RE: £10k Bentley Continental GT | Spotted
Discussion
Unreal said:
Stick Legs said:
As a former XJ-S V12 owner when I was in my twenties these occupy the same territory that they used to.
The most exotic engine, at the time, that the man on the street can afford for small hatchback money.
The first major issue will consume the purchase price of the car.
Styling and image that are divisive, both the XJ-S & the Continental GT have an air of provincial nightclub owner about them.
Appalling fuel economy.
Parts shared with far lesser cars, British Leyland in the case of the XJ-S, Deutches Leyland (sorry VAG), in the case of the CGT.
Too many made to become valuable classics.
Many will be seen rotting on driveways.
Incredibly capable and in many ways a better car then the equivalent Aston Martin or Ferrari. XJ-S vs Aston Martin V8 vs Ferrari 400 / CGT vs DB9 vs 612 Scaglietti.
They both remain wonderful things.
I can identify with much of this. I had a number of V12 Jags and Daimlers from my twenties onwards. They are the broad equivalent in terms of their role and place in the market but the massive difference is that those V12s were both reliable and pretty easy to work on. I can remember changing the alternator on a Daimler Double Six on my drive in a few hours (with more support under it than the Forth bridge!). They were also free of the myriad sensors and electrical gizmos that you know will fail on cars like this Bentley. I worried about rust and leaks, never electrical or mechanical problems.The most exotic engine, at the time, that the man on the street can afford for small hatchback money.
The first major issue will consume the purchase price of the car.
Styling and image that are divisive, both the XJ-S & the Continental GT have an air of provincial nightclub owner about them.
Appalling fuel economy.
Parts shared with far lesser cars, British Leyland in the case of the XJ-S, Deutches Leyland (sorry VAG), in the case of the CGT.
Too many made to become valuable classics.
Many will be seen rotting on driveways.
Incredibly capable and in many ways a better car then the equivalent Aston Martin or Ferrari. XJ-S vs Aston Martin V8 vs Ferrari 400 / CGT vs DB9 vs 612 Scaglietti.
They both remain wonderful things.
I think the only two versions of the Conti I would contemplate would be one like this for a couple of grand less, where if it broke, I'd out it broken and swallow the loss, or one where some poor sap has just spent £20K making one perfect, promptly died and left it for his widow to get rid of at any price.
The Bentley is as daunting compared to a modern family turbo diesel with a DPF.
Here’s how deep into one I have got.
They key is being able to get it out of the car.
As with a lot of VAG stuff the packaging doesn’t allow for anything other than routine maintenance.
Stick Legs said:
I would venture that a V12 XJ-S compared to a standard road car of the time, Mk.2 Cavalier or a Sierra, both 1.6 on a single carb, that a V12 EFI engine, heavily dependent on vacuum & with ancillary systems like AC and power steering etc.
The Bentley is as daunting compared to a modern family turbo diesel with a DPF.
Here’s how deep into one I have got.
They key is being able to get it out of the car.
As with a lot of VAG stuff the packaging doesn’t allow for anything other than routine maintenance.
Brave (skilled) man.The Bentley is as daunting compared to a modern family turbo diesel with a DPF.
Here’s how deep into one I have got.
They key is being able to get it out of the car.
As with a lot of VAG stuff the packaging doesn’t allow for anything other than routine maintenance.
That looks like something off of a WW2 bomber!
Exasperated said:
cerb4.5lee said:
I want it purely for this...CO2: 410g/km. 
Greta's head would be rolling off at the thought of this I'd imagine.
This appears to be a common thought on Pistonheads, and I'm not sure I fully understand why. Why would you want something purely because of the high emissions? What do you get out of knowingly upsetting someone you don't know? Is it just spite or is there a deeper reason? Could you explain the thought process?Greta's head would be rolling off at the thought of this I'd imagine.
Exasperated said:
cerb4.5lee said:
I want it purely for this...CO2: 410g/km.
Greta's head would be rolling off at the thought of this I'd imagine.
This appears to be a common thought on Pistonheads, and I'm not sure I fully understand why. Why would you want something purely because of the high emissions? What do you get out of knowingly upsetting someone you don't know? Is it just spite or is there a deeper reason? Could you explain the thought process?Greta's head would be rolling off at the thought of this I'd imagine.
Portofino said:
Stick Legs said:
I would venture that a V12 XJ-S compared to a standard road car of the time, Mk.2 Cavalier or a Sierra, both 1.6 on a single carb, that a V12 EFI engine, heavily dependent on vacuum & with ancillary systems like AC and power steering etc.
The Bentley is as daunting compared to a modern family turbo diesel with a DPF.
Here’s how deep into one I have got.
They key is being able to get it out of the car.
As with a lot of VAG stuff the packaging doesn’t allow for anything other than routine maintenance.
Brave (skilled) man.The Bentley is as daunting compared to a modern family turbo diesel with a DPF.
Here’s how deep into one I have got.
They key is being able to get it out of the car.
As with a lot of VAG stuff the packaging doesn’t allow for anything other than routine maintenance.
That looks like something off of a WW2 bomber!
It does. It’s not that it’s complicated, rather than there’s just a lot of it.
It’s 2 VR6 Golf engines, on a common crank, with turbochargers. And a 4 wheel drive system from an Audi.
Not one part on it’s own is a show stopper.
But the sheer amount of labour required to access anything, and the consequences of distributing something un related to the fault is the biggest issue.
I wouldn’t want one, as lovely as they are to drive & be in.
soad said:
ducnick said:
Might be cheaper to buy a pair at £10k each… one for spares
Just buy a better example, in the first place.Unless you buy one that has had recent expenditure to address the expensive issues and maintenance items, then even a £20k+ one is likely to throw some major bills.
Maybe you get lucky, and this £10k lasts many years without major issues....
J4CKO said:
CDP said:
If you have a barn, lifting gear and are a capable home mechanic surely it's only a car?
I suspect someone handy with the spanners could do some stuff on one, as you say, its only a car but having seen a YouTuber remove the engine from one would need to be someone very, very handy to tackle that. .
As someone else said, these haven’t aged particularly well, and look quite dreary to me. However, good luck to whoever takes it on though…
birdcage said:
Probably worth more in parts with headlights costing 2k for a start
Which made me think...It's £10k, not a small amount of money, but in car terms, not a lot either.
It'll like a drink, but how much do you really spend on petrol and if that figure doubled, would it break you?
I don't have £10k spare, but if I did, would be worth a gamble as a daily? For someone who's on the PCP Hamster wheel, you stop paying £400 a or whatever a month to VWFS and get this, the petrol would eat into that £400 pretty well, but not all of it, you do your best to buy the Golf parts Bentley charge 10x for in a Bentley Bag and you run it... 18 month later, whoops, a hose has s
t the bed and you need to take the engine out to fix it and instead you put it through Copart and someone buys it to break for £5k? Exasperated said:
cerb4.5lee said:
I want it purely for this...CO2: 410g/km.
Greta's head would be rolling off at the thought of this I'd imagine.
This appears to be a common thought on Pistonheads, and I'm not sure I fully understand why. Why would you want something purely because of the high emissions? What do you get out of knowingly upsetting someone you don't know? Is it just spite or is there a deeper reason? Could you explain the thought process?Greta's head would be rolling off at the thought of this I'd imagine.
MadCaptainJack said:
I originally came to PH in the course of researching the wisdom of buying a second-hand Continental GT. The phrase "engine out" played a large part in my decision to ditch that idea and buy something else instead (I ended up with a Giulia Quadrifoglio).
£10k sounds like a bargain until the alternator goes and you discover how much it costs to replace....
The identical Audi W12 unit on Autodoc is £326. Not too bad IMO. £10k sounds like a bargain until the alternator goes and you discover how much it costs to replace....
Stick Legs said:
I would venture that a V12 XJ-S compared to a standard road car of the time, Mk.2 Cavalier or a Sierra, both 1.6 on a single carb, that a V12 EFI engine, heavily dependent on vacuum & with ancillary systems like AC and power steering etc.
The Bentley is as daunting compared to a modern family turbo diesel with a DPF.
Here’s how deep into one I have got.
They key is being able to get it out of the car.
As with a lot of VAG stuff the packaging doesn’t allow for anything other than routine maintenance.
Great photo, the outputs from the gearbox make it clear that the entire 12 cylinder engine hangs ahead of the line of the front axle explaining firstly why they feel like they do to drive and why they had to develop a W12 rather than use a much longer V12.The Bentley is as daunting compared to a modern family turbo diesel with a DPF.
Here’s how deep into one I have got.
They key is being able to get it out of the car.
As with a lot of VAG stuff the packaging doesn’t allow for anything other than routine maintenance.
A friend of mine and poster on here did their apprenticeship with Jack Barclay and their rule was anything lower than the cam covers and they would just replace the engine, and as you've said for a great many jobs that are trivial on almost any other car the engine has to come out. The first one is just typical dealer profligacy with customer money and a specialist or capable DIYer can ignore, but yeah taking the engine out for silly things is unfortunately par for the course.
At the end of the day it's all just nuts and bolts and of course it can be fixed by an intelligent motivated person with a decent tool kit and time to spend on it, it really is just the access issues that make these a "no thanks" I think.
Funnily enough I chatted to a dealer about these not long ago and he said he bought one for buttons, him and his business partner had a go and confirmed that yes indeed it is very fast but also rather inert and dull and they don't want to keep it and they value their reputation too much to sell it, so they broke it for parts and found the 2nd hand market for major components was dead as a dodo, they really struggled to get rid of the drivetrain in particular. I don't think major mechanical failure is killing these, just small failure that need huge amounts of time to fix, so they're parked up and rotting away.
P-Jay said:
Which made me think...
It's £10k, not a small amount of money, but in car terms, not a lot either.
It'll like a drink, but how much do you really spend on petrol and if that figure doubled, would it break you?
I don't have £10k spare, but if I did, would be worth a gamble as a daily? For someone who's on the PCP Hamster wheel, you stop paying £400 a or whatever a month to VWFS and get this, the petrol would eat into that £400 pretty well, but not all of it, you do your best to buy the Golf parts Bentley charge 10x for in a Bentley Bag and you run it... 18 month later, whoops, a hose has st the bed and you need to take the engine out to fix it and instead you put it through Copart and someone buys it to break for £5k?
Exactly.It's £10k, not a small amount of money, but in car terms, not a lot either.
It'll like a drink, but how much do you really spend on petrol and if that figure doubled, would it break you?
I don't have £10k spare, but if I did, would be worth a gamble as a daily? For someone who's on the PCP Hamster wheel, you stop paying £400 a or whatever a month to VWFS and get this, the petrol would eat into that £400 pretty well, but not all of it, you do your best to buy the Golf parts Bentley charge 10x for in a Bentley Bag and you run it... 18 month later, whoops, a hose has s
t the bed and you need to take the engine out to fix it and instead you put it through Copart and someone buys it to break for £5k? If you had a spare £10k you could (in theory) not mind losing, buy this and drive it until it literally won’t move under its own steam anymore, and then break it and sell the parts.
Surely worth someone else other than me doing it?
Exasperated said:
cerb4.5lee said:
Exasperated said:
cerb4.5lee said:
I want it purely for this...CO2: 410g/km.
Greta's head would be rolling off at the thought of this I'd imagine.
This appears to be a common thought on Pistonheads, and I'm not sure I fully understand why. Why would you want something purely because of the high emissions? What do you get out of knowingly upsetting someone you don't know? Is it just spite or is there a deeper reason? Could you explain the thought process?Greta's head would be rolling off at the thought of this I'd imagine.
Obviously that is frowned upon now though, don't get me wrong, and we all should be seen driving around in an EV now in comparison to my era for sure. But I'm not ready to join the green stripe brigade yet though in fairness.
Exasperated said:
cerb4.5lee said:
Exasperated said:
cerb4.5lee said:
I want it purely for this...CO2: 410g/km.
Greta's head would be rolling off at the thought of this I'd imagine.
This appears to be a common thought on Pistonheads, and I'm not sure I fully understand why. Why would you want something purely because of the high emissions? What do you get out of knowingly upsetting someone you don't know? Is it just spite or is there a deeper reason? Could you explain the thought process?Greta's head would be rolling off at the thought of this I'd imagine.
I would delight in doing it if it upset Greta, who I regard as a rather stupid, privileged and emotional brat, or any other lentil muncher that believes my car has caused their kids ass-ma or ADHD but that would just be a by-product, not a reason for buying the car.
I drove a Continental GT for the first time this week. 2004 / 79k on the clock, and in fine fettle. My views...
It doesn't feel huge. Very manageable on country lanes, easy to park etc.
The noise is epic; at some traffic lights I thought "is that me that's making that noise?". On the move, the loud pedal does just that.
They're very fast. You think about an overtake & it's done. It doesn't go nuts trying to select a gear, it just takes what its in & pulls forever. It also doesn't try to keep you in a rev range - it'll drop to a near 1000rpm when cruising in 6th gear.
The gearbox is pretty responsive when using the paddles, no big lag - and better than a lot of slightly newer Vantages.
I spent 90 mins in it, and it's a very comfortable place to be.
The rear window is a letterbox through the rear view mirror, and it gives a distorted view too.
I floored it 3 times over 70 miles, but the rest of the time was driving Miss Daisy. I averaged 17mpg. I could physically see the fuel guage move. The owner said he gets 300 miles from a fill, and it's a 90 litre tank - that's a lot of Super/£££'s.
The handling wasn't sharp. You turned in, waited a nanosecond, then it turned in. Not as crisp as a lot of things I've driven, more like sailing than driving at times!!! I got used to it though.
I wouldn't want one because of the running costs / borkage factor, but they're an impressive piece of engineering.
It doesn't feel huge. Very manageable on country lanes, easy to park etc.
The noise is epic; at some traffic lights I thought "is that me that's making that noise?". On the move, the loud pedal does just that.
They're very fast. You think about an overtake & it's done. It doesn't go nuts trying to select a gear, it just takes what its in & pulls forever. It also doesn't try to keep you in a rev range - it'll drop to a near 1000rpm when cruising in 6th gear.
The gearbox is pretty responsive when using the paddles, no big lag - and better than a lot of slightly newer Vantages.
I spent 90 mins in it, and it's a very comfortable place to be.
The rear window is a letterbox through the rear view mirror, and it gives a distorted view too.
I floored it 3 times over 70 miles, but the rest of the time was driving Miss Daisy. I averaged 17mpg. I could physically see the fuel guage move. The owner said he gets 300 miles from a fill, and it's a 90 litre tank - that's a lot of Super/£££'s.
The handling wasn't sharp. You turned in, waited a nanosecond, then it turned in. Not as crisp as a lot of things I've driven, more like sailing than driving at times!!! I got used to it though.
I wouldn't want one because of the running costs / borkage factor, but they're an impressive piece of engineering.
Would this be a wise way to look at purchasing this?...
Do some research to make sure it is sound/ free from expensive issues and has 12 months MOT.
Run it on a shoe string (bar fluids and consumable if needed) and when a big job rears its head, either part it out or scrap it.
A none runner/spares or repairs with headgasket failure in very bad condition with bits missing, sold on eBay for £5k.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/267177889262?_skw=bentl...
A bit of a gamble, but £5k in depreciation for 2 years motoring and to experience the W12 and to be able to say I have a Bentley, doesn't seem to be too ruinous.
Obviously it may "fail to proceed" the minute you park it up, so there is still an element of gambling and you'd have to try not to get overly invested in it.
Do some research to make sure it is sound/ free from expensive issues and has 12 months MOT.
Run it on a shoe string (bar fluids and consumable if needed) and when a big job rears its head, either part it out or scrap it.
A none runner/spares or repairs with headgasket failure in very bad condition with bits missing, sold on eBay for £5k.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/267177889262?_skw=bentl...
A bit of a gamble, but £5k in depreciation for 2 years motoring and to experience the W12 and to be able to say I have a Bentley, doesn't seem to be too ruinous.
Obviously it may "fail to proceed" the minute you park it up, so there is still an element of gambling and you'd have to try not to get overly invested in it.
Unreal said:
Exasperated said:
cerb4.5lee said:
Exasperated said:
cerb4.5lee said:
I want it purely for this...CO2: 410g/km.
Greta's head would be rolling off at the thought of this I'd imagine.
This appears to be a common thought on Pistonheads, and I'm not sure I fully understand why. Why would you want something purely because of the high emissions? What do you get out of knowingly upsetting someone you don't know? Is it just spite or is there a deeper reason? Could you explain the thought process?Greta's head would be rolling off at the thought of this I'd imagine.
I would delight in doing it if it upset Greta, who I regard as a rather stupid, privileged and emotional brat, or any other lentil muncher that believes my car has caused their kids ass-ma or ADHD but that would just be a by-product, not a reason for buying the car.
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