Ghost as a family car

[sealtt]

Hi, I have a young family - child and a small baby. Currently we have a Range Rover which is the family hauler and is absolutely great at that.

Interested in changing for something different this year if there is anything that is actually better! Hard to find anything better but I've always liked the look of Rolls Royce and the Ghost seems a good starting point.

So just wanted to get some feedback on the car as a family car, baby seats, pram, long distance trips to relatives, day to day durability for school run, going to beach, carrying around the regular crap, parking around town, etc.

Any advice how it will stack up against the Range Rover, or at least how well it will work as a family car?

I live a little while from a dealer so wanted some initial feedback to see if it's worth a look or just a non starter.

Thanks

[stain]

It'll do most things just fine. The rear hinged doors actually make inserting children into the back a doddle but the boot isn't the biggest for prams etc. Parking can be an issue due to size and potential envy damage. And a Ghost will cause quite a stir on the school run which may not be the effect your kids will thank you for. The interior trim is quite durable but hugely expensive should your kids break any of it. In all other respects it makes a fine family car.

[sealtt]

stain said:

It'll do most things just fine. The rear hinged doors actually make inserting children into the back a doddle but the boot isn't the biggest for prams etc. Parking can be an issue due to size and potential envy damage. And a Ghost will cause quite a stir on the school run which may not be the effect your kids will thank you for. The interior trim is quite durable but hugely expensive should your kids break any of it. In all other respects it makes a fine family car.

Thanks for the comments. I had thought that the doors might make it easier, but I'm definitely apprehensive about the pram fitting in the boot. Will just have to go and try it with our specific pram, the dealer said they could bring the car (approved used) down to me but didn't want to waste their time if it was a non starter. I suppose then the idea of pram, luggage, etc all in the boot for summer holidays might be a bit ambitious.. that sort of thing is what makes it so hard to replace the Range Rover.

My eldest girl is very good at respecting the cars, but it remains to be seen how the baby is going to be! So will keep that in mind when assessing the interior's durability, though a light colour leather is a 100% must for me I find most leather seats clean up easily.

I'm not too worried about the image here, we live in a coastal area where it's a bit different to most of the UK in that regard (thank god!!). So can't see it being much of a thing at the school.

What are residual value expectations like for these cars? I would be expecting to spend no more than £125k on a car, so towards the bottom of the price curve for this model. I know buying in at that price point on a 40% depreciated Bentley you'd still see huge losses, is it the same with a Rolls Royce Ghost? I would hope to take no more than a £40k-£50k hit over 2-3 years, is that realistic?

Otherwise it's just a case of going and testing it and seeing if I (/ we) fall in love to make the reduced practicality worth the change of cars.


I also wonder if anyone has experience with London Berkley Sq Rolls Royce - I am a couple of hours from them, would you expect them to be good at collecting the car for any repairs, sorting everything out painlessly, etc?

[CAPP0]

Someone used to park one in the underground car park at my previous office and the one obvious thing was that it was huge - much longer than my FFRR - so parking may be an issue?

[sealtt]

CAPP0 said:

Someone used to park one in the underground car park at my previous office and the one obvious thing was that it was huge - much longer than my FFRR - so parking may be an issue?

Yes I had noticed that it was quite a bit longer that the Range Rover Vogue, which is a little mad!

But my issue is normally with the width of the Range Rover in parking spaces and I don't think the Ghost is any wider... so hoping that it will be manageable for most car parks.

[stain]

The Ghost is still rather wide and I find it oddly hard to place on the road. It has a high window line but quite a low seat which isn't the case with the Phantom. I find the Phantom easier to place even though it's a far bigger car.

The leather isn't the real issue. It's the switchgear and things like the air vent controls. Break any of that and it is £££.

Even though the car is based on a 7 the residuals have held up ok. Consider that they have been out for 7 years now and were about 220 new, that gives you a clue on future prices of yours. I don't know when the next Ghost is due out but it must still be a while off yet.

Dealers. I don't like the London dealer. Despite buying a car next door they still treated me like I'd stepped in something. If you are a Sheikh or Saudi Princess no doubt they'll look after you. I use Sunningdale and have no complaints. They collect and deliver and do what you'd expect from the Brand.

Be aware that early Ghosts were not the most reliable cars so only buy the best from a main dealer with the proper Provenace warranty.

[sealtt]

Thank you Stain, very helpful.

[Fiammetta]

Have a look @ the Ferrari garage in Egham-Marenello (Sytner group now ) ,they have some on the RHS of the forecourt .
I guess will be able to find you one and make the RR disappear into another branch ,if it's still retail able at a main dealer ?

I got my current Conti GTfrom Jack Barkleys ,they were fine with me .
Once on those days between Xmas and new Y we were talking the todler and baby in a buggy for a walk ,it was perishing ,kids turning blue .
I stopped at the showroom in Berkley Sq to have a look .
Door man kindly opened the door and we went in .
They provided a hot drink ,chocolate for the kids .Could not have been more helpful .
Under that site is multi story carpark ,perhaps 50 other cars not on display .
I had a tour of that family warmed up in the show room .
I think we were the only "punters" in that day !
That was 18 y ago though .
I don,t think they judge a book by its covers .
Your kids are too young for the "image " thing @ school , so go for it .
When they are teenagers ,then the Bentley or Ferrari school run "cramps there style " -they hate it .Just warning you !

[Speculatore]

Am I missing something here? You intend to use a RR Ghost to do the school run with baby seats and a pram!!!! I really should have done better at school.....

[thelawnet1]

just an aside but I refuse to use child seats on leather seats. marks and/or permanent deformation is inevitable?

[Silent1]

Speculatore said:

Am I missing something here? You intend to use a RR Ghost to do the school run with baby seats and a pram!!!! I really should have done better at school.....

I suspect he lives in/near sandbanks

[matt5791]

thelawnet1 said:

just an aside but I refuse to use child seats on leather seats. marks and/or permanent deformation is inevitable?

I think it may depend on the leather, the shape of the seats, the design of the child seats.

I have 3 daughters, oldest 6, youngest 2 - all in child seats, 3 different types. I have not had permanent marks or damage in the following cars, all of which have leather:

Jeep Commander
Audi S8 2002 (has alcantara inserts)
Bentley Continental R

That isn't to say it's not a worry I have. In the S8, where they spend most of their time, I have a blanket under them.


Back to the original topic - I would have thought the Ghost would be a very poor substitute for the Range Rover where Children are involved, and, to add insult to injury, you will inevitably loose a lot in depreciation. I'm trying to take an objective view - although, I would admit, I dislike the Ghost and other BMW Rolls cars, not because they are necessarily bad cars, I can't accept them as a real Rolls, I'd feel as though I was driving a fake. This doesn't bother some people and others would disagree with me, but I can't find it in me to like them as anything other than a tribute act.

[jeyjey]

I never had a problem with child seats on leather, but I did usually stick a towel between the two just in case.

That being said, my kids are teenagers now so that might have been before the switch-over to water-based leather finishes. Not sure if that would make a difference or not....

Cheers,
Jeff.

[stain]

As a Phantom owner the thing I don't like about the Ghost based models is how cheaply made they feel. There is lots of plastic that you don't get on the big one.

[Jinto100]

I have 2 car seats regularly in the back of my Arnarge and in my daily driver which is a Porsche Panamera. In both I have seat protectors that just hook over the head restraints and cover the whole seat and probably another 8 inches over the seat edge. They work really well at protecting the leather from dents and also muddy feet. They take seconds to fit & remove. I didn't use them in a Range Rover and after leaving the seats in place for a few weeks, the dents took as long again to come out - not ideal

[sealtt]

Thanks for comments, never heard back from the dealer in London and the car is gone now so presume sold.

However I've been thinking about it and from comments and online reading I think I'd only want to buy a new-er one for reliability reasons. That then puts it up to £160k at which point I'm not a buyer.

[Bluebottle911]

matt5791 said:

I would have thought the Ghost would be a very poor substitute for the Range Rover where Children are involved, and, to add insult to injury, you will inevitably loose a lot in depreciation.

+1. Lack of space for bulky items would be the number one problem, closely followed by image issues on the school run. If I were you, OP, I would stick with the Range Rover - I imagine you could get a very nicely specced new Range Rover for the price of a secondhand Ghost.

[turbobloke]

There's no fundamental reason for this but I thought I'd post this pic of a Ghost/Series 2/Black Badge in this thread as it's vaguely relevant, and it's quite a while since I posted it in the other thread

[Mistaweava]

Jinto100 said:

I have 2 car seats regularly in the back of my Arnarge and in my daily driver which is a Porsche Panamera. In both I have seat protectors that just hook over the head restraints and cover the whole seat and probably another 8 inches over the seat edge. They work really well at protecting the leather from dents and also muddy feet. They take seconds to fit & remove. I didn't use them in a Range Rover and after leaving the seats in place for a few weeks, the dents took as long again to come out - not ideal

I'm considering an Arnage T. I have a Supercharged FFRR and would be very intrigued to know how you found the transition between these cars?

I have children of 4&6 years old. No push chairs.

[Jinto100]

Mistaweava said:

I'm considering an Arnage T. I have a Supercharged FFRR and would be very intrigued to know how you found the transition between these cars?

I have children of 4&6 years old. No push chairs.

Hi

To give a fair picture, it's never been my daily driver. I have always felt that the Range Rovers I have had are great for chucking stuff & people in, and just as happy sploshing round country lanes as parking in a multi story car park in town. I would say the Bentley experience is quite different. Firstly it's much longer which makes it far less convenient for parking in town and I'm far less inclined to treat it like a Tonka Toy. There is more passenger space in the rear of the Bentley but less luggage space in the boot, although the Bentley boot is still a decent size. Bentley is of course great for swishing around, and you can't beat it when the valet at the Savoy brings it round (after a trip to the theatre ;-) )