I’m an engineer for a company making stamped steel parts for many of the vehicles you work on - engine mounts, CV axle parts, and electric power steering sensor rings. The steel we use to make those parts has to come from only approved vendors, and in some cases specific mills since these parts are safety-sensitive or exposed to salt water in the winter. Many of those suppliers/mills are at half output. Also, Russia and Ukraine were major steel producers. Many of Ukraine’s mills are damaged/destroyed and Russia’s steel has been banned from the world market. Things may take a very long time to get back to ‘normal’.
@@michaelmaas5544 that’s by design. These politicians / Davos men at the WEF don’t want us having so much prosperity. They want a permanent rentier underclass, not an ownership society.
That gear changer actuator on that thing send it to either ECU Testing or BBA Reman (both in the UK) 100% they will manage to repair that and likely without reprogramming
I work in a boat building shop in Ontario, Canada. We are having great difficulty finishing boats because we just can't get parts. It was really bad a year ago, then things started to get better for like 2-3 months and now we are getting back-order after back-order...again.
I'm a Patient Care Manager for a Pediatric ER. We have weekly supply shortages. Sometimes these shortages are for very common medications or supplies. It keeps us on our toes juggling resources.
Over here where they "build" these, well I say build, its more assemble it, you can get a Bentley or Rolls cheap, but if anything goes wrong with it, forget it. I saw one of these for sale at the equivalent of $13k so should it need any repairs makes it completely uneconmical. Beautiful cars if you can afford the repairs they will need eventually and thats if you can get the parts.
@@cousinjohncarstuff4568 To be honest, I think that average person bank account is already empty. I know a couple people who get loans for these kind of car and barely getting by making the car payment. Some of these people make the same mistake over and over again despite being told to go buya Toyota instead.
In 2009 i bought a 1998 Corolla for $2500. It has 236,000 miles on it today and still drives beautifully. I put an alternator on it earlier this year which was about $200. The left axle shaft seal is leaking, and i am struggling to find a new seal. But this Corolla has tuned aluminum intake runners from the factory, and independent rear suspension which is a blessing on the highway.. The engine and transmission (5 speed manual) are still in good kilter. Best money I have ever spent.
In December last year I bought a 100,000 mile, old lady driven 2004 Toyota Corolla CE. Always dealer serviced. I had to do the Cat, both front wheel bearings, and the gas tank heat shield. Love the little beastie.
Absolutely having the same problems in the car wash industry. We're having to fabricate a lot, repair when we would rather replace and wait an incredible amount of time for the things we absolutely need. It's not getting better, so we have to!
Marine electrical superintended here. I can confirm supply chain is a mess. Cable that used to take a couple weeks, maybe a month now takes 16 plus weeks. Messes up schedules big time.
Car Wizard, I work for a major carrier in the trucking industry and our fleet is 33% down. Almost all waiting for parts to fix the emission systems or sensors and computer modules. We've had to fetch trucks from rental companies just to equip all of our drivers.
“Labor is up to $200hr? Wow! Last time I had work done it was $75-100hr. Yes it’s been a while but wow!!” I know what you mean. I have resources for food, sometimes in bulk (by the ton). That also comes with its own set of unusual problems (“what am I going to with 8,000 pounds of onions???). I bought groceries the other day and was absolutely floored by the cost of food! There is always a silver lining. People like us can now drive a newer Arnage. We can do the repairs, rebuild some parts that might be too expensive to buy, or replace expensive, and complex systems with simpler systems. It would not be inexpensive and it ALWAYS takes 5X longer than expected but it does open the possibilities of opening a few doors, but then, what do I know. I still have a diesel Mercedes that needs to be finished.
I’m a painting contractor and i’ve had a few weird can’t find issues in the last few years. 1. paint , no paint !! cannot paint without it !! 2. Tape, blue tape , green tape etc etc. 3. and then just random things like certain roller sleeves. it’s crazy Also it’s cheaper to put an LS1 in it !!!
I Work in the Hydronic Pump field, for new parts and pumps were are seeing up to 24 week lead times from the factory. We also carry mechanical seals and we're seeing the same thing. Common seal parts are taking 2-3 months to get in. Meanwhile we've seen price increases of almost 30% just this year 😳.
Expensive vehicles require expensive maintenance parts and repairs. Just because the vehicle itself depreciates and becomes "AFFORDABLE" doesn't mean the parts maintenance and repairs needed to keep it operational do the same.
if you remember he had Hoovies old Turbo R and complained about how much of a POS it was with repairs..seems to have changed his tune on this one, and the same with the Bentley convertible Hoovie has and couldnt sell
This is mostly true, but cars that were produced in the hundreds of thousands have reduced parts prices (for equivalent quality) simply because that is scaled production. They make these parts in small batches and you're assuming a large chunk of the labor and tooling cost
Right, the people who buy these for cheap don't realize that's the whole reason *why* they depreciate like they do, because everybody knows what a nightmare they are to maintain and most people don't want to deal with it.
I repair motorcycles and 4 wheelers, same issue with parts, in fact, waiting on a 2019 Polaris Fuel pump (not crap chinese) from Polaris, nothing available until July, thats 4 months I have been waiting. Love your show, nice to see a REAL HONEST mechanic.
That reminds me of the old 1958 Edsel Tele-Touch system. No cable. Buttons in the steering hub ran a shift motor. People used to cut holes in the floor and install a shift lever when the Tele-Touch went bad. I guess you could just cut a hole in the floor of your Bentley and reach thru to shift manually.
I think there's a grand total of two shops in North America that will even look at a Teletouch. Also, that info is from 10+ years ago, so it might be down to one shop now
I had an Arnage in this same spec. I only paid $20k for it. The quality is the same a a RR phantom. Nearly impossible to find any plastic in the interior. Mine had the shifter actuator problem for reverse though
I just bought three pieces of 1 x12x8' standard pine for $96! The selection was awful too with only eight pieces to choose from. If you're in the construction industry, things are unbelievable right now.
Car Wizard, its labor issue, its a big problem. I am having problem getting parts for my non automotive line of work as well.. You're not alone. You may need to have people leave their cars at home until the parts comes in if your shop is getting full unless they're from out of town.
@@ttsupra95 if it helps you sleep at night then yea man.. my tin foil hat is chrome plated 3x over. enjoy cars while you can though, we probably got a couple more years anyway. it’s all happening right in front of you and deep down, you know it too.
@@5MGE There's nothing more nefarious going on than an over-reliance on China to manufacture our Western standard of living. Their zero COVID policy of huge lockdowns has destroyed all the supply lines downstream of their factories, which is basically all the world's supply lines.
Wizard, I’m an electrician and we have the same supply chain issues. Can’t get breaker panels, disconnects, smoke detectors and tons of other stuff. Some weeks there’s plenty and some weeks you get told it’ll be a month before we can have that
Hi Wizard, I work in the optical industry (manufacturing prescription eyewear). Getting parts for equipment repairs has been the same story. I know of many optical labs who have had a $200 part fail that should be a simple repair, that resulted in having to buy all new equipment ($80,000), because that's more economical than losing 4 months production time
Take the cover off the actuator and check the relays inside, worked on these since they came out and never had to replace one, no ecu involved in the shifting, straight voltage from the shifter to the actuator, check the feeds and grounds, good luck. Ck the micro switch's too
@@blaketindle4703 Now we just need matching tinted tail lights so no one can see if you are braking or turning or see the back of your car at night....
I am in the IT world working for a corporate IT department and yes it’s hard to get laptops and desktops. It’s a 2 to 3 month wait after purchase. I have seen our supplier have 50 laptops in stock and 2 hours later they were out of stock.
Just paid my mechanic in Romania 1000 euro to repair my Passat 2008... the list included timing belt, oil, filters, water pump, fuel pump and some suspension parts. Compared with this Bentley i think i made a good deal for a sorted vw.
@@chattifactory I don't think is the wizard's foult. In Romania, the mechanic takes 40$ ( + -) for an hour. Also, we have a lot of VW diesels here. Like, there is a joke that the Romanians learn how to say TDI before mama.. Parts are everywhere, all mechanics know how to work on them so is a lot cheaper to repair a VW here.
@@claudiu998 i get what your saying but there is a reason every single video the wizard makes is basically him trying to defend what he charged people lol
@@chattifactory That claim is beyond idiotic. If you think a good mechanic is expensive, wait until you get a bad mechanic to fix your car and see how "cheap" that will be...
I was surprised to hear the name Flying Spares. I didn’t realise they were so significant. I live near them in the UK. I’ve parked up and stood looking through the fence at their yard full of Rolls/Bentleys being taken apart. It’s a weird sight! Amazing work as always, Wizard!
@@frederiquekruger4818 That’s exactly why thieves will steal a car and strip it down to the bare frame, sell any parts with no VIN numbers, and scrap any parts with a VIN…
Obvious question. When was this last serviced ? I would bet a lot of the costs here are because annual services have been skipped and therefore you get the bill all in one go. Also, no matter what you paid for it you are still maintaining a $250k car. And $20k repair is actually less than the annual depreciation on a new one. So you could look at it as a bargain.
We've been waiting for going on 2.5 years for specific HPC (high-performance compute) servers. They've taken so long to be delivered that the vendor has (on paper) released a new version and is about to release another! To fill the gap we spent ~60k on temporary ones that are something like 1/8th as powerful.
i owned a Toyota Camry hybrid 2008 for 8 yrs., not 1 thing broke or went wrong! Love Toyota, so I bought a 2012 Sienna and a 2016 Lexus NX 200T, both just excellent vehicles. they don't look as nice as this Bentley though!
I totalled a 1990 Jaguar not long ago. Not a scratch on it but the list of things it needed reached $10k for parts and that was not for air conditioner or a few other things it also needed repaired. Some pieces had no availability and might never have availability.
Btw. I believe…. Its not a heads up display, but rather a sat navigation system. And the rear mirrors, in theory, are designed to prevent unwanted flash photography (the mirror reflects back the flash from the camera… in theory at least). Beautiful motorcar. Thanks for the video.
I work for one of the largest inbound (into the US) cargo companies in the country and I can say it is likely to get a LOT worse in the next 6-8 weeks as there is likely to be a strike at the West Coast ports.....
I remember a friend of my brother bought a used 1971 Rolls Silver Shadow, It went for 24k in 89. He had to stick in another 22k for the suspension and brake system to pass inspection.
I work for a company that manufactures industrial electrical panels. The supply chain issues are hitting us hard. From big items like computerized modules to even basic items like screws and spring nuts.
I own a canoe and kayak outfitting business. Getting new equipment has been problematic the last couple of years. Last year half of my kayaks arrived after we had closed for the season. This year the canoe manufacturer told me they were out of materials to build my boats and had no idea when they could get more.
Why don't you repair everything rather than replace, rear bushing can be done in situ, you can rebuild the rack it's not hard, front bushes can be replaced. I'll bet you can fix the gear control unit too. The modules can usually be repaired by companies that repair them.
Wizard has had bad experiences with rebuilt things. He has to eat the cost of re replacing the rebuilt unit with new, so he doesn't play that game any more @ $200 per hour.
@@JohnSmith-yv6eq That's because he gets other people to repair stuff if he's a real mechanic he would repair the stuff himself, I spent 40 years repairing cars and it's usually a mistake if you expect someone else to do it right, I ended up fixing everything myself and had no issues.
Wizard, go to the grocery store with Mrs. Wizard this week and look at the shelves. You'll probably see that a lot of items you thought were common are not available. It's not only auto parts.
Supply issues...not recent but my dad owned a 2005 BMW k1200rs motorcycle where the ABS unit went bad in about 2012 or so, so the bike was 7 years old. He was more than willing to pay what he expected to be a huge price for a new one, but every shop told him they cant get hold of one, not even a used one. Same story with the dealerships. He even contacted a friend living in Germany to see if he could get one there and ship it, and it was the same deal. The proscribed fix was to I stall a $20 connector that disabled the ABS without making the bike's computer freak out, and ride real gently when it rained.
I work in high-end computer storage, and so far repair parts haven't been a major issue, but building new storage arrays or server clusters is definitely being hit hard by the supply chain issues. A system that previously could be delivered within 2 weeks of being ordered is now taking 2-6 months, sometimes even longer. I expect it's going to hit the repair parts soon; in the past if a system was going to be difficult or expensive to repair the customer would just buy something new, but now that's not an option, either.
I'm finding most parts are easier to get than last year, except high speed network. 10GbE is tough, but 100G+ Mellanox EDR and HDR are impossible. Based on ETAs, Mellanox expects delivery a year after we ordered it
I have a feeling we’re going to start seeing by-passes for these older cars with these electronic parts. This might be the easiest one since it might be *theoretically* (emphasis on that, the beers might be talking right now) relatively simple to have a rod do the work.
I really liked seeing the dash without the beauty cover over it and just seeing how nice everything is mounted under the panel, thats real attention to detail
Even my 1998 Honda Stepwagon nearly fell to the no spares situation. It's an import here in the UK, but the n/s steering rack gaiter was split at it's yearly inspection so it failed, and the garage can't get one. Even Honda UK say there's none in the country! Luckily we have a specialist near here that had a few on the shelf, and one is currently on it's way to me now. I know I bought an import, but it's a Honda, they supply parts worldwide. Except steering gaiters apparently.....
I recently sold my 2011 Rolls Royce Ghost. I had it for 20,000 miles and it never missed a beat. I ran a 1999 Green Label Arnage from 38,000 miles to over 65,000 miles. It never missed a beat. Both cars were maintained by a good independent and his hourly rate was less than half of the cost of a main dealer. Edit: Prior to my Arnage I ran a 5.0 XK (Portfolio) and the headlight failed. £600 to replace.
Agreed. I have had 5 Jaguars over 20 years. All specialist maintained. Family sedan money to maintain. I also watch these videos and I can never see the justification for these RR/ Bentley/Ferrari/ Lamborghini parts prices.
Large shipping companies (companies like Evergreen for example) are deliberately withholding container capacity to keep the supply low and prices high. Some of these “supply chain issues” are quite deliberate. Sad but true.
OMG you saved me!! I was about to buy a 2002 Arnage for 39 Grand with 53 thousand miles stunning car but if parts are that expensive I'm glad I passed too bad about the issues that depreciates the value of a car a whole lot
I wonder if there is a way to bypass that "selector box" and fabricate a rod linkage directly from the column shift to the linkage on the side of the transmission. AKA it will work like the column shifter in your old Chevy truck/American land boat, no electronics. I'm betting that's the hang-up, the computers would throw a fit if you did that.
People outside of Wyoming don’t understand why we hang on to older vehicles. My daily driver is a 1992 GMC K1500. It has the primo 5.7L (350 CID) V8 with a 4L60 Turbo-Hydramatic. It has the simple easy to maintain GM throttle body FI system with a conventional electronic distributer ignition system. Parts are cheap and easy to obtain.
I keepin my 2003 Chevy vans trucks cheap easy to fix junk yards have tons of parts. 350k miles on my 4.3 v6 Original steering rack motor and front end bushings in NYC metro area...Keep that euro trash
I work repairing photographic equipment and I'm having the same problems with parts availability it's killing of potential work and ending up with useable equipment being scrapped I find my self having to find good used parts more often as customers are desperate to get things working again .
Same supply chain trouble in the concrete rebar cutter bender manufacturer I work at. These machines use components that are common to lots of hydraulic machines, nothing exotic, and it's now rare to have one go straight from fabrication to shipping without stalling and waiting for stuff. Customers are still ordering anyway, and lots are ordering several machines at once.
I watch the Wizard frequently and I see both hips needing to be replaced in the near future. I've had it done and it's a big deal. Don't get them both replaced at the same time. That concrete shop floor and the extra weight he carries adds up to about $70K, by the time it's over. Do the rehab work or your back will never be the same. I've learned a lot from your channel.
Here in Spain is (or was) quite common. 8-10 years old 7 series, E-S class, etc, bought for scrapes and the first problem which forces the customer to the workshop, now is faced with bills starting 4-5 times which they paid for the car.... Usually ending up abandoned at the same workshop... 100000€ car still has a 100000€ car maintenace bills 10 years later
I build electrical control panels. Yup parts will randomly just go on back order. Contactors, panduit wire channel and covers, circuit breakers etc. Even wire labels
@@RexKarrs VW own the factory at Crewe and the copyright to the Bentley name. BMW own the Rolls Royce name for cars but nothing more. Back in the day things were different, with BMW very close to the real RR Bentley Co at Crewe. My 87 Bentley Turbo R had a BMW sunroof switch - the very beginning of the end! BMW supplied both the Seraph's V12 and the early Arnage's V8. Customer pressure brought the Rolls 6.75 V8 back into the Arnage. VW outbid BMW in the battle for RR but lost the name to BMW, who were supported by Rolls Royce aero engines.
As a finisher for mostly kitchen cabinets, there are some supply chain issues with a lot of material we work with but not enough to stop us completely. As someone who works in a big video game retail store, there's still supply chain issues mostly in brand new video game consoles but not as bad as it once was
Very sharp cars… always loved this generation the most. Word to the owner, please untint those headlights. Makes it look kinda cheap. I used to do that with my cars in high school lol.
I’m an electrical engineer and getting components for building automotive harnesses is absolutely terrible right now. Things that I could get in a day in 2020 takes me a month to acquire now. It’s terrible how much the supply chain has deteriorated.
The jokes about fixing Bentleys and Rolls reminded me of something a mechanic I knew was making fun of a customer for. The customer was losing their S, because a service with a coolant flush was over $1000 on an Audi in about 2008. He said he calmly shrugged and said, "you shouldn't have bought a rich man's car if you cannot afford it." It is that way with all European cars. I worked with a guy, a couple years back, that was looking to dump his nicely spec'ed late model Jetta, due to the insane maintenance costs(not even paying on major repairs yet!). If you are in America, you better be able to afford paying double your car payment every month to buy European cars.
@@johnd8892 Running any car in Australia is stupid expensive compared to other parts of the world, let alone a needy and finnicky overpriced and overrated European car.
@@slasher9883 Everything in Australia is going up. I just registered my 08 civic 5 speed here in Sydney. I am a full licence holder got off my ps 3 months ago. 50 for the inspection, 380 for the NSW Rego, 728 for the CTP green slip and 678 for the third party fire and theft insurance. All up it cost me ~$1700 AUD just to put the car on the road. And that's before you pay almost or more than $2/litre for petrol (or gas as the yanks call it). Then you need to add brakes, servicing, shocks etc onto that. Yes, owning a car is VERY expensive in Australia as the government milk the motorists as a cash cow.
@@davidlp3019 I just paid $978 for another year of rego here in qld. A large chunk of that is made of compulsory insurance. It would be nice to get a discount on that considering I've never had to claim on it in my past 20 years of driving. And I still don't get why I get charged hundreds more for having an extra 2 cylinders, yet I already pay more in tax for fuel and use more of it!
@@jamesr5741 yeah mate it's crazy. My car is just a 4 cylinder sedan. The compulsory CTP Green slip injury insurance in NSW is the bulk of the bill aswell. The licence here is 60 bucks a year aswell, or 350 for 10 years, which goes up every year -_-
I actually purchased a jeep that was parked in a field for 3 years because my new bronco isn't coming any time soon.( I've been waiting almost a year) I've had parts issues with it but its almost sorted out. It was actually less broken than I expected which is pretty much never the case. 1997 cherokee 4.0 4x4 automatic.
You had a Rolls Royce Silver Spur in your shop before right? I don’t recall that car needing 20K in repairs. Silver Spur is more reliable than any of the newer Rolls Royce’s and Bentleys. Of course all these cars need to be well maintained.
Deferred maintenance, those rubber bushings didn't completely disappear overnight. This car probably needed $2,000 in repairs a year, every year, for 10 years, none of which was done, so its all come to a head now. Pay now, or pay more later type of thing
Dear Mrs Wizard, the correct term used for the vent controls is "Organ Pulls". You bring great value to Mr Wizard's videos with your observations - thank you 😊
Supply chain issues: I sell commercial doors. We have around a 27 weeks lead time on specialty veneers, not counting our production lead time. We joke that they're waiting for the trees to grow. But the issues are real. Any contractor who signs a contingency contract nowadays is out of his mind.
I've never understood tinted headlight lenses as a mod. I try to modify headlights to produce more illumination, not less. It never seems like a car has an overabundance of road lighting, and some are just pathetic in stock form. Some of the older Rolls Royce and Bentley models from the 1960's and 1970's, benefited from having their drivelines swapped out with big block Chevys, and a TH400. It made the cars much more drivable, but ruined their resale. With all the crazy hydraulic and electrical systems in these newer models, there's virtually no way to really improve them with just an engine swap. Cadillac really missed the boat by not creating an over 6 liter LS based luxury car, with a 6 or 8-speed automatic. Hopefully, the new EV luxury cars will solve some of these issues.
Former Bentley Service Manager here - The Arnage and its variants (like the initial Continental) are well built, well tested and great driving financial time bombs. The suspension and brake system shares the same hydraulic system. There's a failsafe built in to the system that is something I'd rather not rely on. Don't be fooled by their beauty unless you can spend $3k to $30k a year on maintenance.
Spending some time with a pair of vernier callipers and a couple of parts catalogs you will be able to find OEM replacement bushes and steering rack service kits to repair most of the faults.. Fitting a cable form a Chevy transmission shifter and getting the ecu hacked to ignore the lack of servo motor would solve that problem. You can also 3d print gaskets now.
i'm a building engineer, we're running into the same problems as well. Big electrical motors for air handling units are backordered for months, VFDs (variable frequency drives) are backordered for a HALF YEAR, and a ton of random parts whether it be plumbing, electrical, or even carpentry are backordered. Many important tenants get very frustrated at us but our hands are tied. We're usually sitting ducks always waiting for parts.
One thing they avoid to talk in the news when discussing about workers shortage is long covid. Many good working persons are in a limbo state with no capacity to work. This problem is so much bigger than we expect, I'm not kidding at all.
Long covid sucks. My dr treats me like a lab rat to keep me alive so they know what to do. No joke when my heart went bananas a year ago and everything was “normal” it took two months to get it under control. Four months later they were having to treat their family members for the same problem using me as a road map.
@@hotpuppy1 you're correct...and no one I know that knows anyone that knows anyone does.... Weird how a supposed 1 million people died yet I can't find anyone who knows anyone in my whole town. You would think I could
Consistent $20,000.00 repair bills for other Bentley owners; difficulty getting spare parts for a 21-year-old car; mechanics may have to fabricate the needed parts; $3,800.00 to replace four (4) control arms; both sway bar link replacement $1,000.00; $7,800.00 for new steering rack; left rear strut bushing replacement $1,200.00; both valve cover gaskets leaking $1,300.00; brake master cylinder leaking $1200.00; etc. I could not afford to keep a Bentley on the road.
Geez Wizard, "the steering rack is $6 grand" and you'll only put a new one in?!?! You can get the rebuilt from Flying Spares for only $800. I realize it's a risk, but at some point the "new" strategy makes no sense. Why not just have them signoff for no warranty coverage. Saves them $5K right there. $200/hr sounds a bit salty...top Rolls/Bentley specialist in NJ, Palma Classics is a shade lower than that. Always thought cost of living was lower in Kansas!! :-) I can vouch that Bentley ownership is VERY expensive and more than Ferrari in most cases, eye watering, but when set up right, it's a really special experience.
I have worked in printing for over 30 years. We are having trouble getting paper. Something that used to take 2-3 days now takes 4 weeks and in some cases we can't get the paper at all. crazy world we live in.... keep up the great videos.
$200/hr labor cost ? $6000 steering rack ? those are Bentley dealer prices , you can get parts on eBay new or used , or from a 3rd party for much less than that , and even the best local mechanic shop won’t charge $200/hr to work on your car … that sounds like a rip off to me
Auto repair videos have convinced me to be very grateful for my 99 Ford Contour. Parts are super cheap, available, and easy to install. It has manual roll up windows and it doesn't wipe my nose when I sneeze or massage my back while driving, but it has never let me down and delivers 35 miles per gal.
Packaging plant mechanic here. We are feeling the pinch from the supply chain woes as well. Lead time on parts is as much as 6 months. We rebuild as much as we can.
I know its not a Bentley or a supercar, but the shop im using for a 2016 S7 is asking 90€/ hour. 200 /h is too much I think. Not even surgeons ask 200/h for a surgery and I know that cause im one of them.
I wrench as a hobby, but as my day job I work in management in the commercial glass construction market. Material that used to take 4 to 6 weeks to get, now takes 16 to 24 weeks to get. And the cost to me has doubled. It certainly adds a level of stress to my world, and I am seriously worried about the future....
Other than the reliability, I don't know why the Arnage gets so much hate. It's one of the most beautiful cars ever created. I fall in love with one every time I see one. Especially the facelift Mulliner T models are to drool for.
@@MrCarGuy Well i dislike this car and brand because of exactly that. Hell, I hate my OWN car when something fails and its a couple of HUNDRED bucks to fix. Luckily that almost never happens
Love isn't supposed to be rational. I don't need a reason to prefer black over blue. I don't need a reason to prefer chocolate over vanilla. And I don't need to justify to other people why I prefer to hold on to my 1988 BMW 750iL instead of having it hauled off to scrap just because somebody else doesn't consider these worth keeping.
As a civil engineer rebuilding a train station, I can confidently tell you we are struggling to get certain material. There have been times where we couldn’t get galvanized kindorf struts, so we had to spend the extra money to get the stainless. Weeks and maybe months of wait time for basic items that we used to get the next day.
Looks like the old saying is true; "If you can't afford to buy a new one, you won't be able to afford a used one." Thanks, Mr. and Mrs Wizard, for yet another public service announcement! ✌️❤️🙂🇨🇦
IKR! $1000 for sway bar links! Last set of sway bar links I bought was for a Lexus SC400 - admittedly it was a long time ago, but I think they were under $80 for the pair from the local Lexus/Toyota dealership.
I totally agree regarding the three series BMW. It is always been like that from my experience back into the 80s. It seems like there were quite a number of people who always wanted a BMW and finally got to a point where they could barely afford a three series, but they couldn’t afford to maintain them. We used to see them come to the shop and they were just a disaster due to deferred maintenance and neglect.
I’m an engineer for a company making stamped steel parts for many of the vehicles you work on - engine mounts, CV axle parts, and electric power steering sensor rings. The steel we use to make those parts has to come from only approved vendors, and in some cases specific mills since these parts are safety-sensitive or exposed to salt water in the winter. Many of those suppliers/mills are at half output.
Also, Russia and Ukraine were major steel producers. Many of Ukraine’s mills are damaged/destroyed and Russia’s steel has been banned from the world market. Things may take a very long time to get back to ‘normal’.
We will never get close to be “normal “ again
@@michaelmaas5544 that’s by design. These politicians / Davos men at the WEF don’t want us having so much prosperity. They want a permanent rentier underclass, not an ownership society.
@@seanwieland9763 this I know. You will own nothing and like it!
Agreed. No going back to normal. Polish that car up and park it in your driveway. Very impressive!
This is the result of participating so much in the global economy and relying so heavily on just in time production.
That gear changer actuator on that thing send it to either ECU Testing or BBA Reman (both in the UK) 100% they will manage to repair that and likely without reprogramming
I work in a boat building shop in Ontario, Canada. We are having great difficulty finishing boats because we just can't get parts. It was really bad a year ago, then things started to get better for like 2-3 months and now we are getting back-order after back-order...again.
Boat builder in TN here. Same thing. Various random stuff just goes unavailable.
Any chance that’s Rossiter?
Biden
@@7x779 yep. How's Biden's Build Back Better thing going lol
it seems to match the last China lockdowns... everything come from China.
I'm a Patient Care Manager for a Pediatric ER. We have weekly supply shortages. Sometimes these shortages are for very common medications or supplies. It keeps us on our toes juggling resources.
I have so many friends that bought BMW and Bentleys because it was CHEAP! Then came the repair bill and an empty box of kleenex.
Idk man I have a 2010 BMW X5 XDrive30i and it’s been good for 4 years. Just typical maintenance now the new age bmws are higher and more expensive
Over here where they "build" these, well I say build, its more assemble it, you can get a Bentley or Rolls cheap, but if anything goes wrong with it, forget it. I saw one of these for sale at the equivalent of $13k so should it need any repairs makes it completely uneconmical. Beautiful cars if you can afford the repairs they will need eventually and thats if you can get the parts.
AND, an empty bank account!
@@cousinjohncarstuff4568 To be honest, I think that average person bank account is already empty. I know a couple people who get loans for these kind of car and barely getting by making the car payment. Some of these people make the same mistake over and over again despite being told to go buya Toyota instead.
Trying to look rich costs money
In 2009 i bought a 1998 Corolla for $2500. It has 236,000 miles on it today and still drives beautifully. I put an alternator on it earlier this year which was about $200. The left axle shaft seal is leaking, and i am struggling to find a new seal. But this Corolla has tuned aluminum intake runners from the factory, and independent rear suspension which is a blessing on the highway.. The engine and transmission (5 speed manual) are still in good kilter. Best money I have ever spent.
In December last year I bought a 100,000 mile, old lady driven 2004 Toyota Corolla CE. Always dealer serviced. I had to do the Cat, both front wheel bearings, and the gas tank heat shield. Love the little beastie.
Corollas between 1997 to 2010 was the best over the best ever builds ones
Boring
@@Enjoythewoods yet not so boring that you took time out of your life to respond to it
@@methylbenzodiazepine it's good if you need to save money
Absolutely having the same problems in the car wash industry.
We're having to fabricate a lot, repair when we would rather replace and wait an incredible amount of time for the things we absolutely need.
It's not getting better, so we have to!
welcome to the third world
Fjb
Can you give an example of what parts youd like to replace, but cannot?
@@james-he7xv Yea, because he's responsible for WORLD WIDE supply issues, and high gas prices. Insert eye roll emoji here.
@@perryelyod4870 glad you agree
Marine electrical superintended here. I can confirm supply chain is a mess. Cable that used to take a couple weeks, maybe a month now takes 16 plus weeks. Messes up schedules big time.
Car Wizard, I work for a major carrier in the trucking industry and our fleet is 33% down. Almost all waiting for parts to fix the emission systems or sensors and computer modules. We've had to fetch trucks from rental companies just to equip all of our drivers.
Labor is up to $200hr? Wow! Last time I had work done it was $75-100hr. Yes it’s been a while but wow!!
$200/hr for a Bentley is much cheaper than the dealership.
two gold crowns in 1.5 hours for $1700, the other estimate was $2500, approx cost to get DDM $1 mill.
Car wizard works on a chinese car its just 75 wan an hour
“Labor is up to $200hr? Wow! Last time I had work done it was $75-100hr. Yes it’s been a while but wow!!”
I know what you mean. I have resources for food, sometimes in bulk (by the ton). That also comes with its own set of unusual problems (“what am I going to with 8,000 pounds of onions???). I bought groceries the other day and was absolutely floored by the cost of food!
There is always a silver lining. People like us can now drive a newer Arnage. We can do the repairs, rebuild some parts that might be too expensive to buy, or replace expensive, and complex systems with simpler systems. It would not be inexpensive and it ALWAYS takes 5X longer than expected but it does open the possibilities of opening a few doors, but then, what do I know. I still have a diesel Mercedes that needs to be finished.
“two gold crowns in 1.5 hours for $1700”
WOW! THAT is a lot of money! Good thing you didn’t have to hire a plumber!
I’m a painting contractor
and i’ve had a few weird can’t find issues in the last few years.
1. paint , no paint !!
cannot paint without it !!
2. Tape, blue tape , green tape etc etc.
3. and then just random things like certain roller sleeves.
it’s crazy
Also it’s cheaper to put an LS1 in it !!!
I Work in the Hydronic Pump field, for new parts and pumps were are seeing up to 24 week lead times from the factory. We also carry mechanical seals and we're seeing the same thing. Common seal parts are taking 2-3 months to get in. Meanwhile we've seen price increases of almost 30% just this year 😳.
Expensive vehicles require expensive maintenance parts and repairs.
Just because the vehicle itself depreciates and becomes "AFFORDABLE" doesn't mean the parts maintenance and repairs needed to keep it operational do the same.
if you remember he had Hoovies old Turbo R and complained about how much of a POS it was with repairs..seems to have changed his tune on this one, and the same with the Bentley convertible Hoovie has and couldnt sell
This is mostly true, but cars that were produced in the hundreds of thousands have reduced parts prices (for equivalent quality) simply because that is scaled production. They make these parts in small batches and you're assuming a large chunk of the labor and tooling cost
@@lutomson3496 car wizard is a bit nicer to actual customers than hoovie
You have to sell after warranty
Right, the people who buy these for cheap don't realize that's the whole reason *why* they depreciate like they do, because everybody knows what a nightmare they are to maintain and most people don't want to deal with it.
I repair motorcycles and 4 wheelers, same issue with parts, in fact, waiting on a 2019 Polaris Fuel pump (not crap chinese) from Polaris, nothing available until July, thats 4 months I have been waiting.
Love your show, nice to see a REAL HONEST mechanic.
That reminds me of the old 1958 Edsel Tele-Touch system. No cable. Buttons in the steering hub ran a shift motor. People used to cut holes in the floor and install a shift lever when the Tele-Touch went bad. I guess you could just cut a hole in the floor of your Bentley and reach thru to shift manually.
I think there's a grand total of two shops in North America that will even look at a Teletouch. Also, that info is from 10+ years ago, so it might be down to one shop now
@@11sfr Ha Ha. Not many shops would even know what you are talking about. "A Tele-WHAT!!"
I don't mind cutting a hole in the floor of my Bentley Arnage but I'll *never* reach thru to shift manually. I plan to hire a servant to do that.
@@JasbirSingh-zj1fg How much do you pay per shift (each transmission shift or time period in the car shift? )
No, the shift mechanism communicates with the computer which affects lots of other things like fuel delivery and ignition.
We are a fiat approved workshop in 🇬🇧 i had one van waited for 9 months for a body control module. I feel your pain...
I had an Arnage in this same spec. I only paid $20k for it. The quality is the same a a RR phantom. Nearly impossible to find any plastic in the interior. Mine had the shifter actuator problem for reverse though
How were those shifter problems solved?
Who solved them?
I just bought three pieces of 1 x12x8' standard pine for $96! The selection was awful too with only eight pieces to choose from. If you're in the construction industry, things are unbelievable right now.
Car Wizard, its labor issue, its a big problem. I am having problem getting parts for my non automotive line of work as well.. You're not alone. You may need to have people leave their cars at home until the parts comes in if your shop is getting full unless they're from out of town.
it would be nice if it was that simple but it’s a lot more nefarious than a labor shortage. the labor shortage is part of a way bigger and evil issue.
@@5MGE Tin foil hat time?
@@ttsupra95 if it helps you sleep at night then yea man.. my tin foil hat is chrome plated 3x over. enjoy cars while you can though, we probably got a couple more years anyway. it’s all happening right in front of you and deep down, you know it too.
@@5MGE I can't sleep with the tin foil hat on, it makes crunchy noises everytime I toss and turn thinking about birds being drones......
@@5MGE There's nothing more nefarious going on than an over-reliance on China to manufacture our Western standard of living. Their zero COVID policy of huge lockdowns has destroyed all the supply lines downstream of their factories, which is basically all the world's supply lines.
Wizard, I’m an electrician and we have the same supply chain issues. Can’t get breaker panels, disconnects, smoke detectors and tons of other stuff. Some weeks there’s plenty and some weeks you get told it’ll be a month before we can have that
Hi Wizard,
I work in the optical industry (manufacturing prescription eyewear). Getting parts for equipment repairs has been the same story. I know of many optical labs who have had a $200 part fail that should be a simple repair, that resulted in having to buy all new equipment ($80,000), because that's more economical than losing 4 months production time
Take the cover off the actuator and check the relays inside, worked on these since they came out and never had to replace one, no ecu involved in the shifting, straight voltage from the shifter to the actuator, check the feeds and grounds, good luck. Ck the micro switch's too
that's what scanner danner would say, doubt the wizard would miss cleaning the contacts on relays, idk
@@gnomiefirst9201 Who is scanner danner ???
@@robertcolyer3321 ua-cam.com/users/ScannerDanner
@@robertcolyer3321 excellent YTuber that has an extensive auto electrical repair/dx videos.
@@leonardodavinci303 Yes 35 years on these cars. so you can f@@k off, just trying to help the wizard, i think he doe's great work
Tinted headlights 🤦🏻♂️
Some people don’t deserve a car like this.
“I blackened my headlights so they work less.”
They look well done, still an ugly car tho
🤮
@@blaketindle4703 Now we just need matching tinted tail lights so no one can see if you are braking or turning or see the back of your car at night....
I am in the IT world working for a corporate IT department and yes it’s hard to get laptops and desktops. It’s a 2 to 3 month wait after purchase. I have seen our supplier have 50 laptops in stock and 2 hours later they were out of stock.
Just paid my mechanic in Romania 1000 euro to repair my Passat 2008... the list included timing belt, oil, filters, water pump, fuel pump and some suspension parts. Compared with this Bentley i think i made a good deal for a sorted vw.
if you woulda taken it to the wizard that woulda cost you easy 8 grand xD
@@chattifactory I don't think is the wizard's foult. In Romania, the mechanic takes 40$ ( + -) for an hour. Also, we have a lot of VW diesels here. Like, there is a joke that the Romanians learn how to say TDI before mama.. Parts are everywhere, all mechanics know how to work on them so is a lot cheaper to repair a VW here.
@@claudiu998 i get what your saying but there is a reason every single video the wizard makes is basically him trying to defend what he charged people lol
@@chattifactory That claim is beyond idiotic. If you think a good mechanic is expensive, wait until you get a bad mechanic to fix your car and see how "cheap" that will be...
@@redbaron6805 oh calm down
$20k in Volkswagen parts and repairs on Bentley. The drive line and Alot of the electronics are cross-referenced to Volkswagen /Audi parts catalogue.
Yeah I work on lifts, parts are a nightmare recently!
I was surprised to hear the name Flying Spares. I didn’t realise they were so significant.
I live near them in the UK. I’ve parked up and stood looking through the fence at their yard full of Rolls/Bentleys being taken apart. It’s a weird sight!
Amazing work as always, Wizard!
Cars and anything intricate in general are worth more in parts than complete.
@@frederiquekruger4818 yeah, aeroplanes are another good example of being worth more in spares parts
@@frederiquekruger4818 That’s exactly why thieves will steal a car and strip it down to the bare frame, sell any parts with no VIN numbers, and scrap any parts with a VIN…
Excellent company, great service and if you have a Rolls-Royce or Bentley try them first every time.
They and Introcar are the largest RR/B parts sources in the UK.
Obvious question. When was this last serviced ? I would bet a lot of the costs here are because annual services have been skipped and therefore you get the bill all in one go. Also, no matter what you paid for it you are still maintaining a $250k car. And $20k repair is actually less than the annual depreciation on a new one. So you could look at it as a bargain.
Scotty Kilmer would rather buy a 90's truck and put $15k into it than buy a new one.
@@gnomiefirst9201 If you know what's good for you, that used truck better be a Toyota! 😄
We have massive supply chain issues with sourcing IT equipment. Laptops, chargers, cables, and monitors on back order for months.
We've been waiting for going on 2.5 years for specific HPC (high-performance compute) servers.
They've taken so long to be delivered that the vendor has (on paper) released a new version and is about to release another!
To fill the gap we spent ~60k on temporary ones that are something like 1/8th as powerful.
i owned a Toyota Camry hybrid 2008 for 8 yrs., not 1 thing broke or went wrong! Love Toyota, so I bought a 2012 Sienna and a 2016 Lexus NX 200T, both just excellent vehicles. they don't look as nice as this Bentley though!
I totalled a 1990 Jaguar not long ago. Not a scratch on it but the list of things it needed reached $10k for parts and that was not for air conditioner or a few other things it also needed repaired. Some pieces had no availability and might never have availability.
Btw. I believe…. Its not a heads up display, but rather a sat navigation system. And the rear mirrors, in theory, are designed to prevent unwanted flash photography (the mirror reflects back the flash from the camera… in theory at least). Beautiful motorcar. Thanks for the video.
I work for one of the largest inbound (into the US) cargo companies in the country and I can say it is likely to get a LOT worse in the next 6-8 weeks as there is likely to be a strike at the West Coast ports.....
I remember a friend of my brother bought a used 1971 Rolls Silver Shadow, It went for 24k in 89. He had to stick in another 22k for the suspension and brake system to pass inspection.
I work for a company that manufactures industrial electrical panels. The supply chain issues are hitting us hard. From big items like computerized modules to even basic items like screws and spring nuts.
I own a canoe and kayak outfitting business. Getting new equipment has been problematic the last couple of years. Last year half of my kayaks arrived after we had closed for the season. This year the canoe manufacturer told me they were out of materials to build my boats and had no idea when they could get more.
$300,000 cars have $300,000 car repair bills whether they are 1 year old or 30 years old.
Why don't you repair everything rather than replace, rear bushing can be done in situ, you can rebuild the rack it's not hard, front bushes can be replaced. I'll bet you can fix the gear control unit too. The modules can usually be repaired by companies that repair them.
Wizard has had bad experiences with rebuilt things.
He has to eat the cost of re replacing the rebuilt unit with new, so he doesn't play that game any more @ $200 per hour.
@@JohnSmith-yv6eq That's because he gets other people to repair stuff if he's a real mechanic he would repair the stuff himself, I spent 40 years repairing cars and it's usually a mistake if you expect someone else to do it right, I ended up fixing everything myself and had no issues.
Wizard, go to the grocery store with Mrs. Wizard this week and look at the shelves. You'll probably see that a lot of items you thought were common are not available. It's not only auto parts.
Even the cheaper store-brand items are selling out where I am leaving only the premium expensive.
Supply issues...not recent but my dad owned a 2005 BMW k1200rs motorcycle where the ABS unit went bad in about 2012 or so, so the bike was 7 years old. He was more than willing to pay what he expected to be a huge price for a new one, but every shop told him they cant get hold of one, not even a used one. Same story with the dealerships. He even contacted a friend living in Germany to see if he could get one there and ship it, and it was the same deal. The proscribed fix was to I stall a $20 connector that disabled the ABS without making the bike's computer freak out, and ride real gently when it rained.
Just park them in your driveway to appear well to do. Wash occasionally and dry.
GENIUS
Illegal in many places unless it's registered, licenced and insured.
@@golden.lights.twinkle2329 yes govt wants. your $$
I work at a Hotel in California and we are experiencing supply issues from soap, Food items and even printer supplies too.
I work in high-end computer storage, and so far repair parts haven't been a major issue, but building new storage arrays or server clusters is definitely being hit hard by the supply chain issues. A system that previously could be delivered within 2 weeks of being ordered is now taking 2-6 months, sometimes even longer. I expect it's going to hit the repair parts soon; in the past if a system was going to be difficult or expensive to repair the customer would just buy something new, but now that's not an option, either.
I'm finding most parts are easier to get than last year, except high speed network. 10GbE is tough, but 100G+ Mellanox EDR and HDR are impossible. Based on ETAs, Mellanox expects delivery a year after we ordered it
I have a feeling we’re going to start seeing by-passes for these older cars with these electronic parts. This might be the easiest one since it might be *theoretically* (emphasis on that, the beers might be talking right now) relatively simple to have a rod do the work.
I really liked seeing the dash without the beauty cover over it and just seeing how nice everything is mounted under the panel, thats real attention to detail
Even my 1998 Honda Stepwagon nearly fell to the no spares situation. It's an import here in the UK, but the n/s steering rack gaiter was split at it's yearly inspection so it failed, and the garage can't get one. Even Honda UK say there's none in the country! Luckily we have a specialist near here that had a few on the shelf, and one is currently on it's way to me now. I know I bought an import, but it's a Honda, they supply parts worldwide. Except steering gaiters apparently.....
Everytime I think the maintenance of my Jaguars costs too much money, I watch a Rolls Royce or Bentley video. And then I am happy again. 😊
I recently sold my 2011 Rolls Royce Ghost. I had it for 20,000 miles and it never missed a beat. I ran a 1999 Green Label Arnage from 38,000 miles to over 65,000 miles. It never missed a beat.
Both cars were maintained by a good independent and his hourly rate was less than half of the cost of a main dealer.
Edit: Prior to my Arnage I ran a 5.0 XK (Portfolio) and the headlight failed. £600 to replace.
Agreed. I have had 5 Jaguars over 20 years. All specialist maintained. Family sedan money to maintain. I also watch these videos and I can never see the justification for these RR/ Bentley/Ferrari/ Lamborghini parts prices.
Large shipping companies (companies like Evergreen for example) are deliberately withholding container capacity to keep the supply low and prices high. Some of these “supply chain issues” are quite deliberate. Sad but true.
Goes much higher than that, and times it across all industries.
An EASA certified electrical shop could probably rewind starter motors, or almost anything with a coil or winding inside.
OMG you saved me!! I was about to buy a 2002 Arnage for 39 Grand with 53 thousand miles stunning car but if parts are that expensive I'm glad I passed too bad about the issues that depreciates the value of a car a whole lot
I suspect it was an Arnage 'T'? If so you had a very close shave as they suffer catastrophic camshaft failures.
I wonder if there is a way to bypass that "selector box" and fabricate a rod linkage directly from the column shift to the linkage on the side of the transmission. AKA it will work like the column shifter in your old Chevy truck/American land boat, no electronics. I'm betting that's the hang-up, the computers would throw a fit if you did that.
That rear bushes press in and out in place easily.... 1/2hr per side max....if competent
People outside of Wyoming don’t understand why we hang on to older vehicles. My daily driver is a 1992 GMC K1500. It has the primo 5.7L (350 CID) V8 with a 4L60 Turbo-Hydramatic. It has the simple easy to maintain GM throttle body FI system with a conventional electronic distributer ignition system. Parts are cheap and easy to obtain.
I keepin my 2003 Chevy vans trucks cheap easy to fix junk yards have tons of parts.
350k miles on my 4.3 v6
Original steering rack motor and front end bushings in NYC metro area...Keep that euro trash
Yeah we have the same supply issues with ATVs. We've been waiting for some headlamps since October 2021.
SUPPLY ISSUES: I waited 11 months for parts for my company. What once took 3 days to arrive now take over one week, sometimes two weeks. Ridiculous.
Isn’t the trans a GM 4l80e….. couldn’t you somehow just get an aftermarket hurst/B&M shifter and bypass that big trans module
so you charge $200 to work on them, What do you charge to work on a Silverado? $80? $100?
I do residential HVAC and we have had multiple problems with supply chain issues
I work repairing photographic equipment and I'm having the same problems with parts availability it's killing of potential work and ending up with useable equipment being scrapped I find my self having to find good used parts more often as customers are desperate to get things working again .
Same supply chain trouble in the concrete rebar cutter bender manufacturer I work at. These machines use components that are common to lots of hydraulic machines, nothing exotic, and it's now rare to have one go straight from fabrication to shipping without stalling and waiting for stuff. Customers are still ordering anyway, and lots are ordering several machines at once.
I like Magic Mike's dedication. He puts in so much time at the shop, while still doing his night gig.
Dont forget, he spends a lot of time in the gym too!
Municipal water - more and more difficult to get EVERYTHING we need - electric motors - chem pumps - repair kits for most items - chemicals etc.
I watch the Wizard frequently and I see both hips needing to be replaced in the near future. I've had it done and it's a big deal. Don't get them both replaced at the same time. That concrete shop floor and the extra weight he carries adds up to about $70K, by the time it's over. Do the rehab work or your back will never be the same. I've learned a lot from your channel.
Scary! I'd rather try to fix the Bently in my driveway. Much less pain.
A couple of ball joints (not from a Bentley) might suffice.
Here in Spain is (or was) quite common. 8-10 years old 7 series, E-S class, etc, bought for scrapes and the first problem which forces the customer to the workshop, now is faced with bills starting 4-5 times which they paid for the car.... Usually ending up abandoned at the same workshop...
100000€ car still has a 100000€ car maintenace bills 10 years later
Moral of every Bentley story is don’t buy a Bentley.
Better yet, don't vote for liberals and kill all communists.
Definitely never buy a Bentley that has dollar store modifications to it.
Unless you can afford to own a Bentley, of course. 20K to some people is next to nothing.
The moral of this story is "Don't but a Bentley, unless you can afford to run it" - just like with any prestige brand.
Old Bentley. If you can afford a new one why not
I build electrical control panels. Yup parts will randomly just go on back order. Contactors, panduit wire channel and covers, circuit breakers etc. Even wire labels
And the V12 was Seraph only. The Arnage also came with a twin turbo M62 BMW V8. Interiors are near identical.
I thought VW owned Bentley, not BMW. W12 is the VW Phaeton engine, right?
@@RexKarrs VW own the factory at Crewe and the copyright to the Bentley name. BMW own the Rolls Royce name for cars but nothing more. Back in the day things were different, with BMW very close to the real RR Bentley Co at Crewe. My 87 Bentley Turbo R had a BMW sunroof switch - the very beginning of the end! BMW supplied both the Seraph's V12 and the early Arnage's V8. Customer pressure brought the Rolls 6.75 V8 back into the Arnage.
VW outbid BMW in the battle for RR but lost the name to BMW, who were supported by Rolls Royce aero engines.
I install granite countertops everyday. We have had a few problems with getting materials.
I'm a appliance repair person and we are having the same issues more parts are becoming NLA 😔😔 love your channel
No one wants to work anymore!
I have been waiting several months for a replacement AV head unit for my 2017 Genesis G90. Supply chain issues are horrible.
The Arnage never came with the Bentley V12. That was only in the RR Silver Seraph. The Arnage Green Label had the BMW V8 engine.
Twin turbo M62 non-vanos with heads by Cosworth.
with twin turbos! :)
Thank God this the Red Label with the Rolls-Royce-Bentley L-series V8 engine!
@@one_flew_over_the_cuckoos_nest I had the Green Label engine. It was awesome. Very fast
As a finisher for mostly kitchen cabinets, there are some supply chain issues with a lot of material we work with but not enough to stop us completely. As someone who works in a big video game retail store, there's still supply chain issues mostly in brand new video game consoles but not as bad as it once was
Very sharp cars… always loved this generation the most.
Word to the owner, please untint those headlights. Makes it look kinda cheap. I used to do that with my cars in high school lol.
Yeah, same back in the day, however it's sorta counter productive for lights (especially headlights).
I’m an electrical engineer and getting components for building automotive harnesses is absolutely terrible right now. Things that I could get in a day in 2020 takes me a month to acquire now. It’s terrible how much the supply chain has deteriorated.
The jokes about fixing Bentleys and Rolls reminded me of something a mechanic I knew was making fun of a customer for. The customer was losing their S, because a service with a coolant flush was over $1000 on an Audi in about 2008. He said he calmly shrugged and said, "you shouldn't have bought a rich man's car if you cannot afford it." It is that way with all European cars. I worked with a guy, a couple years back, that was looking to dump his nicely spec'ed late model Jetta, due to the insane maintenance costs(not even paying on major repairs yet!). If you are in America, you better be able to afford paying double your car payment every month to buy European cars.
Same issues in Australia too.
Lots of Never Again comments from owners
@@johnd8892 Running any car in Australia is stupid expensive compared to other parts of the world, let alone a needy and finnicky overpriced and overrated European car.
@@slasher9883 Everything in Australia is going up. I just registered my 08 civic 5 speed here in Sydney. I am a full licence holder got off my ps 3 months ago. 50 for the inspection, 380 for the NSW Rego, 728 for the CTP green slip and 678 for the third party fire and theft insurance. All up it cost me ~$1700 AUD just to put the car on the road. And that's before you pay almost or more than $2/litre for petrol (or gas as the yanks call it). Then you need to add brakes, servicing, shocks etc onto that. Yes, owning a car is VERY expensive in Australia as the government milk the motorists as a cash cow.
@@davidlp3019 I just paid $978 for another year of rego here in qld. A large chunk of that is made of compulsory insurance. It would be nice to get a discount on that considering I've never had to claim on it in my past 20 years of driving. And I still don't get why I get charged hundreds more for having an extra 2 cylinders, yet I already pay more in tax for fuel and use more of it!
@@jamesr5741 yeah mate it's crazy. My car is just a 4 cylinder sedan. The compulsory CTP Green slip injury insurance in NSW is the bulk of the bill aswell. The licence here is 60 bucks a year aswell, or 350 for 10 years, which goes up every year -_-
I actually purchased a jeep that was parked in a field for 3 years because my new bronco isn't coming any time soon.( I've been waiting almost a year) I've had parts issues with it but its almost sorted out. It was actually less broken than I expected which is pretty much never the case. 1997 cherokee 4.0 4x4 automatic.
You had a Rolls Royce Silver Spur in your shop before right? I don’t recall that car needing 20K in repairs.
Silver Spur is more reliable than any of the newer Rolls Royce’s and Bentleys.
Of course all these cars need to be well maintained.
Deferred maintenance, those rubber bushings didn't completely disappear overnight. This car probably needed $2,000 in repairs a year, every year, for 10 years, none of which was done, so its all come to a head now. Pay now, or pay more later type of thing
Dear Mrs Wizard, the correct term used for the vent controls is "Organ Pulls".
You bring great value to Mr Wizard's videos with your observations - thank you 😊
Ya know things do wear out I understand that but with what those things cost I would think with regular good upkeep you should never have a problem
Supply chain issues: I sell commercial doors. We have around a 27 weeks lead time on specialty veneers, not counting our production lead time. We joke that they're waiting for the trees to grow. But the issues are real. Any contractor who signs a contingency contract nowadays is out of his mind.
I've never understood tinted headlight lenses as a mod. I try to modify headlights to produce more illumination, not less. It never seems like a car has an overabundance of road lighting, and some are just pathetic in stock form.
Some of the older Rolls Royce and Bentley models from the 1960's and 1970's, benefited from having their drivelines swapped out with big block Chevys, and a TH400. It made the cars much more drivable, but ruined their resale. With all the crazy hydraulic and electrical systems in these newer models, there's virtually no way to really improve them with just an engine swap. Cadillac really missed the boat by not creating an over 6 liter LS based luxury car, with a 6 or 8-speed automatic. Hopefully, the new EV luxury cars will solve some of these issues.
I think the logic is - wearing sunglasses at night makes a rockstar look cool, so now the car looks cool
Tinted headlights....
It beez a ghe-to thang.
Former Bentley Service Manager here - The Arnage and its variants (like the initial Continental) are well built, well tested and great driving financial time bombs. The suspension and brake system shares the same hydraulic system. There's a failsafe built in to the system that is something I'd rather not rely on. Don't be fooled by their beauty unless you can spend $3k to $30k a year on maintenance.
Including the BMW V8 ?
Spending some time with a pair of vernier callipers and a couple of parts catalogs you will be able to find OEM replacement bushes and steering rack service kits to repair most of the faults..
Fitting a cable form a Chevy transmission shifter and getting the ecu hacked to ignore the lack of servo motor would solve that problem.
You can also 3d print gaskets now.
i'm a building engineer, we're running into the same problems as well. Big electrical motors for air handling units are backordered for months, VFDs (variable frequency drives) are backordered for a HALF YEAR, and a ton of random parts whether it be plumbing, electrical, or even carpentry are backordered. Many important tenants get very frustrated at us but our hands are tied. We're usually sitting ducks always waiting for parts.
One thing they avoid to talk in the news when discussing about workers shortage is long covid. Many good working persons are in a limbo state with no capacity to work. This problem is so much bigger than we expect, I'm not kidding at all.
COVID is a joke.... Not 1 place in my area that is crying "we can't find workers" is actually hiring anyone.
Long covid sucks. My dr treats me like a lab rat to keep me alive so they know what to do. No joke when my heart went bananas a year ago and everything was “normal” it took two months to get it under control. Four months later they were having to treat their family members for the same problem using me as a road map.
@@stephenbarabas6286 Don't think the relatives of the over 1 million people that died from it so far in the USA alone find it particularly comical..
@@stephenbarabas6286 You obviously don't know anyone that has suffered from it or had a close relative die from it.
@@hotpuppy1 you're correct...and no one I know that knows anyone that knows anyone does.... Weird how a supposed 1 million people died yet I can't find anyone who knows anyone in my whole town. You would think I could
Consistent $20,000.00 repair bills for other Bentley owners; difficulty getting spare parts for a 21-year-old car; mechanics may have to fabricate the needed parts; $3,800.00 to replace four (4) control arms; both sway bar link replacement $1,000.00; $7,800.00 for new steering rack; left rear strut bushing replacement $1,200.00; both valve cover gaskets leaking $1,300.00; brake master cylinder leaking $1200.00; etc. I could not afford to keep a Bentley on the road.
Geez Wizard, "the steering rack is $6 grand" and you'll only put a new one in?!?! You can get the rebuilt from Flying Spares for only $800. I realize it's a risk, but at some point the "new" strategy makes no sense. Why not just have them signoff for no warranty coverage. Saves them $5K right there. $200/hr sounds a bit salty...top Rolls/Bentley specialist in NJ, Palma Classics is a shade lower than that. Always thought cost of living was lower in Kansas!! :-) I can vouch that Bentley ownership is VERY expensive and more than Ferrari in most cases, eye watering, but when set up right, it's a really special experience.
There are no rebuilt ones available. Email them and find out.
i found a rebuilt one for 950 ebay with a warranty lol xD
I have worked in printing for over 30 years. We are having trouble getting paper. Something that used to take 2-3 days now takes 4 weeks and in some cases we can't get the paper at all. crazy world we live in.... keep up the great videos.
$200/hr labor cost ? $6000 steering rack ? those are Bentley dealer prices , you can get parts on eBay new or used , or from a 3rd party for much less than that , and even the best local mechanic shop won’t charge $200/hr to work on your car … that sounds like a rip off to me
Auto repair videos have convinced me to be very grateful for my 99 Ford Contour. Parts are super cheap, available, and easy to install. It has manual roll up windows and it doesn't wipe my nose when I sneeze or massage my back while driving, but it has never let me down and delivers 35 miles per gal.
golf course industry is also bad with parts for the equipment
Packaging plant mechanic here. We are feeling the pinch from the supply chain woes as well. Lead time on parts is as much as 6 months. We rebuild as much as we can.
$200/hour He's making it big! In my area the most expensive I've seen was $180. I guess if you are good then customers will pay!
Yeah there are many "costumers" in my area for the actors who work in Broadway. lol You cant even spell.
@@mgrsdgfsdafsdgrsdgfsdg6980lol. I "cant" even spell? Can you?
I know its not a Bentley or a supercar, but the shop im using for a 2016 S7 is asking 90€/ hour. 200 /h is too much I think. Not even surgeons ask 200/h for a surgery and I know that cause im one of them.
@@Hbk1998G no you are not. No need to lie!
all relative - check the rates a RR dealer charges
I wrench as a hobby, but as my day job I work in management in the commercial glass construction market. Material that used to take 4 to 6 weeks to get, now takes 16 to 24 weeks to get. And the cost to me has doubled. It certainly adds a level of stress to my world, and I am seriously worried about the future....
Other than the reliability, I don't know why the Arnage gets so much hate. It's one of the most beautiful cars ever created. I fall in love with one every time I see one. Especially the facelift Mulliner T models are to drool for.
Did you watch the video?
The parts are unobtainable, need to be dealer programmed and cost an insane amount of money IF they are available.
@@alphatrion100 That's not a reason to dislike the car. It's a reason to avoid ownership. Parts are expensive because so few were made.
@@MrCarGuy
Well i dislike this car and brand because of exactly that.
Hell, I hate my OWN car when something fails and its a couple of HUNDRED bucks to fix.
Luckily that almost never happens
Always been my favorite design bentley
Love isn't supposed to be rational. I don't need a reason to prefer black over blue. I don't need a reason to prefer chocolate over vanilla. And I don't need to justify to other people why I prefer to hold on to my 1988 BMW 750iL instead of having it hauled off to scrap just because somebody else doesn't consider these worth keeping.
As a civil engineer rebuilding a train station, I can confidently tell you we are struggling to get certain material. There have been times where we couldn’t get galvanized kindorf struts, so we had to spend the extra money to get the stainless. Weeks and maybe months of wait time for basic items that we used to get the next day.
Looks like the old saying is true; "If you can't afford to buy a new one, you won't be able to afford a used one." Thanks, Mr. and Mrs Wizard, for yet another public service announcement! ✌️❤️🙂🇨🇦
IKR! $1000 for sway bar links! Last set of sway bar links I bought was for a Lexus SC400 - admittedly it was a long time ago, but I think they were under $80 for the pair from the local Lexus/Toyota dealership.
The old saying in the motor trade was “ if you can’t afford a new one you certainly can’t afford a used one “!!!
I totally agree regarding the three series BMW. It is always been like that from my experience back into the 80s. It seems like there were quite a number of people who always wanted a BMW and finally got to a point where they could barely afford a three series, but they couldn’t afford to maintain them. We used to see them come to the shop and they were just a disaster due to deferred maintenance and neglect.