SECOND-HAND SENSEOne might have expected perhaps a few improbable responses to a newspaper ad for a second-hand car priced at €230,000 but such an ad placed last week elicited at least six serious inquiries. Willing to pay the equivalent price of 10 perfectly reasonable second-hand Mercedes E-Class cars, those who expressed interest in the '03 registered Bentley Arnage rather predictably included builders and publicans. What a surprise.
"It is obviously not the car you would drive as your everyday car. This is really a second choice for special occasions," says Gerard Lee of Jetstar Motors at Kill Avenue in Dún Laoghaire. He is selling the car on behalf of a private owner who has only managed to clock up some 12,000 miles on the car which, in 2003, cost €350,000 and which would suggest that those of us with more limited privileges in life really don't do too badly on car depreciation after all.
But how does one value a car like this? Mr Lee says the asking price is based around the value of such a car being brought in from the UK and having VRT paid. For your money you would be getting a four door limousine that has been the source of huge investment by the Bentley parent company, Volkswagen. Sumptuously appointed in leather and wood the interior of the Arnage really does show you how a quality car can be built and enjoyed. Everything from Connolly hide leather to air conditioning to satellite navigation is standard and pretty much everything works automatically. With a 6.75 litre turbo-charged engine you would also be getting between eight and ten miles to the gallon. Small surprise then that it might be kept as a second car.
The Arnage was originally a BMW concept but things did not work out for the company and the later versions produced by VW are regarded as much better, the older ones being rather underpowered for a car weighing in at about three tonnes. With lots of power and an awful lot of high technology the Arnage makes for a very big package and it really is hard to see what real value it has in Ireland other than a novelty one.
Surprisingly, the Arnage has something of a chequered history in terms of reliability. It had several recalls on the original BMW version - with things like steering and seat belt faults and it even suffered from overheating of the heated seats ! The later models have had problems with fuel pump hoses and leaking from steering and brake hoses. Not quite what you might expect having paid a price like this for the car. Incidentally, Gerard Lee reckons the average service for a car like this at a garage like his would cost about €1,000. Alternatively you could send the car (it is collected and returned to you) to Charles Hurst in Belfast, which handles the Bentley agency for all of Ireland.
More Bentleys than you might have suspected have been sold in the Republic. At one stage, when Motor Distributors held the franchise, some 18 of the new coupés were listed as sold. The limousine Arnage version is a vastly more limited prospect and there is only one other on sale around at the moment. That is a 2002 version with 61,000 kilometres on the clock. Price on application to Des Donnelly cars in Kilmainham in Dublin.
One last thing - the carpets in Bentleys are by Wilton. Enough said
FOR: Definitely the one for turning heads.
AGAINST: What's the point of it ?