From the Rolls-Royce experimental archive: a quarter of a million communications from Rolls-Royce, 1906 to 1960's. Documents from the Sir Henry Royce Memorial Foundation (SHRMF).
Customer complaints and reliability issues with various car models, including the Phantom III and Bentley.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 131\4\ scan0345 | |
| Date | 1st July 1937 guessed | |
| -2- Once rectified, it gave no further trouble. This is my own personal experience, most of which occurred in the first 5,000 miles, on a £3,000 motor car, which is supposed to be the best in the world. My new PhantomCodename for PHANTOM I III recently put on the road boils at once in traffic. The clutch is better than the old car, but not good. As I have only had the car a week, these are early days yet to find out what else is going to happen to it. Lord Vestey's chauffeur took delivery of their new PhantomCodename for PHANTOM I III from Park Royal to-day, and when he got to Hyde Park Square he got it in gear and could not get it out again. The car is back at Cricklewood, and this was most unfortunate, as Lady Vestey particularly wanted to use the car this evening. The Aga Khan has had ceaseless trouble with clutch noises, and I could give you a list of troubles experienced by our customers, who all come back wondering what has gone wrong with Rolls-Royce. Bearing in mind the extraordinary goodness of cheap cars, and the very good name Rolls-Royce have for reliability, I feel that it is the beginning of the end if this reliability talking point is discounted by the experience of customers. It seems extraordinary, to my mind, that in 1937, Rolls-Royce are incapable of getting petrol from the back tank to the engine with perfect reliability, when the height of the carburetter on the engine is no greater than it is on many American cars. Although we know that American cars are not entirely fool proof, their reliability is extraordinary. Further, I can see no earthly reason why my new PhantomCodename for PHANTOM I III should start boiling in traffic, when I was particular to find out that the radiator was full, the radiator shutters working perfectly, and apart from the fact that it was a hottish day, there was no reason to make it boil. The moment the car was out of the traffic and ran along a bit, the thermometer went back to normal. This, I know, may be attributed to insufficient circulation of water or air through the radiator. All these things are quite elementary, and must have been found out in Continental trials, which after all take place, deliberately, in extremely unfavourable conditions. On a Bentley car recently delivered to a customer, the engine seized on the way North, and I believe that the car is now back at Derby. | ||