Okay, so budget of £20K what would you buy?

[Xtriple129]

Me again. Further to my recent thread I'm now looking for informed opinion on which model of Bentley to get, which year, which spec and why.

Given 20 Large to blow (total including any rectification needed/wanted) on a complete toy that will be your 'forever' car, what would you get?

I may be asking a similar question in a different why, but I am serious about getting one and now want to plunder you guys (and gals) knowledge. Would you have a Rolls-Royce version, or an Arnage, or a Bentley for that budget? Big question I know, but .... just go with it!

[V8 FOU]

Simple answer. Go for late car. Drive a few before deciding. If you can stretch a bit go for a Continental R. Ultimate Bentley. Crewe type, of course, not VW monstrosity. There is a BDC meeting at the end of June where you could bend the ear of a few owners, once you get past all the flat hats / cravats / etc!

[graemel]

Byteme said:

Stretching to a Continental R would most likely limit a purchase to the earliest cars with short front seat cushions. OK for a short journey but there is only so long you can stay comfortable when parking your backside on such a narrow ledge.

dave might be a short r's

[POORCARDEALER]

Look hard and you might find a Arnage R which are a lovely car

[Xtriple129]

I have considered a LWB car, preferably with TVs etc - the dogs need their entertainment! But as both dogs are not exactly tall, a short wheelbase car will be fine!

There may be a nice royal blue 95 available soon. 91000 miles but sounds like it has had SERIOUS maintanance done recently.

[matt5791]

This looks like it is ***potentially*** a nice car. Expensive though.

http://www.vintagerollsroycecars.com/car-details/1...

[dazzalse]

A nice car would be a Brooklands R Mulliner

[dazzalse]

A nice car would be a Brooklands R Mulliner

[atomicpunk]

You can buy Michael Winner's if you want:

http://www.gallimoremotors.co.uk/showroom.html

[Xtriple129]

I like both of the two linked above. Is £20K too much for them though? That's a serious question as I'm seeing quite a few very late SZs at or above that price. I do like the Mulliner with the front wing vents - sexy!

[matt5791]

Xtriple129 said:

I like both of the two linked above. Is £20K too much for them though? That's a serious question as I'm seeing quite a few very late SZs at or above that price. I do like the Mulliner with the front wing vents - sexy!

Some dealers will have these cars for months - the one I linked to has been available from that dealer since the autumn.

It is a buyer's market and you should not be afraid to pitch a bid substantially below the asking price because sooner or later you will get a bargain. At the very least they will engage in negotiation, even if the offer is
totally below the belt.

[ADP68]

Stewart Walker Bentley specialist has just sold an arnage 4.4 (BMW engine) for £20k. Looked nice. Have a search on this forum and you'll see quite a few complimentary posts on them by people who actually own them (or ex owners)

[zubair]

i have a silver Arnage 67k miles which i have owned for over 8 years no longer required you can have an amazing deal on that .

[dazzalse]

Byteme said:

dazzalse said:

A nice car would be a Brooklands R Mulliner

Only if it does not carry a price premium. It has the longer wheelbase but there's not much else it has going for it.

Thats a really interesting comment, and I wonder if you speak from personal experience having owned one myself from new back in 1998, i thought the extra 25 bhp made for a better driving experience over the Brooklands, it was also less harsh and brutal then the Turbo R. I also believe that people are starting to see true value in these cars now and they have all but finished depreciating with lower mileage examples on a upwards trend. We have had a string on Arnages and most recently a Phantom but I also have had a soft spot for these and would buy anther if a suitable car came up for sale. as for the chrome bezels coming from Halfords you must be thinking of something else as they were one of the nicest places to be.

[POORCARDEALER]

Ive owned several Mulliner R's and I think they are a nice place to be, some nice touches, push button start etc etc but I wouldnt pay a big premium over a turbo r for one

[Xtriple129]

I am now, totally confused! I see cars at prices that vary from £8K to £19K for what looks to be the same car! Also, early cars (that I don't want) for similar prices. There seems to be absolutely zero rhyme or reason to pricing: think of a figure, double it, divide by nine then add whatever you want!

I've e-mailed a few dealers about cars... no replies as yet and the 95 car I was really interested in, the seller has gone quiet, maybe he realises he'd be better off keeping it after all the money spent on it recently.

I don't fancy driving all over the UK, crossing backwards and forwards to see cars. Lazy of me I know, but I don't like wasting tooooooo much time... There's a couple of late cars in wildberry that I really like, but scared of spending all my budget in one shot, I want a contingency fund for when it (inevitably) goes wrong!

At the other end of the budget/market, there's a Mulsanne S for £8K that I keep looking at. It's got a chrome grille which I'm not keen on, but there's something about it I like. For a similar price, there's a Brooklands which is in green but it's a late car with low miles and looks (in the pictures) really nice. See what I mean, no rhyme or reason to pricing.

I'm tempted to go for the latest car I can get and buy from a dealer, is there any chance of a warranty on cars like these?

[ADP68]

Perhaps you should restrict your search to members of the RRBSA (google it, Rolls-Royce and Bentley Specialist Association) and search their websites. http://www.rrbsa.co.uk/memblist.html

I can see that there is a lot of choice out there but you'll stand a good chance of getting a nice car from one of these guys who have a reputation to uphold and most of whom will give you a warranty.
There is, what appears to be, a nice Arnage 6.75 in the RREC mag this month for £17k with a main dealer SH, but I've not seen the car (apart from in a photo). You could also speak to someone in the RRBSA and ask them if they have a customer selling a car, that's what a lot of Nigel Sandell's buyers do. Or you could get an inspection undertaken by one of them on a car you find yourself.
I can totally see that you need to mitigate risks somewhat on such complex cars!
Good luck
http://www.royceservice.co.uk/items/264/
Nigel's details:
http://www.nsandell.com/sales.php
some people on this website swear by these chaps:
http://www.pmcuk.com/proddetail.asp?prod=TurboRLSp...
and I'm told these are good to (but have never met them, only chatted on the 'phone):
http://www.roycemotorservices.co.uk/car_stock.php?...

Edited by ADP68 on Thursday 5th June 09:23

[TurboBlue]

Bit reluctant to wade in here as I've no experience at all with these cars but they do fascinate me (since the earliest Mulsanne Turbo in '84) and in the same (theoretical) financial position I'd be drawn to the Turbo S model; there are two for sale at around your price point, both green:

http://hanwells.net/bentley-select/turbo/1995-m-be...

http://www.silverladyservices.co.uk/used/BENTLEY/T...

But, and it's a big but I'm not sure I'd go with those, I'd try and get a Continental R - much older and more expensive - but in the long run, likely to stay depreciation free and glorious in a way only extravagantly unnecessarily huge two door coupes should be.

Seen these at auctions for the last decade pretty much unchanged in value; there is a nice looking private sale early blue Continental on Auto-Trader for £27,250 which isn't so far from what you want to spend.

[graemel]

It is funny you know. When I started looking at Turbo R's I started to get hung up on the Turbo S. That has to be the daddy. But in truth whether you buy an S or an R some are quick and some are not. That is the reality of hand made bespoke cars. There was a very nice mint low mileage S for sale at Hexagon. £40K from memory. I'm thinking that has to be the car.
I do like the look of the narrow bodied Continetal R's, not the wide body but I don't like the dash layout with that raised centre binnacle.
Maybe you should just take time to evaluate what you want from your Turbo R. They don't sell like hot cakes so there is no need to rush.

Edited by graemel on Friday 6th June 07:56

[jhoneyball]

The daddy is the RT