Looking to join the family.

Looking to join the family.

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Discussion

Wh1teKnight

Original Poster:

42 posts

114 months

Monday 15th September 2014
quotequote all
After looking around at a "toy" car I have after many rotations of ideas settled on a V8 Vantage. Until moving recently my neighbour ( a member here) had a DB9 and listening to it start up in the garage and drive off has made the decision easier.

I have made contact with my local AM dealer and taken a trip over there (unfortunately they were closed) to have a look at the cars in the flesh, and discovered photos online do not do either the exterior or interior justice.

I would prefer only to buy one from a main dealer, and I may have to wait a bit im sure for the perfect one. I was wondering if there was any advice on things to look out for during test drives etc.

Thanks

Paul

simonpa

377 posts

282 months

Monday 15th September 2014
quotequote all
Buy the book (see the faq page)!

Where in the souteast are you Paul - I suspect there are plenty of people around who are happy to talk to you about their P&J smile

Wh1teKnight

Original Poster:

42 posts

114 months

Monday 15th September 2014
quotequote all
I'm in Fareham Hampshire.

Jon1967x

7,177 posts

123 months

Monday 15th September 2014
quotequote all
Any thoughts on where you're pitching in at and roadster v coupe? As a really rough guide

Early 4.3 cars are sub 50k
4.7 late 40k to 80k for a newish one
4.7S 75k to 95k

Roadsters a couple a grand more.
On the later cars, the flappy paddle manual are a couple of grand more but the older the car the less the difference if at all.
Then the V12 which are more again. Early cars only manual. Later V12S flappy paddle.
Then there are the specials like N400, N420, N430 - all V8s

And the balance between comfort and handling? The V8S and V12S have probably the most sporting suspension.
You can get pretty much anything from a dealer even the older cars

But yes.. you need to buy Grants book

ps.. all rough finger in the air before people dive in and quote a different figures.


Wh1teKnight

Original Poster:

42 posts

114 months

Monday 15th September 2014
quotequote all
I'm looking for a standard V8, probably around the 2007 4.3 area. I have 40k cash to play with and i'm not averse to getting a loan but I would prefer not too. I'm looking for minimal deprecation so late 2006 / early 2007 seems the way forwards.

I'm not overly fussed on gearbox, I have flappy paddles on my 5 series (I understand that's a totally different beast box wise) but when I do use that iI find it a bit odd.

Did you mean the FAQ section in the AM forum i have it a quick scan but noticed nothing about a book ?

Paul

Jon1967x

7,177 posts

123 months

Monday 15th September 2014
quotequote all
There's a sticky titled something like the definitive guide to the gaydon era for the book.

I'd be tempted to look at some of the Aston specialist indies as well as main dealers. They know their stuff.


Edited by Jon1967x on Monday 15th September 16:59

dig123

339 posts

115 months

Monday 15th September 2014
quotequote all
There is a seprate topic under Aston Martin called The DEFINITIVE GUIDE to new Gaydon-era ASTON MARTIN, this is the book.

Best of luck with the car you will not regret it.

Wh1teKnight

Original Poster:

42 posts

114 months

Monday 15th September 2014
quotequote all
Cool thanks for that ill go looking for the sticky ..

bomberh

634 posts

136 months

Monday 15th September 2014
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Just to add my 2 pence worth biggrin

Don't forget to factor in your insurance, tax, tracker etc into your budget, maybe you already have? yes

I set myself a budget, but then got carried away, like you do, then forgot about the other things, as above laugh

Oh, I almost forgot, get Grants book and read it, cover to cover, then start looking for what you want. I guarantee you, what you want now, will be different from what you want when you have read the book. But you will be well armed to go and find what you actually want.yes



Edited by bomberh on Monday 15th September 17:21

Wh1teKnight

Original Poster:

42 posts

114 months

Monday 15th September 2014
quotequote all
Already covered that, but thanks for the heads up .... and worked out an on-going "fund" for servicing and future tax / insurance ... my biggest issue is this being my first ever second car ill be starting from scratch on the NCB side of things ... :-(

Jon1967x

7,177 posts

123 months

Monday 15th September 2014
quotequote all
Wh1teKnight said:
Already covered that, but thanks for the heads up .... and worked out an on-going "fund" for servicing and future tax / insurance ... my biggest issue is this being my first ever second car ill be starting from scratch on the NCB side of things ... :-(
Try a few companies on the phone - Admiral gave me 5 years NCB on a second policy. i wasn't even insured with them although I did have 10 years NCB on my main car with a different company.


Wh1teKnight

Original Poster:

42 posts

114 months

Monday 15th September 2014
quotequote all
That's good to know I was going to give my current insurer a call for a chat and see what could be done ... at the moment my Man Maths have been based on quotes from compare the meerkat .. and they are ... affordable

dig123

339 posts

115 months

Monday 15th September 2014
quotequote all
Hi I got quotes for insurance from compare the market but once I got the final quote they all went up, one company wanted to put a black box in the car to monitor my driving (not sure how that works on a race track). Joint the AMOC and got a good price from Locktons they alos include recovery and insurance based on value so no worry re gap insurance,they also sorted out some NCD for second car.

Edited by dig123 on Monday 15th September 18:39

Dewi 1

285 posts

121 months

Monday 15th September 2014
quotequote all

The budget that you mention is not too far away from the 4.7 cars.
Many detailed improvements, notably considerably more torque.
They might depreciate a little more gently, because fewer were built each year.
Some now advertised under £50k, although amongst them are a few high milers.

Enjoy the learning and looking. It is all part of the Aston experience.


V8V Pete

2,496 posts

125 months

Tuesday 16th September 2014
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I agree that it would be worth stretching the budget to get an early 4.7. Had mine a year now and loved every minute of ownership. Value of these seems to be very stable at present. Last piece of advice - DO NOT DRIVE A V12V.


michael gould

5,691 posts

240 months

Tuesday 16th September 2014
quotequote all
whilst I understand your desire to buy from a main dealer that will probably cost you a premium of 4-6k (and you will drop that much as you exit the dealer) ....you should also consider private cars with a warranty

Bincenzo

2,606 posts

178 months

Tuesday 16th September 2014
quotequote all
michael gould said:
whilst I understand your desire to buy from a main dealer that will probably cost you a premium of 4-6k (and you will drop that much as you exit the dealer) ....you should also consider private cars with a warranty
That's a very good point. I certainly bought mine from a private sale, charming guy, fastidious in looking after the car and it had an extended AM warranty. Food for thought. Oh, and DON'T drive the V12V..........

4.7 could be in reach though, and it's worth it over the 4.3.

Don't sweat the no claims, I had the same drama but some offer free no claims, Locktons were certainly very good, I'm now with Admiral multi car, and it's as cheap as chips (some might say that's for good reason, but I'm willing to take the risk to see how it panned out if I had an incident).

Buy Grants book, hopefully you've found it by now, it's an absolute must as there are so many combinations of spec to consider. I'd also consider a roadster for the odd nice summers day, but that's an extra few grand to justify. Exciting times though, good luck with it and use this forum to ask any questions, regardless of how stupid they might seem. wavey

Wh1teKnight

Original Poster:

42 posts

114 months

Tuesday 16th September 2014
quotequote all
Hmmm a private sale might be something to consider then .... Im sure if needs be i could smuggle an extra 10k out of savings for the right car (shhhh don't tell the missus). Ive always bought second hand from main dealer as i once bought a Accord type R from a non dealer garage and it was a complete Lemon .... really put me off ... (although i did sell it on 7 months later for a £500 profit).

I Didn't realise there was going to be that much premium on buying from a dealer ... hmm .... food for thought indeed.

gibbon

2,182 posts

206 months

Tuesday 16th September 2014
quotequote all
Wh1teKnight said:
Hmmm a private sale might be something to consider then .... Im sure if needs be i could smuggle an extra 10k out of savings for the right car (shhhh don't tell the missus). Ive always bought second hand from main dealer as i once bought a Accord type R from a non dealer garage and it was a complete Lemon .... really put me off ... (although i did sell it on 7 months later for a £500 profit).

I Didn't realise there was going to be that much premium on buying from a dealer ... hmm .... food for thought indeed.
I would say a 10% premium for a main dealer is about right, maybe slightly less.

I was happy to buy privately but found it hard to find the right car in the right condition. I ended up buying from a main dealer, actually the first time I have ever done that. I enjoyed the experience and was happy with the price / service.

krisdelta

4,566 posts

200 months

Tuesday 16th September 2014
quotequote all
I wouldn't be afraid of purchasing privately - I purchased mine this way, from a very diligent owner and I've run without warranty for 3 years and 20k miles only replacing a hub speed sensor above and beyond normal servicing / consumables - so I'm at least £4,500 "in pocket" as a result.

In my experience they are robust and well engineered cars if used regularly. Like any car, leave it sitting in a garage 30 days a month and it will suffer.

£40k will get you a great dealer example, or a very nice private car with £5-8k in your pocket as an emergency fund - a very nice cushion!

Happy shopping.

ps. based up near Camberley, if you wanted to take a look around a "live" example smile