RE: Bentley Continental Flying Spur: Spotted
Discussion
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
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.
I guess the issue will be finding the chap who can bridge all the electronics.
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. 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!
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!
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".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 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".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!
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.
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...
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