Early Continental GT's

[fuzzy01]

Hi ladies and gents, I'm an interloper from the Aston group oh p/heads. Thinking of adding a Continental GT to my beloved DB9 with a budget of up to 40K. It would essentially be a daily driver, but low in miles and I was wondering what words of wisdom any of you would like to share with me. It seems that the early 04/05 cars are seriously good value for money for a quality car. Bearing in mind I am used to the sort of servicing/tyres/brakes costs for the Aston its the reliability/user friendly sort of side I'm after. Any info very gratefully received. Thanks.

[Corbeliere]

Hi fuzzy.

I bought an 04 last year. Lovely car with 53k and full main dealer history.
I believe you should check for full history, sagging headlining, brake discs and all elec's work as well as the usual things with a used car.

Mine needed new discs and pads but I changed them myself for a grand.
A tyre from the main dealer was just £260.
The Sat Nav in early cars is naf without updated discs but I have started using Google on my Android instead.

Exhaust mod is easy, simply disconnect and block the Vac pipes from the rear boxes for a nicer sound.
If it has black lower grilles, remove and spray silver, simple and looks better IMO.

I've had a few late XJR's and an Aston V12 DB7 before and can say that the Bentley GT is a totally different experience. As I said in another post, it's a smile a mile.

Hope that helps a little.

Les.

[fuzzy01]

Thanks Les, sat nav sounds familiar, I use my garmin instead of Astons frankly horrible standard one. Again discs/pads and similar are the sort of job I carry out myself. Many thanks for the imput. Mike

[W12GT]

I may very regrettably be selling mine to fund a house purchase. I really don't want to as it is the best car I have ever owned. I searched a very long time and ended up buying from a Bentley main dealer as I wanted peace of mind.

It's a 2006 Mulliner spec car so has all the right revisions that resolved the issues of the earlier cars, Moonbeam silver with Beluga (black) interior with silver contrasting diamond stitching. It is in immaculate condition, just MOTd and serviced by my local main dealer and has Bentley warranty until June 2015. I'd love to let a fellow PHer have it and save on the huge mark up from a main dealer.

If you are interested send me a PM.

Truly amazing cars and if she has to go I will be getting another one as soon as funds allow.

Edited by W12GT on Tuesday 17th June 21:01

[t7mbo]

Message sent David
Cheers
Tim

[kingstanding]

Hi.
I bought my Continental GT just over a year ago & I love it. It's 2004MY 27,000 miles & I paid £31k from a dealer. Full Bentley service history. Apart from full history things to look out for are:
1. Tyre pressure monitoring system. A known weakness so check that wheel sensor batteries have been changed and possibly the CPU
2. High level brake light. Again a known fault & expensive to repair/replace.
3. Bentley make special tyres for this model (B designation on the tyre wall spec). Make sure all 4 wheels have them & are identical
4. If the car has been parked outside a lot then debris can collect in the drain tube under the engine top end near the bulkhead. If it hasn't been cleaned then rain/wash water spills over into the footwell which can also kill the electronics
5. There are 2 batteries; one for starting (RHS in boot) and one for everything else (LHS). Always make sure the LHS battery is on charge (battery conditioner is best) if the car's not going to be used for a while
6. Weight of car causes wear in steering racks, pumps & wheel bearings
7. Between 2004 & 2008 Bentley recalled thousands of GTs due to salt which corroded the fuel filter causing a dangerous leak. Make sure recall has been done
8. Airbag warning lights can flash because of a faulty driver's airbag squib
9. Finally, colour/colour combinations can have an impact on resale values. Blues, blacks, silver & grey are fine providing the interior colour is complementary. Some original owners have eccentric taste! Also, light coloured dashboard tops can reflect into the windscreen on sunny days.

Hope this helps.

[fuzzy01]

Wow, thanks Kingstanding very interesting. Appreciate your reply. It seems this clogged drain hole is well known yet still causes expensive problems as does the high level brake light. Anyone else have interesting experiences, I seem to be building a quite a check list W12GT you have pm. Thanks again.

[ADP68]

Would you be kind enough to post your checklist on here, perhaps the mods could make it sticky, so we can all benefit? These cars seem such a bargain now that I'm sure you're not the only one who has thought about buying one.
Thank you and good luck
AP

[W12GT]

Thanks for PM guys. I really don't want to sell if I don't have to but if the mrs gets carried away with the house search then it will have to go :0( I will keep you posted as decision will be made in the next month

[fuzzy01]

Hi AP, the main bits are listed right here by Corbeliere and Kingstanding, again thanks guys.

[Tim Farquhar]

Hi Fuzzy, I bought a 2004 GT, with 28000 miles, and full Bentley service history, back in February this year. During the following 19 weeks, the car has spent 5 weeks in a specialist workshop. Firstly to replace leaky power steering, and aircon systems, and secondly (currently) to find the problems causing a number of dashboard lights to illuminate. Over the car's lifetime it has had a partial wiring loom after only six years, due to the flooding scuttle syndrome. There have been TWO sets of tyre pressure monitors fitted, and still they don't work. The heated rear screen stopped working a couple of years ago, and at £2600 for a cure, it will remain that way, in my ownership. The keyless entry sytem has also given up the ghost, although I've never had a car with that system, so don't miss it. These cars are beautiful to drive, with immense power, excellent interior, and exterior finishes, but are seriously let down by the electronics, and some cheap hoses etc. beneath the surface. To be honest, the shine has gone off owning the car at the moment, as I have been disappointed with the reliability of a car that cost the thick end of £120,000 backin 2004. Why weren't better quality materials used. Companies such as Kia can put warranties of 7 years on a car these days, and it's doubtful one would even need to call upon it, and I really would expect a manufacturer purporting to be luxury, high end engineering to get their act together, to maintain any reputation. I'm not sure yet, if I would buy another Bentley, however it seems from posts on PH, that most luxury/sports cars are just as bad. All the best. Tim.

[fuzzy01]

Mmmmm thanks Tim, I had a sneaky feeling that stories like yours would surface, to try and be fair there are other Aston owners that have had problems whilst I have had nothing whatsoever go wrong with my DB9 in best part of 2 years. I have an 03 R Rover Autobiography in really good nick that plows on and on and it would be this car I would be p/ex against a Conti so I need to be sure i'm making the right choice. Many thanks.

[ADP68]

That's an interesting observation Tim re Kia. I would have thought in the 1990s that the issue would be due to the volume manufacturers engineering out faults in their huge production runs, compared to the niche players, but these cars are based on a lot of VW/Audi parts, so I'm told, so they should have at least a 7 year guarantee (given the price) shouldn't they? Don't Vauxhall now do 100k mileage guarantees?!

[Tim Farquhar]

I had hoped that Volkswagen may have introduced tried and tested components into the Bentley GT, and was a reason I plumped for that model, instead of a "real" Bentley. I know Bentley are still a small scale manufacturer, but there is no real excuse for not engineering their cars better (good drainage to prevent flooded bulkheads for example), and using top quality materials, when they charge ten times more for a car, such as Kias, or Vauxhalls, which do seem to go round the clock with little more than servicing, and replacing consumables.On the bright side, I've saved a couple of hundred quid on petrol during the 5 weeks lay ups, which will fund some of the repairs.

[matt5791]

The problem with these cars is they are simply too complex, have too much going on in them. Other top end cars can suffer the same sort of similar expensive problems. A car like a Kia just has a lot less to it, less to go wrong, not as finely tuned or highly strung. And I don't believe they are designed to be worked on easily - designed to be assembled easily and efficiently, I'm sure.