Traded it for a BMW. Was a daily driver and feel that was the problem, even though the Bentley is just a VW Phaeton with some turbos and fancy interior (basically). For a 200k car there should be ZERO slack and, worse still, the VW Group's Bentley brand knows of these problems yet seems to me after a gentlemanly talk with one of their top guys they could care less. As long people keep buying i guess they don't need to care, and it shows.

No, i NEVER abused or even tracked the car. Heck, my vintage 32k Ferrari 308GTS i tracked about 60 days a year gave me less problrms than the Phaeton/Bentley. Seems to me they did not build a reliable car, which is surprising from the German engineering core of the car. Then again it is the VW Group and many know that company is not the best, to even lying about emissions.

So yes, my hopes are to be a guide to others if they are considering a Bentley, becuase there are far better companies who appreciate their customers imho. As i recall, many Bentley owners have 4 or 5 cars, so that helps the VW Group's Bentley brand with only needing to make the car work for low mileage occasional use. But if that was the case, why is it the car needs to be on a charger if you dont drive it in a month. I left my Ford Superduty 250 in the cold snow totally uncared for for three months in harsh snow/weather and guess what, when i came home from Sedona vacation she started right up. Never had any problem, and i used the 250 for hauling a track car all over New England.

The basic point is, the Bentley brand does not seem to reliable, or honorable, for those who drive their cars on a daily basis.... and i work at home so she has 27k when i got her from the dealer, to 38k about 3 years later. So yes, only 11k miles in three years and had engine out false air problrm, GTC rear glass fell out, suspension leak, startup part needed replacing, etc.

Making excuses for a 200k not being reliable is something you may need to rethink. Perhaps in your world these things are acceptable, yet to a normal consumer it is simply unacceptable. So is the lack of modern tech, unless Bentley wants to be a modern vintage car kinda like Spyker.

Look at all the problems from posts on this board. I wonder if Bentley gives a flying f about their customers, becuase obviously they do not chime in here to help their clients. On other car forums, there are factory guys helping forum members. Being that 6Speed has perhaps the most popular English language Bentley board, you would think they would at least have an employee here to help those with problems and to answer common questions. Their lack of participation here speaks volumes imho.

The Bentley's near complete lack of collectability combined with extreme price depreciation also speaks volumes imho. The market has spoken.

If someone from Bentley is reading this I'd be surprised. And if you are, how about defending your brand.

PS and yes had factory servicing done at dealer and the rear glass falling out was the final straw and another known issue. The Bentley mechanic, when fixing the common false air problem, said there was not an improvement so odds are it may happen again in 20k to 30k miles. The factory did not bother improving the known problemmatic design when doing an RnR. That also speaks volumes.

 

I apologize for being contrarian, but I can say that a Bentley is *ABSOLUTELY* capable of being a daily driver. I put 131k miles on my 2005 Continental GT as a daily driver going in and out of NYC in all weather (4 Nokian snows for the winter). Never stranded me and no major problems or expense. My wife's 2014 Flying Spur now has 25k miles and so far, zero issues. My new GTC V8, to early to tell, but they are all daily drivers in all weather and frankly the best / most pleasant we've ever had. Don't know where you negativity comes from, but your experience certainly doesn't mirror my own.

Please, no offense intended, just wanted to offer another viewpoint.

A

 

A Bentley is absolutely capable of being a daily driver. I am on my 2nd one, hopefully will be in a 3rd one towards the end of the year. About 7K-10K miles a year on the average.

Anything made by people will have defects in it. In the end of the day, your Honda dealer will not come to your house and pick up your car when you need it serviced, but you Bentley dealer will. All depends how much you value your time. A Honda is also not going to have a 600HP+ W12 in it. It won't go 208 mph. It won't have the smell of leather in it. It won't have double layer glass.

If anyone is concerned about defects, having warranty is a great way to solve it. Bentley Extended warranty is $4K per year or about $10K for 3 years, with unlimited miles. Just factor that cost into your purchase price.

Maintenance costs are out in the open. Open the manual, read the service intervals, call the dealer and ask how much they charge for each service. Factor that into your purchase price. If you have no warranty, you dont even have to take your car to the dealer.

I am not sure why you think that a $200K car costs the same to own as a $40K car. The higher the acquisition price, the more it costs to maintain. This rule applies to anything, especially things that drive, fly or fock.

 

Anyone comparing a Bentley to an S-Class will be sorely disappointed to learn that an S63 coupe (competitor of a V8 CGT) starts at $164,750, while an S65 AMG coupe (competitor of a W12 CGT) starts at $236,250 and it's not even AWD. I never heard of anyone getting significant discounts on MB AMG cars, but your local Bentley dealer is willing to give you $30K-$50K off some cars if you time your purchase right.

Having said that, if anyone likes MB more than a Bentley, they should go for it. MB makes awesome cars these days. But let's not pretend that MB models that are comparable with Bentley cars are much more reliable or much cheaper to own/maintain. That is a myth.

 

Folks, all of you who feel that a Bentley is just a rebadged VW / rebadged Audi / soon to be a rebadged Porsche should visit the Bentley factory at Crewe. I was just there a month ago and was blown away by the people and the work they do there. Don't take my word for it. Make the trip. You'll be glad you did. Call your Bentley dealer to schedule it.

 

Looking to get some winter tyres and am curious to know what Nokian's you are using. Is it the Nokian WR A4's?

 

Exactly
I just bought a 18 Continental Super Sport
5k miles
$185 certified

 

Stevenmusic, Disagree. I haven't logged on for sometime but am still kicking (I think I had the name "Grwisher" before I became the "Merry Microbe").

I have owned a 2013 Bentley GTC since new and has over 60,000 miles on her and and have no problem driving her. My other two cars are a 2019 Bentayga (also bought new) and a 2020 Rolls-Royce Dawn (also bought new). As I have no other cars I consider them all daily drivers.

The Bentayga has had only one problem in two years. The sun visors are not attached to their brackets properly. I had one replaced and had the same problem with the new one. I just glued the visor to the bracket and it works fine. There have been no other problems.

My dealer performs the annual services on all these cars.