Apologize in advance for the long post, but it's the first one on this forum so I'm indulging myself

I'm an extreme car guy; always have been - particularly exotics, wallpapering my room with Autoshow paraphernalia growing up.

I've been outside the USA for the past 6 years bouncing around with a company that provided me free (solid but low end) cars and no reasonably priced way of having anything special to drive come along with me. Over the years I've kept up with the auto business and have developed an on-paper dream garage of sorts; selecting what I feel to be the best cars in their class (well, best in class for 3 of them and 2 "best" for sports car) for my top five.

I've recently been offered a job to come back to the USA, and I'm strongly considering it. Should I do so, I have a pent up desire to get a couple of the cars on my list (and no, I'm not sharing my list because it will distract from the question).

I'm a bit of a tightwad trying to save for early retirement but I'm also a car head so I have plenty of money and just need to get over the mental hump to actually spend it

The rub is that I'll live pretty close to halfway between Chicago and Detroit (slightly closer to chicago but with traffic being much worse heading that way, the drive is about 2.5 hours either way), with nary an exotic dealer in sight; the closest being a BMW and a Benz dealership about 45 min away.

Also, that part of the USA gets some serious lake effect snow so AWD + snow tires is really the only way to go, short of having dedicated summer and winter cars.

It just so happens that two of the cars on my dream list (both for daily drivers, one for me, one for wife and 2 year old) are a Bentley GTC V8 S and a Range Rover. My biggest concern is how do I get them fixed / how reliable are they and how would dealers treat a customer who is 2.5 hours away if a tow is required. If I can't get comfort here then I'm looking at getting a CLS550 and a X5 instead, but I'd prefer to check two of my dream cars off the list

An alternative is that my brother is a certified mechanic who owns his own shop and lives about 40 min away and could hook me up (again the towing in the event of a breakdown remains an issue - that's a long tow) as needed but he doesn't really have any experience on exotics - though he did install some headers and exhaust on a Viper I owned about 15 years ago. The even less desirable final alternative is taking the car to the ubiquitous "Joes spit and shine Chevys" in the local burg.

Also, a few other questions about Bentley GTC's in general:

Is the updated nav system & other facelift goodies worth targeting a 2012 vs a 2011? To me the 2012+ interiors just seem classier.

After reading all the reviews, it really sounds like the V8 is the better drivers car and better for daily commute, and my aforementioned brother should be able to get at least 560hp out of the engine since that's what it makes in RS7 guise. Any other thoughts from owners?

I assume the extended warranty is worthless with the dealerships that far away?

Thanks to Bentley trying to make their website all high society without prices and no dealers around, I don't have a way to get a sense of what leases look like; what are your experiences on buying used vs leasing new, when the intent would be to flip the car every 3-4 years?

Thanks for any input. Sorry for the long post!

 

To address the financial aspect of your post my experience with leasing new vs buying comes down to mileage per year and length of ownership. Personally, I don't think it's worth buying a car if you know you only want to hold onto it for ~3ish years; you typically lose money. I love leasing the daily drivers because it is hassle free; I can get a brand new car every few years and not have to worry about maintenance. The problem is that you are highly limited on how many miles you can drive (seems like you will have a big commute) and you cannot alter the car from its original condition (no more added hp). Bentley's also hold their value so the residual is really high on a lease. For example, on a GTV8 S lease my dealer is "offering" $2,200/month + tax with $22,000 down + fees, and only 2,500 miles per year on a $220k car. I'd rather double my down payment and finance the car over X years and not have to worry about driving it... that's just my $0.02 when it comes to exotics. Hope this helps!

 

So a 2 year lease costs 22'000 + (2'200 x 24)=75'000 ????? for 5000 miles?? Does that mean the $220k lease car can be bought for $145K? That's the theory is it not?

The Bentley is nice powerful luxury item not a regular car. Oh it will get you there and back but you are paying for the dream car. My closest dealer will send a rollback to a 250 mile radius for any service or maintenance at no additional charge but they charge a plenty for all they do. This car will do the high milage you may need to travel your area but for some reason purple really shy away from high milage cars even if they are still in great shape.

Get a Prius for commuting and a "B" for the enjoyment.LOL

 

Here is a 2012 w12, 4k miles, @147k

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Bentley-Cont...US_Cars_Trucks


@OP,

I highly recommend getting a pre-owned facelifted (2012+) version. The price ranges from $136 to $160. The price differential between a brand new CGT vs an almost new is quite significant. You can actually pick up another 2004/2005 CGT using the money saved and use it as your daily beater

http://www.ebay.com/sch/Cars-Trucks-...ntinental%20gt

 

Great for off roading and winter ditch runs.

 

your talking about my non work special occasion car

 

Don't both of these cars have road side assistance where it tows your vehicle to the nearest dealership for the length of the warranty?

I've driven both, I personally would do the W12. The 65MPH to 90MPH pickup and passing power is where the extra cylinders really shine especially if you are going to be doing such a heavy freeway/highway load commute.

If you can find a nice 2014 that meets your standards, they can be had for 30-35k off MSRP. I have a few dealership I know that can do just that as we just picked up the 2014 CGT Speed ourselves.

 

Thanks all for the feedback. I had my heart set on a lease but the job ended up not going through.

Happy to say now I have another job lead in a similar type of location (nearest B dealer 150 miles away, and in a snowy part of the USA - upstate new york / finger lakes specifically.

Any input on how they do in snow or if any dealer in that area is used to dealing with out of towners and makes the process easy?

Also was curious - can an Audi dealer service / repair a Bentley will similar skill? There is a nearby Audi dealer in the location I'm looking at.

 

Upstate New York / finger lakes region is beautiful! Am sure you'll see a few races at WGI at some point. The 06 GT and 07 GTC were brilliant in the snow with Blizzak LM60 tires. Keep in mind these builds have 50/50 power delivery whereas the newer cars are 40/60 and have no experience with car control in the snow with those. My ex got an Audi and she said servicing/repair costs were very high so she sold it before the warranty expired.


If you're looking for a car that handles snow and is very popular in NE USA, a Subaru is a great choice as their AWD system is excellent and you might notice many people drive Subies. Great value for the money and relatively good resale value too. Have heard that those in England have been going with Subarus instead of Mercedes for their on-property estate cars due to their ability to handle tough on- and off-road situations. Just remember that we sand and salt roads up here so you want a car that is built to not rust and have proper quality to endure this situation.


Am not sure I'd do a Bentley for daily winter driving due to corrosion factors, yet is ok for the occasional fun winter drive

 

The W12 with Pirelli Scorpion ice+snow is very impressive on the snow.
I drove it a couple of thousand miles last winter in Denmark and Norway and I was truly impressed.
don't forget the laws of physic! the car is heavy.but I drove my former Range rover and Porsche Cayenne on the same roads and I didn't feel less secure in the Bentley.

They don't use salt since years in Scandinavia so no issues with corrosion.

 

I got my 2105 GTC V8 with 150 miles on it plus Mulliner spec wheels for $182k. I have had a W12 but I like the V8 better. Performance is not much different. I love 25 mpg on the freeway LOL.

Cliff

 

I got a lease deal in my e-mail for a BCGT drop the other day:

$1760/mo, 10% down (~$25k), 2500 miles/yr, 48mo.

 

For the record I owned a CLS63 and it is a great car, although traded it on the B.

 

Hmmm.... So the lease is $67,000 to drive 2500 miles in a year for two years. If you can fully write it off as business expense, sure.


If this is a personal lease, you can get a Bentley for around $100k easy and then resell for $75k in a year. Even if you suffer the typical crippling $5000 reliability problem each year for two years you're still over $30k ahead of the lease game.

 

I have a similar line of thinking for financing cars. I've never leased one as it never made sense for me to do so, of course it could make sense for others to. 2500 miles per year would be problematic, I'll hit that in two months..