Used Bentley

[poulkey]

Hi All,

Just want to know if someone has had any experience with buying and servicing used Bentley's in Dubai...

I have seen and am planning a purchase of a 2007 Continental GTC and just wanted to know if there is anything I should be looking out for. 

I intend to have the car checked by the main dealer in Dubai before purchase to figure out the general health of the car and any snag issues it may have. It hasn't been driven a lot, less than 50K.

Any tips / recommendations are welcome.

Thanks,

Poul  

 

[derik]

I dont know much about bentley but I can only advise that stay away from such extreme priced marquee likes of bentley, maserati etc after 5 years unless you have good source in searchjing used parts and mechanic. They tend to loose resale a lot due to this reason as after 5 years of age maintenance istoo expoensive to fix and thats why they get very attractive with 1/5 - 1/10 of the original cost.

[Barry]

I've worked on continental before. They're basically a reshelled VW Phaeton, same W12 engine.  Very simple engine to work on once you know your way around it. It's more or less 2 VW VR6 engines stuck together with twin ECUs, one for each side. Many parts are interchangeable with VW so parts are available and not as expensive as you would think.

Things to look out for,

Electrics. This car has a LOT of electrics. Test every knob and switch, windows, roof, everything.

Coil packs. There was a bad batch of VW coil packs out for a while. Most should have been replaced by now but it's worth checking. Bad coil packs will cause stuttering under load so try some heavy acceleration and make sure it pulls well through all the gears.

Keyless entry system can give problems so make sure the car locks and unlocks automatically. If it doesn't work it's either a faulty antenna (cheap) or needs new transistors soldered into the control board (very cheap).

Listen for knocking sounds from the front end. Drop links can wear out fast but they aren't expensive or difficult to replace.

There is a vacuum hose at the back of the engine that breaks. With the engine running, gently pull on the vacuum pipes at the back of the engine and listen for hissing sounds. If this pipe is broken, the engine has to come out to repair it.

All in all, they are a nice, luxurious, comfortable touring car. Just make sure you get a good one and get a good mechanic who knows about them.

 

[poulkey]

Great, thanks for the feedback....

Derik / Barry, I see where you guys are coming from and agree on the expensive to maintain bit...Barry, appreciate you pointing out items to look out for, its good knowledge to have beforehand...

This is entirely the reason why I intend to take it to the local Bentley dealership and have it checked out before I purchase the vehicle. I'm assuming their report on the health of the car and problems will help me understand the cost of repairs / parts and allow me to negotiate on the price as well...