06-08 v8 vantage with a 10k slush fund........am I mad?
Discussion
I bought a 56 car a few months ago - I don't expect it to cost me anything like £10k unless that's over a very long period! I guess if you buy one that needs a clutch quickly, that will be 30% of your slush fund gone. But apart from that I'm assuming a couple of thousand a year is fine.
Think the paint issues are some kind of ally / steel reaction? Mine doesn't seem to have any problems anyway.
Think the paint issues are some kind of ally / steel reaction? Mine doesn't seem to have any problems anyway.
If you take your time to find a mint example, and many owners do take great care of these cars, you should increase your chances of having reliability.
Mine is now six years old and has only required routine servicing.
As mentioned, clutch change is a long job costing approx £3,000, but you will have to take a chance on that. Some have lasted 65,000 miles, but depends on driving and how much reversing up slopes.
The paint bubbling issue is not only on early cars. Consensus is that it is poor preparation before the paint is applied. Look around door handles and mirror mounts.
I wouldn't say you're the slightest bit mad.
Had my previous MY09 V8V for 2 years. Couple of minor things on warranty first year. No warranty second year - cost me one tyre pressure monitoring system wheel sensor (about £100) and only did that to get rid of alert on dash. Even if you went the "safe" route of having warranty every year your fund would last you over 5 years.
These are mechanically very sound cars and there are lots of low mileage well looked after cars out there. Do it, you won't regret it.
Had my previous MY09 V8V for 2 years. Couple of minor things on warranty first year. No warranty second year - cost me one tyre pressure monitoring system wheel sensor (about £100) and only did that to get rid of alert on dash. Even if you went the "safe" route of having warranty every year your fund would last you over 5 years.
These are mechanically very sound cars and there are lots of low mileage well looked after cars out there. Do it, you won't regret it.
anonymous said:
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anonymous said:
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It's not rust, it is bubbling of the paint, I believe where there has been inadequate preparation at aluminium/steel interfaces (happy to be shot down if this is wrong). It is most common on the door handles and just in front of the mirror mounts I think. The rear quarter panels are indeed steel on the Vantage but I've never seen rust on those.I think, as Neil says, at that age if it were going to bubble it would have done it by then. My newly acquired 63 plate SP10 has a tiny bubble by the offside mirror mount which is being sorted without charge to me in a couple of weeks. So that would be consistent with it happening quite early in the car's life if it's going to happen.
Take someone who knows these cars well along with you when you view one or get a thorough inspection (not the 140 point check) done before buying.
anonymous said:
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The only steel panels are the rear quarters. There are not usually any problems with those, although the the wide arches could catch a stone. Doors tend to be where any paint bubbles appear, so it is not caused by rust.
anonymous said:
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Agree, a stunning design.I'm not convinced paint defects are less likely the older a car gets...I've had examples of all the different types as recently as this year on an 07 car that I've owned from new.
It's fundamentally poor preparation and design, compounded by poor quality materials.
The only way to even remotely guarantee you won't fall victim to it is if the car has had the typically impacted panels sorted out already by someone other than Aston Martin/who knows how to prep a car that is built with these materials.
On the plus side, with a 10k slush fund you have money aside for a full respray and/or some of the more common irritants.
If you haven't driven a Vantage yet, I'd recommend you hire one for a day. They are VERY different cars to a Griff. Better in pretty much every quantitative way...but there are sides to the Griff that may be what you love the most about it (raw, edginess, a feeling it wants to kill you and you must stop it
) that you might miss with the Vantage.
It's fundamentally poor preparation and design, compounded by poor quality materials.
The only way to even remotely guarantee you won't fall victim to it is if the car has had the typically impacted panels sorted out already by someone other than Aston Martin/who knows how to prep a car that is built with these materials.
On the plus side, with a 10k slush fund you have money aside for a full respray and/or some of the more common irritants.
If you haven't driven a Vantage yet, I'd recommend you hire one for a day. They are VERY different cars to a Griff. Better in pretty much every quantitative way...but there are sides to the Griff that may be what you love the most about it (raw, edginess, a feeling it wants to kill you and you must stop it
) that you might miss with the Vantage.If the paint defect isnt showing up by now on an early car, then it should be safe. My 06 car has had the paint issues for over 5 years now, i think they show up within a few years if you are going to get them
Re the £10k, other than fuel and depreciation, im somewhere near that in 8 1/2 year and 74K miles of running costs, and that's with a few non scheduled items like; aux belt, 3 x wheel bearings, thermostat
as others have said, get a newer 4.7 if you can and don't worry too much about the running costs. Im usually having a £650 service bill every year with another £500-1000 on top depending on when tyres/discs/pads fall due.
Re the £10k, other than fuel and depreciation, im somewhere near that in 8 1/2 year and 74K miles of running costs, and that's with a few non scheduled items like; aux belt, 3 x wheel bearings, thermostat
as others have said, get a newer 4.7 if you can and don't worry too much about the running costs. Im usually having a £650 service bill every year with another £500-1000 on top depending on when tyres/discs/pads fall due.
Hi cossers, you are ahead of me in the game as I'm not ready financially to acquire of these amazingly beautiful cars
The feedback that I have had is that your initial slush fund of 3K would be enough, and only that amount to cover a possible clutch. Other than that around 1k a year and I doubt that you'll have a problem finding an excellent car, these are cared for probably to a far higher standard generally than other marques
I'm also a bit OCD re the condition of the car I would buy so happy hunting and I look forward to seeing some pictures of your new purchase
The feedback that I have had is that your initial slush fund of 3K would be enough, and only that amount to cover a possible clutch. Other than that around 1k a year and I doubt that you'll have a problem finding an excellent car, these are cared for probably to a far higher standard generally than other marques
I'm also a bit OCD re the condition of the car I would buy so happy hunting and I look forward to seeing some pictures of your new purchase
anonymous said:
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You do not always need to worry if you find an unmarked car (and I feel the inside can give a clue to careful use), even if has had a few owners.
There are a number of instances where an Aston is bought (to be kept for a few years), but then the owner visits a dealer after a few months, and unexpectedly walks out with a new car. The joke for this is, Aston dealers free coffee can be very expensive!
If you get one that's well looked after, A V8V doesn't cost much at all to run. I have banged on about this over my time on the forum - but mine was a daily drive for 3 years and 20k miles incl international road trips (was 8 years old and 52k in total when I sold). I had a hub speed sensor go pop and that was it in that time. I did a few bits of preventative maintenance, such as belts and cleaning throttle - but besides that, got in and drove it.
What's the secret? A well maintained car, that you continue to maintain well. Don't get a garage queen - get something that's been run regularly. Regards to the paint, most have some issues - it isn't corrosion in the traditional rust sense and usually easily corrected for < 5% of your slush fund.
With regard to clutch, if you don't mind the standard item (I had no issues and it was still strong at 52k) you can get the friction plate replaced for £1k with David Appleby Engineering (no personal experience but some people know them).
Get one in the garage and post some photos
What's the secret? A well maintained car, that you continue to maintain well. Don't get a garage queen - get something that's been run regularly. Regards to the paint, most have some issues - it isn't corrosion in the traditional rust sense and usually easily corrected for < 5% of your slush fund.
With regard to clutch, if you don't mind the standard item (I had no issues and it was still strong at 52k) you can get the friction plate replaced for £1k with David Appleby Engineering (no personal experience but some people know them).
Get one in the garage and post some photos
krisdelta said:
What's the secret? A well maintained car, that you continue to maintain well. Don't get a garage queen - get something that's been run regularly. Regards to the paint, most have some issues - it isn't corrosion in the traditional rust sense and usually easily corrected for < 5% of your slush fund.
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