BUYER BEWARE!!!I am an owner of a Bentley GTC 2007 for the last 6 years. Recently the rooftop opened only half way so I asked the dealership where I bought it to check the issue. Upon inspection they told me that a sensor for the top and a battery needed to be replaced. I gave them the OK. The next day they advised me there will be no charge for the sensor because that was not the problem. They indicated that I need to replace the whole assembly and it will cost me $15,000. I called Bentley Headquarters Customer Service. They informed me that there is nothing they can do since the warranty had expired almost 3 years ago. When I filed the claim I expressed the fact that I am very aware of the warranty expiring but this is a car in excellent condition with only 31000 miles in 5 ½ years and something like this should not happen. What is the most bothersome to me and thus the writing of a letter I sent to Bentley Headquarters and to Braman dealership is as follows: I was proposed that the dealership mechanics will take the assembly down at a cost of $2700 to $3300 (estimate) and only then they will be able to tell me first if they can fix it or again, if I need to replace the whole assembly for $15K. I understand that this is not a common occurrence but was told that it has happened a dozen times clearly pointing to a quality issue. In my humble opinion, “trial and error” with a cost paid by me is not a fair way to handle this. Fortunately after my letter Braman agreed to absorb the cost of inspecting the roof, however, upon that inspection they confirmed that the roof needs to be replaced. I maintain that a roof assembly must have longer than 6 year life, especially when only 5% of the 31,000 miles have been driven with the top down and with the fact that when I purchased the car brand new they did not offer extended warranty service, so I asked the dealership and Bentley to come up with a replacement. Am I wrong? It has been two weeks and Bentley Representative Michael Proenza has ignored my call and Braman executive who told me that in his opinion for sake of goodwill either Bentley or Braman should come up with a solution but it has been almost 3 weeks and no word. What course of action should I take?
I wonder if there are other owners of Bentley GTC’s having similar issues….

A very frustrated owner of a luxury car………………..

 

Sorry to hear of your troubles. Just received an 07 and top works fine.

 

To me its unclear, can you better describe the reason why the entire assembly requires replacement? Tia

 

This needs to be explained to you in a bit more detail by your dealer. If it is a bent or misaligned top, full component failure. Damage to the actuator assemblies.

Whole top assembly is pretty common on high end cars. Its just simpler for the dealership and they can warranty the repair. I once spent ~18 hours tracking down a sensor/actuator error in a 360 spider for a friend Total repair cost to repair was maybe 1.2K minus labor. Total top replacement would have been I think 18-20K without labor.

18 hours of full book cost shop hours with no chance of warranty or even a repair is difficult to swollow and ever harder to justify to a client.

 

Makes sense.. How do these become "Misaligned" and whats the best way to prevent it from happening?

 

Forgive me for being radical but:
IF the man uses top down only5%
and
IF it does cost that much then,

Have them put the top up manually and never lift the beast again. Save all your $ and drive like you always do.

 

Im sorry to hear this issue but yes "trial by error" is not how business should be. This should be taken care of for you if they absorbed the cost. but the fix of the top will be 100% on you, no matter what action you try. This one is on you!!!! Do not cause anyone headaches about this. You are out of warranty, noone cares how long its estimated to last. My best advice is find some local shop do not go to Bentley, buy the parts that need repair or get them repaired.

In my honest opinion dont ever buy a convertible car no matter what brand it is. Anything with seals and movable parts is doomed for failiure. Happend in my Z3, never went convertible again.

 

Seriously that is not a half bad idea. At least you can use the car like you have been doing.

Top failures are nothing new to any make of car, but the current hourly shop rate and everybody trying to cover their butt makes finding the failed component a loosing proposition for a shop.

 

Hi: I have a 2007 GTC and having a problem with the female latch part of the convertible above the windshield. Occasionally when I try to open the roof it goes up about an inch and freezes. I have to unlatch it using the roof tool which is easy to do, and thereafter it works fine for many times, especially if the temperature is cool. I believe it is caused by the roller in one of the latches being somewhat frozen and not turning. The roller in the other latch turns very easily. Has anybody run into something like this. ? I can't figure out how to get it out to replace the roller and I am afraid to do damage . I tried to attach a picture to this message but cant seem to do it, but I can email it. I am assuming that anybody with a GTC convertible will know what I am talking about. Thank you for any help or comment. Mel

 

I am curious what ever happened here in your case? I have an 08 - identical issue, the top flap or tonneau cover doesn't open sometimes very intermittent and when I take it to my Bentley Mechanic who is amazing the problem doesn't exists. I have looked and tried to find a solution to this problem but nothing found anywhere. I did notice very closely upon inspection that the lower window on the left side is beginning to separate from the Canvas top, which I know what this means... a new top. my vehicle is in excellent condition and i hate to pull off an absolutely perfect top and replace the darn thing at 15K. I agree Bentley has a Known issue and they should have stepped up to plate and taken care of this situation no matter what the age. I feel that I will need to fight with them but I will say this is my 2nd used Bentley and first GTC, first had a Vacuum presser issue at the firewall and I sold it, didn't want to pull the engine, and have owned this one for about 8 months thus far and having this top be such an issue is just ridiculous.
I would spend the time to contact the Rep for Bentley if I felt it would do any good but it sounds like they only care about the warranty period. I honestly was considering buying a new Bentley and placing on on order however if this is the issue then i wont invest a dime on a quirky stupid issue like this for a luxury vehicle. Just wanted to get your feedback on what you were able to accomplish. thanks for your response.

Martin

 

A control module for the rear window same as mine $1000 to replace

 

Hello BT & welcome to the forum ... Bentley had a big problem with the GTC & the roof, they tried to compete with the Mercedes SL & ended up with leaks, has your window module failed or the roof module ...

 

Bentley corporate overall wasnt very helpful in my experience in the US they have only two representatives and neither were quite helpful. They act concerned but nothing really came of the issue only promises with no results when a dealer continued to screw up repairs which only that original dealer could warranty since they are the ones who screwed up. Only thing they offered was to have someone flown out after the 6th failed repair without addressing the elephant in the room that the staff at the dealership were incompetent. I agree a issue like this shouldn't be wide spread and is concerning. I especially wonder if they addressed this issue in the new Bentley GTC.

 

MB its no different here in the UK, Bentley head office well what can I say, Ive tried to contact them in the past with issues, Ive called, emailed & sent letters but no answer, the main head office don't care so why should the dealerships.
They sell a brand which is supposed to be the top brand in the world, they claim their prestige is second to none, so when it comes down to warrantees why do they push customers into buying £5000 warrantees after the first 3 years have passed. Why in the 4 year the engine is going to fall out !!! My late wife car is now coming unto end of 3 years, they want to sell me a warranty for £5000 or £9000 for 2 years, The car has covered 19k miles, I asked them why would I want to pay that amount of money, what's going to happen to the car in its 4th year, don't you trust your brand, supposed to be build to the highest workmanship.If Bentley don't trust there own product then what chances have the customer got.
One buy a car which is from China for example costing 10k, these companies will give an unlimited mileage warranty. Bentley use scare mongering tactics ...

 

Saw this article sometime back. Explains why the GTC tops fail.

http://robisonservice.blogspot.com/2...1-bentley.html