• Two large petrol engines
• Expect around 20mpg
• All other running costs unsurprisingly high

What are the running costs?

You can’t run a Bentley on the cheap. The two engines – both the 6.0-litre W12 and the 4.0-litre V8 – guzzle fuel like it’s going out of fashion. Expect slightly better economy from the V8, but in reality you’ll be looking at around 20mpg on a cruise from either engine. That drops substantially if you utilise the vast reserves of performance.

That being said, with a 90-litre fuel tank, you should still be able to eke out around 400 miles from a full tank of superunleaded, and that’s more important to the types of people who buy Bentleys anyway.

CO2 emissions are well over 250g/km, so all Continental GTs attract very high rates of first year tax as well as company car tax. To look on the bright side, all of these numbers are an improvement over the previous-generation Continental. Just don’t expect to be able to run one unless you have very deep pockets. But you knew that from the price tag to purchase one in the first place…

Servicing and warranty

Bentley only offers a three-year warranty on the Continental GT, but it is unlimited mileage, so it’s great for those who intend to use their car as the name suggests – to cross continents.

Servicing will be as expensive as running the car but you can at least expect a highly personalised and attentive service from your Bentley dealer.

Reliability

• Potential pitfalls with large engines
• Lots of tech to go wrong
• VW engineering underneath

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Large, luxury cars like this aren’t often the most reliable cars – they don’t need to be, cause they’re not usually daily drivers. The Continental feels more likely than most to be an everyday commuting machine, though, so it’s reassuring to think that most of the engineering underneath is based on well-proven Volkswagen Group technology.

Twelve cylinders does double or triple the number of things that can potentially go wrong, though, as do the sophisticated electronics and air suspension.