Help purchasing a v8 vantage

[awg454]

A little unfair posting the guys picture unless he was asked first !

[sifocus]

awg454 said:

A little unfair posting the guys picture unless he was asked first !

Thanks. It annoyed me at first but that’s the internet. Looks like he has taken it off now. good job it’s an alright picture of me.

[sifocus]

ChilliWhizz said:

raceboy said:

McGurks might still be good for the OP though, this might be of interest, depends what the budget is, it's an early car so lower VED and it's just had a clutch.
http://www.mcgurk.com/stock/623/Used-Aston-Martin-...

They are shut on Sundays though.

And it's in the fastest colour

Thank you. Looks nice and tidy

[sifocus]

Good morning. I’m narrowing my search and looking at a couple of cars this Monday morning.
What are your thoughts on the roadster? I’ve always found more Fun when I’ve had soft tops... a4 cab, mx5, Tuscan s and 2 chimaeras. I had a 911 and mustang which were both coupes. I didn’t enjoy them as much though. The coupe looks better in my opinion. Are there any speed diffferences, handling, etc? Not many people have said much about roadsters. Are they holding their value also? Appreciate the help and comments, Si.

[davek_964]

I think roadsters hold their value the same, just a few £k higher than coupes. Hard to find manual ones though.

I've never been a fan of soft tops until I made an impulse purchase of an Alfa Spider last year. Now, if I decided to get a newer Vantage I think I'd be looking for a manual roadster.

[bogie]

I prefer an open car so have a Roadster. Generally you find on many years the Roadster had a better default spec e.g. may have come with sports suspension as standard. Check the model year details in the Aston guide book.

Its a different car with the roof down, you can experience the noise so much better

[johns355]

sifocus said:

Good morning. I’m narrowing my search and looking at a couple of cars this Monday morning.
What are your thoughts on the roadster? I’ve always found more Fun when I’ve had soft tops... a4 cab, mx5, Tuscan s and 2 chimaeras. I had a 911 and mustang which were both coupes. I didn’t enjoy them as much though. The coupe looks better in my opinion. Are there any speed diffferences, handling, etc? Not many people have said much about roadsters. Are they holding their value also? Appreciate the help and comments, Si.

You've nswered you own thoughts Si! My previous car to the aston was a Noble M12 and even though it was mighty quick and looked great I really missed the roofless driving which I experienced in the 2 cars before that. Pretty much made my mind up that a vantage roadster was the way to go for me, it had to be a manual, so I got an 08 tungsten silver one about a year ago and I haven't regretted it one bit. They aren't particularly fast in a straight line but the sound and the looks of it are something rather special, they handle good too. Go with your gut instinct you won't go far wrong, John

[sundayjumper]

Sorry for the o/t but I was wondering this recently - why do we call the hardtop Vantages "coupes" ? They're quite clearly hatchbacks.

Are people just too embarrassed to admit they spent such a large amount of money on a hatchback ??

[bogie]

Yeah, thats an odd one, even Aston Martin call the Vantage hatchback a coupe, when it clearly isnt. The Vantage has one of the largest most practical boot space of any Aston, you can even get a cycle in there

[Ian350]

I've had several convertibles and my Vantage roadster is one of the best by far. You sit low down in it and I have a wind deflector so its very pleasant top down even when the weather isn't that great. I find I have the roof down for more than I ever expected.

[olv]

bogie said:

Yeah, thats an odd one, even Aston Martin call the Vantage hatchback a coupe, when it clearly isnt. The Vantage has one of the largest most practical boot space of any Aston, you can even get a cycle in there

And skis as I found out last week

[sifocus]

£30k for a nice car, private sale but had full service and check in Dec or £36k for one from McGurks? Can’t decide if saving the money is good or spending more from a dealer is best? It’s driving me daft. Car at McGurks is an 07my 56 plate with 49k miles. Private car is an 06 with 65k. Please help :-)

[davek_964]

sifocus said:

£30k for a nice car, private sale but had full service and check in Dec or £36k for one from McGurks? Can’t decide if saving the money is good or spending more from a dealer is best? It’s driving me daft. Car at McGurks is an 07my 56 plate with 49k miles. Private car is an 06 with 65k. Please help :-)

I've bought many of my cars private - including my Vantage.

However - given the limited info you've given about those two cars, the McGurks one looks the better deal to me. It's slightly newer, has less miles (it's not going to be long before the private car is over 70k - which it can take, but you're reaching the kind of mileage which will make many potential buyers think twice) and McGurks have a very good reputation.

How do they compare in other areas - i.e. options / spec, colours etc?

ETA : You will have cheaper road tax on the 06 though - ~£300 vs £500+

[raceboy]

davek_964 said:

ETA : You will have cheaper road tax on the 06 though - ~£300 vs £500+

That depends 'when' in 06 it was registered, it need to be early 06, before April to be in the lower VED band.
But it really boils down to the condition/history/spec of the 2 cars, from those details the Private car could be worth a look, £6k pays for a lot of 'warranty' work, how close are either car, is McGurks close enough that returning the car with an 'issue' doesn't cost more in fuel than the repair?
I'd go and see both if that's feasible, but feel free to post a few more details, I'm guessing the McGurks car is Tungsten, and the private one.

Edited by raceboy on Tuesday 20th March 08:17

[ds666]

McGurk's warranty limit is £2k - what's the limit on Timeless ?

[raceboy]

ds666 said:

McGurk's warranty limit is £2k - what's the limit on Timeless ?

Unlimited total claim value (up to the value of your car).

[ds666]

raceboy said:

ds666 said:

McGurk's warranty limit is £2k - what's the limit on Timeless ?

Unlimited total claim value (up to the value of your car).

So , realistically , if you really want a warranty , Timeless is your only choice .

[davek_964]

ds666 said:

raceboy said:

ds666 said:

McGurk's warranty limit is £2k - what's the limit on Timeless ?

Unlimited total claim value (up to the value of your car).

So , realistically , if you really want a warranty , Timeless is your only choice .

That's a bit of a strange statement. I've paid for plenty of stuff on my car which would have been covered by a decent warranty, and would have been under £2k. I'm entirely happy not having a warranty - but the idea that a warranty is utterly pointless unless it covers the entire value of the car is an odd one.
I certainly wouldn't pay £6k extra for a car just because it has a £2k warranty - obviously the maths makes no sense there. But the McGurks car has other advantages that explain some of that price difference according to the details given by the OP.

[raceboy]

The other thing, that I was alluding to originally, I presume a McGurks warranty is only valid at McGurks, which is fine if it's half an hour away but the Timeless warranty can obviously be used just about anywhere, although I'd probably recommend an Aston Main dealer.
It'd be a bit annoying burning £100 in petrol to have them fix a £15 part under warranty, without the extra hassle of time off work, kicking about while it's fixed, etc, my experiences with main dealers...so far, have been quite painless, but it's going in again next week so I might have a different answer then.
But then the price difference between the private car and the specialist car does give the OP a few £££'s in the emergency fund.

[Dobie177]

As has been suggested, there is no substitute for going to see the cars and assessing each on its own merits.

You'll want to see with your own eyes the condition of the paint work (e.g. existence of paint bubbles, stone chips and an understanding of what remedial work has been done and by whom), condition of wheels & tyres, does the interior look fresh or tired etc.

For a 10-year old Aston, there are some that have been pampered/ lavished their whole life and others which have been much less so. It tends to show.

Also check on history, receipts, if garaged etc.

If all good - and of course you'd get a pre-purchase inspection on a private buy - then no harm in saving £6k!