2018 Bentley Bentayga W12 Auto

Luckily, if can manage with just the usual legroom you could find yourself behind the wheel of a standard wheelbase for much less.

Because this discreet metallic tungsten Bentayga has an estimate of around a fifth of the price of a new EWB – and you aren’t going to be short of optional extras to play with either as ‘LD18 DXE’ is fully loaded; we’ll go into the details later but trust us: No one is going to complaint about any lack of legroom or toys.

The seller has owned it since July 2021 too, and tells us that it comes with a full electronic service history. He hasn’t used it much, covering fewer than 4,000 miles a year in it – but then he was running it alongside a Mulsanne.

The combination of peerless design and fastidious assembly allied with limited use and peerless curation result in a car that could be a couple of years old rather than eight.

Admire the shutlines, which you’d struggle to get a cigarette paper between, and the panel alignment, which could be tested against an engineer’s straight edge; it’s clear that a decent chunk of the purchase price went into the sort of craftsmanship that’s becoming rarer and rarer.

The paintwork was applied with unusual care too; peer as we might, we couldn’t spot any orange peel to the finish, nor runs, drips, or other blemishes. It’s a colour that suits the Bentayga too, adding to the car’s considerable presence while cleverly shrinking its visual heft.

The sunroof opens and closely smoothly, sealing tighter than a bank vault door. A natty little wind deflector pops up automatically when it is opened, allowing little more than a faint waft of air to circulate throughput the cabin.

Even the wind around a Bentayga is refined.

The lamp lenses are bright and clear of chips and cracks too, and the headlamps are a piece of art in their own right. 

The badges are as good as they’ve ever been, the glazing is flawless, and all four chrome mesh grilles that feed the voracious W12 are still geometrically perfect and incredibly shiny.

Of course, no car gets through eight years of 21st century traffic and roads without picking up the odd flaw and yet the only issues we could were a minor scuff on the leading edge of the nearside rear wheelarch, a chip on the trailing edge of the driver’s door, and modest kerbing damage to the nearside front wheel.

The other three diamond-cut alloy wheels are free of scuffs and scrapes, and their design allows you to admire the discrete but vast braking system that lies behind them.

They’re also fitted with 285/45ZR21 Pirelli P-Zero rubber on all four corners. Made in 2023, all have good tread left on them and no obvious damage to their sidewalls. 

We will never get tired of telling you that experience shows that matching high-quality tyres are an infallible sign of a caring and mechanically sympathetic owner who is prepared to spend the appropriate amount in maintaining their car properly. 

If the exterior is about understated presence, then the interior is about unrestrained luxury with some of the softest quilted black leather we’ve ever experienced allied to more technology than the first dozen moon-missions combined.

Heck, it’s even got Night Vision. 

Night Vision!

The steering wheel is as much a Command Centre as it is a means of changing direction, and the huge central screen is capable of giving the driver a detailed view of what the complex four-wheel-drive system is up to at any given moment.

This is an especially useful feature given the carefully calibrated air suspension removes almost any sense of what’s going on beneath you, no matter how rutted or difficult the terrain.

Obviously, it does all the usual stuff too, like channelling your Bluetooth phone, giving you sat-nav directions, and playing the radio – it just does it more stylishly than pretty much anything else on the road today.

And yes, of course it’s got the iconic analogue clock in the dashboard. 

(It’s also got the usual boring things like automatic lights and wipers, climate-control, electrically adjustable and heated mirrors, and remote central locking that we all take for granted.)

The green hide front seats have quilted edges and ventilated centre panels, seamlessly combining a luxury aesthetic with the engineering necessary to chill or warm buttocks and backs, depending on the ambient temperature and its owner’s mood – and if you’re feeling stressed, then there’s even a massage function to knead away the driver’s worries.

Of course, the front seats adjust every which way but loose, while the rear ones offer luxury seating for two plus more-than-adequate space for another in the middle.

All the occupants get massive legroom; you can easily sit a six-footer behind an equally tall driver, and neither will have cause to complain.

The green carpets are clean and as beautifully fitted as everything else. Protected by both standard and quilted overmats, the latter match the design of the seats and the door cards. This isn’t something we’ve seen before but hope to see more of in the future. 

Of course, the chrome switches and controls have a heft to them other manufacturers simply can’t afford, and the acres of burr walnut veneer are as shiny and smooth as the day they were installed. 

The boot is vast, practical, and beautifully trimmed, thereby fulfilling everything that could be reasonably asked of it. Clever alloy braces hold your Harrods’ bags firmly in place, while netting-fronted compartments give you somewhere to hold a bottle of Champagne when you’re sitting on the lip of the boot watching your syndicate’s racehorse being exercised. 

Oh, and it’s also got three-quarters of a tank of petrol in it, which is worth noting given the Bentayga holds a whopping 85 litres…

The invoices we’ve been given record the following recent services:

• 18.09.2025 and 28,364 miles – service by Grange Bentley Chelmsford, and the checklist is attached
• 28.09.2023 and 22,828 miles – service by Bentley Essex

As is the case with most modern cars, there’s no service book but the seller assures us that Bentley will be able to produce evidence of the meticulous dealer servicing he says it has received.

The video shows it is almost impossible to discern the moment when the six-litre, twin-turbocharged W12 engine catches – and it catches first time, every time. It also idles uncannily quietly and the noise level increases only modestly as the tachometer rises.

As you might have guessed, 600bhp endows it with otherworldly performance, and no faults made themselves known during our test drive. 

There isn’t much to see under the bonnet thanks to extensive soundproofing, but what there is is every bit as clean and elegantly engineered as the rest of the vehicle. 

Moving underneath, the fasteners are so clean that it wouldn’t surprise us to learn that the Bentley has never seen winter salt. 

In fact, the underside is so clean and well-curated that the only blemish we could find is one small section of cracked trim, which is visible in the final photograph of the section.

The Bentley’s MoT certificate expires in June 2027, and the only advisories it received were for tinted front windows. 

Four of the previous five tests were completely clear, with 2023 being the only exception. This was for having low tread on the front tyres, which was remedied by fitting the Pirelli P-Zeros it wears today.

The recent Vehicle History Check is clear, it’s had two former keepers, and it comes with two keyfobs.

The history file includes a couple of invoices for the most recent services plus the book pack. 

A 4x4 that defies the Laws of Physics, the Bentayga redefines what you can ask of a nigh-on 2.5-tonne all-wheel-drive vehicle: It’ll keep you mobile no matter what conditions are like underfoot while pampering you in a way that’ll leave the occupants of a Range Rover feeling neglected.

But then it bloomin’ well ought to given how much it will cost to put a new one in your garage.

Or you could play it clever and buy a meticulously-maintained used example like this, a car that presents so well a private registration number would have your neighbours’ curtains twitching with gossip of your lottery win.

We are confident to estimate this will sell for between £58,000 and £65,000, which is a LOT of car considering it was circa. £200k+ when new.

Viewing is strongly encouraged, and this lot is located at THE MARKET HQ in South Oxfordshire. Viewings are STRICTLY BY APPOINTMENT and we are open weekdays (apart from Bank Holidays) between 10am - 12pm or 2pm - 4pm. To make a booking, please use the ‘Enquire About This Vehicle’ button on the listing. Feel free to ask any questions, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.