I bought a used luxury car for less than a Dacia Sandero, but was it a mistake?

The Dacia Sandero is currently the cheapest new car on sale in the UK. With a starting price of just under £15,000 it’s certainly great value for money, but what if you’re after something a bit more…regal?

Well I found a 2006 Bentley Continental GT for £10,200 which might just fit the bill. It’s about as far-removed from the sensible little Dacia as you can get, but I wanted to find out if it’s really a viable option as a daily driver.

It’s far from perfect, with a few warning lights on the dashboard and some worn suspension components needing attention. I’m going to get the car inspected, see how much it’ll cost to bring this Bentley up to scratch and work out if I’ve got a bargain, or if I’ve completely wasted my money.

Remember, you can buy a brand new or used car right here on Carwow. And you can sell your car, too. We’re here to help you through every step of your car-changing journey.

Living with a £10,000 luxury car: what’s wrong with my Bentley?

Let’s start with an introduction to my Bentley Continental GT. It’s a 2006 model with 65,000 miles on the clock, and when it was new it would’ve cost around £110,000.

Under the bonnet is a 6.0-litre twin-turbocharged W12 engine which had 550hp when it was new, but when I bought the car I put it on a rolling road to see how much power it was really making. The graph showed that it’s now got 320hp, so there is definitely something wrong with it.

I reckon there are some failed boost pressure sensors. While the parts themselves are pretty inexpensive, fitting them requires the entire engine and differential to be removed at a total cost of £8,000.

But that’s not all. My poor Continental also has some knackered suspension components, it needs a repair to the brake vacuum pump, the two handbrake motors need to be replaced and it’ll fail its next MOT on worn brakes and split CV boots.

I asked a Bentley specialist how much it would cost to get all these issues fixed and make my car as good as new, and the quote was an eye-watering £26,000. My hopes of enjoying a dirt-cheap luxury car for Dacia money were in tatters.

After much umming and ahhing, I decided to just fix the bits it needed to pass an MOT so I could enjoy at least 12 months of motoring with this car.

Fixing my Bentley Continental GT: how much will it cost?

I need to do three things to this car to pass an MOT – brake discs, brake pads and CV boots. The engine issues won’t stop it passing, nor will the slightly worn suspension. At least not until it gets worse.

Replacing these bits cost me just over £1,000, so as it stands this Bentley Continental GT stands me at just under £12,000. That’s around half of what a mint example would cost, and still £3,000 less than a new Dacia Sandero.

Living with a cheap Bentley Continental GT: what’s it like now that it’s roadworthy?

To find out how my super-cheap Continental GT compares to a mint example, I’ve borrowed an identical car from Bentley’s press fleet. This car has been maintained to the highest standards, so it should really show up the flaws in mine.

The first and most obvious difference was the performance, because Bentley’s car is producing its full 550hp. This meant it smoked me in a drag race, but in reality this car isn’t about quarter-mile times.

So I decided to do a more real-world test, an acceleration run from 30-70mph in comfort mode. My car was still slower, but only by a second or so. That’s not worth an £8,000 repair bill in my books.

The worn suspension in my car does have more of an impact though, because it just doesn’t feel as smooth or composed as the mint example. It still feels a lot more luxurious than a Dacia Sandero though.

My verdict: Should you buy a cheap luxury car?

In a word: no. You’d have to be mad to buy a £10,000 Bentley over a sensible family hatchback unless you have very deep pockets. I may have been able to get this car back on the road for around £1,000, but that £26,000 bill is still looming and will need paying at some point.

Sure, the sumptuous leather seats and walnut dashboard make it feel much more special inside than a Dacia Sandero, and even with its poorly engine it’s much faster, but the fuel bills alone would be enough to put you off this car. It’ll barely do 20mpg, whereas a Sandero will get over 50mpg with no issues.

The Bentley also threw a check engine light less than a week after the MOT, so it’s a bit like daily driving a ticking time bomb.

So yes, you can buy a used luxury car for less than the price of a new Dacia Sandero, but for the sake of your bank account and your sanity, don’t.

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