Ready for SUV, but not EV
Please keep up the good work with Our Cars. It’s always interesting to get a realworld opinion on new-car ownership.
Over the last few months I have followed Phil McNamara and Ben Pulman’s experiences with the Range Rover Velar and Bentley Flying Spur with great interest; one I own and the other was on my shopping list. Buying a Land Rover was a leap of faith for me as they have had a terrible reliability record but we liked the Velar as it suited our needs and reasoned that reliability must have improved, and we had a three-year warranty. I am not ready for the electric experience just yet and am sceptical about hybrids so it was a petrol for me.
After 12 months and 8000 miles it has proved a reliable buy and is a supremely comfortable tourer almost perfect for long journeys. The naysayers among your correspondents who deride SUVs may change their minds when they get to our age. In our late 60s/early 70s, we don’t have any trouble getting into and out of this car.
Another function of age is that the desire to travel as if my pants were on fire diminishes. Its performance is adequate while its off-road capabilities are supreme: snow and ice plus the odd forays across muddy tracks, fields and a bit of ford/flood wading hold no terrors. We looked at and drove a few Contis and Flying Spurs. The experience was sublime; the interior quality, ride, handling and performance are unique. Our budget was just out of the main dealer network range, plus the infotainment pre-2018 is the clunky old VW system.
I think once Bentley install their battery electric power systems in these cars it will enhance them.
In two years’ time if we decide to change cars a Bentley may well be on the list. It’s currently three times the price of my Velar. It’s not three times the car, but it is something else.
Bryn Owen