BENTLEY CONTINENTAL GT, WORTH BUYING OR NOT?
Discussion
personally i think there is a lot of scare-mongering going on in this thread and they won't drop anywhere near £10k, anytime soon!
Another £40k lost in 3 years?!? Pfffh
Regardless of how mass produced they are and what client-age as owned them, they will not drop to numbers lower than £25k IMHO.
this is not a 996 vs 997 debate where the old of the new and the new of the old crossed paths and where one lineage was terrible against the other for the die-hard fans.
this is a niche product and as such serves different markets, different buyers, different perceptions!
Another £40k lost in 3 years?!? Pfffh
Regardless of how mass produced they are and what client-age as owned them, they will not drop to numbers lower than £25k IMHO.
this is not a 996 vs 997 debate where the old of the new and the new of the old crossed paths and where one lineage was terrible against the other for the die-hard fans.
this is a niche product and as such serves different markets, different buyers, different perceptions!
Burba said:
personally i think there is a lot of scare-mongering going on in this thread and they won't drop anywhere near £10k, anytime soon!
No one has said they will drop to £10K, that's just silly. But there are £30-40K cars out there now, the figure you mentioned of £25K will be the level they stabilise at I reckon, for a leggy 03/04 car, and it won't be that far away.TimAla said:
I'm of the view that the gas guzzlers will continue to plummet in price. The Bentley GT will soon be affordable to people who in the past could not have aspired to such a car (late model). This is partly driven by high fuel prices. The interesting thing is what will happen when increasing numbers of people start to realise that with an LPG conversion, the fuel price can revert to under 50p/litre. I'm not sure that will reverse the price decline, but there is definitely a growing trend of people buying aspirational vehicles, converting them to LPG and enjoying relatively cheap motoring. I'm one of them.
You and me both 
TimAla said:
I'm of the view that the gas guzzlers will continue to plummet in price. The Bentley GT will soon be affordable to people who in the past could not have aspired to such a car (late model). This is partly driven by high fuel prices. The interesting thing is what will happen when increasing numbers of people start to realise that with an LPG conversion, the fuel price can revert to under 50p/litre. I'm not sure that will reverse the price decline, but there is definitely a growing trend of people buying aspirational vehicles, converting them to LPG and enjoying relatively cheap motoring. I'm one of them.
In the light of your experience, any thoughts on converting either a Bentley Turbo R or a Porsche 911(964)?So far, nobody has addressed the reliability and service end of this topic. Early models were prone to electrical problems and there are tales of customers having whole cars replaced when the electricals could not be sorted. These tales are less frequent now.
One problem is that a major electrical cable as thick as your wrist runs through one of the cills. In the cill it splits into 8 sub-cables. This is prone to being a wet area, since drain holes were sized for California rather than the UK, and they get clogged up. When the cable connections corrode and it is necessary to get at them, the whole of the dash and the air conditioning plenum have to come out, and so on.........so beware.
The small drain holes need to be blown through with compresed air on a regular basis.
The service time on a Continental GT is given as 9 hours for a major service, whereas on an Arnage it's 41 hours, so you save in that area.
One problem is that a major electrical cable as thick as your wrist runs through one of the cills. In the cill it splits into 8 sub-cables. This is prone to being a wet area, since drain holes were sized for California rather than the UK, and they get clogged up. When the cable connections corrode and it is necessary to get at them, the whole of the dash and the air conditioning plenum have to come out, and so on.........so beware.
The small drain holes need to be blown through with compresed air on a regular basis.
The service time on a Continental GT is given as 9 hours for a major service, whereas on an Arnage it's 41 hours, so you save in that area.
The cheapest that I've come across is £38k, but I'm sure there will be cheaper ones. IMO the prices will stabilise around £30-35k. FFS if they fell any lower it would make a complete mockery of the Luxury saloon market.
It could be argued that the Credit Crunch and subsequent recession is now passed it's worse, but then I am an eternal optimist. If I see a vehicle at 35k and the rest stacks up, SH, mileage, and colour I think I will take the plunge. Somehow, unlike most here I just don't see the rest of suburbia jumping in to purchase the Conti GT.
It could be argued that the Credit Crunch and subsequent recession is now passed it's worse, but then I am an eternal optimist. If I see a vehicle at 35k and the rest stacks up, SH, mileage, and colour I think I will take the plunge. Somehow, unlike most here I just don't see the rest of suburbia jumping in to purchase the Conti GT.
Cooky said:
The cheapest that I've come across is £38k, but I'm sure there will be cheaper ones. IMO the prices will stabilise around £30-35k. FFS if they fell any lower it would make a complete mockery of the Luxury saloon market.
It could be argued that the Credit Crunch and subsequent recession is now passed it's worse, but then I am an eternal optimist. If I see a vehicle at 35k and the rest stacks up, SH, mileage, and colour I think I will take the plunge. Somehow, unlike most here I just don't see the rest of suburbia jumping in to purchase the Conti GT.
It's the perfect car for you, Cocky.It could be argued that the Credit Crunch and subsequent recession is now passed it's worse, but then I am an eternal optimist. If I see a vehicle at 35k and the rest stacks up, SH, mileage, and colour I think I will take the plunge. Somehow, unlike most here I just don't see the rest of suburbia jumping in to purchase the Conti GT.
Cooky said:
The cheapest that I've come across is £38k,
which is about what I paid for the Bentley I bought recently and about 20 times what it cost when it was new in 1936 - how's that for "depreciation"? And I bet it will keep on going up at about the same rate as a Conti GT goes on down!
It also gets far more admiring looks and comments than a Conti GT.
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Bluebottle911 said:
d3hno said:
Since I started this topic the Price of the car has fallen by £2500 per month, a 54 plate is now around 45k as opposed to the original 50k!
Only 18 months to go before it's free then!Edited by d3hno on Monday 15th December 14:28
Edited by d3hno on Monday 15th December 14:29
Wanta996Gotta said:
Could someone show me a sub £35k Bentley GT? Friend had one and its a fantastic car that i would recommend to anyone, i cant really fault the car atall.
http://search.autotrader.co.uk/es-uk/www/cars/BENTLEY+CONTINENTAL/Ne-2-4-5-6-7-8-27-44-49-53-61-64-67-103-133-146-236,N-240-4294967001-4294967002/search.action?&postcode=sa49ww&radius=1500&showMoreOptions=&page=2Copy and paste that link and you will find one for £34,995 (high mileage though)
d3hno said:
Bluebottle911 said:
d3hno said:
Since I started this topic the Price of the car has fallen by £2500 per month, a 54 plate is now around 45k as opposed to the original 50k!
Only 18 months to go before it's free then!d3hno said:
Wanta996Gotta said:
Could someone show me a sub £35k Bentley GT? Friend had one and its a fantastic car that i would recommend to anyone, i cant really fault the car atall.
http://search.autotrader.co.uk/es-uk/www/cars/BENTLEY+CONTINENTAL/Ne-2-4-5-6-7-8-27-44-49-53-61-64-67-103-133-146-236,N-240-4294967001-4294967002/search.action?&postcode=sa49ww&radius=1500&showMoreOptions=&page=2Copy and paste that link and you will find one for £34,995 (high mileage though)
Hello.
The Bentley GT is a great car no matter what people say.
I worked for Bentley for 2 years and can easily say its one of the best cars
I have ever driven for long journeys, motorways and even 'a & b' road driving. I've driven many cars like BMW, Audi, Rolls Royce, Merc, Ferrari, Spyker and Koenigsegg, I know the later are supercars but you do get amazing performance without dreadful visibility and comfort in a Bentley.
Yes they will keep dropping in value, but isnt every car at present! Remember they were 100K + cars when new, so if you can pick up a good one (getting hard to find) for a good price I would definetly recommend one. Please feel free to get in touch and I will put you in contact with a bloke who can get you the specification you like.
Reliability wise, nothing to worry about, few minor things but not costly to repair.
Service price's are steep at main dealer's (150+ ph) but I am a Bentley specialist with all the tools and diagnostic equipment at less then half the hourly rate. Working in the south east of England, West London and south Oxford area.
Feel free to get in contact.
Kind regards,
Mark
ETA
signatures please.
The Bentley GT is a great car no matter what people say.
I worked for Bentley for 2 years and can easily say its one of the best cars
I have ever driven for long journeys, motorways and even 'a & b' road driving. I've driven many cars like BMW, Audi, Rolls Royce, Merc, Ferrari, Spyker and Koenigsegg, I know the later are supercars but you do get amazing performance without dreadful visibility and comfort in a Bentley.
Yes they will keep dropping in value, but isnt every car at present! Remember they were 100K + cars when new, so if you can pick up a good one (getting hard to find) for a good price I would definetly recommend one. Please feel free to get in touch and I will put you in contact with a bloke who can get you the specification you like.
Reliability wise, nothing to worry about, few minor things but not costly to repair.
Service price's are steep at main dealer's (150+ ph) but I am a Bentley specialist with all the tools and diagnostic equipment at less then half the hourly rate. Working in the south east of England, West London and south Oxford area.
Feel free to get in contact.
Kind regards,
Mark
ETA
signatures please.Edited by Big Al. on Saturday 4th April 22:34
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