Almost any thing you could think of has gone wrong with this car.
The transmission failed and had to be rebuilt with only 50,000 miles.
The hydraulic system is a nightmare. It is complicated, expensive and requires constant maintainance.
In spite of being garaged and rarely driven in inclement weather, the paint began to look terrible even when the car was only five years old.
The climate control system will only blow air out of the defroster vents, not from the floor or the fascia.
The car is magnificent looking, impressive and a unbelievably quiet.
My mother is attached to it or I would have sent it to a junk yard years ago.
It is expensive, unreliable and generally troublesome.
It's only virtue is its ability to make a statement when seen by other drivers.
Are you sure you own one?? Your review is unbelievable - completely unbelievable...
Of course it would be quiet if it's still in the dealership window. R/C cars don't count!
I aquired a 1989 spur for my wife, however I am the one who drives it and I LOVE IT.It is the best car in the world.It drives and looks like a dream. I have owned many Mercedes cars inluding a6.9 (it is an awsome car) The Rolls is in a completely different league it is only to be compared to a Rolls. This is a masterpiece of a car, it a statment of exellence and perfection and is to be respectfully teated as such. I congratulate all who have stepped out of the "box"and are priveledged to own one.
The only repairs I did were:replacement of nitrogen spheres and driver window repair, the gear shift contacts on top of the seering column were dirty causing shiftig malfunnctions, a problem easy to correct by cleaning the contacts.
The bottom line is there is no other car as a well cared of Rolls, we all deserve to have one as part of the celebration of LIFE.
I own a 1980 Rolls Royce Silver Shadow II Salon. I purchased it in 2005. However, I have never driven a 25 year old car before, but I can tell you it is true about what ALL mechanics say about Rolls Royces, "You must drive them, not let them sit in a garage!" The more I drove my Rolls, the better it performed. When I first got it, the Windshield wipers malfunctioned, the automatic windows malfunctioned, the door locks malfunctioned, the seats malfunctioned, the radio malfunctioned, and a few other small items. However, I have not had to repair any of these items, I just used them regularly and drove the car on a semi-regular basis. That's it! Now everything works fine. Things do ocassionally malfunction, but with a little use, they seem to fix themselves. My only complaint is, "it burns too much gas!"
The 1989 Spur owner, who has "stepped out of the box", and is in the midst of a "celebration of LIFE", advises us that a Rolls is "to be respectfully teated..." Does he own a Rolls or a cow?!!
I own a 1975 Silver Shadow which I love dearly. It most definitely prefers to be used rather than looked at and just gets better and better.
By the way I converted it to run on LPG and it works like a dream at about one third of the cost of regular gasoline/petrol.
Hello...regarding the comment "unreliable British rip off" followed by the statement of "transmission failure" can I point out that the transmission used in these cars is a GM item?
There's a reason that only seriously rich people run Rolls royces on a regular basis. very complex and expensive on parts and labour. I'd stick with a chevy caprice, you know where you are with them.
I love my car it was brilliant until I crashed it into a Burger stand.
I have two rolls;1956 silver cloud and a 1977 silver wraith. both cars are very nice cars, but I am having problems with my wraith. it will start right up and run very fine as a rolls should, but when I put the shifter in drive it will not move. someone told me it may be circuit breakers being dirty in the fuse box, if this is so what should this be clean with? this may be so because the car came from Florida and the breakers may have got damped with so much moister in the air, has any one had this problem before?
True it's a GM based transmission. But its not the same after RR gets a hold on them. The very first drive with a Shadow you'll will think the shifter is broken. Its that smooth and precise. Like a vacation home that has been vacant, things get musty and you cover furniture! With electrics and fluids that degrade even when sitting, this causes bugs in any car!
If I buy a Rolls Royce, any model. Several things I look for:
1.) I like one owner vehicles. Easier to find even 1970's one owners.
2.) Service history from RR specialists.
3.) Prefer higher mileage over low, low, low.
4.) If the car is not driven and sat for more than 6months to a year without being driven. I have it towed into a specialist.
Gasoline for example; year or more old gas turns into almost paste oil paint like substance. Run it and that gunk gets through out the fuel system. Same thing with hydraulics and that fluid. Brakes fluid as well, even more so rotors not used get surface rust. Drive a car in this state and your going to get gremlins, that could become expensive. Since your turning little things into bigger problems because you drove it. At the specialist have them replace fluid and filters, clean electrics in transmission. Service hydraulics, change fluid "flush" system and do same with fuel and engine. Guess what you will not have a low mile nightmare, Your car is not Rolls Royce, its the owner!
Interesting comments on Rolls Royces...I've own a 1980 Silver Shadow II for 8 years now. As previously stated..."You've Got to Drive" these babies, not look at them! And I don't mean just around town. Put that lady on the road at 70 MPH and blow her out every now and again! That's what they were built for.
Now, to the gentleman who had such a bad experience with his Silver Shadow, there is a pretty good chance he purchased a neglected Silver Shadow. There is no such thing as a lemon.
Many Rolls Royce owners had the crazy idea that such an expensive automobile never needed servicing. They didn't even bother to change the oil or fluids. They just jump in and drive once a month or so. The Silver Shadow was design to deliver upwards of 500,000 miles on the engine and transmission as well as other general components. Now I ask you, have you ever seen one with any where near those kinds of miles? Mine just turned 70,000 miles. I'm pushing her hard to hit 100,000 miles. I think that would be a major milestone!
Lack of driving was not factored into the design of these cars and that is why it tends to malfunction from time to time, and eventually fail, if the fluids are not refreshed on a regular basis and oil on a semi-annually basis. That's, right, I change my oil twice a year. I don't used a mileage interval, because it hard to put 3,000 miles on the car. Last year I set a record and drive it over 7,000 miles!
By-the-way, the GM Turbo Hydra-Matic 400 (TH-400 for short) transmission is the most reliable in the world. Designed for military vehicles and sourced to every major automobile manufacturer around the world back in the 60's, 70's, and 80's. Why? Because during testing of the TH-400, the military bolted a new one unto one of their vehicles, added three quarts of fluid in it and drove it at high-speed across country five times without ever even looking at it.
I love my 77 Corniche, looks great fun to drive and never fails to get compliments wherever I take it but...
Had to take it to a Greenwich CT RR technician to sort out an engine miss and some dangerous back yard wiring... so... many hours of diagnostic time on the wiring harness to return it to RR specs plus a 30k service new front control arm bushes, hydraulic sys service and bleed, rebuilt brake pressure switches (someone took the contacts off of the brake light bulbs so the wouldn't light) wiper blades and some misc. nut bolts and clamps = a $ 7,300.00 bill... and the car still needs an alignment and hopefully just and adjustment to the self leveling sys.
On a 38,000 mile car :-0.
It was an expensive when it was new, and it's an expensive car now.
If it has escaped your attention, the poor quality transmission is the only part designed in America! The TH400 is virtually bulletproof, so you must have been doing something wrong.
We have the opportunity to purchase a 1978 Silver Shadow II. Unfortunately, the car has not been driven and the dealership cannot even open the trunk. Can anyone give us some guidance on the price and how to open the trunk. No one within 200 miles knows anything about a Rolls. Please help us.
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