bentley continental gt any good?

[largelunchbox]

well obviously there good but only just bin looking at them as a viable purchase,the prices seem to now be in reach of us more thrifty motorists, so whats it like to live with one on a day 2 day basis
q1,any know problems
q2,any particular variants to avoid
q3,should i avoid high mileage ones

ta in advance

[LeeMad]

dont forget, just because theyve dropped into your price range, theyre still a £100k car that will cost a lot to maintain.

[300bhp/ton]

LeeMad said:

dont forget, just because theyve dropped into your price range, theyre still a £100k car that will cost a lot to maintain.

Why do people believe this?? There are some expensive bits but also a lot of common parts from VAG plus its not made from pixie dust and unicorn bits. It's nuts and bolts like any other car.

Specialists will charge huge amounts for simple parts and charge high labour rates for simple work. If you are buying at the bottom of the market there is no point over paying for parts and labour.

[snapdragon69]

Yes, many parts will be shared with VW Phaeton and Audi A8, expensive, but not prohibitive.

[Dusty964]

300bhp/ton said:

LeeMad said:

dont forget, just because theyve dropped into your price range, theyre still a £100k car that will cost a lot to maintain.

Why do people believe this?? There are some expensive bits but also a lot of common parts from VAG plus its not made from pixie dust and unicorn bits. It's nuts and bolts like any other car.

Specialists will charge huge amounts for simple parts and charge high labour rates for simple work. If you are buying at the bottom of the market there is no point over paying for parts and labour.

Where would you suggest taking one then? A non specialist?

[Krikkit]

Someone dig up the old thread about the GT, stat!

Yes, 300bhp, they are pretty expensive when things go wrong. Some parts are interchangeable with high-end VAG stuff, others are bespoke and hence cost £££. Not to mention finding a garage willing and able to work on one properly given their electrical complexity.

[V8RX7]

300bhp/ton said:

LeeMad said:

dont forget, just because theyve dropped into your price range, theyre still a £100k car that will cost a lot to maintain.

Why do people believe this??

Because it's true !

Price me up for a 530 BMW and a GT:

Set of tyres
Complete set of brakes
Change the spark plugs

[valiant]

the thing is that to have any hope of selling at a decent price you are tied to a recognized specialist or dealer.

Would you buy a Conti with a service book stamped by 'Dave's Under The Arches Garage' or Kwikfit?

Whilst these cars are quite exclusive, they are not in short supply - potential buyers will simply move unto the next one.

[Ozzie Osmond]

300bhp/ton said:

LeeMad said:

dont forget, just because theyve dropped into your price range, theyre still a £100k car that will cost a lot to maintain.

Why do people believe this?? There are some expensive bits but also a lot of common parts from VAG plus its not made from pixie dust and unicorn bits. It's nuts and bolts like any other car.

What absolute cobblers. Have you ever owned a £100,000 car?

Maintaining a new £100,000 car is expensive. Maintaining an older £100,000 car sure as hell doesn't get cheaper.

Ferraris are built by Fiat. Are they cheap to run???

Lambo's are built by Audi. Are they cheap to run?

[GG89]

300bhp/ton said:

LeeMad said:

dont forget, just because theyve dropped into your price range, theyre still a £100k car that will cost a lot to maintain.

Why do people believe this?? There are some expensive bits but also a lot of common parts from VAG plus its not made from pixie dust and unicorn bits. It's nuts and bolts like any other car.

Specialists will charge huge amounts for simple parts and charge high labour rates for simple work. If you are buying at the bottom of the market there is no point over paying for parts and labour.

Bullst. These cars are extremely expensive to run. What exactly would you do if something went wrong? take it to a backstreet MOT station? you are living on cloud cuckoo land if you think these can be kept in good order on normal car budget.

[Ari]

300bhp/ton said:

Why do people believe this?? There are some expensive bits but also a lot of common parts from VAG plus its not made from pixie dust and unicorn bits. It's nuts and bolts like any other car.

Should cost about the same as a Golf TDi then you reckon..?

[Piersman2]

V8RX7 said:

300bhp/ton said:

LeeMad said:

dont forget, just because theyve dropped into your price range, theyre still a £100k car that will cost a lot to maintain.

Why do people believe this??

Because it's true !

Price me up for a 530 BMW and a GT:

Set of tyres
Complete set of brakes
Change the spark plugs

Add something like an airbag ECU into that. My father has on older Bentley Eight. It had an airbag warning light on. A new ECU for the airbag was £3000. Plus VAT, Plus fitting.

Thankfully, after the garage had fecked around with the car for 2 weeks they eventually realised it was just a £100 sensor in the bumper. But the total bill was £900 and my father had to pay a 20% charge to return the second hand ECU he has sourced for £1500, so a few hundred hit there as well.

I've been half considering a Bentley Continental myself for a couple of years, but I must admit the thought of the expense of having to get something 'tricky' fixed has put me off so far because the cars at this end of the market will be the ones that will have the niggles come up. And probably right before the MOT is due as well!

Tyres, brakes and plugs are 'consumables' that you hunt around for decent prices, Bentley specific things are fecking horrendously expensive for this end of the market.

[Jimmy No Hands]

http://www.pmcuk.com/content.asp?id=89

Breakdown of a quote for new brakes (well discs & pads) all around on a Bentley CGT.


Comes to... £1650.

[J4CKO]

300bhp/ton said:

LeeMad said:

dont forget, just because theyve dropped into your price range, theyre still a £100k car that will cost a lot to maintain.

Why do people believe this?? There are some expensive bits but also a lot of common parts from VAG plus its not made from pixie dust and unicorn bits. It's nuts and bolts like any other car.

Specialists will charge huge amounts for simple parts and charge high labour rates for simple work. If you are buying at the bottom of the market there is no point over paying for parts and labour.

I see your point and have a similar mentality but these, hmm, stretching the concept a tad.. They should be pretty robust but if something does screw up, scary. Was in the local tyre place, a young lad appears in one for new tyres, the fitter informs him two of his rims were cracked, oww. It is a bit like saying, Bengal Tiger, well it's just a big moggie, you might get away with only a slight mauling.

[9mm]

V8RX7 said:

Because it's true !

Price me up for a 530 BMW and a GT:

Set of tyres
Complete set of brakes
Change the spark plugs

Absolutely. Which is also the reason why it's extreme high risk to buy a car like this from an owner who clearly doesn't have much money. By that stage the scrimping will have done all sorts of damage and you could be looking at the mother of all money pits.

[Krikkit]

Jimmy No Hands said:

http://www.pmcuk.com/content.asp?id=89

Breakdown of a quote for new brakes (well discs & pads) all around on a Bentley CGT.


Comes to... £1650.

Things like brakes and an oil service can be worked around on cars like this - change the oil a bit cheaper at an independent rather than dealer. Brakes, get some custom bells made up then buy appropriately-sized rotors from someone like AP Racing.

It's when things like airbag ECU's and the various technology bits go pop that you start weeping, because you're in the dealer's hands.

[Fox-]

Krikkit said:

change the oil a bit cheaper at an independent rather than dealer.

False economy, surely the effect on the history of corner cutting and scrimping will knock more than the price difference off the value of a £30-40k Bentley?

[Piersman2]

Krikkit said:

It's when things like airbag ECU's and the various technology bits go pop that you start weeping, because you're in the dealer's hands.

It's also worth bearing in mind that these are massively complex machines with 4 wheel drive etc... Imagine your gearbox going kaput, it doesn't bear thinking about how much it would cost to get sorted.

My first XJR lunched it's gearbox, £1500 later all sorted. I dread to even start to consider the size of the bill on a Continental.

[GG89]

Piersman2 said:

Krikkit said:

It's when things like airbag ECU's and the various technology bits go pop that you start weeping, because you're in the dealer's hands.

It's also worth bearing in mind that these are massively complex machines with 4 wheel drive etc... Imagine your gearbox going kaput, it doesn't bear thinking about how much it would cost to get sorted.

My first XJR lunched it's gearbox, £1500 later all sorted. I dread to even start to consider the size of the bill on a Continental.

Must be 5 large at least, I was £1100 when my MINI gear box st itself which I was surprised at.

[Piersman2]

Mind you, for £23995?