter 5"

I am sure she will grow eventually

JulianPH said:

You mentioned the Maserati Granturismo. I had one of these new when they first came out and I seriously urge you to look at them in more detail. They are fantastic cars and virtually the love child of a GT and a DB9 - taking some of the best from both!

However the rear seats are proper - as in as saloon. You could all get in their and travel comfortable around Europe! It is a stunningly beautiful car as well and the engine sound is awesome.

Precisely why I bought one last year (in preference to a Rapide and a Conti GT). It fits the bill perfectly. My daughter (5'8") sat behind me (6'1") all the way back from Modena (we collected our car from the factory) without any problem.

That made me laugh when I realised my mistake! 5' obviously!

Typing difficult at the moment as fell down stairs a few nights ago going to get more water. Glass smashed and cut my hand and foot and I've fractured my ribs - feel like a right numpty.

Yes, the Maserati is wonderful and I'll most likely be getting another one when the Bentley is no longer suitable.

[turbobloke]

JulianPH said:

Typing difficult at the moment as fell down stairs a few nights ago going to get more water. Glass smashed and cut my hand and foot and I've fractured my ribs - feel like a right numpty.

Sorry to read this, hope you recover soonest.

With those ribs, you might want to be careful not to laugh, cough, sneeze or release one of the more explosive variety of farts for a while. At a guess you're already being careful

[JulianPH]

turbobloke said:

Sorry to read this, hope you recover soonest.

With those ribs, you might want to be careful not to laugh, cough, sneeze or release one of the more explosive variety of farts for a while. At a guess you're already being careful

Thanks for your sentiments. I am hobbling round like an old man and I did sneeze yesterday - twice. Absolute agony!

[turbobloke]

JulianPH said:

turbobloke said:

Sorry to read this, hope you recover soonest.

With those ribs, you might want to be careful not to laugh, cough, sneeze or release one of the more explosive variety of farts for a while. At a guess you're already being careful

Thanks for your sentiments. I am hobbling round like an old man and I did sneeze yesterday - twice. Absolute agony!

from memory the knowledge of what's about to happen makes it seem worse when it happens...the doc told me that healing involves a fairly standard 6 weeks of trying to breathe evenly yet deeply, avoiding shallow breathing as apparently this isn't helpful. He was right on the timescale. Good luck!

[t1blk]

Hmmm, had to have a rethink on the GT, my youngest son has had another growth spurt, GT is now too small, so I have been directed towards the Flying Spur, nice car looks like a lot more room and very plush inside. My question is the same, what are they like to live with and what should I look out for problem wise and option list, budget is £35000, I know its not a lot but it looks like I can get a lot of car for that.

[Yacht Broker]

t1blk said:

Hmmm, had to have a rethink on the GT, my youngest son has had another growth spurt, GT is now too small, so I have been directed towards the Flying Spur, nice car looks like a lot more room and very plush inside. My question is the same, what are they like to live with and what should I look out for problem wise and option list, budget is £35000, I know its not a lot but it looks like I can get a lot of car for that.

i've been looking at similar recently, and have been looking at the continental gt and maserati gt.

i have a 997 at the moment which is surprisingly good for rear seating, but woeful on boot space. i tried a maserati gt and put the sales guy from meridien in the back with me in the front (i'm 6ft). no problems at all.

if it were my £35k right here right now, i believe there is a gt on the main dealer network at £34k... might not be the cheapest for the mileage, but it's by far and away the cheapest main dealer car with appropriate warranty.

a plan b could be a mercedes cl 63amg and a few k in the bank to offset the rampant continued depreciation.

good luck!

[WelshBentleyBoy]

Try a Maserati Quattroporte. Oodles of room in the back, stunning looks a nd an exhaust sound to die for.

Paul

[LWG95]

The Flying Spur is fabulous, I have had two of them in the Silverlake colour. Nearly as quick as the Conti GT without any of the disadvantages. Highly recommended IMHO.

[Lostprophet]

WelshBentleyBoy said:

Try a Maserati Quattroporte. Oodles of room in the back, stunning looks a nd an exhaust sound to die for.

Paul

But its from the dark ages.

I have a 7 year old. Would they fit comfortably in the back in a V8 GT? Leg room must be fine for a child?

[WelshBentleyBoy]

Lostprophet said:

But its from the dark ages.

Form is temporary, class is permanent.

[JW82]

Re. the Flying Spur - it's a great car. My Dad traded in a CGT for a Flying Spur. We use it sometimes too as a family car and everyone prefers it. I've driven to France and back in it a few times and its a breeze. Mechanically there were never any issues but a few electrical problems came up which were simple enough under warranty. Bentley after sales themselves was another issue (which actually prompted the sale of the CGT which he had ordered new from the same dealer).

I used to have a Maser GT. I'd recommend those also, lovely engine with a surprising amount of space in the back even for taller people - I'm 6'3". Never driven the new (or previous shape) Quattroporte but they're definitely not as big in the back as you'd think having sat in them at the dealer. They sound great though and I prefer the look of the previous shape (to 2012) Sport GTS more than the current model.

[Andys1000]

t1blk said:

Good evening all, I am considering a possible move to a Bentley GT from an 05 Aston Martin DB9, I would be very interested to hear from any GT owners who have made a similar move and as to whether it was a good or bad move,any major regrets or have you kept the permagrin, and also if you wouldn't mind sharing reasons for moving in the first place. My main reason for the move is principally because the DB9 has now become a 2 seater for my boys and I and I can't stretch to a Rapide S for a while yet, I have always liked the Bentley GT and it was a toss up between that and the DB9 a few years ago, I figured at the time I needed to scratch the Aston itch whilst I could con the wife into thinking I could get 4 of us in whilst the boys were small enough, however that didn't last long before nobody could fit behind me and the wife had to stay at home as my boys and I enjoyed motoring days and events out. I have looked at a couple of GT's and been able to get my youngest son in behind me very comfortably and I really like the huge boot space compared to the pitiful DB9 boot, I have no problems driving and he has no problems relaxing, and it doesn't give him neck ache like the DB9.I have dug through a good few threads on here relating to the ups and downs of ownerships and realise that like the Astons they have issues,and of course costly repair bills, all hand built cars will do I guess, I plan to get it checked out by an expert independant before I purchase it's the sensible thing to do, my budget is probably only going to be around £40,000, maybe less if the wife gets wind of it, but I'm sure that should get me something decent...........will it ?

I feel your pain - its a struggle out there :-) We have tried all sorts of cars to try to fit the kids into my car obssesion, - I have a 7 and 9 year old and have driven my family up the wall trying to fit them inside - I did up the ante often by stamping my feet and stating that I would only have a convertible
and here are my somewhat long conclusions....

Bentely GTC too small inside with childseats in the kids are forced forwards and kick the back of your seats leading you to try to beat them to death unless they stop immediately
Bentley Azure old one nice but antiquated
Bentley Azure new - great but you look like a rapper - particulalry in black
Ferrari FF - great size inside - looks are kinda troubling - drove it repeatedly - didn't love it
Ferrari 612 Ditto - big enough for adults - not big enough for children in car seats alas.
DB9 too small - both old and new versions
Bentley Continental r - fabulous masses of room for all kiddie equipment,
Rolls Royce Corniche cab - ditto but more relaxed an open top
Maserati Granturismo and grancabrio - trying next week will let you know,
Quattroporte - large but mine broke down :-0 and was sold quickly,
BMW M3 V8 Cab - inside ok but bit plasticky - boot too small
Porsche 964 targa - great for small journeys (kids starting to be too big now)
porsche 944 - too small
DBS - ok in the rear for pigmy dwarves
Jaguar XJR - ditto
Aston Martin V8 Vantage - the big old one - too small rear - interior like made by 2 year old - messy

Let me know if you find something suitable - I am sure my family will be delighted may not disown me for forcing them into another one....

[waterden]

Bentley Continental R. Just bought one. Fabulous motor car and prices seem to be rising. Plenty of room for four. And just achieved 20mpg on a 250 mile run. Oh, and there's only around 300 RHD ones left (only 550 made in rhd)

Edited by waterden on Thursday 4th May 22:53

[Andys1000]

waterden said:

Bentley Continental R. Just bought one. Fabulous motor car and prices seem to be rising. Plenty of room for four. And just achieved 20mpg on a 250 mile run. Oh, and there's only around 300 RHD ones left (only 550 made in rhd)

Edited by waterden on Thursday 4th May 22:53

So what happened to the other 250?

[waterden]

I meant to say only 300 RHD cars left in UK, which I imagine was the end destination for almost all of the RHD cars. This figure is taken from howmanyleft.co.uk which relies on DVLA information. It could be incorrect, of course. Lots of cars fall by the wayside for one reason or another - even Bentleys.

Edited by waterden on Saturday 6th May 09:16

[vanquish spirit]

I have had one Continental R, and one Conti T. They are indeed a fabulous car. Pretty old now to be honest, and I sold my Conti T (2002) because my then Range Rover drove better. In spite of them being a big old lump you get some unpleasant body shake which just spoil the experience for me. That said, they are sure to be a Classic but seem to be taking their time