Buying a Bentley
Discussion
First post so I hope I don't cause any trouble.
I want to buy a Bentley Turbo, around 1990 or so. I have to sell the boat and the bike first, so there's not exactly a rush on to snap one up. But, I can't have too much information about the project. I see a group of dealers "RR and Bentley Specialists Association" on the net, and most of them have fine looking cars for sale. Is this a good start? I don't expect any sledging, but has anyone had any experience? I am also drawn to buying privately, as I can always have checks done anyway.
I plan to enjoy a grand tour with the new purchase before shipping it back to Australia for years of enjoyable motoring. There are enough comments on the site to convince me the positives definitely outweigh the negatives!
Thank you all for a fantastic website.
I want to buy a Bentley Turbo, around 1990 or so. I have to sell the boat and the bike first, so there's not exactly a rush on to snap one up. But, I can't have too much information about the project. I see a group of dealers "RR and Bentley Specialists Association" on the net, and most of them have fine looking cars for sale. Is this a good start? I don't expect any sledging, but has anyone had any experience? I am also drawn to buying privately, as I can always have checks done anyway.
I plan to enjoy a grand tour with the new purchase before shipping it back to Australia for years of enjoyable motoring. There are enough comments on the site to convince me the positives definitely outweigh the negatives!
Thank you all for a fantastic website.
I own a 1990 Turbo R. It took me years of searching to get the one I wanted. Definitely buy the very best you can, anything else is usually false economy. Mine was low mileage (60k), only two previous owners, full service history mostly from Jack Barclay and in colour and spec that I wanted. It is 100% original spec as it left the factory. Only negative was a couple of very minor marks on the paintwork. Luckily I have a good friend who is an experienced car repairer/painter and he fixed it up for me free of charge.
Last summer we did a grand tour across Europe down to the Hungarian F1. Car was perfect and averaged exactly 18.00 mpg over 4,000 miles.
This year we drove down to Spain to take in Barcelona F1. Again car was perfect.
It obviously has not been cheap to run. It had a minor service last year before the trip and a intermediate one on the return this year. Apart from "normal" servicing, the only item that has caused expense is the air con. Last year the pump packed up and this year it needed some new hoses but I am fussy and want to keep it in A1 condition.
When you are looking to buy one, make sure you can get it up on a ramp to have a real good look underneath. I saw some real horrors that looked OK from a distance but were rotten underneath. Pay special attention to the wheel arches and the bases of the suspension. I'm told that mine had rarely been out in the wet and never used on salted winter roads and the condition backs this up. It is currently in a new garage under a cloth cover with a trickle charger on.
Just to go and sit in it and smell the leather is lovely. There are plenty of rough and average ones out there but take your time and look for a good one as it will be worth it.
Last summer we did a grand tour across Europe down to the Hungarian F1. Car was perfect and averaged exactly 18.00 mpg over 4,000 miles.
This year we drove down to Spain to take in Barcelona F1. Again car was perfect.
It obviously has not been cheap to run. It had a minor service last year before the trip and a intermediate one on the return this year. Apart from "normal" servicing, the only item that has caused expense is the air con. Last year the pump packed up and this year it needed some new hoses but I am fussy and want to keep it in A1 condition.
When you are looking to buy one, make sure you can get it up on a ramp to have a real good look underneath. I saw some real horrors that looked OK from a distance but were rotten underneath. Pay special attention to the wheel arches and the bases of the suspension. I'm told that mine had rarely been out in the wet and never used on salted winter roads and the condition backs this up. It is currently in a new garage under a cloth cover with a trickle charger on.
Just to go and sit in it and smell the leather is lovely. There are plenty of rough and average ones out there but take your time and look for a good one as it will be worth it.
Crapaud said:
Just to go and sit in it and smell the leather is lovely.
Amen to this.I to own a 1990 Turbo R. I am just eight days into ownership and I wish I had bought one years ago. They are just magnificent. I've owned all sorts of cars, from big saloons to some very quick sports cars. I admit to being a little bit unsure as to how the Bentley would fit. A few years back I owned a mid 90's Brabus 7.3S that was 250 large when new. I bought it second hand for less than a tenth of what it cost new. Monstorously fast. A 200mph plus uber saloon. If I lived in Germany I'd probably still own it. In the UK a total waste of time as it did not feel that special until you were travelling at the "do not pass go and go straight to jail speeds". The Bentley feels special all of the time.
The key as with anything is to carry out due diligence. Make sure everything works as it should. Service history stacks up and it is not as wrotten as a pear. Then just enjoy. My own requires a little fettling but nothing major. She won't be seeing our salted roads so roll on spring
. Good luck and enjoy I have recently been looking at quite a number of the Continental R, and have now agreed to buy one.
What I think is, with these and the 4 door cars: Make sure the bodywork & paint are in really good order - if you need to work on it, it's very expensive to do indeed because you need a really good body shop and you'll need to pay top money, to the best people, IF you want it done correctly. If you don't do it correctly the car will look awful. So, in my mind, you need to buy a car with mint bodywork. Furthermore, it's much harder to, accurately, quantify the cost of body repairs like you can with mechanicals, in advance of a purchase.
Thus it follows that I am far less concerned about mechanicals as they are always easier to sort out. Much of these pre-VW cars are relatively simple when compared to top end cars of today. If there are mechanical issues, the rule would be: just make sure you know what they are and that the price reflects the work required. And, it's easy to price mechanical repairs and therefore easy to use them to reduce the asking price to the correct level.
One very important mechanical area to be sure about is the hydraulic system - I know with the conti R - and I would assume the 4 door cars too - they need a full hydraulic service every 60,000 miles or 8 years - it costs about £3000 to do at a decent specialist. If there isn't any evidence that it has been done, make sure the price reflects this. You can tell by the way they sit on the road if they need suspension work.
This car sits beautifully on the road:
http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/b...
I would have tried to buy that car, but I wanted a '96 model year. But if anyone is interested in one of these cars and are not picky about the model year, definitely go and see that one.
Final note - At the moment, it's a buyers market and you need to bid sellers well below the belt. Don't be shy. And you may find meeting somewhere in the middle for a very agreeable deal.
What I think is, with these and the 4 door cars: Make sure the bodywork & paint are in really good order - if you need to work on it, it's very expensive to do indeed because you need a really good body shop and you'll need to pay top money, to the best people, IF you want it done correctly. If you don't do it correctly the car will look awful. So, in my mind, you need to buy a car with mint bodywork. Furthermore, it's much harder to, accurately, quantify the cost of body repairs like you can with mechanicals, in advance of a purchase.
Thus it follows that I am far less concerned about mechanicals as they are always easier to sort out. Much of these pre-VW cars are relatively simple when compared to top end cars of today. If there are mechanical issues, the rule would be: just make sure you know what they are and that the price reflects the work required. And, it's easy to price mechanical repairs and therefore easy to use them to reduce the asking price to the correct level.
One very important mechanical area to be sure about is the hydraulic system - I know with the conti R - and I would assume the 4 door cars too - they need a full hydraulic service every 60,000 miles or 8 years - it costs about £3000 to do at a decent specialist. If there isn't any evidence that it has been done, make sure the price reflects this. You can tell by the way they sit on the road if they need suspension work.
This car sits beautifully on the road:
http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/b...
I would have tried to buy that car, but I wanted a '96 model year. But if anyone is interested in one of these cars and are not picky about the model year, definitely go and see that one.
Final note - At the moment, it's a buyers market and you need to bid sellers well below the belt. Don't be shy. And you may find meeting somewhere in the middle for a very agreeable deal.
Edited by matt5791 on Wednesday 13th November 09:49
matt5791 said:
Maybe so, but the colur is 
and even worse inside!
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