In HJ recently.....says it all, really.

[royoftherovers]

Waste not, want not

I want to buy what will probably be my final car. It will be either a nine-year-old Bentley Continental GT convertible or a slightly newer Range Rover Vogue LWB Autobiography. Budget £45,000 to £50,000. I am told that both are very unreliable, so which would you suggest? TM

I'd choose reliability over status and go for a Lexus RX450h. It's also more environmentally friendly.

[Paul Brooksbank]

What is HJ John?

[NemesisUK]

https://www.honestjohn.co.uk/askhj/

[Paul Brooksbank]

Oh yes, sorry mate. Totally agree now I understand. 

[royoftherovers]

11 hours ago, Paul Brooksbank said:

What is HJ John?

Peter has explained for you Paul.

Thanks Peter.

[Gliderpilot]

The man's got more money than sense, if I had that much spare cash to splash on my last motor I'd get a Tesla model 3 long range. Petrol and diesel cars will soon be as dead as the dodo. 

[scudney]

Time will tell

[Malc]

I'b be waiting just a little longer to get one of the new Toyota hydrogen power cars

Malc

[Silversalmon]

The original subject stated it would be his last car, I'm not sure just how long he can wait.............

[Gliderpilot]

1 hour ago, Malc said:

I'b be waiting just a little longer to get one of the new Toyota hydrogen power cars

Malc

Me thinks you'd have to wait a long time for that! My nearest fill up station is over 100 miles away.

[Malc]

yes, they've been thinking maybe 5 years max once the Met Police fleet trial is done and dusted .  fill-up points now in Hendon ? Heathrow ? and Swindon ?

with a BP roll-out not far behind methinks

After all, Japan is going over to Hydrogen powered cars / transport very soon with filling station roll-outs in place and all National Power generation for electric being effectively banned for use by cars ............ so i understand !

Malc

[NemesisUK]

Swindon hydrogen refuelling station is on the Honda site, which is closing, so not sure what will befall that.

Have seen many hydrogen fuel vehicles (buses and taxis predominantly) going in and out from there over the years, all on the backs of transporters!

[Malc]

I think it's the Toyota trial police fleet but i also understand Honda are " large " in Hydrogen fuelled cars in Japan too

The advantage of hydrogen I guess is it's  rapid refuelling whereas we know electric charging is a tad laboriously time consuming and not really effective for those that park their cars away from their own driveway or someone else's driveway 

Malc

[Gliderpilot]

Even fuel cell cars need a Battery like a hybrid to assist the fuel cell to get going. Hydrogen should be used for heavy haulage, busses and ferries. Batteries will improve to get the charge time down to an acceptable period.

[Barry14UK]

I can understand the Kudos and special feeling of having the Bentley Continental GT convertible but the up market  Range Rover - come on!!  As previously said, better to have a Lexus or one of the top Mercedes.  A lot depends on how long this person intends to carry on driving.  A petrol (or diesel) is not a bad choice now because it will probably take 10 years to get a decent infra structure to support all electric or hydrogen cars but faced with the same situation in 10 years time  a Battery or hydrogen powered car might be a better option,  although the uniqueness of the Bentley would make it worth more than a Range Rover I think.

[Mincey]

Getting slightly back onto topic, I've found myself addicted to this shy, reserved character on YouTube: 
 

 

[Malc]

33 minutes ago, Gliderpilot said:

Even fuel cell cars need a battery

even petrol and diesel cars too .......  so why shouldn't hydrogen fuel cells be used for cars too ?

Japan is doing this to save the electric power being generated from its power stations for other than transport use ...  is that clever I wonder  ?  I really don't know but it seems to me as a layman that it's a right thinking thing to try to achieve

is there a great, or indeed any, advantage of electric vehicles over hydrogen fuel cell cars ?  and buses, vans, HGVs ferries etc 

Malc

[Malc]

1 minute ago, Barry14UK said:

although the uniqueness of the Bentley would make it worth more than a Range Rover

have you seen the quantity of Bentleys for sale on autotrader lately .......  either no one wants second hand ones or maybe, just maybe, no one really wants them at all these days...  well, apart from my next door neighbour who's had one or other Bentley for donkey's years .......  but only secondhand and covering about 2 or 3 k miles a year ..  using his other cars, Audi etc .  for reliability and kudos too ......  he has a beautiful old Jensen Interceptor too, now, that is a FANTASTIC car that I do quite envy tbh 

Malc

[Barry14UK]

I remember an Interceptor being 'Best of Show' some years ago at a car show, (the metal bodied one rather than the fiberglass bodied one that had a charm of it's own).  It costs a fortune to keep it in good order or fill it with petrol being a large American lump and spares generally available and if so at what cost?  It's very dated in a number of respects, rear end suspension for example which is not independent.  Probably better to get an Aston if looking at this sort of car.

As regards the Bentley, these are bought by very well heeled individuals including overpaid soccer stars and pop stars initially or company chairman and the like.  (The chairman of the company I worked for had a Bristol, another low volume car).  But these sort of people often update frequently, so an extraordinarily expensive car depreciates quite quickly but then stabilizes some years on so that for example a good low mileage one can be had for a shade under 40K for a 12 year old.  How much would a glorified Range Rover fetch 12 years on from new?  In other words you would be buying the Range Rover at the higher end of it's depreciation curve but the Bentley much further down along it's depreciation curve and look at the craftsmanship that's gone into the Bentley.    

[royoftherovers]

1 hour ago, Mincey said:

Getting slightly back onto topic, I've found myself addicted to this shy, reserved character on YouTube: 
 

 

I watch him a lot. He enthuses Toyota and Lexus.

[Malc]

2 hours ago, Barry14UK said:

and look at the craftsmanship that's gone into the Bentley.

my love affair with nearly buying a Bentley from time to time has always been brought down to earth by my indy mechanic assuring me that it would spend as much time being trailered down to him for repairs as i would be enjoying it out on the road .......  he tells me quite categorically that i could never do the stress free 12 / 15k miles a year that I now do in my Lexus

AND to stop being daft and just keep on with the ( a ) Lexus  ..... I've never thought about a Range Rover tbh .....  just no kerb appeal for me

Malc 

BUT I do so love the older style Bentleys for sure, the 50's 60's models mainly

[Delphius1]

I do love this video. The guys go driving round the posh parts of London looking for old money cars, expecting old Rollers, Bentleys and the like, maybe the odd Ferrari or something even more rare and exotic.

But they keep seeing Lexus after Lexus. Whilst driving..... a Lexus. That to me says a lot.

 

[First_Lexus]

4 hours ago, Barry14UK said:

I remember an Interceptor being 'Best of Show' some years ago at a car show, (the metal bodied one rather than the fiberglass bodied one that had a charm of it's own).  It costs a fortune to keep it in good order or fill it with petrol being a large American lump and spares generally available and if so at what cost?  It's very dated in a number of respects, rear end suspension for example which is not independent.  Probably better to get an Aston if looking at this sort of car.

As regards the Bentley, these are bought by very well heeled individuals including overpaid soccer stars and pop stars initially or company chairman and the like.  (The chairman of the company I worked for had a Bristol, another low volume car).  But these sort of people often update frequently, so an extraordinarily expensive car depreciates quite quickly but then stabilizes some years on so that for example a good low mileage one can be had for a shade under 40K for a 12 year old.  How much would a glorified Range Rover fetch 12 years on from new?  In other words you would be buying the Range Rover at the higher end of it's depreciation curve but the Bentley much further down along it's depreciation curve and look at the craftsmanship that's gone into the Bentley.    

I've always wanted a Bristol. Fantastic cars, remember seeing one at an Earls Court Motorfair when I was about 12 and I've liked them ever since. Couldn't understand why my Father wanted a Rover SD1 as his company car instead - although that was a cool car too, I guess it was significantly cheaper!

https://bristolcars.co.uk/

[Barry14UK]

Sad to see some of the old Bristols awaiting restoration that link takes you to.  I am reminded that Britain produced some very special cars in their day years ago,  perhaps beyond the reach of the average motorist.  Allard, Alvis, Lagonda and better Sunbeams and Daimlers being some of the others as well as RR and Bentley of course.  We might build more cars nowadays but these are almost all assembled for other owners with Morgan being a quirky small scale exception - not sure who owns Aston Martin now, another premium car struggling I believe.  We know that with these premium marques you are paying for better coachwork, comfort exclusivity and performance these sort of cars offered in their day.  Even the cheapest modern car today is generally going to be more reliable and cheaper to maintain with as much performance as is needed under normal conditions on our overcrowded roads.  I knew I guy once who had a number of exotic Italian cars which I am sure will have appreciated but he told me his Ford Escort was the most reliable and best used while the others were just for play.   

 

[Delphius1]

My first trip to London on my own as a teenager (an Early Computer Games Fair) was to Olympia and I was fascinated to walk past the Bristol showrooms. I ended up working in Hammersmith not far away, so passed it regularly. 

Nice cars, but they always struck me as a bit dated. Always behind the curve style-wise.

I think I only ever saw customers in that showroom once. Always made me wonder how they afforded the rent in Kensington if they didn't sell anything.