Help With Wedding Car Suggestions - Rolls Royce, Mercedes?
Discussion
Hi folks, first time poster but I’m quite an experienced forumist, just not here 
I’m looking to buy a car for my own wedding hire business and need some advice. I had my heart set on a Rolls Royce Silver Shadow circa 1978 as it has the look I wanted and recently serviced/overhauled versions would still only be around £6995.
I started to wobble when I began reading up on them; this quote from another forum was of serious concern!
“Plus the Citroen-derived hydraulic system alone can cost you more than the value of the car to fix, and if you get it looked after properly at a specialist or main dealer then this system's entire network of pipes will need replacing every six or seven years - the dreaded Hydraulic Service. At a main dealer that's £4,500 or thereabouts”
And...
“Unfortunately it hasn’t all been good news with the New Spirit which blew a head gasket earlier this year. Not an uncommon occurrence according to David, but it meant that the cost of parts, including a new cylinder head gasket, radiator and battery accounted for half of the scorching £4,800 repair bill. These are fiendishly complicated and expensive cars to repair and you really need a mechanic to accompany you on the final appraisal so you can negotiate a fair price according to condition, and walk away from rubbish”
Ouch! This brought me down to earth with a bang and made me realise that old Rolls Royce's and Bentley's are really not normal cars, there is a whole almost Masonic culture around the cars and the maintenance of them. In your experience is this vintage of Rolls Royce really as expensive to run as they’re made out to be or is it blown out of proportion?
A mate of mine will be looking after the mechanicals, but that's still no good if the parts are insanely priced and if every repair that would cost £100 on a normal car costs £4000+ as it would essentially write the car off.
The end result of this is me considering other perhaps slightly more modern and reliable cars for similar money. I still want something elegant and with presence, how about an old Mercedes S-Class, or BMW 7 Series....as I said it will be used for weddings so mileage isn't an issue, it's keeping it running that's the big concern especially when it MUST be reliable.
Any help, advise or suggestions much appreciated
I’m looking to buy a car for my own wedding hire business and need some advice. I had my heart set on a Rolls Royce Silver Shadow circa 1978 as it has the look I wanted and recently serviced/overhauled versions would still only be around £6995.
I started to wobble when I began reading up on them; this quote from another forum was of serious concern!
“Plus the Citroen-derived hydraulic system alone can cost you more than the value of the car to fix, and if you get it looked after properly at a specialist or main dealer then this system's entire network of pipes will need replacing every six or seven years - the dreaded Hydraulic Service. At a main dealer that's £4,500 or thereabouts”
And...
“Unfortunately it hasn’t all been good news with the New Spirit which blew a head gasket earlier this year. Not an uncommon occurrence according to David, but it meant that the cost of parts, including a new cylinder head gasket, radiator and battery accounted for half of the scorching £4,800 repair bill. These are fiendishly complicated and expensive cars to repair and you really need a mechanic to accompany you on the final appraisal so you can negotiate a fair price according to condition, and walk away from rubbish”
Ouch! This brought me down to earth with a bang and made me realise that old Rolls Royce's and Bentley's are really not normal cars, there is a whole almost Masonic culture around the cars and the maintenance of them. In your experience is this vintage of Rolls Royce really as expensive to run as they’re made out to be or is it blown out of proportion?
A mate of mine will be looking after the mechanicals, but that's still no good if the parts are insanely priced and if every repair that would cost £100 on a normal car costs £4000+ as it would essentially write the car off.
The end result of this is me considering other perhaps slightly more modern and reliable cars for similar money. I still want something elegant and with presence, how about an old Mercedes S-Class, or BMW 7 Series....as I said it will be used for weddings so mileage isn't an issue, it's keeping it running that's the big concern especially when it MUST be reliable.
Any help, advise or suggestions much appreciated
Looking at this myself I'd be inclined to go for something with pretty classic looks.
Love the Rolls Royce for the presence and design so maybe if old is your way a Rover P5B?
For an 80s car a Mercedes SE.
If newer then a LWB Jaguar X300 (XJ6). - bomb proof engine and box, elegant lines, decent room in the LWB
ETA Just looking there seme to be lots of LWB XJ308s on the market for reasnable money. Budget left for chains and tensioners, jobs a good un
Love the Rolls Royce for the presence and design so maybe if old is your way a Rover P5B?
For an 80s car a Mercedes SE.
If newer then a LWB Jaguar X300 (XJ6). - bomb proof engine and box, elegant lines, decent room in the LWB
ETA Just looking there seme to be lots of LWB XJ308s on the market for reasnable money. Budget left for chains and tensioners, jobs a good un
Edited by Six Fiend on Tuesday 6th March 20:42
Six Fiend said:
Looking at this myself I'd be inclined to go for something with pretty classic looks.
Love the Rolls Royce for the presence and design so maybe if old is your way a Rover P5B?
For an 80s car a Mercedes SE.
If newer then a LWB Jaguar X300 (XJ6). - bomb proof engine and box, elegant lines, decent room in the LWB
ETA Just looking there seme to be lots of LWB XJ308s on the market for reasnable money. Budget left for chains and tensioners, jobs a good un
Some classics there Love the Rolls Royce for the presence and design so maybe if old is your way a Rover P5B?
For an 80s car a Mercedes SE.
If newer then a LWB Jaguar X300 (XJ6). - bomb proof engine and box, elegant lines, decent room in the LWB
ETA Just looking there seme to be lots of LWB XJ308s on the market for reasnable money. Budget left for chains and tensioners, jobs a good un
Edited by Six Fiend on Tuesday 6th March 20:42
Those are the sort of cars I'd be looking for, something that you don't see everyday, it has to be quite special for a special day. I've had a quick look and can't find many SE's around, was it this model you were thinking off?
WOPR said:
Odie said:
what about something older? 60s and 70s really isnt very good for cars and reliability
Interesting, what sort of thing did you have in mind?http://www.classiccarsforsale.co.uk/classic-car-pa...
what about an 80s merc? not sure what the current trend is but a couple of 80s barges could be worth looking at.
WOPR said:
Some classics there Those are the sort of cars I'd be looking for, something that you don't see everyday, it has to be quite special for a special day. I've had a quick look and can't find many SE's around, was it this model you were thinking off?
Ta Those are the sort of cars I'd be looking for, something that you don't see everyday, it has to be quite special for a special day. I've had a quick look and can't find many SE's around, was it this model you were thinking off?Absolutely this
I love them, so much car and presence. SELs rate too...
450 SEL
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1978-Mercedes-Benz-450-s...
or 450SEL 6.9...
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MERCEDES-BENZ-450-SEL-6-...
Edited by Six Fiend on Tuesday 6th March 21:01
no idea what this is but looks a bargain, needs spraying white though I would think
http://www.classiccarsforsale.co.uk/classic-car-pa...
http://www.classiccarsforsale.co.uk/classic-car-pa...
Six Fiend said:
Ta
Absolutely this
I love them, so much car and presence. SELs rate too...
450 SEL
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1978-Mercedes-Benz-450-s...
or 450SEL 6.9...
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MERCEDES-BENZ-450-SEL-6-...
I'm liking these, probably in reality more the sort of thing I was thinking after the shock of those bills, this part of one listing was encouraging "THE NEAR SIDE DRIVESHAFT HAS BEEN REPLACED WITH BRAND NEW MERCEDES PARTS PARTS COST £455.52" - that's a bit more like it, one of those for the Silver Shadow would most likely be Absolutely this
I love them, so much car and presence. SELs rate too...
450 SEL
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1978-Mercedes-Benz-450-s...
or 450SEL 6.9...
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MERCEDES-BENZ-450-SEL-6-...
Edited by Six Fiend on Tuesday 6th March 21:01
Would still like to hear from anyone who runs an old Rolls though.
Odie said:
no idea what this is but looks a bargain, needs spraying white though I would think
http://www.classiccarsforsale.co.uk/classic-car-pa...
Some excellent suggestions for something different, thanks!http://www.classiccarsforsale.co.uk/classic-car-pa...
Just read this part "A four gear crash gearbox", crikey would have to ask my Dad how to drive one of those, he's retired from HGV driving now but I know his first wagons back in the 60's used to have one
I was gonna stop posting but this caught my eye. This is what I would get if setting up.
http://www.classiccarsforsale.co.uk/classic-car-pa...
http://www.classiccarsforsale.co.uk/classic-car-pa...
Six Fiend said:
WOPR said:
Some classics there Those are the sort of cars I'd be looking for, something that you don't see everyday, it has to be quite special for a special day. I've had a quick look and can't find many SE's around, was it this model you were thinking off?
Ta Those are the sort of cars I'd be looking for, something that you don't see everyday, it has to be quite special for a special day. I've had a quick look and can't find many SE's around, was it this model you were thinking off?Absolutely this
Odie said:
White sills! That's probably had a bit of work done.Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff