New vs Used: 2020 BMW 440i vs 2005 Bentley Continental GT

In terms of stylish mobility, coupes tend to take the cake when you want to look good and go fast. There are plenty of options south of $100K too, but the BMW 440i strikes that figure closely, and it provides a good old rear-wheel driven driving experience that can be balanced out nicely with a comfy cruise. That and 240kW means plenty of poke.

But if you want something a tad more ostentatious than a Bimmer, you can look to the used car market. There, you might happen upon the occasional luxury depreciation nightmare. A nightmare for the original buyer.

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Around 15 years ago, you’d be shelling out about $375,000 for a new Bentley Continental GT. With inflation? $520K. Now that same car is, according to our hunt through the classifieds, worth around $85,000.

That gets you 12 cylinders of British (er, German) brute, but we reckon a car weighing in at 2.4-tonnes wouldn’t feel as brisk as it might’ve 15 years ago when anything north of 400kW was crazy powerful.

There were still two-digit power figures in Hot Source! In 2005, we managed a 6.06sec 0-100km/h run, where the 440i we tested in 2018 ran it in 5.1. We reckon if you’re sensible, and a keen driver, you’d take the Bimmer.

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But that’s not what this page is about and, if you’ve got the coin, why wouldn’t you want to be able to say you own a Bentley? Obviously, buying a 15-year-old luxury brawler will continue to weigh heavily long after the initial outlay, but it could just be worth it if it means walking into your garage to see a bewinged ‘B’ whenever you please.