Do You Know People Who Actually Own or Buy a Used Rolls Royce?

[slow&rusty]

Guys - My Dad and I were talking last night and he is 70, and so associates true prestige with Rolls Royce, this is amplified by the fact that he spent a good portion of his life in England.

Anyhoo...just for grins, last night we pulled-up Rolls Royces from the '70s and '80s on eBay and we could not believe how CHEAP these cars actually are, anyway from $10K-$20K for a car that cost $100K in say 1984. Many of the cars were nice, well maintained with no expsnese spared and really pampered. Most of the cars were not sold and did not meet reserve. So evidently, the market is very soft for these old behemoths. I was wondering who actually would buy a used say 1980 Silver Shadow? I have never cared much for these cars, but thats just me, maybe because I am a younger generation and prefer a more sporty type car than a "stately" type car, although I would own a 300SEL 6.3 in a heartbeat!!.

I told my dad its not the price of admission that gets you, its the running cost and maintenance that will put you in the poor house!

Your thoughts?

Yasin

[dhoward]

I'm betting Byron has one.
Buried under a stack of wheels somewhere!

[the]

do a search on OT, using "rolls royce" you'll find lots of posts and experiences.

[p911dad]

Those vintage Rolls have braking systems that are somewhat different than the normal US or European designed cars, and I believe they are known for expensive trouble. I am not real familiar with them, I just recall over the years hearing about this issue, usually with symbols like: *!!# @<*!! Before purchasing you might want a Rolls expert to look it over.

[Scott R]

Originally Posted by gmeteer

Those vintage Rolls have braking systems that are somewhat different than the normal US or European designed cars, and I believe they are known for expensive trouble. I am not real familiar with them, I just recall over the years hearing about this issue, usually with symbols like: *!!# @<*!! Before purchasing you might want a Rolls expert to look it over.

Accumulator failures to be exact. They can be rebuilt on a bench by a Rolls tech in a few hours, but really the whole system has to be worked on at the same time, It's a air/hydro ram setup. I used to work as a wrench for a Cadillac/Rolls dealer here in Denver, everything is expensive, everything is hand made, and you need a lot of special tools.

There are two dash brake indicatiors that shown when the system is in trouble. Even if the lights go out after startup its the amount of time it takes, and that shows problems.

The electric gear shift system is a nightmare to work on, that guy can get as expensive as the car to repair.

What it comes down to is Rolls doesn't do anything like anyone else does, so it gets expensive really, really fast.

[tabs]

I had a 76 LWB Shadow....I was rich and now I am poor.

Put the wrong Brake Fluid in and you have to rebuild the complete system...You HAVE to use RR Castrol 360... otherwise it turns all the rubber seals to mush and leaks. When I had the car parts alone would be $4800.

Overheat an engine thats 15K to 20K for a rebuild. Aluminum Block with Rubber O rings to seal the steel sleeves. Soft steel for valve springs.

Actually some Volvo parts are more expensive...like the oxygen sensor... and yes most parts and labour is expensive. I knew of people who took their cars in to so called RR experts only to find out they paid bunches of money to get ***** work and parts. Nothing really complicated about a RR, just LOTS of simple systems to go wrong.

On the 80 or 81 RRs they used 2 catalytic converters...$2400 each.

Problem with RRs most people DO NOT maintain them properly...the wealthy people think I will get a new one in a couple of years so what if I don't spend the dinero on maintenance.

Say a new RR goes for 200K why would you pay 150K for a year old car if you can afford that kind of money for a car..whats another 50K to get brand new. Thats why the used price on them drops like a rock. You can count on 50% the first year.

Another problem is parts availability..most of the RR suppliers of parts are long out of business. The rarer the car the less available the parts.

I enjoyed the car while I had it, rarely do I wax nostalgic for it, however having no repair bills on my F150 makes me much happier. and the ride was that much better. Also being anonymous is really the better way to go.

[Hugh R]

I think Tabs nailed what I've heard from several RR owners. Especially the maintenance issue. The issue with the brake fluid is (I think) that you must use RR or Castrol brake fluid. A US brake fluid in a period British car does indeed turn the seals to mush. I found that out the hard way.

[fintstone]

I knew a fellow once that bought an older one. I was also surprised at the low price. It seems that almost every time he went out...someone broke into it...expected to find money...drugs or something valuable I guess.

[HardDrive]

Why do guys that drive Rolls seem to be the type that think wearing a fedora is cool?

It ain't.

[tabs]

The difference between regular Castrol GT and Castrol 360 is that the 360 can withstand heat which is generated by the RR system. The regular stuff brakes down with heat.

I told the guy who bought my car not to use it but he did it anyway. The last time I talked to him he had a very minor leak.

That is the problem with used RRs you just don't know what happened to them and how they were maintained.

I was lucky that I had a good RR mechanic that went by the book and was a stickler about doing it right. That still cost me 15K in maintence over 5 years...and I was lucky. My mechanic said about 5K a year is normal. I got to the point where I comapred my Ford Rangers maint. to the RR's. It was 5K for 13 years on the Ranger including tires, batterys etc and 15K for 5 years on the RR. I got to the point I just couldn't write the checks anymore.