Going anonymous here as I don’t want anyone who knows me to think I’m bragging.
I purchased a Bentley Continental GT V8S in the US (San Francisco).
- Rang up the dealership (there are not many that sell Bentleys here) in SF, told them I’m looking for the exact model and exact specs. I wanted a Dark Sapphire (blue) exterior with linen (beige) colour interior.
- Told them I’m paying cash and don’t want to waste my / their time. They started taking the enquiry seriously.
- They sent me 2 options that closely matched my specs. I have a delay of 2–3 months in my purchase, so they sold off.
- Contacted them again, asked about those models. Told they were sold and they spoke about another one in their dealership that was discounted about $40k. That was a black exterior with red interior.
- Visited them, test drove that, showed to my wife and she didn’t like the colour.
- So I asked them to custom order one for me. The sales manager wasn’t very convincing. He was very annoying trying to subtly sell me the car they had in stock. I felt he was trying to intimidate me. So I emailed his boss with the request.
- They sent me the closest match. I didn’t like the dashboard wood. So I asked them to keep looking.
- They found one in the factory (all cars are manufactured in Crewe, England).
- I went in, signed a contract and reserved that.
- Wired the full payment for the car.
This is where things get interesting. Once they got the money things started to move very quickly.
- They gave me the shipping status. When the car would be loaded on the ship, when that would land in NYC, when it would be loaded on the trailer and when I can get delivery.
- Got frequent emails/calls from the dealer on the status.
- On the delivery day, I took my wife and kid along. I was treated extremely well and the whole process was done in about 1 hour.
- Drove out shortly after.
