Looked at this GT today - Newbie questions?

[mattman]

Starting my search with one of the closest cars to me:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

The car has full stamped service book but no supporting invoices except the last one at 44,000 miles (interim) - all Bentley main dealer - are services due every 10,000 miles or are they time based? Will Bentley give information out on previous services as i couldn't see any evidence of when the spark plugs were last changed.

The rear spoiler had about 3 or 4 "bubbles" in it - all felt solid so looked like the part was warped possibly? is this normal or something that should be changed? It seemed to work fine though.

The leather was in good condition but a little grubby for my liking - it seems to effect the lighter leathers - is there a way to clean these back to original or do you need to go down the leather dye route?

This car has Advan tyres fitted all round - the rears need replacing along with a wheel refurb - are these tyres any good or would you be replacing with Pirelli's?

This particular car is on the higher side of my budget, but is a 55 registered car so cheaper tax (every little helps ) but no massage seats, the TPMS seemed to be non-working from the dash messages and the jury was out for the dark green leather dash/steering wheel.

The dealer won't provide a warranty, but will sell me one as their standard offering won't cover the Bentley and they charge £149 "admin" fee which annoys me more than it should.

Good to start seeing cars in the flesh - reinforces my determination to get one and it also got approval from the boss lady which makes life a little easier!!

[enjoythemusic]

Some know defects on the 2006. Make sure the false air hose problem right above the transmission has been done recently (£4500 fix). Check the condition of the air bladder / suspension, as it might look like it holds air right this second, yet ***days later it could droop*** (£2500 per side to fix, four corners total). The third brake light (on roof) should have been changed (£1500), as they are known to stop working due to rain. Lots of other bits on those old 2006, and why they are priced accordingly as many know of these (and other) problems.

Just make sure you keep at a minimum $5000 to $10,000 to keep her running.

[enjoythemusic]

>>>Will Bentley give information out on previous services as i couldn't see any evidence of when the spark plugs were last changed.<<<


Maybe, yet if car has no records i'd RUN AWAY RIGHT NOW from it.


>>>The rear spoiler had about 3 or 4 "bubbles" in it - all felt solid so looked like the part was warped possibly? is this normal or something that should be changed? It seemed to work fine though.<<<

As i recall it is plastic, so a easy fix and paint for whatever fee it is.

>>>The leather was in good condition but a little grubby for my liking - it seems to effect the lighter leathers - is there a way to clean these back to original or do you need to go down the leather dye route?<<<

Contact Leatherique, they offer great products.

>>>This car has Advan tyres fitted all round - the rears need replacing along with a wheel refurb - are these tyres any good or would you be replacing with Pirelli's?<<<

Rubbish, get Mich PS4S. The Pirelli slide too much and can't handle the Bentley's weight when parked for some time so they flat spot. Grip on the Pirelli is compromised as compared to Mich PS4S of course.

>>>This particular car is on the higher side of my budget, but is a 55 registered car so cheaper tax (every little helps smile ) but no massage seats, the TPMS seemed to be non-working from the dash messages and the jury was out for the dark green leather dash/steering wheel.<<<

Sounds like a nightmare car, hope you have an extra £15,000 to set her right and have accounted for that.

>>>The dealer won't provide a warranty<<<

Can't say i blame them as look at all the problems she has now. Who knows what is hiding underneath the exterior.

Bentley cars are 'priced cheap' for a reason. Please do more research before deciding. Educate yourself on the widely known, and hidden, problems and cost to repair.

Edited by enjoythemusic on Thursday 8th March 15:55

[bentleyspeed]

Go and look at some cars in the Bentley dealer network, I believe these come with a one year Bentley warranty.
Might be a bit more expensive but most should be good cars with few surprises a bit further down the line.

[mattman]

enjoythemusic said:

Some know defects on the 2006. Make sure the false air hose problem right above the transmission has been done recently (£4500 fix). Check the condition of the air bladder / suspension, as it might look like it holds air right this second, yet ***days later it could droop*** (£2500 per side to fix, four corners total). The third brake light (on roof) should have been changed (£1500), as they are known to stop working due to rain. Lots of other bits on those old 2006, and why they are priced accordingly as many know of these (and other) problems.

Just make sure you keep at a minimum $5000 to $10,000 to keep her running.

Already aware of the transmission pipe and the 3rd brake light - not seen reference to the suspension - how do you check these in sufficient detail on the car?

This car has a service book - but not a corresponding detailed invoice for each service.

I'm giving this particular car a miss, the cheap tyres, TPMS and lack of paperwork puts it out and there are plenty more to see.

Would love to buy from approved Bentley retailer but above my budget this time

[enjoythemusic]

mattman said:

Would love to buy from approved Bentley retailer but above my budget this time

Suspension you'll never know until you've had it for a few days sitting without use. Thus it could easily be a major hidden problem. As for your budget, forget it you're looking at a Bentley. I'm trying to be kind when I say unless you have an extra 10,000 of 15,000 pounds don't buy it. Even if you get a good example, 5000 is a normal problem when something happens.

There's a reason Bentley cars are so inexpensive, as the cost of maintenance and keeping running will eat you alive long-term. Don't ask me how I know, but I could show you some receipts that would scare the living daylights out of you.

Yet if you insist, then go ahead and buy it. It will be nice to see the pics of you getting it, then hearing back a year later how you feel about Bentley ownership on a low budget.

Edited by enjoythemusic on Thursday 8th March 21:12

[mattman]

Blimey what a condescending post - you have no idea of my finances, total budget or maintenance fund. Just because I choose not to spend £50k or more on the initial purchase I am somehow not worthy of owning a Bentley or being allowed to buy one?

PH is normally a friendly and helpful bunch, not in this forum it seems

Edited by mattman on Thursday 8th March 21:35

[johnwilliams77]

mattman said:

Blimey what a condescending post - you have no idea of my finances, total budget or maintenance fund. Just because I choose not to spend £50k or more on the initial purchase I am somehow not worthy of owning a Bentley or being allowed to buy one?

PH is normally a friendly and helpful bunch, not in this forum it seems

Edited by mattman on Thursday 8th March 21:35

I actually think he’s providing you with very good advice ...!

[mattman]

johnwilliams77 said:

mattman said:

Blimey what a condescending post - you have no idea of my finances, total budget or maintenance fund. Just because I choose not to spend £50k or more on the initial purchase I am somehow not worthy of owning a Bentley or being allowed to buy one?

PH is normally a friendly and helpful bunch, not in this forum it seems

Edited by mattman on Thursday 8th March 21:35

I actually think he’s providing you with very good advice ...!

Advice would be what to check when viewing cars, what to look for during the inspection, areas to look for, examples of what could point to poor maintenance, things to test on a drive, etc - not just saying if you don't have 15k you can't afford it.

If you have experiences that have cost that sort of money it's useful to potential buyers to share it.

Edited by mattman on Thursday 8th March 22:02

[johnwilliams77]

mattman said:

Advice would be what to check when viewing cars, what to look for during the inspection, areas to look for, examples of what could point to poor maintenance, things to test on a drive, etc - not just saying if you don't have 15k you can't afford it.

If you have experiences that have cost that sort of money it's useful to potential buyers to share it.

Edited by mattman on Thursday 8th March 22:02

How much will you be budgeting annually to run it?

[mattman]

Between £1000-£1250 a month will be put aside for the maintenance/servicing fund. I have a very good independent I will be using who I know and trust who are very experienced with Bentleys

Edited by mattman on Thursday 8th March 22:46

[memzy88]

Hi, I managed to get full detailed invoice print outs from Jack Barclay London service center when i bought my first 2009 Bentley GT Speed privately. Owner before me bought it as approved used with 2 years Bentley Warranty which has 1 year left when i bought it and transferred to my name.

I kept the car for approx 1 year and driven around 10k miles. Servicing is 10k miles or 1 year which ever comes firsr. I spend £1800 on servicing from Bentley Pangbourne - it was the 8th year service (Major) with spark plug replacement. I had TPMS issue which was fixed by just reseting the sensors apparently. I had knocking suspension and car dropping when not used. Warranty replaced 2 front shocks and bushes, for around £5k. During the service dealer advised there was leak from turbo hoses which was engine out job again covered by warranty if not mistaken £3k. Other than that it was wonderful experience, i am sure new owner is enjoying her too.

However i will be very very skeptical touching one without Bentley Warranty. If you are planning to put aside £1k - £1.25k per month why not spend even just half of that on finance get a much newer car with warranty and negotiate 1 year free service. Spending £1k - £1.25k on on maintenance and repairs just waste of money in opinion, it will not add any value to the car. If you spend it on newer car for finance at least you will be owning more valuable asset and more enjoyable experience. Its just my opinion.

Edited by memzy88 on Friday 9th March 11:40

Edited by memzy88 on Friday 9th March 11:41

[mattman]

thanks Memzy - Thats really helpful information!

this is going to be a 3rd car so don't wish to sink larger amounts of money into the initial purchase. I'm taking my time with the search as the quality and history varies massively throughout the price range, so spending £10-£15k more may not guarantee avoiding some of the more common issues.

[Macboy]

I understand the logic of not wanting to tie up a lot of money in a third car but in my opinion a cheap 05/06 Continental GT is not the place to try to balance low purchase price and money to fix what goes wrong because things that go wrong can come with massive bills. Unless you know the car or the owner and it's at the right money for its age but is well sorted then I would walk away. Much of the GTs engineering is sound but its in-service costs were not always forefront of a lot of engineering decisions. It is amazing how many jobs require the engine to come out or major elements of the bodywork to come off from things as simple as bulb changes (and the infamous window-out centre brake-light change). Anything that requires HVAC work or dash electronics is also ruinously hard and expansive and the interior rarely goes back together well.

I don't think posters here were being condescending - it's a hugely complex car that is now affordable but major work is relatively unaffordable in comparison to the low entry price. Spend more on a newer or better cared for car is the short summary. It's a cracking drive when it's working but like an early Phaeton for £6k you would always wonder just how big the next bill will be and whether it'll be worth doing on a £28k car.

[enjoythemusic]

mattman said:

Blimey what a condescending post - you have no idea of my finances, total budget or maintenance fund. Just because I choose not to spend £50k or more on the initial purchase I am somehow not worthy of owning a Bentley or being allowed to buy one?

PH is normally a friendly and helpful bunch, not in this forum it seems

Apologies if my post sounded a bit, well, aggressive. The car you're looking at has many, many red flags imho. Add in the fact the cost of running a Bentley can be.... remember, you're talking a 200k car so service is quite costly as compared to a Toyota. Add in the facts of some known major defects, old car with unknown condition of suspension and other bits....

mattman said:

thanks Memzy - Thats really helpful information!
this is going to be a 3rd car so don't wish to sink larger amounts of money into the initial purchase. I'm taking my time with the search as the quality and history varies massively throughout the price range, so spending £10-£15k more may not guarantee avoiding some of the more common issues.

Reserving £1.5k per month for service (your diff post) seems reasonable enough. Am not saying you can't afford a Bentley, am saying there needs to be an understanding of possible TCO (total cost of ownership). You seeking a 'cheap car' versus one that has some warranty also brought up Red Flags for me.

The first Bentley i had was 'fairly reasonable' to run as a daily driver (2006 GT). The next car, as traded GT for a 2007 GTC and OMGoodness the problems were tremendous even though the car did come from a Bentley dealer, had a known history as i did hunt and find major documentation of previous owner/servicing, etc). So the 2007 GTC was a 'known' with records, from a dealer, etc. and came with a 90 day warranty from the Bentley dealership it was purchased. TCO was bad, an thank goodness i saved 17k by doing some things myself (back window is known to simply fall out from the canvas top, mine did!).

In the end the 'best example' from a dealer with 90 day warranty.... top failed, known back window just falls out, suspension started to leak/fail after just a year. Oh yeah, and the dreaded false air happened too, am not talented enough to do an engine out for a Bentley (yet can do that for vintage Ferrari, etc). There went 6k to dealer for fix, but NOT a fix where they used proper metal tubing and, instead, same stock plastic that may melt yet again as before). Then there's....


So.....

If i seem a bit 'up front' and perhaps lacking in tact, it is that what i am hearing from you is a car without known history, no warranty, already has tattered bits (shows lack of care from previous owner) and yet you feel it's worth buying yet want to keep buying costs low, which i (mistakenly) read as you have little reserves for service.... until you posted a 1.5k/mo allotted for service.

With 1.5k/mo in reserves, then yes a Bentley could fall into that category of OK-ish. Yet still, the car itself is very questionable. Even well-documented and dealer warranty for 90 days examples can become 'money pits' to keep going. My mistake was assuming the VW Phaeton (which the car is based from) bits would be a known good and reliable (they're not on a Bentley).

So yes, there are probably reasons that car you're looking at is offered at a low price.

Why?

And does the 'why' meet to your expectations of overall TCO? Perhaps that's more the point???

IMPORTANT: No matter the car you choose, invest the time/money to get an independent Bentley expert to give the car a pre-purchase inspection.

JMHO YMMV

[Poshbury]

The problems I had with mine over the first couple of years were;
Split vacuum hoses on the gearbox, £3,700 to fix. Common fault, even on low mileage cars. Mine had 53,000 miles on it.
Gearbox Mechatronic unit failed.
ABS unit failed.
Sagging headliner. Common fault.
Door touch lock/unlock both failed. Common fault.
Boot touch unlock failed.
Cam sensors. Main dealer said engine out job, but, an Indie did it with a couple of hours at far less cost.
O2 sensors.
Wheel bearing.
Drive shaft gaiters.
Massage seat failed.
The wear on the seat edges is just that, wear. Poor quality in my opinion.

So, over the 4 years I owned it, it cost me £14,000 in repairs. By far the most costly car I have ever owned and I've had a lot.

It was a great car to drive and a good buzz, but the quality really left me with a bad taste for Bentley.

Do your research and good luck.

Lots of GT info here too; https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/bentley-42/

[memzy88]

I believe 2008 onwards facelift model is the one to pick. They pretty much ironed out most of the issues. My cousin also had loads of issues with his 07 GTC. He traded it for 09 model which is at 86k miles at the moment and behaving very well. I am on my 2nd GT Speed 2014 model and its been absolutely bulletproof. I understand there is loads of issue pre 08 cars but mine and family/friends experience is relatively good.

I cant think any substitute to the combined luxury, class, power and sportiness that Bentley GT Speed can offer. I have considered to trade it for Ferrari but absolutely disappointed in interior quality. Closest rival i can see is the Merc S63 Coupe AMG. 911 Turbo / Aston DB11 may be considered as rival but driven both there is absolutely no comparison on level of comfort and luxury.

Make sure checking trade/part ex values before paying the asking price. Dealers to ask too much profit as they sell low in numbers. When i got my 09 GT Speed at 33k miles, cheapest available on the market was £55k. I paid £48k private with 1 year Bentley Warranty on it. Part ex was around £46-£47k at time.

[johnwilliams77]

mattman said:

thanks Memzy - Thats really helpful information!

this is going to be a 3rd car so don't wish to sink larger amounts of money into the initial purchase. I'm taking my time with the search as the quality and history varies massively throughout the price range, so spending £10-£15k more may not guarantee avoiding some of the more common issues.

No - but it should mean you have warranty to cover a lot of the costs and potentially lower TCO.

[mark387mw]

I’m joining in to honestly thank the experts on here, and to the OP for raising the topic. You’ve saved me a fortune and the heartache.

I’m in New Zealand and have considered buying a bargain entry Bentley. Most are advertised on trademe.co.nz and quite often can be Japanese imports. Equivalent to mid £20k’s I thought what could go wrong.
Your comments and this recent article have help me remove my rose tinted glasses.

What’s the sensible alternative? A £5k Jaguar or something Japanese?

[johnwilliams77]

mark387mw said:

I’m joining in to honestly thank the experts on here, and to the OP for raising the topic. You’ve saved me a fortune and the heartache.

I’m in New Zealand and have considered buying a bargain entry Bentley. Most are advertised on trademe.co.nz and quite often can be Japanese imports. Equivalent to mid £20k’s I thought what could go wrong.
Your comments and this recent article have help me remove my rose tinted glasses.

What’s the sensible alternative? A £5k Jaguar or something Japanese?

I bought myself a V8 BMW which cost a couple of thousand so if it throws a bill beyond the cars value all is not lost. It has cost me about 1000ish a year to run on top of normal insurance/tax which is worth it to me to have a NA V8. I would absolutely lovely a Conti GT at some stage but have to admit it is out of my reach.