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

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

Author
Discussion

RobDown

3,803 posts

127 months

Saturday 21st January 2017
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RichB said:
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
They've used "roadster" in recent years for the 2 seater convertibles. Not sure when it came in to use, I think it might even have been with the current Vantage (I'm struggling to think of another AML 2 seater in recent years)


Completely off topic but for classic cars DHC (drop head coupe) was essentially a convertible as we know them (so for example the DB2 DHC) whereas roadster was usually reserved for a car that was designed to have no hood (for example Jaguar made the xk120 as a roadster). In guessing the latter more popular in California

RichB

51,431 posts

283 months

Saturday 21st January 2017
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RobDown said:
Completely off topic but for classic cars DHC (drop head coupe) was essentially a convertible as we know them (so for example the DB2 DHC) whereas roadster was usually reserved for a car that was designed to have no hood (for example Jaguar made the xk120 as a roadster). In guessing the latter more popular in California
That is indeed exactly correct Rob. The drop head coupe was usually more luxuriously trimmed than the roadster. It would, for example, have had a double skinned hood as opposed to a rustic pram style arrangement and a wooden dash rather than a painted one.


Mr.Tremlini

1,460 posts

100 months

Saturday 21st January 2017
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Exciting times, walking past your nose smudge on the window and entering the showroom! Sorry for your loss but it seems a good thing may come of it, which I am sure will be a fitting memorial.
A DB9 at the lower end of the scale!? Not really! Plus when is an Aston Martin at the lower end of any scale??
All the best!

Loose_Cannon

Original Poster:

1,593 posts

252 months

Sunday 22nd January 2017
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Dear all, been to look at a Volante today and just need a bit of quick advice before leaving a deposit;

Scuttle shake: Its the first convertible of any kind I've driven, so I havent really got a benchmark. I was advised by a dealer that the DB9 Volante loses out a little in rigidity to the coupe but not by much (or as bad as older cars like the 7). However I still noticed it, even though I would say it was "heard" rather than seen or felt, which I presume to be the leather dash surfaces chirping together.

Refinement & euro cruising capability: I was happy, somewhere between my Lotus and my Volvo, which is a decent compromise! Wind noise OK at motorway speeds, streets ahead of the Esprit.

Things to improve on:

1. Cheapo back tyres
2. back discs heavily scored
3. A cople of heavy stonechips in the middle of the bonnet which I hope could be done by chipsaway or similar (I forgot to check if the bonnet is single skin to tap out??).
4. Fingernail of corrosion from a stonechip creeping around the bonnet leading edge (is the bonnet aluminium?)
5. Cosmetic crack on the sloped centre console pice adjacent the nets (piano black) enough to replace I think.

Everything else seems to check out, plenty of recent relevant expenditure etc.

Is there anything else specific to look at circa 50-odd thousand miles? In all my research I forgot to even check if it has timing belts or chains!! There is enough in the budget for the coil pack job if it hasn't been done, which I'm fairly sure it hasn't.

Edited by Loose_Cannon on Sunday 22 January 19:35

Purso

859 posts

101 months

Sunday 22nd January 2017
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Hey loose cannon, sorry for your loss! Great choice on your next acquisition though think you will love the 2 cars side by side. All the best people have an esprit and an a Aston!! Is the car from a main dealer as a few of the points I would have thought Should be sorted out before you collect.

CSK1

1,598 posts

123 months

Sunday 22nd January 2017
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RobDown said:
the Volante term came in with the DB6.
Not quite correct. The first Aston Martin to be called Volante was in fact the Short Chassis Volante that preceded the DB6.

Loose_Cannon

Original Poster:

1,593 posts

252 months

Sunday 22nd January 2017
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The car is private for high 30s, so adding up the costs such as discs/pads etc (£600 parts only) quickly brings it near to buying from a franchised dealer.

The other car I'm looking at was a Ghillies Green Coupe, 2 years younger, only only a third of the mileage at 15000 miles, and with an AM premium warranty thrown in. To make this Volante as good narrows the price gap considerably, also the dealer in quiestion seems to be lopping the prices of some of his 2nd hand stock, he hasnt got around to the green one yet though!

Purso

859 posts

101 months

Monday 23rd January 2017
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Why don't you make a bid on the main dealer on the warranty is valuable in this type of purchase.

Big Ry

1,678 posts

118 months

Monday 23rd January 2017
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Purso said:
Why don't you make a bid on the main dealer on the warranty is valuable in this type of purchase.
This ^^^^^

I agree, if you like the dealer car then you've got nothing to loose in making a bid on it. Whilst I completely understand people not extending warranties on cars which they own and to a degree know, I think it's a risky game to take that approach on a car you don't know the history of. Remember that whilst these cars are pretty solid, if things do go wrong they can become very expensive very quickly. I learnt this the hard way when I bought my first Aston privately, it was an 09 V8 Roadster which had a timing chain cover leak.

So for me whilst I might self-warranty a car I've owned for a while and know, I wouldn't again take that gamble on something I had no knowledge of.

Just my two cents worth.

Jon39

12,782 posts

142 months

Monday 23rd January 2017
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Mark,

If an Aston Martin has been maintained within the main dealer network, then a dealer can retrieve all the servicing and repair information from the computer system.

When the system started I do not know, but the records certainly go back to 2008.

For me it was certainly reassuring when making the purchase, to find that only very minor items had previously required attention. So far that has continued, but we never can be sure.






Edited by Jon39 on Monday 23 January 11:16

DB7 for ever

571 posts

86 months

Monday 23rd January 2017
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Rich, don't you mean YOU USED to be a moderator on there. LOL

Before it all went tits up and sacked you all. LOL

Cheers
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

RichB

51,431 posts

283 months

Monday 23rd January 2017
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I am a moderator of the AMOC forum and oversee the David Brown Feltham section.

To correct that last post, no one has been sacked, though some users were banned.

DB7 for ever

571 posts

86 months

Monday 23rd January 2017
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I was jesting with you RichB so no need to fly off the handle. Yes indeed AMOC do ban folk and also allow others who cause trouble to stay and carry on causing trouble like one of them is still doing against another member which ive read today.

Double standards club at the end of the day.
RichB said:
I am a moderator of the AMOC forum and oversee the David Brown Feltham section.

To correct that last post, no one has been sacked, though some users were banned.

RichB

51,431 posts

283 months

Monday 23rd January 2017
quotequote all
DB7 for ever said:
I was jesting with you RichB so no need to fly off the handle.
I can see you're new on here - do you seriously think that was flying off the handle! biglaugh

V8LM

5,166 posts

208 months

Monday 23rd January 2017
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RichB said:
I am a moderator of the AMOC forum and oversee the David Brown Feltham section.

To correct that last post, no one has been sacked, though some users were banned.
smile

DB7 for ever

571 posts

86 months

Tuesday 24th January 2017
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Maybe your not then RichB as I gather its a lot more relaxed on here unlike over on the dark side where some cry like babies over nothing and then gang up in little clicks and ban folk.

I think its called Double standards elitism.

Cheers
RichB said:
I can see you're new on here - do you seriously think that was flying off the handle! biglaugh

Loose_Cannon

Original Poster:

1,593 posts

252 months

Monday 30th January 2017
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Might have been a bit impetuous but.....sorted! You chaps are the first to know! Picking up a Tungsten 07 on Thursday. As advised I ordered Grants book like a good boy, but its on back order and hasn't arrived in time for the purchase so I hope its the "right" car.


RobDown

3,803 posts

127 months

Monday 30th January 2017
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Loose_Cannon said:
Might have been a bit impetuous but.....sorted! You chaps are the first to know! Picking up a Tungsten 07 on Thursday. As advised I ordered Grants book like a good boy, but its on back order and hasn't arrived in time for the purchase so I hope its the "right" car.
Congratulations! Pictures asap please!

Loose_Cannon

Original Poster:

1,593 posts

252 months

Tuesday 31st January 2017
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Not so sure now that the colour on my forthcoming DB9 is "tungsten" as advertised; it has a very strong metallic fleck in it, under strong garage lighting it is almost like a 70s custom metalflake!

Can anyone think what it is from that description? For sure when it gets home I can go looking for the chassis tag, but it does show how confusing all these very similar greys are when the owners dont know!

blade runner

1,029 posts

211 months

Tuesday 31st January 2017
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Loose_Cannon said:
Not so sure now that the colour on my forthcoming DB9 is "tungsten" as advertised; it has a very strong metallic fleck in it, under strong garage lighting it is almost like a 70s custom metalflake!

Can anyone think what it is from that description? For sure when it gets home I can go looking for the chassis tag, but it does show how confusing all these very similar greys are when the owners dont know!
Sounds like Tungsten to me. From memory, Tungsten has quite a lot of fleck in it although you don't often see it in (flat) outdoor light.