RE: Aston Martin V12 Vanquish S: Spotted

[VanquishRider]

Bought one 12 weeks ago after saving for a DB6 for 25 years. It is awesome. Hope it will never lose money and be reliable (hoping!!!). That's the man maths answer I keep giving the wife anyways.

Edited by VanquishRider on Tuesday 28th July 20:44

[Armen]

Congratulations, perfect choice !
The Vanquish/S is a reliable car, it needs to be driven regularly.
If you own an early Vanquish, as long as you have the S clutch and the coils replaced, the car is bulletproof.

One of my friends bought new in 2002 a Vanquish which he still owns. The original clutch lasted 15 000 miles. Replaced by an S clutch.
The car currently has 62 000 miles and is still with this same S clutch. He's been even told that the worn was at... only 50% !
That means if the car is driven well and if the clutch is respected, it can last very very (very) long

edit : didn't see the picture of your S, very nice

[VanquishRider]

Armen said:

Congratulations, perfect choice !
The Vanquish/S is a reliable car, it needs to be driven regularly.
If you own an early Vanquish, as long as you have the S clutch and the coils replaced, the car is bulletproof.

One of my friends bought new in 2002 a Vanquish which he still owns. The original clutch lasted 15 000 miles. Replaced by an S clutch.
The car currently has 62 000 miles and is still with this same S clutch. He's been even told that the worn was at... only 50% !
That means if the car is driven well and if the clutch is respected, it can last very very (very) long

edit : didn't see the picture of your S, very nice

It's not an S. It's a 2002 model that's had some subtle updates. I know everyone won't approve but I like them and that's what matters to me. Some say you should keep them as standard. Try to show me two with the same speakers is my reply. They seemed to fit whatever they had on stock at the time.
I particularly love the DB9 lights as they are so much more in keeping the car lookingmodern than the original ones. The Project Vantage rear lights were from the Ford Cougar!!!
I don't like the wheels and the original ones will be going back on at some point, but they need a good refurb first.
Love the newer leather and it is super quality and very well done. Prefer the S seats over the original one and the S front splitter really adds to the presence of the car.
It's had the magnetic gearbox sensor upgrade but is apparently still on the original clutch. But has only done 15k so lets see how long it lasts.

[VanquishRider]

No idea why it only lets me upload 1 picture???

[VanquishRider]

And the final pic

[Armen]

I really thought it was an S when I saw the 3/4 front picture
Heavily modded, not a big fan of the rear modifications, but each to his own taste.
Enjoy the car !

[DJRC]

I had the Sagaris when Aston invited me to play with their V12s for a day. The sales and marketing boys were quite interested in hearing what I thought the differences were in application of power, etc as most of their customer profile was Bentley, 911 or 456/550/575 orientated. A chap in a "nutter" TVR was different. The answer I gave was the old Ali v Foreman hitting power analogy: being hit by Ali was like being hit by a Ferrari at 100mph, being hit by Foreman was like being hit by a Caddy at 50mph. Substitute the Sagaris and Vanq for Ali and Foreman there. The S was just a wonderful wonderful car to drive, such waves of endless grunt and like the Sagaris it seemed to share an inherent knowledge that you were driving something special. Something that was made to speak in a manner that was programmed in some deep central core of a human being.

[robm3]

These 'S' models are crying out for the Manual Gearbox conversion done by Aston.

[Neil E 99]

VanquishRider said:

Bought one 12 weeks ago after saving for a DB6 for 25 years. It is awesome. Hope it will never lose money and be reliable (hoping!!!). That's the man maths answer I keep giving the wife anyways.

Edited by VanquishRider on Tuesday 28th July 20:44

Lovely purchase.

I bet the wife keeps wondering where you are then finds you in the garage haveing a sneaky peek.

[Neil E 99]

V8LM said:

Rear of the Project Vantage, which eventually mutated into Vanquish, was nicer:

I will take one of each please but do have my own dog!

[Armen]

[simonr100]

A stunning looking car

[turbobloke]

[Neil1300r]

VanquishRider said:

It's not an S. It's a 2002 model that's had some subtle updates. I know everyone won't approve but I like them and that's what matters to me. Some say you should keep them as standard. Try to show me two with the same speakers is my reply. They seemed to fit whatever they had on stock at the time.
I particularly love the DB9 lights as they are so much more in keeping the car lookingmodern than the original ones. The Project Vantage rear lights were from the Ford Cougar!!!
I don't like the wheels and the original ones will be going back on at some point, but they need a good refurb first.
Love the newer leather and it is super quality and very well done. Prefer the S seats over the original one and the S front splitter really adds to the presence of the car.
It's had the magnetic gearbox sensor upgrade but is apparently still on the original clutch. But has only done 15k so lets see how long it lasts.

Ah, wondered who bought it, saw it in the classifieds. Couldn't decide if I liked all the mods or not. Surprised pevious owner upgraded the gearbox sensors but didn't do the clutch at the same time

[VanquishRider]

Neil1300r said:

VanquishRider said:

It's not an S. It's a 2002 model that's had some subtle updates. I know everyone won't approve but I like them and that's what matters to me. Some say you should keep them as standard. Try to show me two with the same speakers is my reply. They seemed to fit whatever they had on stock at the time.
I particularly love the DB9 lights as they are so much more in keeping the car lookingmodern than the original ones. The Project Vantage rear lights were from the Ford Cougar!!!
I don't like the wheels and the original ones will be going back on at some point, but they need a good refurb first.
Love the newer leather and it is super quality and very well done. Prefer the S seats over the original one and the S front splitter really adds to the presence of the car.
It's had the magnetic gearbox sensor upgrade but is apparently still on the original clutch. But has only done 15k so lets see how long it lasts.

Ah, wondered who bought it, saw it in the classifieds. Couldn't decide if I liked all the mods or not. Surprised pevious owner upgraded the gearbox sensors but didn't do the clutch at the same time

Very pleased with the car so far. I think what PFA achieved with the centre console is far superior to what Aston Works Service achieved with their demonstrator.
However, the rear diffuser needs to be changed to the body colour (a job for winter).

[bakerstreet]

dme123 said:

That's the updated interior! The earlier models were the last of the obvious "parts bin special" AM interiors, with the climate control and stereo straight out of the Jaguar X308





I don't know if that silver surround in the centre console is Hyundai style nasty silver plastic, or actual Aluminium carefully made to look like nasty silver painted plastic. Still a big step up from the horror of the Virage/Vantage cars though. XJ40 climate control panel and a steering wheel from some awful US market Ford.

Edited by dme123 on Tuesday 28th July 12:20

Edited by dme123 on Tuesday 28th July 12:21

I think Aston are still using that steering wheel and those air vents.

[VanquishRider]

I don't mind the steering wheels too much, decent thickness and natural positioning of the hands on it.But the damned horn buttons are so un-naturally placed I cannot believe anybody signed it off as an acceptable design.

[oceanview]

I drove one last year at 6th gears track in Surrey, along with a host of other rides. You're encouraged to really rag them (unlike at some tracks) and sure, its a lovely looking car but very much a GT car- felt very heavy and barge like on the track- the R8 afterwards felt much more at ease.
Actually compared to the more track orientated stuff there, I am surprised they included it in the fleet! Others that day I drove included a 458 Italia, 997 Turbo, Atom and Murcielago.

The Vanquish would be a lovely place to be for that long road trip, though!

[Lagerlout]

I lusted after one of these for years, and finally drove a final edition one thinking I'd buy it. Was left very disappointed, the gearbox was awful in use and didn't feel quick at all. IMO the DBS is a much better car and just as good looking.

[anonymous-user]

bakerstreet said:

I think Aston are still using that steering wheel and those air vents.

Those vents also feature in the Volvo S40/V50/C70/C30 range!