Just curious if anyone has had a Bentley GT or driven one and how much room is there in the back for passengers.

I'm contemplating jumping ship as I need the extra space in the rear now .

Thoughts

 

I owned a 2005 Bentley Continental GT for six years. It replaced the 1996 Bentley Continental R I'd had for eight years. I used both mainly for Continental touring across Europe. My Jaguars at the time were two XK8 Coupes (2001 and 2005) followed by two XK Coupes. I still have the 2014 XK. The Continental GT was replaced with a 2014 Porsche Cayenne which I soon grew to loathe passionately and traded for an F-PACE last November.





Although the Continental GT looks and is a bigger vehicle than the XK, this doesn't translate into extra space for rear seat passengers. The additional space is more dedicated to a huge luggage compartment. I like to drive with near straight arms - in the XK I have the seat back to the maximum and did the same in the Continental GT to achieve a similar driving position. This only leaves around three.inches more legroom in the rear compared with an XK.

Perfomance is on a different level but ownership costs are commensurate. Although I service my own Jaguars, I put the Bentleys into the dealer for service. They haemorrrhage value but one without a full dealer service history is almost unsaleable. Parts are 'interesting'. I had a wiper drive fail - it only comes as a full wiper motor assembly at over 1100 UKP.

For a driver and one passenger, the Continental GT makes a wonderful touring vehicle. With passengers in the rear, everyone has to compromise on comfort and I certainly wouldn't want to do any distance like that.

Graham

 

I’ve looked at CGTs and came up with what GGG did; obviously they’re more experienced as I’ve not owned one.

Check out the Maserati GranTurismo; the back seat is quite a bit bigger. Just get one with the ZF automatic, and if you don’t plan on diying stuff like cam variators (6-8k at shop, 1.5k parts yourself), get a 4.7 car post the vin change to the newer design.

 

Thanks for your review of the Bentley
Graham I did not realise you've had quite the list of automobiles and yes the parts of the Bentley would no doubt cost a fortune I would hate to think of the replacement cost of the entire air suspension system when the time comes .

80s in term of repairs on the Maserati I'm not too worried Ive done extensive repairs on my xk including a aj41 conversion which is currently in my xk check the thread out it all started out with worn timing chains and went down hill from there .

Whilst the Maserati gran Turismo are great dare I say it they do look very very similar to our own xk if I was planning on getting another coupe I'd be more inclined to get something completely different looking to both the xk and Maserati although I do think both do look gorgeous so it could be a option at this stage.😕😕

It's just a shame that nothing can be done to increase headroom in the back as I've also installed the final fifty seats in my vehicle.

 

You need to look very closely at suspension and brakes on any Continental GT intended purchase. Although failures are reported, the Bentley air suspension is considerably more reliable than the Jaguar equivalent - the brakes are the opposite. I had both rear calipers replaced because the park e-brake failed. I also kept starter motor failure at the back of my mind - the engine has to come out to replace it!

Graham

 

If you need more room, get an Aston Martin Rapide. Adults can sit in a backseat for an hour. After an hour, it's not the legroom that deters. It's hardness of the bottom cushion and how conforming the seat is. It's easy enough to cross legs in the back seat.

 

What Moses said, the Rapide, or even consider something more mundane such as an XF, F-Pace, and even (gaah, I don't believe I'm saying this) a Lexus RX if what you want is comfort without sport.

 

I looked long and hard at a number of GT when I was shopping for a second car. In the end, there were too many 'grenades' that required an engine out to fix a $200 part or vacuum hose. Besides that, I prefer the looks of the XK any day over the GT, plus Its an overall more reliable vehicle IMHO.

 

At this stage it comes down to practically whilst Ive loved to keep my xk unfortunately I need to look at alternatives that will allow more room for the kids , ultimately I'd like to sick to the Jaguar brand so perhaps the xf 5.0 could possibly be a suitable (reluctant) replacement .

 

I just watched this vid on You Tube and I would definitely get one if I could afford it!
But as he says make sure you pay a bit more and get a good one.

 

Lol I actually watched that review yesterday !
They truely are superb

 

Two cars I'd think about if I needed more back seat but wanted to keep a look that wasn't sedan/saloon are Audi A7 and Porsche Panamera. But maybe not enough back seat as the kids grow.

 

Graham is spot on. I drove a 2014 GTC for a couple of years. It feels big and heavy but has gobs of power and certainly more refined than any Jag. The rear seats are more comfortable and roomier than a X150 but not much more leg room. Many parts are sourced from VAG and many times more costly than JLR parts. Drivetrain serviceability engineering is horrendous as Graham noted and many parts replacements require the entire engine out and with significant labour times.

Considering what you’ve done to your XK I would hope you might keep it and get an early X351 or X250 or perhaps even a X350.

 

There's a black 5l xf with a Aero package that's come up for sale looks a treat, surely there'd be no harm in having two black jaguar under the one roof .

Interesting fact didn't realise the x250 is a steel body ( aluminium bonnet ) wasn't until the x260 that they've fallen in line with the typical jlr styled alloy body.

 

Also a fan of the X350, more so than the X358 but both are beautiful imo and you're already familiar with the engine build and parts. I think the XJR is a bit shorter by maybe 12 inches as compared to the XJ X350. Might be too old school looking for you though Steve.

 

Bentley Flying Spur is basically the 4-door CGT, loads of rear seat space, might be worth considering if you can find one. They're going for XKR money around here in Toronto.

Repairs and maintenance are the issue with the Bentley's though, my parents (who also have an XK8) really wanted a CGT as their daily driver (replacing a Cadillac STS) but after shopping around and talking to some of the local independent shop got scared off by the parts and repairs cost. They ended up with a Maserati QP (with the ZF), which has been perfect mechanically for 4+ years now, sounds amazing, and is certainly fun to drive. They like it, but don't love it, I think they would've liked something more more refinement...My dad still prefers to drive his 99 XK8.

 

Yeah, NEW XKR pricing by the looks of it. Granted in Cleveland, but can't be MUCH different.

 

That's a 2014 Flying Spur....I am talking like 04-08 or whatever. A good friend of mine just picked one up locally for $30K with like 75,000kms on it, think it's an 05.

 

The issue with a used Continental GT is not the purchase price - it's RUNNING COSTS. These costs INCREASE as the vehicle ages and with Bentley warranty expired, it's all on the owner. This is why they are so cheap to buy. Similar to Jaguar but much more extreme.

I watched the video in post #10 and, although he didn't give the actual figure, indicated the purchase price was below 20,000 UKP. These cars require a service every 12 months regardless of mileage. Dealer cost is currently between 700 and 1100 UKP but there is always something extra requiring attention. Is the buyer of a 20K vehicle willing and able to pay another 2K for a cooling pack, 3K for suspension or 5K for major brake work? All these are typical issues.

I document all my vehicles in detail and know to the penny what each costs. Purchase, insurance, fuel, service, repairs, parts and depreciation. My critical numbers are worked out as CPD (Cost per Day) and CPM Cost per Mile).

2006 XK Coupe (owned for 4 years, 2 months)
CPD = 9.69 UKP
CPM = 0.86 UKP

2005 Continental GT (owned for 5 years, 6 months)
CPD = 15.65 UKP
CPM = 1.97 UKP

Those CPD numbers are true cost for every day, 365 days a year. The Bentley was more than 50% greater than the Jaguar. The numbers for my previous Bentley Continental R are very similar to the Continental GT.

Graham

 

Graham you are very extensive will your record keeping much admiration !!

I would absolutely hate to think what I have racked up on my vehicle however it would largely fall into the modification bracket and definitely not the maintenance column .

Graham is right as the Bentley starts to age it's inevitable that things will fail more often, repairs will become more frequent and the price of parts will still remain on the high side

The more I think about it the 5.0 xf is becoming the most logical choice for me . It keeps me in the brand I so desire , it's has plenty of rear headroom and I still get a high tech V8.