Relative pain profile of a DBS versus a Bentley GT

[anonymous-user]

Hi all

I've heard lots of horror stories about Bentley GT's:

a. chasing electrical gremlins, sometimes for entire ownership period of car
b. ratio of jobs that need the engine lifted out in order to be done...
c. ... generating £1k+ bills for jobs that would be simple in other cars

and general horror stories that all end in the axiom that "it's a £100k car, they cost a lot to run". Got that, loud and clear, eyes wide open.

How do reasonably recent Astons compare please?

As a yardstick I am interested in a mid period DBS, presume FAMSH and low owners, specialist inspected before purchase, from a reputable dealer. I'm familiar with buying cars, not looking for the usual life lessons, so to speak, more interested in the like for like probability of problems and the head-in-hands moments with a say 2015 Aston versus a 2015 Bentley GT.

How do they cope on the a, b, and c list above for example?

I could happily have either as a purchase, and enjoy both, but I want to minimise the likelihood of buying a lemon by being sensitive to the overall odds and probability of the marque, as well as proper inspections of the car.

Thanks in advance.

[Dewi 2]

As an example of reliability, presume you are interested in actual owner experience from new.

4.7 Vantage now 10 years old.

Fault 1. Closure magnet became loose - glove box lid. New car warranty dealt with this.
Fault 2. Clutch failure. Replaced with twin plate alternative.
Fault 3. Failed damper - Drivers door.

Very pleased, having so few faults.

[anonymous-user]

Thanks Dewi.

Yes I would be happy with an ownership experience like that... certainly the Aston threads tend to be less doom-mongering than the Bentley ones too...

[anonymous-user]

DBS stopped in 2012, so 2015 comparison is going to be tricky.

[LooneyTunes]

We have a ‘17 Conti GTC as well as Aston. The Conti has had the more serious issues (roof seal died and allowed water into passenger compartment and boot) but was fixed under warranty. I doubt it would have been a cheap fix if not under warranty, and definitely one I would have had a serious chat with them about if there wasn’t a lot of “goodwill” at invoice time. Dealer service not as good with Bentley, a minor issue wasn't addresses three times and has put me off buying another. Disappointing really, and quite short sighted of them.

This far not had anything serious go wrong with Astons Aside from wheel arch liners in the Vanquish sagging. Fixed under warranty but suspect something I wouldn’t have bothered doing if it was out of warranty and had a sizeable bill attached. Local main dealer servicing team have been very flexible.

[JulianPH]

Give each a good test drive before deciding.

Up until about a month ago I had both (though my Aston was a DB9, rather than a DBS) and no real problems with eitherover years of ownership.

The Bentley was the better car in pretty much every respect, but the Aston just has something magical about it and gets so much respect from others.

You won't go wrong with either. It was actually a very difficult decision to let my Aston go, which was only made easier by it going to a mate on here.