Bentley sale presents a luxurious problem: Mercedes or Aston Martin?

Carl Settle is selling a Bentley Continental convertible, and wants to know the best time to sell and what he could replace it with

Everyone secretly wants an Aston Martin, even if they don't know much about cars

A car for the head

What a nice problem Carl has. Selling an ultra-luxury car is not particularly seasonal, and his Bentley should find buyers because it has a good history and is in perfect condition. The obvious replacement would be a Mercedes-Benz SL which is sophisticated, high quality and comes with a folding metal roof. That is a main point of difference next to the Bentley, which has a lighter fabric hood, and the SL has a lot of technology including the Airscarf neckwarming system to keep away the chills. There isn’t a budget stated by Carl, but £52,995 buys a 2012 5.5 SL63 AMG with 34,000 miles. That’s the high performance model of the SL.

The Mercedes SL is packed with technology including an Airscarf neckwarmer

A car for the heart

Another British convertible which has an altogether different character might attract the heart. Arguably, it will get rather more attention in the real world than the slightly lumpy Bentley. Everyone secretly wants an Aston Martin, even if they don’t like, or don’t know much about, cars. Its convertibles are called Volantes and the Virage Volante might be perfect for Carl. It comes with a V12 engine and uprated styling, so that it really looks the supercar drop-top part. £85,995 buys a 2011 Virage with just 17,000 miles. It has an enhanced specification with lots of upgrades such as ceramic brakes, and should hold its value.