There is one for sale nearby, and I'm kinda curious about it. I know we have a few German luxury barge owners in here. Any experiences or impressions?
These do seem to have a really crazy price range for a single generation, with early cars costing about a tenth of late cars.
The one I'm looking at has a nice looking Carfax with service records from the local exotic car independent shop, verified though old photos on the shop's Facebook. $30,000 asking, 94,000 miles.
Dont' know anything firsthand, but reminds me of this article I read a while back...
https://www.autotrader.com/car-video/i-bought-cheapest-bentley-continental-gt-usa-269419
irish44j said:Dont' know anything firsthand, but reminds me of this article I read a while back...
https://www.autotrader.com/car-video/i-bought-cheapest-bentley-continental-gt-usa-269419
which is now owned by the youtuber tavarish and is awaiting a new engine going in.
Ok so couple things they are really reliable but you need to hunt for a cheap low mileage one. I have a friend who picked up a 08 flying spur with 36K miles for about 40K. He drives them to about 60K sells them cheap and moves on to the next.
So major issues.
O2 sensors go out.
Starter Motors go out
They EAT suspension components. Think new control arms every 30-40K miles.
Convertible tops wear out quick for some reaosn and get little tiny holes in them ~8K to replace with dealer parts about 2K with aftermarket. Most people just stitch them up.
The good.
If you really search and get a good one they realy are great cars. But you need to search, there are a lot out there and the asking price for most of them is completely out of wack.
I would say 50K buys a really good GT if you search, 40K for a flying spur. It would take 55-60 to get a good convertible.
I read the op and remembered this article (all prices $C) https://www.autotrader.ca/newsfeatures/20181206/depreciation-appreciation-2003-2011-bentley-continental-gt/
Weary, was this the car you once described as frequently needing a rear-window defroster repair/replace at a cost of $3000? (I'm just asking because I like to stay current on reasons to avoid cars I can't afford. Also, the messes German OEM's can get themselves or their customers into are absolutely fascinating.)
MrChaos said:irish44j said:Dont' know anything firsthand, but reminds me of this article I read a while back...
https://www.autotrader.com/car-video/i-bought-cheapest-bentley-continental-gt-usa-269419
which is now owned by the youtuber tavarish and is awaiting a new engine going in.
IIRC, Tyler bought it at auction. Because of an auction clause for exotic cars he didn't know about (or maybe didn't think applied), he was not allowed to PPI the car as he'd planned. I think he eventually put together that it'd had an odometer rollback and spent quite a few years passing from owner to owner in eastern Europe.
Stealthtercel said:(I'm just asking because I like to stay current on reasons to avoid cars I can't afford. )
This is the most GRM thing I've read in a long time.
Stealthtercel said:Weary, was this the car you once described as frequently needing a rear-window defroster repair/replace at a cost of $3000? (I'm just asking because I like to stay current on reasons to avoid cars I can't afford. Also, the messes German OEM's can get themselves or their customers into are absolutely fascinating.)
The coupe and spur have this issue. Its 3K dealer service but honestly most people just leave them dead and don't repair them or even notice. Someone out there online has a repair document for it.
Like everything German if you want it 100% perfect and you have your service done at a dealer then its going to eat you alive. So asked him last night what his yearly repair budget has worked out to across a few cars and he told me about 0.50$ a mile if you do the work at an independent and you are in the 8-10K a mile year range.
In reply to wearymicrobe :
This is really good information.
The cars I've been looking at are under $35,000, and are largely 2005-2006 model GT hardtops. These cars seem to look pretty good, and have clean titles, but mileage is 75,000+. Most of the materials I've seen on used Continentals is the range you're talking about- a bit higher. Any worries about these cars when they get miles on them? It looks like I can get a nice looking, well-kept driver with service records, a clean Carfax, and no modifications under $35,000.
Any opinion on this against a last-generation C216 Mercedes CL? I don't seem to hear as many people gripe about the Bentley reliability, but it's hard to tell if this is because the Bentley is more reliable, or if this is just bias due to specialist British manufacturer special pleading. It looks like you could get into a CL63 or a CL600 for entry-level Bentley CGT money.
Finally, I can find little on credible and critical driving impressions of the earliest cars. What I've seen suggests the steering is a little numb. Reviews of later cars on the same platform suggest the steering is excellent and surprisingly precise. Do you know what might have changed?
The Bentley is a better drivers car IMO. It will also be more reliable in general.
35-40K you should be looking at lower mileage 08-09's. The 08's got a host of improvements and they are much better daily drivers. I will keep an eye out for you and send you any that pop up. If you really want one the search will take ~4-6 months to get the best deal and at a price you want to pay.
MrChaos said:irish44j said:Dont' know anything firsthand, but reminds me of this article I read a while back...
https://www.autotrader.com/car-video/i-bought-cheapest-bentley-continental-gt-usa-269419
which is now owned by the youtuber tavarish and is awaiting a new engine going in.
I hate Tavarish vids.
Anyway I didn't know these were so cheap. Will add to my list of under $40k GT Lux cars I'm window shopping.
-V8 Vantage
-XKR
-CL63/CL600
-CLS63/CLS550
There is an older Bentley for sale locally (NW AR). Owner passed and his family wants to close the estate. If I recall, it is a 1954 Bentley R-Type, hard top, runs. He used to bring it to our shows. They want fifteen large for it.
I currently dd a 2003 cl600 that is just about to turn 200k miles. I’m about to replace it and am looking at the w216 CL series and the Continental GT. So far I’m leaning towards a 2011-2014 CL550, but a lot really depends on what kinds of deals I find.
In reply to yupididit :
I used to like tavarish videos. The early days of his rebuilding was cool to watch. Now there's 4 videos on any task he does. I don't need a video on welding a bolt to fix your shifter. The dude's full-time job is YouTube video. How is the entire accomplishment for the week welding a damn bolt. What do you do all day?
I went to Barrett Jackson Palm Beach this weekend. I walked around and checked every Continental GT because I really like them (but can't afford one). They had five '05's, three '07's and an '08. Hardtops went in the 40's and verts in the 50's. The stand out car was a black 07 Mansory vert twin turbo with like 20,000 miles that went for 90,000.00.
Damn, just found this one and it is really tempting.
https://chattanooga.craigslist.org/cto/d/chattanooga-2008-bentley-gt-speed/6821042037.html
In reply to NOT A TA :
How was the show? Wanted to go this time but just got busy. It’s silly that it’s 10 minutes away and I’ve never been.
Cotton said:Damn, just found this one and it is really tempting.
https://chattanooga.craigslist.org/cto/d/chattanooga-2008-bentley-gt-speed/6821042037.html
If it really is a speed then with a rebuilt title should be in the high 30's IMO.
Cotton said:I currently dd a 2003 cl600 that is just about to turn 200k miles. I’m about to replace it and am looking at the w216 CL series and the Continental GT. So far I’m leaning towards a 2011-2014 CL550, but a lot really depends on what kinds of deals I find.
Man, what mpg you get on that thing? :)
bcp2011 said:Cotton said:I currently dd a 2003 cl600 that is just about to turn 200k miles. I’m about to replace it and am looking at the w216 CL series and the Continental GT. So far I’m leaning towards a 2011-2014 CL550, but a lot really depends on what kinds of deals I find.
Man, what mpg you get on that thing? :)
I get 15-16 in the cl600 and that’s with about 75% highway driving.
We had a SCAD student at our autocross today with a '12 Bentley GT! It's a big girl, but the V12 twin turbo motor sure sounded nice.
This thread is hillarious. My Allroad and Phaeton seem positively Camry-like in their reliability compared with these cars and folks still drool over them. If you really want a stupid German supercruise machine shop around for a Phaeton or A8 with the W12 and enjoy being invisible while pulling small aircraft speed.
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