Discussion
Arnages are great cars but be aware that they cannot be run on a budget and also get any potential purchase inspected by someone who knows the cars inside out.
Its easy to buy a car that needs £10k spending on it if previous owners have skimped on maintenance and the car needs a few usual Arnage wear and tear items addressing(hydraulic service,discs and pads,tyres,front-rear brake lines(corrode due to where they are located in the stream of rainwater spray from the wheels),bushes in the front suspension triangle,minor oil leaks they all get,power steering pipe leaks etc.
Once a car is up to scratch they are great.I really enjoy my Red Label and depreciationwise its near the bottom of its curve(hopefully!)
Its easy to buy a car that needs £10k spending on it if previous owners have skimped on maintenance and the car needs a few usual Arnage wear and tear items addressing(hydraulic service,discs and pads,tyres,front-rear brake lines(corrode due to where they are located in the stream of rainwater spray from the wheels),bushes in the front suspension triangle,minor oil leaks they all get,power steering pipe leaks etc.
Once a car is up to scratch they are great.I really enjoy my Red Label and depreciationwise its near the bottom of its curve(hopefully!)
I have now run 3 of these although they have all been under 6 months old with factory warranty but our first Arnage was a 2001 "51" car, if you are looking you must buy late "51" or "02" onwards as Bentley invested a lot of money in chassis and suspension for the 02 model year and they drive very very different, especially when pushing on a bit, it is quite an old fashioned drive but they have plenty of power, everyone tends to look for the flashy Arnage T but for a perfect blend of performance and comfort the Arnage R is the better model in my opinion and not that much difference in real world performance, enconomy wise if your gentle and mostly moterways very low 20's is not unheard of, servicing cost can be high and always check that the car you are looking at has had the big hydraulic service circa £5k as owners tend to sell up or trade in for a newer model as no one enjoys paying 5k for a service. dont be fobbed off with "the mileage is low so its not needed" as these were time or mileage based whichever come first, they replace all of the rubber hose and fluids at this service and the hose's deteriate over time so it needs doing.
The next big change come in 04 for the 05 model year when the front end was restyled, and the interor was changed, this was when we changed our car for a 05 model year car and changed it again in 09 for a final series with Naim audio, rear entertainment and 20 inch brooklands style wheels.
These are are more then capable of daily use if maintained properly, however in terms of comfort and refinement they are not S class or 7 series quite, we also run a new BMW 760li which was supreme to the Arnage in most areas however for road presence and sense of occasion there is nothing to touch the Arnage, there are plenty of cars out there for sale so take your time, spending 5 k more then you intend too maybe worth it in the long run then something that needs work, it is quite easy to spend 5k just for a service thats without tyres at £400 each, just a point to note everyone we have had has been problematic including the 09 car, I would never want to own one of these out of warranty!
by the way the 09 car we owned has just been bought back by the dealer as there were elctrical problems that they were having issues resolving, in the time we owned it, it had spent 2 months off the road - good luck
The next big change come in 04 for the 05 model year when the front end was restyled, and the interor was changed, this was when we changed our car for a 05 model year car and changed it again in 09 for a final series with Naim audio, rear entertainment and 20 inch brooklands style wheels.
These are are more then capable of daily use if maintained properly, however in terms of comfort and refinement they are not S class or 7 series quite, we also run a new BMW 760li which was supreme to the Arnage in most areas however for road presence and sense of occasion there is nothing to touch the Arnage, there are plenty of cars out there for sale so take your time, spending 5 k more then you intend too maybe worth it in the long run then something that needs work, it is quite easy to spend 5k just for a service thats without tyres at £400 each, just a point to note everyone we have had has been problematic including the 09 car, I would never want to own one of these out of warranty!
by the way the 09 car we owned has just been bought back by the dealer as there were elctrical problems that they were having issues resolving, in the time we owned it, it had spent 2 months off the road - good luck
My Dad purchased a 2000 Arnage Red Label early last year from Balmoral in the West Midlands (you can still see it on their website as one of the examples of sold vehicles, it's in Wildberry and had done 36000 miles).
It is without doubt, the most magnificent vehicle I have ever driven.
He bought it pretty much on a whim having turned 65 having always wanted one and wanting to enjoy it whilst he was still young enough. He has not put many miles on it but it has proved trouble free with no faults or leaks etc. If anything, it is probably worth more now than what he paid for it. In fact, he is topping up his pension with it having set up a wedding car business to keep himself busy/fund the running costs.
It was reasonably well presented on purchase but has been transformed by polishing and many layers of wax and hours with microfibre cloths!
As highlighted above, the big anticipated expense is the hydraulic service - his is due next year. He decided to stick with Balmoral for servicing (it had been main dealer serviced to date but Dad generally prefers to use specialists)and they collected it from his home for its service this year with no major issues.
If only I could find a way to persuade him to let me drive it more...
It is without doubt, the most magnificent vehicle I have ever driven.
He bought it pretty much on a whim having turned 65 having always wanted one and wanting to enjoy it whilst he was still young enough. He has not put many miles on it but it has proved trouble free with no faults or leaks etc. If anything, it is probably worth more now than what he paid for it. In fact, he is topping up his pension with it having set up a wedding car business to keep himself busy/fund the running costs.
It was reasonably well presented on purchase but has been transformed by polishing and many layers of wax and hours with microfibre cloths!
As highlighted above, the big anticipated expense is the hydraulic service - his is due next year. He decided to stick with Balmoral for servicing (it had been main dealer serviced to date but Dad generally prefers to use specialists)and they collected it from his home for its service this year with no major issues.
If only I could find a way to persuade him to let me drive it more...
Balmoral uk did the last service on my car which was the hydraulic service,as well as attending to some other service and wear and tear items(final bill was £8k!).I'm a fussy bugger and a bit of a perfectionist but I was happy with the service and professionalism of Alan and the other guys there.
Yeah,sounds a lot but when you look at how some cars depreciate then it's not too bad,plus the hydraulic service only comes up every 6 years and I had every little problem sorted including a rattle in the back door,puddle light bulbs replacing etc etc.My car (2001 red label) is pretty much spot on now apart from I flashed my pal coming the other way yesterday and damaged the indicator stalk...
We've had a 2001 6,75l arnage for almost 5 years now and generally they are solid motors, apart from when they go wrong. Servicing at dealers is very expensive and not sure if its worth doing considering the values of these cars, specialists like phantommotorcars do a good job for slightly less than dealers price.
A common fault of the engine ive been told by the engineers is that the the head blows, and the car smokes from the exhaust. Dealers charge about 5k for this job, its happened to our one few years back, although the mileage was only about 28k! Funnily at the same time it happened to a friend of ours, but his mileage was higher. From what ive heard models after late 2002 don't have the same issue. Anyway, once the repair is done apparently its very unlikely to happen again.
Pictures of our arnage can be seen on http://www.kruuz.co.uk
A common fault of the engine ive been told by the engineers is that the the head blows, and the car smokes from the exhaust. Dealers charge about 5k for this job, its happened to our one few years back, although the mileage was only about 28k! Funnily at the same time it happened to a friend of ours, but his mileage was higher. From what ive heard models after late 2002 don't have the same issue. Anyway, once the repair is done apparently its very unlikely to happen again.
Pictures of our arnage can be seen on http://www.kruuz.co.uk
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