At 11:29 PM 3/29/99 -0500, Ken Ross wrote:
>I have been contemplating whether or not to trade my BMW in on a Silver
>Shadow (or Shadow II) RR for use as a daily driver. Of course, maintenance
>cost is a big concern of mine. Several questions that I have are:
>
>1. Is the Silver Shadow (II) capable of being a daily driver? I live in NJ
>so rust is an issue.
Yes, I drive my T-bentley every day.
>2. Realizing that I drive 9K miles a year (unfortunately, I live only 3
>miles from my office which is quite hard on any car), what type of
>maintenance am I looking at on a yearly basis?
I drove mine 8K miles last year. I have had some maintenance issues that
were due to the car having sat for abiout ten years, but by and large its
been pretty reliable. On the other hand, if having to suddenly write a
check for a thousand dollars will disrupt your budget for the rest of the
ear, this is not the car for you.
Follow the recommended maintenance religiously, especially with regard to
the brakes. I would estimate abiut 3000 per year ought to take care of it.
>3. Can I realistically purchase a clean and sound RR Silver Shadow (or II
>model) for $20K with mileage under 60K? By clean and sound I mean a car
>with leather in excellent or VERY good condition, mechanically good, and a
>car without any surprises. While I am not expecting a perfect 10/10 car, I
>would like an 8/10 car. Is this reasonable?
Yes, quite. Be aware that low mileage is not necessarily good. If the car
has not been driven for a long time (like mine) it will develop problems
from lack of exercise, especially in the hydraulics. My tranny front main
seal leaks too, from the input shaft resting in one spot for 10 years.
A car in good condition with maintenance records showing it's been properly
cared for should (IMHO) be preferred to a low mileage idler with no records.
It may take you a while to find an acceptable car. My advice is: join the
RROC
immedately. Go to functions. Tell everyone you are looking for a car.
Visit RR mechanics. Make friends, and tell them you are looking for a car.
And so on. I found mine because a guy walked into a mechanics office when
I had just been there telling them about my search.
Don't be dismayed if it takes 6 months. for goodness sake don't buy the
first pretty face you find. Get a thorough checkout by an EXPERT. Expect
to pay for it.
Most decent RR mechanics will teach you how to inspect a car so you can
screen out obvious dogs; I looked at one nice T-2 that turned out to have a
collapsed piston; I had thought it was a noisy brake pump.
>4. What's the average number of miles that a silver shadow engine will go
>before needing an overhaul, and what does an overhaul run these days?
I dunno about average, but I know of one car with 240,000 miles on its engine.
I guess an overhaul is about 10K.
>5. Is a silver shadow with high miles a white elephant that will be
>impossible to sell? How many miles can you put on a silver shadow before
>mileage becomes a big issue?
No. I know of one (the car with the 240,000 mile engine) that has over
400,000 miles on it. It's going strong. Mechanically it is in very good
but owrn condition and looks like it will go a lot longer. Cosmetically,
it's pretty rough but the owner doesn't drive it for show.
>6. Does anyone on the list have any experience buying a RR, driving it for
>several years, selling it, and then repeating this process over again?
No, sorry/
>As you can see, I am trying to get a RR for a daily driver assuming that I
>will not be eaten alive by maintenance and depreciation due to mileage. I
>am hoping that I can buy a different RR every 5-7 years while keeping my
>selling price close to my purchase price since the Silver Shadow no longer
>experiences depreciation. Since my BMW seems to be rather maintenance
>intensive (i.e. 3K a year in maintenance bills), I am somewhat use to higher
>than average repair bills. TIA.
IN fact, if you continually make your car better (as I am wih mine,
repairing this little gizmo and that tear in the leather; I'll have it
painted in afew weeks) you will INCREASE its value. Be aware there's a
limit; standard SS and SSIIs probably won't go for over 25-30K no matter
WHAT you do to them.
>
It is a complex car, with demanding maintenance but EXTREMELY rewarding to
drive.
Good luck!
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