hi all. Haven't seen much activity in any forum regarding the Bentayga. Went and drove one today and wanted to get any current or prior owner feedback?

deapite a generous discount of aboutut $40k for a $260k vehicle, how crushed will I get on resale in say, 6 months?

Not sure if my test drive vehicle had issues but while the vehicle is clearly lovely in terms of luxury and technology, fast as ***** too, it didn't drive consistent with the rave reviews. Even in sport mode- light steering, no road feel, blah. Is that the consensus or did I drive a dud? Lol.

Thanks in advance for you help.

 

Hi wassy.

There is a thread on the UK Pistonheads Bentley/RR forum re; the Bentayga.
Not everyones cup of Tea by all accounts.

There are cars for sale in the UK that are a massive $110,000 US less than the new price. That's a big depreciation, even with just 6k miles on them.

Personally I would buy a Range Rover SVR if I were in that market.

Les.

 

....That one is falling flat here in San Francisco, haven't driven it, just not that interesting...

 

Thanks guys. I agree it's not all that interesting but interior is phenomenal. Exterior better in person then on screen. So even with a $40k+ discount and decent trade in values on my cars, it still looks like I'd get killed resale wise.

So now, to find another vehicle.

 

Good choice, them there things are UGLY.

 

I drove one for a week a few months back. Interior is great, I loved the low dashboard and visibility was great. Navigation system was disappointing - I thought it uses Google maps just like Audi Q7 it's based on. It does not. The interior is very pleasant and super quiet. The glass roof is nice.

I had big expectations about the suspension system based on what I read in car magazines, but it turned out to be fluff. It is true that in Sport mode you can take curves at 70mph and the car stays flat. I was blown away by that. The problem is that during the rest of the drive the Sport mode is too harsh to be practical because you feel every little imperfection of the road. When you switch to Comfort mode, there is way too much head toss due to a lot of roll. The Bentley mode is sort of in the middle, so I had to use that most of the time. I think there may be a way to do a custom setting where the dampers are soft enough not to transfer every little imperfection of the road, yet the body roll is minimized. I hate to say it, but in a blind ride quality test I would have preferred my 4-yr old Range Rover Sport. Bottom line is - the suspension is good, especially considering the amount of technology in it, but it's not "out of this world" like car magazine reviews describe. "Floating on cloud nine", etc. - it's all bull****. They just did not want to **** off folks at Bentley Corporate and be excluded from the guest list for the next event.

The steering was fine, definitely changed weight with driving mode changes. I like how it became heavier in Sport mode. I loved the shape of the steering wheel rim as well. Nice and thick, very comfortable.

The exterior.....well....let's just say it did not grow on me. Actually the opposite. It's very "un-Bentley" and you can see the Q7 from EVERY angle. I tried very hard to like it or at least be OK with it, but could not. I am pretty sure they will soon release a Speed version, which will have all chrome blacked out. That should make it easier on the eyes.

Overall the Bentayga is a great vehicle, it just needs a new body. Let's hope an LCR is in the works.

 

@ek1, thank you for that very thorough write up. I came very very close to buying it, went back and drove for a 3rd time. I had a few hang ups. First, I'm surprised that when you turn the key off, the seat doesn't slide back like most decent cars now a days, but only the steering wheel moves up. I hit my knee on dash every time I exited and I'm only 5'6".

I thought the handling was just OK, even in sport. I expected a better ride based on the write ups. It was not like a cloud in any setting but not too harsh either. Just a car (SUV) in my opinion. Interior is beautiful and that's about it. What scared me most is the resale value or lack thereof, despite my getting what I thought would have been an extraordinary deal. I actually revisited the purchase a few more times until a prior transaction with a guy who owns a Bentley dealer told me he wouldn't even venture to guess what resale would be in 6 mm that but he assured me even at the stupid deal I was getting, I'd probably still lose 40-50k in the short term. And that was with a 28% discount.

I ended up pretrading my 16 911 turbo s for an 18, which I just ordered and completed the custom build. Now we wait. Oh, that wait! Lol.

Thanks again.

 

Bentley depreciates like a rock in general. 2004 CGT costs the same when new as a 2004 Gallardo but now, a 04 CGT is about $35k whereas a similar condition 04 Gallardo is about $95k.

I imagine a SUV Bentley will fare even worse due to low desirability. No one aspire to own a SUV. Think Porsche 911 resale vs Cayenne Turbo resale.

 

You are going to take a bath on any new car if you get rid of it 6 months later. Exceptions are obviously limited edition cars. You are going to lose the same $50K (actually probably more) if you buy a Ferrari GT4 Lusso and get rid of it 6 months later.

 

I knew that because they weren't selling this would be difficult but then I was made aware from a couple of honest bentley sales guys, and others, this has been a flop. Although they've sold some, or many comparatively speaking to their other models, it's not nearly what they should have. When I learned last month that the 2018's were on the ground in the states but not released due to EPA certificate incoming, that was maybe partially true but most dealers still had a fair number of what would be "leftovers", a 17 was not the way to go. Lol. A $260k car, effectively offered to me around $195k, I scratched my head quite a long time undecided. I first thought "geez, how bad could I get hurt...". Then I remembered my 2009 quattroporte purchase. In 09 I bought an 09 Quattroporte S (I think it was an S). Sticker was $153,000. Paid $93,000 brand new. Sold it 2 month later and not nearly quick enough and took a loss in excess of $20k. My God, 50% loss In current model year. Holy crap.

I think many people still buy SUV's. A huge amount in fact. Maybe not in this price range but being a SUV I think Bentley was smart in thinking there's a population of mdx, pilot, escapade and other owners who could and would spend for something ultra luxurious and a powerhouse. A great story. None of that materialized and I too would have made that very poor bet. I'm not a fan of the Q7, but the Bentley peaked my interest for sure, despite its exterior. I don't think it's ugly, but it's not pretty. Does that make any sense? Lol.

Appreciate the opportunity to banter.

 

I remember what they say about Maserati - "All the problems of a Ferrari, but without the prestige", Nice exhaust sound though.

It's actually not that uncommon to get $50K off on a Bentley if you time things right. September/October is usually good. This is when dealers are trying to push the current MY out because they need the space for the next MY models. And then they also have great deals on demos, with almost-new cars (1-2K miles) at $50K-$70K off.

By the way, Bentayga is pretty good offroad too. I drove it at an event and it handled pretty well. Just needs a new body

For now I am keeping my Range Rover Sport though.

 

Thanks. Good luck and enjoy the RR. I Had one and they are quite nice. No issues at all except was a tad too tall for easy ingress/egress. The following year they made standard an auto lowering for people to get in and out. Go figure. I may revisit if we get tired of the 17 Raptor ��

 

Great choice! Ford Raptors are amazing PLUS you'll lose little, if anything, on resale. Very solid and reliable too!

Yeah, as many of us have learned, Bentley is a financial anchor in a nearly bottomless money pit. Try a BMW M4 or the like, they also hold their value fairly well if you get a good deal used. The hard to get GTS version is selling far above retail. Can't say that about any Bentley. Maybe you could be lucky and get an opening for the new Ford supercar?

 

Love the Raptor. We had a '14 as well that was totaled. Don't ask. New one drives well and yes, very aware of resale values. Bmw gts nice too but Porsche is a much better fit for me at this time, drive wise. Thanks to you all, you saved my *** with the Bentley. Lol

 

BTW saw a Bentley Bodayga today here in Germany. As many others have said, it is not a visually compelling design. Hopefully the VW Group fired the designer and staff that approved the visual body styling.