Phantom Coupe - pros and cons
Discussion
Browsing around it seems there are a few reasonably priced ones of these around at the moment-priced slightly less than equivelent 4 door models.
Although I'm not currently looking to buy I may in the next year or thereabouts so its interesting because one could fit in my garage without having building work done which I would need with a normal Phantom,and parking it day to day use would be easier with its shorter length.
I would never be chauffeured around in the car,so would always be doing the driving myself.
I'm just wondering if other people see these benefits or is the general consensus is that you should either buy the saloon or drophead,and that the coupe has not got the 4 door practicality of the saloon or the open top potential of the drophead.
Although I'm not currently looking to buy I may in the next year or thereabouts so its interesting because one could fit in my garage without having building work done which I would need with a normal Phantom,and parking it day to day use would be easier with its shorter length.
I would never be chauffeured around in the car,so would always be doing the driving myself.
I'm just wondering if other people see these benefits or is the general consensus is that you should either buy the saloon or drophead,and that the coupe has not got the 4 door practicality of the saloon or the open top potential of the drophead.
I like the coupe but you are right in saying that it sits in a no mans land between the saloon and the drop top. I'm not so keen on driving it though as the shape of the rear window line severely restricts rearward vision. You say it is a more practical length for day to day use but it is still huge. One thing to bear in mind about your garage is that the width might be an issue. The doors are very long and very thick, and with the rear hinges it means they need to open quite far to let you in/out.
Having run a Drophead from new for the last 2 years, I can tell you they are not practical for day to day use, the saloons are OK if you have a chauffeur, but they don't fit in normal sized parking spaces, they are a worry when you leave them as they attract attention, the suicide doors are great but in practice getting in and out is a pain if you have parked in a tight space, ours has mostly been used down at our villa in Portugal, driving down at the beginning of the summer and coming back in September , we have covered about 8,000 miles in ours, fuel consumption has been excellent, dealer aftercare so so, not sure what the longterm servicing cost would be as ours is still covered by free servicing, Ride quality/quietness is unsurpassed, SatNav/Ipod/phone integration terrible although they have dealt with this on the series 2 cars and carried over the satnav from the ghost which was far superior. Hoping to change ours for a new series 2 Drophead in the spring if the deal is right.
Although not the kudos of the Phantom, a Ghost is far easier to live with for day to day use, even the wife will drive that but point blank refuses to use the Phantom, the only car in the last 20 years that she has refused to drive because of the size!
Although not the kudos of the Phantom, a Ghost is far easier to live with for day to day use, even the wife will drive that but point blank refuses to use the Phantom, the only car in the last 20 years that she has refused to drive because of the size!
Seems I wasn't the only one thinking the coupes are currently good value-all 4 of the ones I was watching have been sold since I started the thread.
I'd not thought about the door opening room-my garage is 20ft by 20ft and it would be sharing the space with my partners Fiat 500 Gucci so would probably be okay as long as the passenger/s get out before I put it away.Im used to big cars having run an Arnage and a L322 Range Rover in the past.
The Ghost is a great car but just doesn't appeal-its a Phantom I'm aiming for.My choices would be either buy a coupe or sell my SVX Defender,and two motorbikes and buy a Drophead.I only do around 4000 miles a year in my landy and the bikes combined-I'd have to sell my existing vehicles to justify the price premium of the Drophead to myself.
What are servicing intervals and costs like?I know they are going to be fairly high.
I'd not thought about the door opening room-my garage is 20ft by 20ft and it would be sharing the space with my partners Fiat 500 Gucci so would probably be okay as long as the passenger/s get out before I put it away.Im used to big cars having run an Arnage and a L322 Range Rover in the past.
The Ghost is a great car but just doesn't appeal-its a Phantom I'm aiming for.My choices would be either buy a coupe or sell my SVX Defender,and two motorbikes and buy a Drophead.I only do around 4000 miles a year in my landy and the bikes combined-I'd have to sell my existing vehicles to justify the price premium of the Drophead to myself.
What are servicing intervals and costs like?I know they are going to be fairly high.
If you buy a used car under the RR Provenance scheme you won't spend a penny on maintenance other than for tyres. The intervals are time, mileage and useage dependent so I would say you will do 1 service a year. I can't comment on the cost as I haven't paid for one yet, but you will need a warranty. The amount of money that alone has saved me is enormous.
The warranty issues suprise me somewhat-one of the main things that attracted me to these cars was the thought that apart from routine maintenance they would not be as temperamental as other similar priced cars.
Two of my friends have owned Phantom saloons from new,both until they were 3 years old,but only used them occasionally(1 covered 4000 miles,the other 7000 miles in that time).
The only issue one had was the transporter driver damaging a wheel unloading the car after a service.The driver was flippant about the damage which upset my friend and he refused to accept the car back until a replacement wheel was sent from Scotland to the Lake District!
Two of my friends have owned Phantom saloons from new,both until they were 3 years old,but only used them occasionally(1 covered 4000 miles,the other 7000 miles in that time).
The only issue one had was the transporter driver damaging a wheel unloading the car after a service.The driver was flippant about the damage which upset my friend and he refused to accept the car back until a replacement wheel was sent from Scotland to the Lake District!
I have run a Drophead since 2009 and have put about 18,000 miles on her mainly to and from and in the South of France where the car currently is. Reliability has been good. The only issues have been with the Sat Nav signal and a mystery limp mode type experience that did not repeat itself. You cannot sensibly use it as any every day car for the reasons already mentioned. Most annoying feature is that it only has two seat belts in a rear bench seat that fits three so the least favourite passenger has to sit unrestrained. Rather a silly indulgence really.
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