Anyone Owned A Bentley Turbo R?

[jpjsavage]

Peep - I agree with much of what you say here. We certainly have masses to be happy about with our cars and very little to envy.

[Chris Skelton]

I have an old review (In Motor, or is it Autocar?) where they did a side by side comparison with a Rolls and a Ser 2 (?-or 3) LS400. And of course, the LS 'won', except for gravitas and historical appeal/snob value!

Jose; the Ser 4 is great.

[petayV8]

you have had all the advice not to get one,mostly from older sensible people i suspect, who have prob bought some very silly unsuitable cars in their past mine include ferrari 330 basket case when bought,mercury cougar, oldsmobile toronado, land rover 101,spring to mind, and many more,but sometimes you have to follow that dream, even if you lose a bit of money.

no good when you get older and look back and think, i wish id done that

Oldsmobile Toronado - droools

[PEPE]

you have had all the advice not to get one,mostly from older sensible people i suspect, who have prob bought some very silly unsuitable cars in their past mine include ferrari 330 basket case when bought,mercury cougar, oldsmobile toronado, land rover 101,spring to mind, and many more,but sometimes you have to follow that dream, even if you lose a bit of money.

no good when you get older and look back and think, i wish id done that

Oldsmobile Toronado - droools

bigjap has made me think for when I bought my first Bentley (an R-Type saloon in mint condition) in 1975 I was 34 and I was indeed following a dream.

[tonyricha]

I run . Rolls Royce Silver Spirit which is the same as the Bentley but without the turbo whilst it looks fantastic in Royal Blue it drives like a boat meaning very slow progress, a trip out in my GS450 h is a absolute pleasure after the Rolls! Also run a Mercedes S Class which sits between the two in every aspect. They both make me release how brilliant Lexus cars are,and affordable to run.

[a319]

I have previously owned a Lexus LS430 which is now my father's car and it was a very reliable and comfortable car. I was back to see the family a few weeks ago and it still looks and runs perfectly, even though it is now 8 years old and has approaching 30,000 miles on the clock. My parents are retired and don't go very far!

Now I currently have a Bentley Turbo R which I run as a second car. It is a 1996 SWB model which makes it a little easier to fit inside the garage and still has better legroom in the rear than the LS430. The mileage is around 57K which makes its annual utilisation similar to that of the Lexus. Whilst the Lexus is a luxury car, it does not compare with the Bentley which always feels special when I take it out. The Bentley truly is a different beast and feels much more luxurious. It has a hand finished feel and was designed by men who smoked pipes and drank real ale. If you was to step from the Bentley into a 1970s Rolls Royce Silver Shadow you will see the similarity and correctly conclude that it is an evolutionary rather than revolutionary design. I would also echo what others have said here: it is much more expensive to run than a Lexus and repairs will be pricey should anything major go wrong. There are several specialist that operate outside the main dealer network though and they are reasonably priced and can give good buying advice. Remember that you generally get what you pay for in life and this is even more true when buying a Bentley. An impeccable service history is a must and money spent on an independent inspection may be a wise investment.

I guess that by asking the question on a Lexus forum you are getting biased opinions, so perhaps you should go onto a Bentley forum and ask the same question.

[Bluesbreaker]

you have had all the advice not to get one,mostly from older sensible people i suspect, who have prob bought some very silly unsuitable cars in their past mine include ferrari 330 basket case when bought,mercury cougar, oldsmobile toronado, land rover 101,spring to mind, and many more,but sometimes you have to follow that dream, even if you lose a bit of money.

no good when you get older and look back and think, i wish id done that

You had an Oldsmobile Toronado, bigjap. .... What a beast of a car,( sorry to hijack this thread,folks) It was the first car that I bought when I moved to Canada,In the mid-70's, damn near 7 litres,front -wheel drive, drum- brakes all round,this car took some stopping,as the brakes were prone to fading,for obvious reasons,my Canadian Relatives,warned me,( I arrived there in early May) that come winter,I could have traction problems,-I lived in Toronto then,not known for its mild Winters, but, having had experience on British roads, owning front-wheel drive cars, driving that beast around was a doddle, yessiree! Gasoline then,was an wallet-pleasing 36cents a gallon,happy days!

[The-Acre]

you have had all the advice not to get one,mostly from older sensible people i suspect, who have prob bought some very silly unsuitable cars in their past mine include ferrari 330 basket case when bought,mercury cougar, oldsmobile toronado, land rover 101,spring to mind, and many more,but sometimes you have to follow that dream, even if you lose a bit of money.

no good when you get older and look back and think, i wish id done that

You had an Oldsmobile Toronado, bigjap. .... What a beast of a car,( sorry to hijack this thread,folks) It was the first car that I bought when I moved to Canada,In the mid-70's, damn near 7 litres,front -wheel drive, drum- brakes all round,this car took some stopping,as the brakes were prone to fading,for obvious reasons,my Canadian Relatives,warned me,( I arrived there in early May) that come winter,I could have traction problems,-I lived in Toronto then,not known for its mild Winters, but, having had experience on British roads, owning front-wheel drive cars, driving that beast around was a doddle, yessiree! Gasoline then,was an wallet-pleasing 36cents a gallon,happy days!

Well I'm hijacking to too. Back in the early 70's when I lived in London, an American neighbour moved away. For 2 years his light metallic blue Chevrolet Chevelle (like the SS Malibu) sat in the road until I was given the go-ahead to buy it for £150! 35K on the clock AND it was right hand drive. Petrol then was cheap, and how I wish I had that car today!

Phil

[bigjap]

yep.happy days,i took it in part exchange for my e type,i needed £1500 for deposit on a house,cos i was getting married,ended up with this and £1800,great car,mine was 1970 had disc brakes,and later 7.4 litre engine,lime green,black vynyl roof,interesting car,had chain drive from hydromatic transmission to front wheels,had it for a while,till the kids come along,then i got a toyota crown custom estate,always like the american cars,owned a few since

[The-Acre]

yep.happy days,i took it in part exchange for my e type,i needed £1500 for deposit on a house,cos i was getting married,ended up with this and £1800,great car,mine was 1970 had disc brakes,and later 7.4 litre engine,lime green,black vynyl roof,interesting car,had chain drive from hydromatic transmission to front wheels,had it for a while,till the kids come along,then i got a toyota crown custom estate,always like the american cars,owned a few since

This is what mine would have looked like restored fully.....time to dream again!

[Bluesbreaker]

It's probably one of the main reasons I like the LS400 - I'm a pure sucker,for big V8's-ye canny whack 'em, my stay in in North America, only fed my appetite for big cars, I spent a load of money buying and selling them, Ford LTD's are around the closest thing to an LS400 I ever owned,( cat among the pigeons time folks,come on,bring it on!) it was a real come-down, arriving back in the UK (1979) and having to make-do with a Ford Granada Estate..."

[Bluesman]

It's probably one of the main reasons I like the LS400 - I'm a pure sucker,for big V8's-ye canny whack 'em, my stay in in North America, only fed my appetite for big cars, I spent a load of money buying and selling them, Ford LTD's are around the closest thing to an LS400 I ever owned,( cat among the pigeons time folks,come on,bring it on!) it was a real come-down, arriving back in the UK (1979) and having to make-do with a Ford Granada Estate..."

We bought a S reg that's the S after the numbers which I think was 1978 V6 2.8 litre Auto special Ltd Ed Estate model had a great light metallic blue finish and blue Velour upholstery. We did 250K in her with one gear box change and was very sad to see her go. Great car. What a shame they bought out that jelly mould Granada, Sadly the mark died after that.

[The-Acre]

It's probably one of the main reasons I like the LS400 - I'm a pure sucker,for big V8's-ye canny whack 'em, my stay in in North America, only fed my appetite for big cars, I spent a load of money buying and selling them, Ford LTD's are around the closest thing to an LS400 I ever owned,( cat among the pigeons time folks,come on,bring it on!) it was a real come-down, arriving back in the UK (1979) and having to make-do with a Ford Granada Estate..."

Well that's what got me started on the LS, I knew nothing about them, didn't even know who made them, I just liked the look. I've always liked the look of American cars anyway, and the LS400 always looked a bit American to me. I also spent a fair amount of time in Canada visiting my sister for weeks at a time, loving many of the cars there. One time driving a Toyota Camry from Vancouver to Calgary with absolutely no traffic hold up in 700 miles. definitely happy days!

[a319]

Bringing this back onto topic, the Bentley Brooklands is worthwhile considering as an alternative to the Turbo R. It is all the styling and luxury of the Turbo R, but should prove to be a more affordable proposition. As with all Bentleys the price varies according to the condition of the car and I must again stress that you get what you pay for when buying a Bentley. A cheap car usually means expensive bills. Brooklands currently advertised vary from around £7,000 to £28,000, but £15,000 should buy you a decent one with perhaps a few thousand more for a low mileage car in excellent condition.

[black400]

I went for petrol today in my cheapest local garage, low and behold a Bently mulsanne turbo , i think 86, going to have a look tomorow , if the price is right , clasic tax and insurance , who knows, there goes my X5 4.8 i was saving for.

Ps the two LS 400 s wont be going .

[itarumaa]

My friend used to own Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow 1972 model and I did take it for a test drive. It does have a feel that Ls400 just cannot reach, it feels much more a special Luxury car compared to LS400 from year 1998. LS400 is great car but ... :)

Eventually tough my friend get rid of the car and changed it to 1950 Chevy and then again to HD-bike. I think he realized that keeping the Rolls in the road is just way too expensive. 18mpg in the longer runs, in the city about 9-10mpg and parts are really expensive as well.