30K Bentley Arnage - Deal or Money Pit?

Flyn

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Doug DeMuro covers the early 2000s Bentley Arnage. Car listed for $200K-$300K new. They're available with relatively low miles for +/- $30K.

I'm curious as to whether these cars would make it a few years without major expenses? It would be fun to be driving customers around in a Bentley.

Would you guys get something like a 2016 Genesis V8 or think about getting the Bentley?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fs1qmx0vZk

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Flyn

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Rich people won't buy a 17 y.o. car no matter how good it is. Too little status for them by driving it. Depreciation sets in because the original market is gone.

I could see an advantage with my customers who, mostly, won't know it's almost 20 years old.

Question is, like you say, will something big break? The freaking umbrellas are $900 each. I wonder if it would be worth buying one and parting it out on Ebay if it breaks? It's too expensive to be a real throw away car.
 

Lord Tin Foilhat

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Rich people won't buy a 17 y.o. car no matter how good it is. Too little status for them by driving it. Depreciation sets in because the original market is gone.

I could see an advantage with my customers who, mostly, won't know it's almost 20 years old.

Question is, like you say, will something big break? The freaking umbrellas are $900 each. I wonder if it would be worth buying one and parting it out on Ebay if it breaks? It's too expensive to be a real throw away car.
IMO the problem would be getting parts for stuff that breaks. Its not like autozone is going to carry parts. And how much are regular maintenance parts? Or even availability. It'll be a headache or expensive as fuck.



https://jalopnik.com/if-i-buy-a-13-year-old-bentley-arnage-will-it-destroy-1784523872

For example: the most recent repair, reportedly done “at wholesale cost,” totaled $19,409.47. The 30,000 mile service — which also included new rear brake pads and rotors — was $6,177.26. Tires cost $2,500, and one single oil change service plus drive belt replacement was $796.25.

And then you have my favorite service: On June 20, 2007, the Bentley dealer in San Diego, California, replaced the turn signal switch in this particular Arnage. The cost of this repair: $819.65.
 

SaturdaysGS

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Bet the insurance is substantially more expensive vs that Hyundai you mentioned. That alone would steer me away. Yeah saying I have a Bentley Arnage is badass, but it’s only cool to people who either know cars or want to feel “special” and honestly they would probably know it’s out dated.

Honestly if you rolled up in that to show me houses I would assume you took too much off the top. I wouldn’t buy through you. I don’t want you rolling up driving a geo the same as I wouldn’t want to see you roll up in a Bentley. Should I judge you on first impression, no, but you know everyone does. Even if you did only pay 30k for it.
 

frank

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The motors in the Arnage are great overall both the rolls motor and the bmw sourced. Transmission was a 4l80 If I can remember correctly.

One issue was suspension with what Bentley calls spheres... which are vacuum canisters to control the air ride which is a pricey repair.

Bmw sourced motors seem to have mass airflow issues which for that era was very common.

Brakes were fairly inexpensive for the what the car is. And the same for general maintenances as in oil changes etc..

Any interior trim item needed is where it become very expensive and hard to obtain from Bentley.

Had the opportunity to drive several arnages, powerful car for the weight, close the door and you sound like you are in a vault as they have double thick glass windows. Really one of the last true Bentley models before vw took over.
 

frank

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If you want to get into a cheap Bentley you would be better off getting a Continental GT - shares significant content with other VAG vehicles and there's enough info on the web forums so that you would be able to DIY most of the normal maintenance and find parts.



Stay away from the 04-06 Bentley GT’s and continentals models. Lots of issues with bcm’s where they have had issues and need to have the Bentley scan tool to reprogram them. Also they had a ton of issues with the radios which was expensive to repair.

Seen some with control arm issues like any other vw or Audi product.

Brakes were pricey for the fronts as they were fairly large. Rear brakes were A8 sourced so not too much for parts but with out a Bentley scan tool you can’t retract the rear calipers to service the pads. ( had several shop tell me they have the vw/Audi scan tool and sell the job and then sublet the repairs to my Bentley dealer for us to do the repair )
 

Z28Camaro

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The more in common a Bentley has with other VAG cars the better off a DIY service owner will be. Here's a pretty good resource.

https://www.6speedonline.com/forums...ontinental-gt-gtc-flying-spur-diy-thread.html

There are people who have found a work-around to unlock the brakes without going to the dealer.

https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/bentley/206232-replacing-rear-pads-diyers.html

What would worry me a bit more would be getting a Mulsanne where almost everything on the car is either made or sourced by Bentley exclusively for that car.
 
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