RE: Bentley Continental Flying Spur: Spotted

RE: Bentley Continental Flying Spur: Spotted

Author
Discussion

BIRMA

3,803 posts

193 months

Sunday 31st March 2019
quotequote all
flatso said:
The price makes this very tempting. Is there anything comparable / in the same league at this amount of car for your money ?
I guess the Audi A8 W12 gets near and some V12 Mercedes S600's, AMG's, I nearly bought a super high spec 2017 A8 W12 for double the price, very nice but no turbo's on the Audi.
For £20K plus you could buy a 2012 A8 W12 which would be worth trying much more modern.
The only other negative for the Bentley is expensive road tax and you certainly would be challenged parking it at a multi storey car park/supermarket on your chauffeurs day off.

Edited by BIRMA on Sunday 31st March 20:45


Edited by BIRMA on Sunday 31st March 20:52

alec.e

2,149 posts

123 months

Sunday 31st March 2019
quotequote all
Someone on the barge thread said these are uglier than a 300c- madness!
The coupe is a much pretier car for sure, but still not ugly by an means.

But, I think I would choose an Arnage or a S65 AMG instead...

Q Car

138 posts

189 months

Sunday 31st March 2019
quotequote all
I vaguely remember a few owners discussing cheap Conti GT's a year or so ago and people talking about throwing £15k during a year at their car without the maintenance and repair issues being particularly serious. Presumably these are the same?...

BIRMA

3,803 posts

193 months

Monday 1st April 2019
quotequote all
I think if anyone is seriously considering one of these should do what I did and spend an hour reading through the owners posts in the Rolls/Bentley section of this site.
Sobering and full of information that will help decide if one of these is for you.

DonkeyApple

54,923 posts

168 months

Monday 1st April 2019
quotequote all
Sell the engine while it still works fine, fit an LS and enjoy the luxury of the inside without the hassle of having to pay a dealership the value of the wagon to fix a minor engine issue. That’s probably the only sane way to go shedding with one of these.

I guess the issue will be finding the chap who can bridge all the electronics.

GTEYE

2,092 posts

209 months

Monday 1st April 2019
quotequote all
From the first pic, and viewed on my phone as a thumbnail size, I thought it was a Rover 75....

Oops!

Mike 83

50 posts

59 months

Monday 1st April 2019
quotequote all
Hello everyone long time decade coming here finally signed up today as an old jag xj driver I love this sort of car had a few 1500 pound bills I bet this is on another level but still would love to own it look at all that leather and walnut

daytona111r

762 posts

203 months

Monday 1st April 2019
quotequote all
J4CKO said:
Not sure who would buy one of these as they get old, sort of has a posh taxi vibe, VIP Hotel transport or similar, the Coupe has a bit more desirability, guessing these are replacing Silver Shadows and Spirits as a wedding car ?
I wouldn’t be seen dead in the coupe whereas this seems much more palatable, loses the bling/chav factor and I can appreciate it more for how much car it is.

MadDog1962

890 posts

161 months

Monday 1st April 2019
quotequote all
oilit said:
Aren't these the ones where you have to take the engine out to change the alternator ? eek
Probably. However, somebody is probably going to follow up and say that you don’t, but it’s just really awkward. A bit like changing the handbrake cable in an Alfasud....😏

Motorsport3

499 posts

191 months

Monday 1st April 2019
quotequote all
flatso said:
The price makes this very tempting. Is there anything comparable / in the same league at this amount of car for your money ?
Maserati QPV for me. Still loving it on my second year into ownership.

DonkeyApple

54,923 posts

168 months

Monday 1st April 2019
quotequote all
Motorsport3 said:
Maserati QPV for me. Still loving it on my second year into ownership.
I think they’re arguably the most elegant saloon currently available. But the Bentley is a nicer place to be sitting inside. At the same price I’d go for the Maserati though.

hlaw

4 posts

59 months

Tuesday 2nd April 2019
quotequote all
I bought a 2006 Flying Spur two years ago and it is brilliant! Fast as my previous Conti GT but with amazing rear seat space. Maintenance is a little scary, annual services at £1-1.5k. The biggest bugbear have been sensors (TPS, various engines T's and P's). I wouldn't contemplate owning one without a proper OEDB reader, you'll need it. I have then replaced most myself but bought parts judiciously. Flying Spares are great and very helpful but most parts are standard Audi or VW and available elsewhere much cheaper elsewhere.

Overall, having gone from 63k to 84k miles my costs have been £3-4k in maintenance and 4 tyres plus 16.7mpg. Based on your £18k sample, I have lost £6k in depreciation. I could lose my whole cost in depreciation in a few months on a newer one!

So £17k incl. fuel over two years - 81p per mile. More than worth it!


SydneySE

406 posts

259 months

Tuesday 2nd April 2019
quotequote all
hlaw said:
I bought a 2006 Flying Spur two years ago and it is brilliant! Fast as my previous Conti GT but with amazing rear seat space. Maintenance is a little scary, annual services at £1-1.5k. The biggest bugbear have been sensors (TPS, various engines T's and P's). I wouldn't contemplate owning one without a proper OEDB reader, you'll need it. I have then replaced most myself but bought parts judiciously. Flying Spares are great and very helpful but most parts are standard Audi or VW and available elsewhere much cheaper elsewhere.

Overall, having gone from 63k to 84k miles my costs have been £3-4k in maintenance and 4 tyres plus 16.7mpg. Based on your £18k sample, I have lost £6k in depreciation. I could lose my whole cost in depreciation in a few months on a newer one!

So £17k incl. fuel over two years - 81p per mile. More than worth it!
Really good post. This is the way you run these cars (do your own work, buy parts at "normal prices" from the OEM, not the brand). Most of the cost on these kind of cars is labour. Most parts that need replacing are not "bespoke".

BIRMA

3,803 posts

193 months

Wednesday 3rd April 2019
quotequote all
SydneySE said:
hlaw said:
I bought a 2006 Flying Spur two years ago and it is brilliant! Fast as my previous Conti GT but with amazing rear seat space. Maintenance is a little scary, annual services at £1-1.5k. The biggest bugbear have been sensors (TPS, various engines T's and P's). I wouldn't contemplate owning one without a proper OEDB reader, you'll need it. I have then replaced most myself but bought parts judiciously. Flying Spares are great and very helpful but most parts are standard Audi or VW and available elsewhere much cheaper elsewhere.

Overall, having gone from 63k to 84k miles my costs have been £3-4k in maintenance and 4 tyres plus 16.7mpg. Based on your £18k sample, I have lost £6k in depreciation. I could lose my whole cost in depreciation in a few months on a newer one!

So £17k incl. fuel over two years - 81p per mile. More than worth it!
Really good post. This is the way you run these cars (do your own work, buy parts at "normal prices" from the OEM, not the brand). Most of the cost on these kind of cars is labour. Most parts that need replacing are not "bespoke".
+1 Just what a thread like this needs real world ownership experience being contributed.
When I was looking for daily/long distance cruiser Luxo-Barge just over four years ago there were quite a few very negative posts about the car I wanted. In the end a chap who had run one for a few years posted in a similar way to above so I bought one.
Ran it for just over four very enjoyable years before a blocked sunroof drain that held about 5 litres of rainwater in the sunroof frame soaked me and the electrics.
My philosophy is, and always will be do your research, buy carefully, one with a full main dealer history if possible, get a good independent guy to look after it. Then be prepared to throw it away if a major problem comes up.

DonkeyApple

54,923 posts

168 months

Wednesday 3rd April 2019
quotequote all
Agreed. I’ve often not bought the car I specifically wanted but the one which had a known specialist within easy distance. If I was wanting to buy one of these I would definitely need to confirm that an excellent and well priced Indy was in a convenient location.

406dogvan

5,326 posts

264 months

Thursday 4th April 2019
quotequote all
hlaw said:
I wouldn't contemplate owning one without a proper OEDB reader, you'll need it.
To advance that - cheap ODB readers (Android/Torque included) are generally a waste of money - at best they lead you into parts-throwing and at worst they waste your time chasing ghosts (I chase these ghosts for a living and a lot of my work is fixing people's repair attempts based on the results given by cheap ODB readers!!)

Given the budget here, a licensed copy of VCDS (VAGCOM) would be good investment - you'll get near "factory" diagnostics for a few hundred quid - details of which version you need are here

http://www.ross-tech.net/VCDS/download/VCDSCompati...

A lot of VW techs actually use VCDS over the official factory tool (ODIS) as it's often quicker and easier to use - tonnes of support from them for licensed customers (not for cheeky people who buy eBay knockoffs - obviously)

p.s. I believe the workshop manuals for these are also available online from the shadier places you'll have to discover for yourselves...

R400TVR

542 posts

161 months

Wednesday 10th April 2019
quotequote all
GTEYE said:
From the first pic, and viewed on my phone as a thumbnail size, I thought it was a Rover 75....

Oops!
It's not as good looking as a 75!