Queens award in EBay Bravery
Discussion
Hello ladies and Gentlechaps. My daily is a 350z that I adore but it has limitations. The primary one being if I want to transfer 3 mates to another location it'll take 3 trips. I've been hankering for a barge for a while and while XJ's 7s and S's are lovely they aren't from Crewe so my question is this: How brave an action is spending £5-7k on a Rolls or Bentley in the modern era?
Really all I need to know about is potential catastrophic rust and big bills for parts as it'll only be used odd weekends and for continent swallowing road trips. For reference I'm looking at something built between 1980 and 1993ish. I don't want to do anything outlandish with it other than swan about like I own the place and occasionally point a spanner at it.
Tia for advice.
Really all I need to know about is potential catastrophic rust and big bills for parts as it'll only be used odd weekends and for continent swallowing road trips. For reference I'm looking at something built between 1980 and 1993ish. I don't want to do anything outlandish with it other than swan about like I own the place and occasionally point a spanner at it.
Tia for advice.
Bentley & Rolls Royce owner of 20 years here, although normally new with warranty! Although you can pick something up for 5k, these cars were over 100k new so some parts are really expensive, I think a hydraulic service at a independent is the best part of 3.5k. A car costing that amount is going to need some work more then likely, 3k a year for routine maintenance and a slush fund of 5k for emergencies should see you keep the car on the road. I'm sure someone that runs one will be along shortly with more accurate numbers but it is never going to be cheap when your starting off with a car like that, better to spend 15k on a A1 condition Turbo R that has covered regular mileage and had regular maintenance.
Just don't... unless you are feeling really, REALLY lucky 
I bought one for £9k that was a cracker but it blew up in grand style within 2 months. If I'd have had to pay to repair it myself the bill would have been 8 - 10 thousand. Fortunately I bought from a reputable dealer and they refunded my money and all the expenses the car had cost me since purchase.
All parts for these cars are ridiculously expensive and there are few places you can get aftermarket bits - you can't just wander into GSF or Euro car parts and pick up a ball joint/track rod end/spring... or indeed, anything! Look on the Flying Spares website for an idea about parts prices and then re-calibrate your brain! Also, lots of things are easy to do on RR but rather a lot are absolute sods that need special tools and or experience - rear brake discs/bearings being a case in point and will hurt you in more ways than you could imagine!
My second car needed new front suspension (active ride) and parts and labour were over £4.5K for that alone, it also needed a new steering rack, new front brakes, new accumulators for the brakes, both brake pumps were leaking slightly, my engine mounts were shot as were the subframe dampers and the bill was just shy of 11.000 pounds. To be fair, it did have loads of other bits done at the same time but most of the bill was for parts, not labour.
Make sure everything works - seat ecus have internal batteries that are dead by now and will leak and damage the pcb - £450 please.
Same with alarms/immobilisers on later cars. Most have aircon faults where the flaps have seized so you get hot or cold but not both, and there will be rust in the wheelarches just some are hidden better than others. The engines themselves are usually (just not mine) bulletproof as are the gearboxes (old tech GM stuff) but they do need regular anti-freeze refreshes as corrosion internally kills the engines. Also thermostats only last a few years and are weird and pricy (about £90 for the part) so get it changed if the gauge reads low end of the white sector.
Be very careful: a tired old car still feels extremely good to drive and will wallow and waft its way around in a serene and most special manner but it will cost you several quite large fortunes to get it right. As said above; better to spend more in the first place and get a good car with history from a good specialist and that has been regularly used, even the handbook says that if the car is laid up it should still be used for at least 10 miles every 10 days... Inaction hurts them and the brakes will absorb air which, while the pedal still feels firm, the brakes will pull left, right and then straight which is horrible when trying to pilot 2.5 tonnes of huge barge down country lanes...
A good Bentley does not wallow, they are firm but compliant and the suspension is the best thing about them: how can something that looks like and is the same size as the town hall go round a corner like a sports car? Dunno, but they do! They are also remarkably quick, acceleration is fantastic and smooth and near silent which is most odd but presses you into the leather drivers seat like the back wants to shake hands with your spine. They are utterly fantastic cars but a good one is worth searching out and paying a bit (lot) more for.
The early cars are cheap now for good reason: the carbs were not the best (turbo cars I'm talking about) when new and ears have not been kind to them, nor have ham-fisted mechanics who over-tighten the bolts and distort the flange making air leaks common - new carbs are very pricy... They also don't have ABS or the nice interiors of the later cars.
Oh God, I'm writing a sonnet... if you want to know anything, just ask.
I bought one for £9k that was a cracker but it blew up in grand style within 2 months. If I'd have had to pay to repair it myself the bill would have been 8 - 10 thousand. Fortunately I bought from a reputable dealer and they refunded my money and all the expenses the car had cost me since purchase.
All parts for these cars are ridiculously expensive and there are few places you can get aftermarket bits - you can't just wander into GSF or Euro car parts and pick up a ball joint/track rod end/spring... or indeed, anything! Look on the Flying Spares website for an idea about parts prices and then re-calibrate your brain! Also, lots of things are easy to do on RR but rather a lot are absolute sods that need special tools and or experience - rear brake discs/bearings being a case in point and will hurt you in more ways than you could imagine!
My second car needed new front suspension (active ride) and parts and labour were over £4.5K for that alone, it also needed a new steering rack, new front brakes, new accumulators for the brakes, both brake pumps were leaking slightly, my engine mounts were shot as were the subframe dampers and the bill was just shy of 11.000 pounds. To be fair, it did have loads of other bits done at the same time but most of the bill was for parts, not labour.
Make sure everything works - seat ecus have internal batteries that are dead by now and will leak and damage the pcb - £450 please.
Same with alarms/immobilisers on later cars. Most have aircon faults where the flaps have seized so you get hot or cold but not both, and there will be rust in the wheelarches just some are hidden better than others. The engines themselves are usually (just not mine) bulletproof as are the gearboxes (old tech GM stuff) but they do need regular anti-freeze refreshes as corrosion internally kills the engines. Also thermostats only last a few years and are weird and pricy (about £90 for the part) so get it changed if the gauge reads low end of the white sector.
Be very careful: a tired old car still feels extremely good to drive and will wallow and waft its way around in a serene and most special manner but it will cost you several quite large fortunes to get it right. As said above; better to spend more in the first place and get a good car with history from a good specialist and that has been regularly used, even the handbook says that if the car is laid up it should still be used for at least 10 miles every 10 days... Inaction hurts them and the brakes will absorb air which, while the pedal still feels firm, the brakes will pull left, right and then straight which is horrible when trying to pilot 2.5 tonnes of huge barge down country lanes...
A good Bentley does not wallow, they are firm but compliant and the suspension is the best thing about them: how can something that looks like and is the same size as the town hall go round a corner like a sports car? Dunno, but they do! They are also remarkably quick, acceleration is fantastic and smooth and near silent which is most odd but presses you into the leather drivers seat like the back wants to shake hands with your spine. They are utterly fantastic cars but a good one is worth searching out and paying a bit (lot) more for.
The early cars are cheap now for good reason: the carbs were not the best (turbo cars I'm talking about) when new and ears have not been kind to them, nor have ham-fisted mechanics who over-tighten the bolts and distort the flange making air leaks common - new carbs are very pricy... They also don't have ABS or the nice interiors of the later cars.
Oh God, I'm writing a sonnet... if you want to know anything, just ask.
Basically what your saying is anything less than 10k should be considered a project at best and an unexploded bomb in the bank account at worst. I defo can't cope with a 12k bill and to be honest it's the suspension that scares me the most given they bought it in from Citroen.
Thanks for the reality check chaps.
Thanks for the reality check chaps.
I know it's not a RR but a Merc W126 might be a reasonable compromise for your needs?
I'm sure someone more experienced than me can guide on running costs etc but I'd of thought if you stick to the 300SE and buy one with as little rust as possible you might get away without too many ruinous bills! Still approaching 30 years old though I suppose.
I'm sure someone more experienced than me can guide on running costs etc but I'd of thought if you stick to the 300SE and buy one with as little rust as possible you might get away without too many ruinous bills! Still approaching 30 years old though I suppose.
Although I now have a Conti GT, I've had 4 Jaguar X350 XJR's.
5 seats, economical due to the alloy bodywork, easy 32/34 MPG on a run and 0-60 in 5 seconds. Even quicker if you do a few mods like I did, my last XJR was quicker to 60 than my Bentley.
Truly wonderful all round cars and brilliant long distance cruisers.
I still often regret selling mine and that's after 4 years of B ownership. It had 128,000k when I sold it and it still looked and drove like new.
You will probably find one in your price range too.
Choose wisely and good luck.
5 seats, economical due to the alloy bodywork, easy 32/34 MPG on a run and 0-60 in 5 seconds. Even quicker if you do a few mods like I did, my last XJR was quicker to 60 than my Bentley.
Truly wonderful all round cars and brilliant long distance cruisers.
I still often regret selling mine and that's after 4 years of B ownership. It had 128,000k when I sold it and it still looked and drove like new.
You will probably find one in your price range too.
Choose wisely and good luck.
Hi - I've been thinking for a while about a Mulsanne as a truly grand tourer. I have also tried a Ghost and I was surprised by the performance and refinement. I found that the rear seats more comfortable than the Mulsanne rear seats provided that you had the individual, adjustable, seats. Ideally I would have something where all four seats are great, so you don't have the debate about who is sitting in the front, and I don't feel guilty about long driving holidays.
This may not be a fair comparison, but the new Conti GT looks to be quite a car. What are the rear seats like in your current CGT?
This may not be a fair comparison, but the new Conti GT looks to be quite a car. What are the rear seats like in your current CGT?
From a slightly different viewpoint. I paid £7K for my TurboR '95.
It has done countless track days and the only problems have been brake rebuilds twice a year and one gearbox rebuild.
Fab cars.
I.m going to buy a Conti R to tow the R to meetings.
Plenty of s/h parts available. They are a pretty simple car and not difficult to work on.
It has done countless track days and the only problems have been brake rebuilds twice a year and one gearbox rebuild.
Fab cars.
I.m going to buy a Conti R to tow the R to meetings.
Plenty of s/h parts available. They are a pretty simple car and not difficult to work on.
A few days and two and a half grand later than my last post, I got rid of the Conti GT and went back to a Jag. I was sick and tired of constant faults popping up, not something I expected from what I thought was an upmarket car. I've spent £14k in the 4 years I owned it.
This time I traded the Bentley for a 5.0 supercharged Le Mans special edition XFR. What a machine it is.
As for the question about the rear seats on the GT. They are OK for kids and even adults, but maybe not for too long a journey for large adults.
This time I traded the Bentley for a 5.0 supercharged Le Mans special edition XFR. What a machine it is.
As for the question about the rear seats on the GT. They are OK for kids and even adults, but maybe not for too long a journey for large adults.
Gassing Station | Bentley & Rolls Royce | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff