I drive it daily so I'm hoping a battery tender isn't necessary

 

Initial impressions: I go out to the garage to look at it every now and again, I want to drive it even without a destination in mind. That only happened to me a few times in my life; first sports car (1999 Camaro SS), the closest I've ever gotten to a supercar - my 2001 Dodge Viper, and my 2016 S550 Coupe.

Comparing them, the Bentley is so much better (ride quality, comfort) than the S Coupe, though the tech is garbage comparatively. I use my phone for tech nowadays anyway...

I average 1 year of ownership for vehicles over the past 15 years. I'm betting this one goes longer since the only "step up" is a Rolls and RWD doesn't mix well with Chicago snow...

 

Morning 2 ... All these cars need a battery tender at some point due to the amount of power it uses when not in use, even tho you use the car everyday, there are other intelligent chargers out there for half the price of a Ctech ie Clarkes do one for around £47.00, it does the job ...

 

Nothing wrong with a nice Wraith. This is Rico's pic from another thread (thank you Mr. Rico!). I mean c'mon...can't you picture this next to the Traverse?.....

 

Hello Mr Steve (BWings) that's a beautiful car ...

 

First of all, beautiful car and a very nice choice. Second, I applaud you for making this your daily driver. Mine is also, and with 86,000 miles, it doesn’t miss a beat. I have read a lot about people who have an ‘06 with 10,000 miles and that just doesn’t make any sense to me. Enjoy it. Well done!!!

 

If you checked the trunk there may be the original battery tender in a box as it originally came with the car. Also will you get the front covered in PPF? Second set of wheel or just tires it's best to buy off season. Replacing one Sottozero at a dealer was over $500 for just the tire for the 21s when I got them originally at tirerack for under 400 earlier in the season, tirerack too was over 500 in the winter. I'd suggest 20's for a winter set. I would get the tender even if you don't think you need it driving daily. Last thing would be find a good independent mechanic plus a dashcam with parking mode. Congrats on a great car!

Off topic but extra keys need to be ordered from Bentley as they are allegedly cut before arriving at the dealer according to the dealer. The issue is if you have a Gen 1 key not a Gen 2 key. Gen 1 keys aren't made anymore so you would need to have all keys replaced with Gen 2 keys as they don't match the dealer claimed.

 

Also on eBay are Chinese vendors selling knock off key fob shells. They match the Bentley fob. The exception is they do not have the panic button with the red dot. Move the internals to the new fob. Expect to pay between $35 to $50. Forget about the guys selling used fobs. The used fobs are too expensive and they are not reprogrammable. However one can put their internals into one of the used fobs as well.


This topic has been cover numerous times in the past. A bit of research will reveal the how to.

 

Nope, that's incorrect.


I'm on my 3rd CGT. Had a 2011 Supersports, a 2014 Speed and now have a 2017 Supersports and never needed a battery tender. I used to drive all those cars every day, but now I only drive the 2017 about once a week and it still never needs a battery tender.

 

In all fairness, you've gone from a 2011, 3 years to a 2014, 3 years to a 2017 and now it is 2019, 2 years so far on the 17. Most leftside main AGM batteries are going to be 4 or 5 year batteries. You've not made it to the 4th year (or 5th) when these batteries start to waiver. Regular use of tenders are known to extend battery life to its maximum use and beyond and why even the factory sells tenders as options as well as most other marques I know. If you decide to keep the 2017 until 2022 with an average of one use of the car per week, I expect you would find that sometime in 2021 you might end up stranded

 

Correctly quoted Sir ...

 

I'm not a battery expert. What I've come to know about them is sourced from that old reliable, the internet, so maybe I am accurate, maybe not.

Batteries are a lot like people. No one can predict the failure day of either. Some of us take special care to eat healthfully, exercise, etc., and we still might not live any longer than the lifetime smoker who ate hot dogs all his life. But, the odds are in the favor of the former. Much like people, batteries are in their prime when young. After "we" age is when problems begin to arise.

What I've come to understand about batteries is:

They have the best chance of a prolonged life if they're kept at or near a full charge.
The best years for batteries are new to some point about half life or around the end of the stated warranty
A battery in a car that is driven daily will, in essence, be kept charged in that ideal range of at or near full charge.
I understand that once a battery suffers a significant discharge (especially below 10 or 11 volts) it will never fully recharge again regardless of its age.
A battery that is left unused (without any recharge) will eventually discharge and can significantly discharge.
New car dealerships have battery chargers they are always using because brand new cars that might have sat for 30 days or more w/o starting can have a battery discharged enough to not be able to start the car.
Battery health that is in the environment w/o recharging will lose charge even more when climate conditions are extreme (either way - severely cold or hot).

Given that a fair number of Bentleys along with many other high value Marques are likely to not be daily driven, regular use of a tender (A SMART tender, not a dumb one) makes the best sense to prolong usually expensive battery life. My car is either moving, or on tenders when parked in my garage.

Still, it is a personal choice what you want to do based your special driving habits that are exclusive to your lifestyle.

 

As far as the best-used car dealers are concerned, it depends on various factors: price, quality, reliability, etc. A well-used car dealer offers used cars running in a nice condition and that too at a reasonable price. I put up in PA, and there’s this used car dealer website is https://www.rollsauto.com/used-vehicles/shop-sedan that deals in the sale of used cars

 

Great insights in this thread — really helpful for anyone looking into used Bentleys. I’m actually planning to sell my car soon and was checking around for fair quotes. If anyone in NYC’s been through this recently, I found a service called Cash for Cars New York that gives instant offers and even picks up the vehicle the same day. Has anyone here tried them or a similar option in the city?

 

Make sure the Owner's Handbook is included or you get a $500 discount to buy one. I haven't read the whole thread but, if not mentioned, check the straps on the soft top if that's what you're looking at. They break and can result in a very expensive repair. Also check to see if the air struts are leaking which is not uncommon at 30,000 miles.