A first hello to the forum, soon to be owner.

A first hello to the forum, soon to be owner.

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Loose_Cannon

Original Poster:

1,593 posts

252 months

Friday 20th January 2017
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Dear all, rather than butt in with lots of quiestions I thought it polite to say a quick hello first.

Never in my lifetime did I ever think I could own an Aston Martin, but after a close bereavement one tiny silver lining is that I find myself looking at DB9s without just pressing my nose against the showroom window. I realise in Aston terms this is the lower end of the scale, and a new shape Vanquish or classic shape DB would be the lottery choice, but we all must start somewhere.

Like many my inspiration would be lots of childhood exposure to the Italian Job, Bond, Persuaders etc so the logical modern choice for my budget would be the DB9. However I did get sidetracked by a 2002 Vanquish at a dealer the other day which I was gobsmacked to see in the upper reaches of my price range. Butch and muscular, it made the Ferrari 550 parked behind look like a Celica. I thought I found the holy grail but a test drive (my first) showed the full auto shift was quite slow and ponderous, and it only really liked to be pulled along by the flappy paddles. I had not genn'ed up on Vanquishes at all until this point, so an evenings reading seemed to say the boxes are never that great. So even though it had a nice old-world feel and there was room for my 2 small dogs I think it's back to DB9s realistically.

I don't know if there are any other AM forums I should be reading up with, but unlike a few other Pistonheads marque forums this section actually seems quite lively. From my few weeks research there seems to be very little in the way of willy waving I have to say everyone in AM land has been great so far. I got chatting to a young chap in the local dealership buying a GT8 (had to google that one) and he was remotely sneery when I told him I was looking at a 12 year old car.

So I might have a few questions soon, please be gentle.


Jon39

12,782 posts

142 months

Friday 20th January 2017
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Welcome. Sorry to read about your bereavement.

On the car front, these are exciting times for you to enjoy. I am still excited, and for me it was about 5 years ago when I bought my car.

Yes, this is the main forum for owners of cars built at Gaydon.

You stated 'he was remotely sneery', but you probably meant to say was not.

Enjoy your Aston Martin, and please post some photos when you are ready.



Y100

2,036 posts

166 months

Friday 20th January 2017
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Sounds to me like there is one very lucky Aston Martin DB9 out there that very soon, is going to get loved to bits! yes

RichB

51,433 posts

283 months

Friday 20th January 2017
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Loose_Cannon said:
I don't know if there are any other AM forums I should be reading up with, but unlike a few other Pistonheads marque forums this section actually seems quite lively...
Welcome to the Aston bit of P'heads but you're an old hand so you know how it works. It's a bit more normal here than on other parts of Pistonheads. wink

As for other forums I would usually have recommend the AMOC forum. There is (or should I say was) a very active section for Gaydon cars with lots of informed owners. However that's just gone through a re-launch and from what I can see it wasn't alpha, beta or user-tested before launch so I've no idea if you can even register as a guest at the moment. I'm a moderator on there and even I can't work out how it works, progress eh! biglaugh

Big Ry

1,678 posts

118 months

Friday 20th January 2017
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Loose_Cannon said:
I realise in Aston terms this is the lower end of the scale, and a new shape Vanquish or classic shape DB would be the lottery choice, but we all must start somewhere.
Welcome welcome, and for the record I don't think any of us on here think ANY Aston is at the lower end of the scale so don't start thinking like that, they're all tip top in my eyes and we're all very lucky indeed to own any of them.

Find one, add to basket and join the chaos biggrin

Y100

2,036 posts

166 months

Friday 20th January 2017
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RichB said:
Welcome to the Aston bit of P'heads but you're an old hand so you know how it works. It's a bit more normal here than on other parts of Pistonheads. wink

As for other forums I would usually have recommend the AMOC forum. There is (or should I say was) a very active section for Gaydon cars with lots of informed owners. However that's just gone through a re-launch and from what I can see it wasn't alpha, beta or user-tested before launch so I've no idea if you can even register as a guest at the moment. I'm a moderator on there and even I can't work out how it works, progress eh! biglaugh
Fancy meeting you here wavey

RichB

51,433 posts

283 months

Friday 20th January 2017
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Perhaps I should ask Pistonheads to create a Feltham sub forum in Aston so I can chat here more often because the AMOC forum has buggered in the name of progress... scratchchin

I haven't seen many of the regulars on there yet; Russell, Astro not even JP (our chairman) frown

james-witton

1,363 posts

106 months

Friday 20th January 2017
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Good luck with your purchase. You won't believe how much a car can change things for the better. You'll have a constant smile on your face, you'll be finding excuses to go for a drive and you'll soon find out that everyone loves an Aston.
Enjoy.

Y100

2,036 posts

166 months

Friday 20th January 2017
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RichB said:
Perhaps I should ask Pistonheads to create a Feltham sub forum in Aston so I can chat here more often because the AMOC forum has buggered in the name of progress... scratchchin

I haven't seen many of the regulars on there yet; Russell, Astro not even JP (our chairman) frown
Unless and until there is a significant improvement in the new forum performance Rich, I well imagine JP will remain elusive! Russell has posted a bit but I do wonder how much longer he'll manage to sit on his hands,,,,moan

PS: Sorry Loose Cannon,,,,wandered a bit off topic there, sorry.


Edited by Y100 on Saturday 21st January 09:55

dalecan

315 posts

250 months

Friday 20th January 2017
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OP sorry for your loss. You should also check out 6speed forum as that has a useful AM forum.

Loose_Cannon

Original Poster:

1,593 posts

252 months

Saturday 21st January 2017
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Jon39 said:
You stated 'he was remotely sneery', but you probably meant to say was not.
Yes that's absolutely what I meant, daft typo! He was a first timer too and really buzzed about it. I didn't realise he was plonking down 200k until later!

Thanks for all the friendly replies so far.

I haven't decided between a coupe and a convertible (volante?) yet which may seem odd. Although the coupe is very Bond-ish my dream Aston would be a DB4 volante. I've never been an open top owner before and could never see the point until we took a trip through the alps and most of the scenery was above your head! That's what would be really nice to banish the blues after losing someone close, some nice euro road trips with just a map and an overnight bag. Plus I really like the booted back end look, and the chance that it's relative rarity might preserve its value against the numerous coupes available.

Which leads to the first question I suppose, does the soft top lose out to the fixed head in terms of day to day refinement like wind noise etc? I know I should take plenty of comparative test drives but I don't like messing people about unless fairly sure the car is of interest, and hate taking all the follow up calls from dealers.

Edited by Loose_Cannon on Saturday 21st January 01:48

RobDown

3,803 posts

127 months

Saturday 21st January 2017
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The volante/convertible jargon is very Aston specific

So first rule is that Aston describe an open-top 4 seater as a volante. An open top 2 seater is a roadster (so the vantages are roadsters).

But then just to complicate things the Volante term came in with the DB6. So a DB4 would still be described as a convertiblesmile

I can't answer your question about the db9 volante (sure someone will be along soon). But in case you haven't driven one the db9 transmission is way more refined than a first generation vanquish; ideal for long trips but can be driven enthusiastically on the paddles too. Having said that if you can find (and like) one with a manual transmission that will probably hold its value better than the automatic/paddle shift (but much rarer)

AstonExige

661 posts

106 months

Saturday 21st January 2017
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Good luck. These Astons get under your skin on a number of different levels. I've had a lot of different types of cars over th years and most I've loved in one way or another. Up until now it's only been Lotus that got under my skin, I'm on my fourth, having tried different cars in between trying to something that over come the Lotus shortfalls, but always came back. Since buying my first Aston in 2015 I'm on my second and can feel this is another brand that I've bonded with. Sure they have their shortcomings, but when you really love something they don't really matter at the end of the day

Loose_Cannon

Original Poster:

1,593 posts

252 months

Saturday 21st January 2017
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Got the right terminology logged now! I've always loved powerful autos which is why the Vanquish came as a bit of a disappointment.

I'm also a long term Lotus owner (Esprit), and despite many other "bucket list" cars owned along the way I just can't part with it. Another advantage of not going bananas with something like the Vanquish is that I could keep the Lotus alongside the Esprit, at least for the foreseeable future.

Neil1300r

5,487 posts

177 months

Saturday 21st January 2017
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Loose_Cannon said:
Got the right terminology logged now! I've always loved powerful autos which is why the Vanquish came as a bit of a disappointment.
Vanquish is not an Auto. Its a (robotised) manual, minus the clutch pedal. Like the Sportshift available in the Vantage 'D' should never be used. if you want a real Auto, then it is the DB9.

Nothing wrong with an older DB9, no one on here will be sneering. A beautiful car that that hasn't dated. Best to buy Grant's book on the Gaydon Astons - DB9, Vantage etc. See top of the Aston forum for the link.

Lots of advice and friendly banter on here.

The only rule is, if you buy an Aston you have to immediately post photos of it.

RichB

51,433 posts

283 months

Saturday 21st January 2017
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RobDown said:
...An open top 2 seater is a roadster...
Pre-volante they were simply called Convertibles Rob, I've not seen Aston Martin use the term roadster. scratchchin

David W.

1,905 posts

208 months

Saturday 21st January 2017
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RichB said:
re-volante they were simply called Convertibles Rob, I've not seen Aston Martin use the term roadster. scratchchin
And pre convertibles dropheads?

RichB

51,433 posts

283 months

Saturday 21st January 2017
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David W. said:
And pre convertibles dropheads?
Not quite sure what you mean by that. What's the question?

Jon39

12,782 posts

142 months

Saturday 21st January 2017
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Mark,

Just a thought about your mention of the (first model) Vanquish (they were not built at Gaydon).

I can remember a post on this forum, about a purchase where the car had a badly rusted front subframe. The repair was extremely costly.

I think it is felt in general, that models from DB9 onwards, which have almost all been Gaydon built, have a high standard of construction. The Ford input raised the bar. The Newport Pagnell cars are beautiful and many are appreciating, but research by buyers would appear to be very important.




Loose_Cannon

Original Poster:

1,593 posts

252 months

Saturday 21st January 2017
quotequote all
Yes that post popped up pretty quickly on a search! I think the owner was rubbishing the 1,680 point AM inspection that didn't ensure an MOT pass rather than the car, but the subframe issue was noted.

Hopefully will be viewing an early Volante tomorrow. Funny thing is the 9s were meant to look a bit retro, but have now aged to a point where the original shape is a bit retro-classic in itself. I keep drooling at the newer post 2013 revamp thinking they look a million dollars, but in truth they are a quite blingy compared to the original. Still wouldn't say no though...;)