Isn't depreciation great? For used car buyers, at least. Excepting a few very special vehicles, everything becomes affordable in time. Sure, it can be a miserable experience for the first owner to see the value ebb away with every passing mile - but a joyous one for everyone else waiting to pounce. It gives those unable to justify the original RRP a chance to experience what all the fuss was about a few years down the line. And not lose so much money when their time comes to sell...
As its production volumes increased, Bentley has certainly done its bit for the have nots. Various Continentals that would once have cost owners anything up to £200,000 are available for a little more than 10 per cent of that; even the Mulsanne, the last bastion of old fashioned Bentley craftsmanship, isn't immune: this Speed, registered last year and with fewer than 5,000 miles, is for sale at a Bentley dealer with more than £100,000 off its list price.
Now there's one more to add to the list of alluringly affordable - all things being relative - Bentley behemoths: the Bentayga. Launched back in 2015, the brief for Bentley's 4x4 was relatively simple; it was to deliver the Bentley experience ("unprecedented levels of refinement and performance") in something that could also venture far off the beaten track. Despite some initial reservations, the big Bentayga emphatically nailed its brief: "The Bentayga honours its bombastic boasts and clearly has the potential to become a money spinner of Cayenne-style significance for Bentley", concluded our first drive almost five years ago.
Now, obviously, the £84,995 that this Bentayga is for sale at hardly counts as an insignificant amount of cash. But it is a huge chunk off the initial purchase price. Even in its most modest specification the Bentley cost £160,000, and it's hard to imagine that any left Crewe with exactly that price tag attached. Furthermore, this advert claims the Bentayga is a Mulliner (though it misses some key Mulliner extras), and that originally retailed at £230,000...
It has depreciated because it's been used, EY17 OMG having been driven almost 50,000 miles. Which is not enormous for any car, and certainly isn't judged against the other Bentaygas on offer, though might look a lot compared to older models; there are plenty of Brooklands from the 1990s that haven't yet racked up this mileage.
As you might expect for such a relatively new Bentley that once cost so much, the Bentayga still appears in the first flushes of youth. Even the ivory leather hasn't discoloured, and opting for the 21-inch wheels (rather than optional 22s and their sportier sidewall) has presumably helped prevent damage. There might even be an argument to say that the Bentayga is ageing reasonably well, given the barrage of, um, striking SUVs that have followed it to market.
Whatever you think of the Bentayga's look, its ability has never been in much doubt. And while the updated car has improved the SUV in a number of key areas, it's hard to argue with the value on offer here either. Depreciation will continue to be a close friend for a while yet, but it can't be as savage as that first 36-month hit. Now the peerless experience of Bentley 4x4 motoring is on offer for the price of a Range Rover Velar SVA, or little more than a BMW X4 M. For what's on offer, that doesn't seem an enormous amount of money. Wonder where it might be in another three years...
SPECIFICATION | BENTLEY BENTAYGA
Engine: 5,950cc W12 twin-turbo
Transmission: 8-speed automatic, four-wheel drive
Power (hp): 608@5,250-6,000rpm
Torque (lb ft): 663@1,250-4,250rpm
MPG: 22.1mpg (NEDC combined)
CO2: 292g/km
Year registered: 2017
Recorded mileage: 47,000
Price new: £160,200 (before options)
Yours for: £84,995
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