I'm shopping for a used Flying Spur for my wife and after seeing a 2008 at the Bentley dealer in SF for $135K, my attorney (Bentley owner) asked, "Why pay so much more for an '08 when the '06 is virtually the same car?" The dealer gave me a list of reasons (e.g., upgraded NAV, lifetime sat radio, back-up camera), none of which seemed particularly compelling to me.

So now I've found an '06 about 500 miles away that's selling for $105K and am wondering whether it makes sense to check it out. The '08 has 25K miles, 20" wheels, NC warranty expires in October and backseat trays while the '06 has 31K miles, 19" wheels, extended warranty available (2 yrs, $6K, unlimited miles) and no trays. Other than that and the model years, they're similarly equipped.

Any thoughts on which makes the most sense?

Thanks,

Bob

 

Agree with your attorney. However, isnt $105K for the 06 too high? I figured they would be in the high $80's.

 

The '08 is also priced too high. Don't forget, asking or advertised prices are just that and typically significantly less then actual selling prices. Do some homework by contacting other dealers and shopping the market in the usual places, ebay, cars.com, autotrader, dupont registry etc. It's a buyers market with no shortage of Bentley's. Make a fair offer and play hardball.

 

Agree, '06 with that milage should be high 80's depending on options. As i recall, some difference between 08 and 06 are that the 08 has of course newer ECU, possible better iPod/iTouch/iPhone integration for music (easily solved by $150 DICE Electronics module) and newer DVD-based NAV versus multi-CD. Check the 08 and see if it has the CF brakes versus the normal metal version. Personally unless you plan to hard track the car the normal metal in the 06 is fine and far less costly to service.

As an FYI, right here is an 06 virtually 100% optioned including factory 'chrome' three lower grills plus virtually all new tires and 100% new brake pads all around plus having been just dealer serviced and it went for just under $90.

PS: Check the 06 Bluetooth phone system within the driver's side armrest and see if it is the 'newer' one that handles the iPhone/HTC/etc via ?rSAP?. It is in the 06 here. If not, no big worries as DICE Electonics may soon be releasing an uprated integration system that will add Bluetooth plus iPod/iTouch/iPhone integration all in one unit (~$300) yet still, the 06 should have the 'better' Bluetooth for cell phone.

 

Before reading your posts, I spoke with the SF dealer and told him that I thought $120K plus a year's extended warranty would be reasonable. That's an $18.5K reduction from the $135K list price (no warranty). Our conversation was interrupted by an appointment I had so I'm calling him back this morning. But he was clearly pushing back, claiming that he'd already reduced the price and would be giving up all of his profit margin...not MY problem!!! I know better than to get side-tracked by the kind of nonsense he was pushing.

All things being equal, I think I'd rather buy the '08 and I feel like I'm in a fairly strong position: it's the end of the month, I'm willing to buy the '06 if he won't accept my price, the ''06 is still $10K cheaper (and, as suggested, IT'S likely over-priced as well) and as you guys point out, there's lots of inventory. But I'm not excited about having to run around the country looking at alternatives in order to optimize the price. Many of the alternatives we like are in Florida and my wife wants to see/drive before she buys.

So I'm hopeful that we can close on one of the two cars...today. If the SF dealer won't deal, we're hoping on a plane for So. Cal. and working on the '06. And I'll make sure I find a viable back-up down there to use in my negotiations.

Again, thanks for sharing your thoughts with me!

Bob

 

PS: Try http://autos.aol.com/used-list/make1...ontinental+GT/ and would not be afraid of milage as these are VW mechanicals and electronics so generally very reliable. Usually i prefer cars with good milage as that means any niggles have been sorted out plus the automobile has been used versus just sitting around doing nothing (which is actually not a good thing for the 'life blood' of the vehicle).

 

Makes me feel better about buying a higher-mileage car, if you can call 30K high mileage. But it's interesting how many of these cars have <10K miles on a two or three-year-old car. Guess most owners have lots of other rides.

Bob

 

$130K plus a year's extended warranty. So they've knocked five grand off the price and thrown in the warranty. We're flying down to San Diego to look at the '06 this afternoon. I've been told to check the brake pads/rotors in that they're only good for about 30K miles and it's a big ticket repair item.

I'll give you an update on how this all turns out.

Bob

 

Ten days ago, we flew down to San Diego and the next day drove home in a 2006 Flying Spur. My enthusiasm for getting the car that my wife wanted without further hassle constrained my negotiations. The car was offered at $105K, I offered $100K with a one-year, bumper-to-bumper warranty and it was accepted. I'm fairly certain that, in retrospect, they would've accepted $95K with a two-year warranty so I probably paid about $8K more than I should've.

We've been in Vail for a week and haven't had a chance to drive the car since getting it home. We only ran into one glitch on the way. The radio stopped working and we couldn't figure out whether we'd inadvertently hit a mute button but it began working again after a pit stop. Other than that, the car was terrific to drive and I think we'll really enjoy it.

Thanks again to those who offered input during my search.

Bob

 

Congratulations Bob! Yes th Bentley seems very reliable, even great in winter snow given the proper tires, and as for the radio you may have pressed in the volume ****. The reason is came back to working during the next startup is that the default car startup setting went back to the preset default. If you read he owner's manual you will see how the set the default car startup volume level. There are quite a few setting you can customize, including the GPS voice volume level, night time lights delay, etc. Must have read the manual twice and every now and then i will look something up within it.

Congratulations again and enjoy the ride