Off to test a DBS and V12VS tomorrow...Any advice?
Discussion
Today was the first day I drove the V12 Vantage to my office and that meant getting it up a few floors in a multi storey car park...
Amazingly, it was easier than the R8. No doubt it helps that the Vantage is smaller in both width and length. But I had better visibility over the bonnet and the steering was lighter at parking speeds. I was impressed how much space there was going around a corner and how much was left in my parking space.
The sun was out so I took some photos of the V12 side badges and the carbon fibre centre wheel caps. The black shines like a mirror in the sun...
Again, despite driving through London, it was great fun. The exhaust note keeping me company, the overrun leaving a trail behind me and the feel of the car keeping me on my toes. Driving to work on a Monday morning is gonna be so much cooler from now on...
Amazingly, it was easier than the R8. No doubt it helps that the Vantage is smaller in both width and length. But I had better visibility over the bonnet and the steering was lighter at parking speeds. I was impressed how much space there was going around a corner and how much was left in my parking space.
The sun was out so I took some photos of the V12 side badges and the carbon fibre centre wheel caps. The black shines like a mirror in the sun...
Again, despite driving through London, it was great fun. The exhaust note keeping me company, the overrun leaving a trail behind me and the feel of the car keeping me on my toes. Driving to work on a Monday morning is gonna be so much cooler from now on...
Edited by Nijius Maximus on Monday 29th February 15:53
Quarterly said:
Just resurrecting this mammoth topic, 
are you still enjoying the car Nijius? Been any where further afield than London yet?
Still LOVING it my friend. Off for a long drive this weekend as off to see the parents in law. Nice to see what they think of it. And as a bonus the price keeps going up! are you still enjoying the car Nijius? Been any where further afield than London yet? Edited by Quarterly on Thursday 10th March 19:40
So that's Birmingham this weekend and I've driven up to my parents for Mother's Day in Loughborough last weekend. Amazingly enough that Sunday I saw TWO Astons: a Vantage and a convertible DB9 I think. In Loughborough?? Maybe all three were taking our mums out for lunch? Good sons us three were...
I'm desperate to drive along with some fellow Astons. Burghley ages away. Anything else coming up soon otherwise I'm gonna create my own London and surrounding area Sunday drive +lunch event for early April.
Can't think of anything cooler than a procession of Astons driving through a sleepy village wowing the locals...
Edited by Nijius Maximus on Friday 11th March 15:34
Foggy... firstly apologies for not replying myself, as the author of this thread I really wanted to but had my sister's wedding this weekend so had no time!
Secondly thanks for taking the time to read the whole thread. Ha, impressive. It's interesting to see how things have progressed since you first posted. I can understand both points of view in this: in that yes a V12 Vantage really should be a car you WANT to drive. In fact I'd recommend you go and test drive one just for the hell of it.
I was driving the other night in massive rain and wind and yet I was still loving the experience. The noise and the feel of the car is just intoxicating like no car I've driven before. You know I was thinking the other day if the price did keep going up and it ended up matching that of a used Vanquish...would I swap?
And I realised: NO.
This car is unique. It's small enough to easily park and drive around London. It feels so involving and sporty in a way that the Vanquish / DBS feel more GT like (both amazing cars though). And then of course you have the manual gearstick and knowing you're owning a future classic.
Yes, the price going up is nice. But it's a bonus. I'd rather buy a Rapide S / DBS / Vanquish as a second car and keep the V12V rather than change it for something else. There's nothing else out there that compares.
In terms of pricing and value: the car that you saw advertised is actually very similar to mine. Mine's an 11 reg you that one is a 61 and they both have same mileage and both Carbon Black. But I paid £85k from an Aston dealer which includes warranty and piece of mind. That wasn't very long ago at all. I think that now Spring is with us delers are realsing they can charge more.
Would I personally have paid £100k for my car? No. But I don't doubt for a second that prices will continue to rise. There's just so much interest in these cars and once you've driven it you automatically want to buy it. The V12VS manual will be too expensive to compete directly in my opinion and will no doubt have limited supply made by the time the AMG sourced successor comes out.
If you really want to spend just under a £100k on a V12V. I'd go for this one:
http://www.grange.co.uk/used-car-details/aston-mar...
It's from the same excellent Aston dealer I bought mine from. Yes it's not Carbon Black but it is still black and looks fantastic and has an insanely low 1,895 miles. For a car that expensive I'd always buy from a main dealer.
It's all conjecture at the end of the day though. Buy a car that you actually want to enjoy driving. You know you're not gonna lose any money at the very least on any Aston that's a few years old so take the plunge and enjoy!
Now if you excuse me, the sun is out here in London and Regent's Park is asking, nay begging me, to bring down my Aston to drive it along its scenic roads...
Secondly thanks for taking the time to read the whole thread. Ha, impressive. It's interesting to see how things have progressed since you first posted. I can understand both points of view in this: in that yes a V12 Vantage really should be a car you WANT to drive. In fact I'd recommend you go and test drive one just for the hell of it.
I was driving the other night in massive rain and wind and yet I was still loving the experience. The noise and the feel of the car is just intoxicating like no car I've driven before. You know I was thinking the other day if the price did keep going up and it ended up matching that of a used Vanquish...would I swap?
And I realised: NO.
This car is unique. It's small enough to easily park and drive around London. It feels so involving and sporty in a way that the Vanquish / DBS feel more GT like (both amazing cars though). And then of course you have the manual gearstick and knowing you're owning a future classic.
Yes, the price going up is nice. But it's a bonus. I'd rather buy a Rapide S / DBS / Vanquish as a second car and keep the V12V rather than change it for something else. There's nothing else out there that compares.
In terms of pricing and value: the car that you saw advertised is actually very similar to mine. Mine's an 11 reg you that one is a 61 and they both have same mileage and both Carbon Black. But I paid £85k from an Aston dealer which includes warranty and piece of mind. That wasn't very long ago at all. I think that now Spring is with us delers are realsing they can charge more.
Would I personally have paid £100k for my car? No. But I don't doubt for a second that prices will continue to rise. There's just so much interest in these cars and once you've driven it you automatically want to buy it. The V12VS manual will be too expensive to compete directly in my opinion and will no doubt have limited supply made by the time the AMG sourced successor comes out.
If you really want to spend just under a £100k on a V12V. I'd go for this one:
http://www.grange.co.uk/used-car-details/aston-mar...
It's from the same excellent Aston dealer I bought mine from. Yes it's not Carbon Black but it is still black and looks fantastic and has an insanely low 1,895 miles. For a car that expensive I'd always buy from a main dealer.
It's all conjecture at the end of the day though. Buy a car that you actually want to enjoy driving. You know you're not gonna lose any money at the very least on any Aston that's a few years old so take the plunge and enjoy!
Now if you excuse me, the sun is out here in London and Regent's Park is asking, nay begging me, to bring down my Aston to drive it along its scenic roads...
Hmmm... black grille, huh?
I've always considered too much black on a car to be over the top. Eg. Black wheels on a black car.
But then Sukh put up that photo of his car and it sure does make it look even meaner... You got black wheels as well my friend?
I think I'm gonna have to see these black grilles in person. At the moment I love the black body and the silver wheels (with the gloss black insides) and the various bits of carbon fibre and silver to complement the black body.
On a side note: I can't understand why Aston didn't put the carbon fibre wheel centre caps as standard on the Carbon Black edition. It really adds to the CB feel of the car and looks fantastic. In my opinion anyway...
I've always considered too much black on a car to be over the top. Eg. Black wheels on a black car.
But then Sukh put up that photo of his car and it sure does make it look even meaner... You got black wheels as well my friend?
I think I'm gonna have to see these black grilles in person. At the moment I love the black body and the silver wheels (with the gloss black insides) and the various bits of carbon fibre and silver to complement the black body.
On a side note: I can't understand why Aston didn't put the carbon fibre wheel centre caps as standard on the Carbon Black edition. It really adds to the CB feel of the car and looks fantastic. In my opinion anyway...
t0s said:
Interestingly, my 2012 CB came with a black grille and also black window surrounds. The latter is a subtle but effective way of 'updating' the look, I think.The V12S has black window surrounds.
Those window surrounds actually look pretty good - I like the way they blend in to the body. Wonder how much they'd be to implement... Gassing Station | Aston Martin | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff