A first hello to the forum, soon to be owner.
Discussion
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.
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 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
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.
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.
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...;)
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...;)
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.
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
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!
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!
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!
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!
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