2006-2008 V8 Vantage buying guidance

2006-2008 V8 Vantage buying guidance

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Bear107

Original Poster:

36 posts

129 months

Saturday 25th March 2017
quotequote all
Hi all,

Just wondering if anyone has some good information of V8 Vantages from about the 2006-2008 period. I am looking to get one and wondered what issues others have had with them, both manual and sport shift types. Am looking for a max 30,000 miles one.
What commonly goes wrong (not interested in tyre wear, petrol consumption and running costs etc as that's part of the package)?
What issues have you had? What are warning signs I can be looking out for to reduce chances of a bad car?

Thanks.

B

davek_964

8,797 posts

174 months

Saturday 25th March 2017
quotequote all
You would do better to ask on the Aston forum.

There is a book (definitive guide by Grant Neal) which is well worth buying.

Stuff to look out for :

Check paint carefully, blisters are not uncommon
Check engine gets up to temp (half way) within about 5 mins. If the gauge sits at 2/3rds the thermostat is stuck (fairly easy cheap fix)
If it hasn't had a clutch recently, be aware of the replacement cost (~£3k)

They are generally pretty well built cars, engine is strong.

JS1500

579 posts

176 months

Sunday 26th March 2017
quotequote all
Yes, they're generally very solid.
Paintwork, as said, is usually an issue - check the bottoms of the doors, around the door handles and the mirror stalks in particular. The rear mesh rusts too but easy to sort.
Clutches can last as little as 20k miles and costs £3.5k+ to replace, having said that I sold my car on 63k miles with the original clutch.
2007 was the 'facelift' year when the cars got improved seats and LEDs in the door handles as well as a few other bits. Get a 2007 MY car if possible.

Issues I had other than bodywork were minor: If your battery is on its last legs you will get all the dash lights coming on and you will st yourself you've bought a lemon.
Fuel gauge would drop to zero randomly and then slowly return to where it should be.
External temp sensor was duff but cheaply replaced in 10 minutes.

The dealer that bought mine still has it: http://www.topgear-cars.co.uk/showroom/aston-vanta...

Good luck in your search. They're great cars.

Bear107

Original Poster:

36 posts

129 months

Monday 27th March 2017
quotequote all
Many thanks for the contributions, will keep all that in mind while searching....