Are Vantage reliable as a daily driver?
Discussion
So after my first thread I made my choice for a 2009 or newer vantage convertible stick shift with under 20K miles.
I started looking at some dealer and got some dealers feedback that the vantage are not reliable and would cost a lot to run as a daily, and that my vantage would spend a lot of time at the dealer getting fixed.
I dont know if its a dealer trick to sale me something else or what.
I'm driving a corvette grand sport and this is pretty bullet proof, I like to drive hard on mountain road and as I live in California a lot in traffic and most of the time in really warm weather.
Any advice before I pull the trigger would be great.
I started looking at some dealer and got some dealers feedback that the vantage are not reliable and would cost a lot to run as a daily, and that my vantage would spend a lot of time at the dealer getting fixed.
I dont know if its a dealer trick to sale me something else or what.
I'm driving a corvette grand sport and this is pretty bullet proof, I like to drive hard on mountain road and as I live in California a lot in traffic and most of the time in really warm weather.
Any advice before I pull the trigger would be great.
evil chevy said:
So after my first thread I made my choice for a 2009 or newer vantage convertible stick shift with under 20K miles.
I started looking at some dealer and got some dealers feedback that the vantage are not reliable and would cost a lot to run as a daily, and that my vantage would spend a lot of time at the dealer getting fixed.
I dont know if its a dealer trick to sale me something else or what.
I'm driving a corvette grand sport and this is pretty bullet proof, I like to drive hard on mountain road and as I live in California a lot in traffic and most of the time in really warm weather.
Any advice before I pull the trigger would be great.
Look through this forum and you'll find plenty of people running them as a DD without any issues at all. Sure consumables won't be cheap, but they're not frightening either. Keep a slush fund for the clutch in case you're unlucky and all else should be good.I started looking at some dealer and got some dealers feedback that the vantage are not reliable and would cost a lot to run as a daily, and that my vantage would spend a lot of time at the dealer getting fixed.
I dont know if its a dealer trick to sale me something else or what.
I'm driving a corvette grand sport and this is pretty bullet proof, I like to drive hard on mountain road and as I live in California a lot in traffic and most of the time in really warm weather.
Any advice before I pull the trigger would be great.
Seeing as the Vantage will be the cheapest of all AM's run, I can only assume it wasn't an authorised AM dealer telling you that ?
evil chevy said:
So after my first thread I made my choice for a 2009 or newer vantage convertible stick shift with under 20K miles.
I started looking at some dealer and got some dealers feedback that the vantage are not reliable and would cost a lot to run as a daily, and that my vantage would spend a lot of time at the dealer getting fixed.
I dont know if its a dealer trick to sale me something else or what.
I'm driving a corvette grand sport and this is pretty bullet proof, I like to drive hard on mountain road and as I live in California a lot in traffic and most of the time in really warm weather.
Any advice before I pull the trigger would be great.
Which dealer told you that the Vantage is unreliable?I started looking at some dealer and got some dealers feedback that the vantage are not reliable and would cost a lot to run as a daily, and that my vantage would spend a lot of time at the dealer getting fixed.
I dont know if its a dealer trick to sale me something else or what.
I'm driving a corvette grand sport and this is pretty bullet proof, I like to drive hard on mountain road and as I live in California a lot in traffic and most of the time in really warm weather.
Any advice before I pull the trigger would be great.
No it wasn't a aston dealer, just few some dealer specialized in high end European cars.
Running a vette is not that cheap either, tires are the main expenses and at over $450 per rear tire and knowing that I change them at list twice a year.
I dont mind spending on gas/insurance and wearable, I just dont like my car being at the dealer every months.
How can I know about the clutch life? is there better aftermarket that I can instal?
Running a vette is not that cheap either, tires are the main expenses and at over $450 per rear tire and knowing that I change them at list twice a year.
I dont mind spending on gas/insurance and wearable, I just dont like my car being at the dealer every months.
How can I know about the clutch life? is there better aftermarket that I can instal?
My honest first thought is the paint is not very good, expect lots of little scratches and marks. Maybe this is just me but when I had my Porsche I would park it everywhere and not worry. With my Aston I wont take it to a normal town centre car park and opt to take my DD instead, the Ason feels to special. I also worry about leaving it parked places overnight and someone stealing the badge / giving it a scratch but that may be just me 
the few dealers I talked to, told me that I would spend a lot of money to keep it on the road if not use as a week end car and that I should use this money to get something better.
I have to agree that people in California use their car a different way, I'm from Europe and use to see sports car used a daily with high milage, here when a car got more than 20K miles it is a hight mileage car for some people.
I have to agree that people in California use their car a different way, I'm from Europe and use to see sports car used a daily with high milage, here when a car got more than 20K miles it is a hight mileage car for some people.
I ran mine daily for a few years, but in recent years its a couple of times a week. 77k miles in 9 years, clutch lasted until 74k miles ish
Absolutely fine, no "reliability" issues as such i.e never failed to get me where I was going. The only issues have been niggles really, like a thermostat and 3 wheel bearings have been replaced. A drive belt squeaked for a while until replaced.
How many cars has this dealer experience of to form this opinion of "unreliability" and what fails causing the car to breakdown ?
Search on here for the last 10 years and you may find the odd Friday car that someone had ALL niggly issues with, but most cars have just had a few issues. Common ones are known and easily fixed (if not already on the model year you intend to purchase)
The biggest expense is the clutch, about £2200k ish. Otherwise its about the same as a large engined German saloon for brakes, tyres, fuel etc
Absolutely fine, no "reliability" issues as such i.e never failed to get me where I was going. The only issues have been niggles really, like a thermostat and 3 wheel bearings have been replaced. A drive belt squeaked for a while until replaced.
How many cars has this dealer experience of to form this opinion of "unreliability" and what fails causing the car to breakdown ?
Search on here for the last 10 years and you may find the odd Friday car that someone had ALL niggly issues with, but most cars have just had a few issues. Common ones are known and easily fixed (if not already on the model year you intend to purchase)
The biggest expense is the clutch, about £2200k ish. Otherwise its about the same as a large engined German saloon for brakes, tyres, fuel etc
V8Chris said:
My honest first thought is the paint is not very good, expect lots of little scratches and marks. Maybe this is just me...
It's not very good and it's not just you.roughrider said:
I've heard that an Aston service centre can download information about the clutch wear on a car.
Not on a manual.bogie said:
...everything bogie says...
Totally agree.I did 55k in mine (8.75yrs). Was doing 10k a year for the first 4yrs. Only minor niggles really (except the paint which really started to grate - perhaps because the rest was spot on).
OP - I think you may be in the US? Your dealer is talking out of his ass
There are definitely "Friday" cars out there. Most are pre-07 I suspect (from hearing about a lot of hassles when they were first released). Be aware of the foibles of the model and search for a car with all of them addressed and you'll be fine.I remember my first Aston and had similar concerns. It ended up that the Vantage cost a lot less over the year than my VW Passat.
Been a similar story ever since.
5 Astons and this is the list of stuff over the years:
1 wheel bearing
1 thermostat
1 front wishbone (bush worn)
1 headlight
2 paint fixes
1 rattle on wiper mechanism
1 set of CCM pads coz I couldn't live with a squeak (old type on DBS)
I think that's about it.
Been a similar story ever since.
5 Astons and this is the list of stuff over the years:
1 wheel bearing
1 thermostat
1 front wishbone (bush worn)
1 headlight
2 paint fixes
1 rattle on wiper mechanism
1 set of CCM pads coz I couldn't live with a squeak (old type on DBS)
I think that's about it.
G'Day
2009 V8V ASM: Regular service and recalls, brake pads changed to red stuff, fixed the fuel filler issue myself, thats it. I have done about 44000 Km, no winter driving (Austria with heavy winter, lots of snow and minus degrees).
I can really imagine her as daily driver.
Enjoy
Christian
2009 V8V ASM: Regular service and recalls, brake pads changed to red stuff, fixed the fuel filler issue myself, thats it. I have done about 44000 Km, no winter driving (Austria with heavy winter, lots of snow and minus degrees).
I can really imagine her as daily driver.
Enjoy
Christian
thats great info...
So is the paddle gear box/clutch stronger than the stick?
I would rather get a stick but as Los Angeles traffic can be insane if I have to burn a stick clutch every year I may be considering the paddle gear, I would not drive it in D, ever... I to much like sporty driving.
So is the paddle gear box/clutch stronger than the stick?
I would rather get a stick but as Los Angeles traffic can be insane if I have to burn a stick clutch every year I may be considering the paddle gear, I would not drive it in D, ever... I to much like sporty driving.
I think the manual gearbox clutch appears to last longer, so long as you use it properly along with the handbrake, at least you have more control over it 
I think the sportshift (at least the earlier versions) caught people out being an automated manual. In the early days there were quite a few reporting poor clutch life, like 15-30K miles. Possibly due to driving style, people expecting an automatic
/all based on anecdotal forum reading evidence .....
I think the sportshift (at least the earlier versions) caught people out being an automated manual. In the early days there were quite a few reporting poor clutch life, like 15-30K miles. Possibly due to driving style, people expecting an automatic
/all based on anecdotal forum reading evidence .....
I bought my car just over 3 years ago, almost exactly as you describe to be looking for. Mine is a late 2007 manual convertible with 24k miles on it at the time. I bought my car from AM main dealer (Grange Welwyn) and pretty much use my car as a DD (I briefly bought a 2002 P38 Range Rover - but that proved too expensive and unreliable to run!). My AMV8 Roadster is now at 54k miles.
In the past 3 years, I have paid for 2 yrs of premium AM warranty at about £1.8k each year.
Servicing at AM dealer has been around £750-850 each time (1yr or 10k miles).
I changed the clutch at 49k - I guess about £2-2.5k. I say roughly as I also had a service, some brake work and wheel refurb done at the same time for about £4k.
I've also done 1 full set of tyres at about £1k (moved to Michelin Pilot Sports which feel much better), and overall 1 full set of brakes changed (different bits done at different times).
I have had work done as part of the Warranty - rear light replaced, electric roof control module, cooling/thermostat module and various other bits and bobs - in total, probably £5-6k worth.
Other than the big £4k clutch/service, I don't think the car had to go in for more than a day - I have had to have the car towed back to the dealer only once when the cooling/thermostat module failed and stopped the fan from coming on - so to avoid overheating the car was picked up. I have had to have AM recovery come to my home 3 times for a flat battery (once because I left my aftermarket phone charger (Sosche) plugged in a couple of days) and twice for not driving the car for a week or more when on holiday (should have used a trickle charger) - I also had them come out once when the roof got stuck halfway open - the recovery person, and in the end my daughter worked out how to get it into a closed position (it took about 1.5 hours).
Is it a Nissan Micra? no. Is it that different to my old 7-series BMW in terms of reliability? No. In the same time, I probably did 2x the miles in the BMW, and apart from flat batteries, this is no worse than most newer complicated cars. No engine or gearbox issues just a few electrical gremlins fixed under warranty and never really been majorly inconvenienced. I cannot fault Grange in Welwyn. Other faults have been stone-chips on lower bumper and rear arches, some minor corrosion on windscreen wiper and drivers side wing mirror.
What would I do differently? I would put paint protection on the exposed areas at least, and maybe the whole car - and use the trickle charger that was provided. Otherwise, its been great, so much so, I would consider buying another newer low mileage car - although there is nothing wrong with my car.... (My daughter wants me to get a McLaren). Hope this helps.
In the past 3 years, I have paid for 2 yrs of premium AM warranty at about £1.8k each year.
Servicing at AM dealer has been around £750-850 each time (1yr or 10k miles).
I changed the clutch at 49k - I guess about £2-2.5k. I say roughly as I also had a service, some brake work and wheel refurb done at the same time for about £4k.
I've also done 1 full set of tyres at about £1k (moved to Michelin Pilot Sports which feel much better), and overall 1 full set of brakes changed (different bits done at different times).
I have had work done as part of the Warranty - rear light replaced, electric roof control module, cooling/thermostat module and various other bits and bobs - in total, probably £5-6k worth.
Other than the big £4k clutch/service, I don't think the car had to go in for more than a day - I have had to have the car towed back to the dealer only once when the cooling/thermostat module failed and stopped the fan from coming on - so to avoid overheating the car was picked up. I have had to have AM recovery come to my home 3 times for a flat battery (once because I left my aftermarket phone charger (Sosche) plugged in a couple of days) and twice for not driving the car for a week or more when on holiday (should have used a trickle charger) - I also had them come out once when the roof got stuck halfway open - the recovery person, and in the end my daughter worked out how to get it into a closed position (it took about 1.5 hours).
Is it a Nissan Micra? no. Is it that different to my old 7-series BMW in terms of reliability? No. In the same time, I probably did 2x the miles in the BMW, and apart from flat batteries, this is no worse than most newer complicated cars. No engine or gearbox issues just a few electrical gremlins fixed under warranty and never really been majorly inconvenienced. I cannot fault Grange in Welwyn. Other faults have been stone-chips on lower bumper and rear arches, some minor corrosion on windscreen wiper and drivers side wing mirror.
What would I do differently? I would put paint protection on the exposed areas at least, and maybe the whole car - and use the trickle charger that was provided. Otherwise, its been great, so much so, I would consider buying another newer low mileage car - although there is nothing wrong with my car.... (My daughter wants me to get a McLaren). Hope this helps.
evil chevy said:
<snip>
some dealers feedback that the vantage are not reliable and would cost a lot to run as a daily, and that my vantage would spend a lot of time at the dealer getting fixed.
<snip>
Any advice before I pull the trigger would be great.
Well there you have it. Your dealer is an arse that's full of it.some dealers feedback that the vantage are not reliable and would cost a lot to run as a daily, and that my vantage would spend a lot of time at the dealer getting fixed.
<snip>
Any advice before I pull the trigger would be great.
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