Hi. I have long yearned for a Brooklands coupe and I've noticed of late the prices on used ones have come down to something that's within my budget. I've been a BMW owner for the past 25 years, and I will keep the ones I have, and one of them will remain my daily driver. The Brooklands coupe is the only high-end car I have any particular affinity for, so it'll be that or nothing. Assuming a Bentley is like most any other car and runs just fine without a lot of drama and niggling this and that's to be constantly repaired, it's what I'll get in the next few months or so, probably my Christmas gift to myself.

I've never owned such a fancy car as the Brooklands, and while I haven't any worries about affording it or its upkeep, I do want to get a sense of what it is I might be getting myself into. Affordability notwithstanding, I have no interest in buying a "labor of love."

Can the folks here share some insights (based on experience, not hearsay) about what one might expect in terms of owning and operating a Brooklands? I'm interested in things like:

• What bits on the car one can expect to break?
• How much time one should expect to lose keeping the thing in order
• Overall reliability and durability of the car?
• Estimated annual cost to maintain the thing (assuming 4K or fewer miles driven per year). A colleague told me that he'd heard Bentley maintenance/servicings run around $3500 a piece. That seems ridiculously high to me, even for a Bentley. Is that even close to right?
• Any special considerations or peculiarities unique to Bentley cars in general, and to the Brooklands in particular
• What one should expect from the dealership?

Thanks in advance for any insights you share.


Cheers,
Tony

 

Tony, thanks for posting and while many of us here are GT/GTC drivers, over the years on various boards have seen posts regarding the Brooklands. Basically, seems like a solid reliable car built to Bentley's normal high standards. Not sure on what the dealer charges for various interval for service, as assume they do vary in cost depending on age/mileage like the GT/GTC. Hopefully someone here with one can chime in with personal experience.

 

TY for your input.

 

Wow. This isn't the liveliest forum around is it?

That or there's not a lot of love for the Brooklands.

Oh, well.

 

Not that many Brooklands out there, so hard to get a whole lot of feedback. Ask a question about the CGT or GTC and you will far more responses.

Isn't production limited to 550 units?

Eric

 

The Brooklands is a solid car. I had issues with battery drainage at the beginning but it seems to be sorted out now. I can't help you in regard to maintenance costs as I have had mine for less than a year now.
One issue is the outdated electronic but I had that taken care off by installing a brand new Alpine receiver and replacing the outdated flip screen with the latest Garmin touchscreen navigation.
The car is very comfortable to drive and despite it's gigantic proportions is fairly easy to operate even in the city traffic. You seat very high and have a very good vantage-point.
It is extremely powerful and will put a smile on your face when you step on the gas and the front of the car lifts before launching like a rocket.
Its gas consumption is on par with its size and is ridiculously high but it has a very large tank so while it might cost you a lot at the pump it will not be so much of a drag in term of travel range.
Finishes are like nothing I have seen elsewhere everything in the car is covered in wood leather and stainless steal, it has actually better finishes than the new Mulsane which uses much more plastic parts.
Hope it answers some of your questions.

 

Yes, something like that quantity was the production of them.

I just figured I'd see an answer like yours, or answer to the questions, a bit sooner, that's all.

Thanks for the 411 on the nature of the forum. I appreciate it.

 

TY for sharing. It helps. Hearing that it's a solid car goes a long way toward feeling like I'm not setting myself up for a lot of anguish and remorse.

I'm sure I'll love that it's a powerful behemoth for I don't care at all for underpowered cars, particularly expensive ones. Even so, I'm nearing 60 and I'll retire not very long after buying the Brooklands, so it won't be too often I really get to use all that power. Still, it's nice to know it's there if I need it, even if I won't be trying to run with a troupe of 911s on mountain twisties. LOL

Insofar as the electronics you mean are the stereo, I'll be fine with whatever it has. At the very least it'll have a CD player, if not an iPod connection, and the radio will work well enough in an urban area, yes?

Can you tell me more about the battery issue? What was its cause and how did you resolve it? I am hoping it didn't take more than one trip to the car store to settle whatever it was? IMO, having a root canal is about the only thing worse than repeatedly going to the car dealer to have things fixed.

TY again for shedding some light on the matter.

Cheers,
Tony

 

The electrical issue was due to a faulty installation by the previous owner of satellite radio/iPod connection. It should have been diagnosed and fixed easily but instead it necessitated 3 different trips to the dealership because the first time they only disconnected the iPod connection and waited for the second trip to disconnect the satellite radio. The third trip was because they did not reconnect the battery correctly if you can believe it.
The sound system is great and works perfectly well as is but I wanted to get iPod connectivity so I just got the new alpine head unit installed to replace the old one. It is an easy switch as all the connections are the same but you get all the latest functionality like pandora Bluetooth streaming etc..
It is an amazing car and the prices I see right now make it a real bargain.