Wonders of the car industry
Discussion
Thought I would share.
In a week before September I managed to convince myself that a Cygnet would be a good idea (I know I know, I must have been on the crazy pills!) so I approached a dealer who had one priced at £22k. I offered them £19k cash for immediate sale. The dealer responded stating there is no way the car would be let go for £19k at any stage. I pointed out the usual reasons for why the dealer should take the deal to which he was adamant it was worth more than £19k so I would have no chance. 5 weeks on and I see the car advertised for £19k. Just goes to show - take what a dealer says with a pinch of salt. You'll all be glad to know in the meantime I have seen the error of my ways, have come to my senses and have moved on - better to save £16-20k more and get the real deal at some point.
On a different note I read an interesting article on DCT and how they will be the death of current sequential autos and Aston may need to consider looking at investing in it. Maybe manual is the way forward
In a week before September I managed to convince myself that a Cygnet would be a good idea (I know I know, I must have been on the crazy pills!) so I approached a dealer who had one priced at £22k. I offered them £19k cash for immediate sale. The dealer responded stating there is no way the car would be let go for £19k at any stage. I pointed out the usual reasons for why the dealer should take the deal to which he was adamant it was worth more than £19k so I would have no chance. 5 weeks on and I see the car advertised for £19k. Just goes to show - take what a dealer says with a pinch of salt. You'll all be glad to know in the meantime I have seen the error of my ways, have come to my senses and have moved on - better to save £16-20k more and get the real deal at some point.
On a different note I read an interesting article on DCT and how they will be the death of current sequential autos and Aston may need to consider looking at investing in it. Maybe manual is the way forward
Glad things worked out for the best... And a 20k Cygnet was not 'the best'. When they're sub 10k and still rare, maybe they'll be a fun buy!
Think we might be in a Mini ragtop soon, Mrs Y will need a vehicle for 100 miles a week and the 911 is a waste for that kind of drudgery.
Think we might be in a Mini ragtop soon, Mrs Y will need a vehicle for 100 miles a week and the 911 is a waste for that kind of drudgery.
Edited by yeti on Thursday 4th October 11:11
Neilc123 said:
Thought I would share.
In a week before September I managed to convince myself that a Cygnet would be a good idea (I know I know, I must have been on the crazy pills!) so I approached a dealer who had one priced at £22k. I offered them £19k cash for immediate sale. The dealer responded stating there is no way the car would be let go for £19k at any stage. I pointed out the usual reasons for why the dealer should take the deal to which he was adamant it was worth more than £19k so I would have no chance. 5 weeks on and I see the car advertised for £19k. Just goes to show - take what a dealer says with a pinch of salt. You'll all be glad to know in the meantime I have seen the error of my ways, have come to my senses and have moved on - better to save £16-20k more and get the real deal at some point.
On a different note I read an interesting article on DCT and how they will be the death of current sequential autos and Aston may need to consider looking at investing in it. Maybe manual is the way forward
You had a lucky escape there! In a week before September I managed to convince myself that a Cygnet would be a good idea (I know I know, I must have been on the crazy pills!) so I approached a dealer who had one priced at £22k. I offered them £19k cash for immediate sale. The dealer responded stating there is no way the car would be let go for £19k at any stage. I pointed out the usual reasons for why the dealer should take the deal to which he was adamant it was worth more than £19k so I would have no chance. 5 weeks on and I see the car advertised for £19k. Just goes to show - take what a dealer says with a pinch of salt. You'll all be glad to know in the meantime I have seen the error of my ways, have come to my senses and have moved on - better to save £16-20k more and get the real deal at some point.
On a different note I read an interesting article on DCT and how they will be the death of current sequential autos and Aston may need to consider looking at investing in it. Maybe manual is the way forward
Graziano (AM's gearbox supplier) already supply DCT systems to Ferrari and McLaren. I would suspect AM are "working" with them to get something to fit the VH platform
AMDBSNick: I was very close to swap it for a £46k 4.7 Vantage in July (Brentwood were selling one in Green) however when I drove it I did not like the "auto" gear box and they were offering £3k less for my 55 than I was happy with. Also the snag is I like a hard top convertible for the 5 days of summer that we have plus I have a Quiksilver exhaust on mine and I really like the noise it makes I may eventually grow up and get one however when i do it will either be a manual Vantage or an auto DB9 (with some suitable BR alternations), however until I know a lot more about each I am going to wait and enjoy reading the posts on here of people's own experiences.
I may eventually grow up and get one however when i do it will either be a manual Vantage or an auto DB9 (with some suitable BR alternations), however until I know a lot more about each I am going to wait and enjoy reading the posts on here of people's own experiences.
Neilc123 said:
AMDBSNick: I was very close to swap it for a £46k 4.7 Vantage in July (Brentwood were selling one in Green) however when I drove it I did not like the "auto" gear box and they were offering £3k less for my 55 than I was happy with. Also the snag is I like a hard top convertible for the 5 days of summer that we have plus I have a Quiksilver exhaust on mine and I really like the noise it makes I may eventually grow up and get one however when i do it will either be a manual Vantage or an auto DB9 (with some suitable BR alternations), however until I know a lot more about each I am going to wait and enjoy reading the posts on here of people's own experiences.
I've recently (August 1st) swapped an SL55 for a V8V with sportshift. The gearbox is truly, honestly horrible and anyone that can put up with it in "auto" mode has clearly set the bar extremely low. However, when you use the paddle option, it starts becoming fun - because there's no clutch, it is easy (in the early days at least) to change up or down and then forget that it's going to stay in that gear until you tell it otherwise (or threaten to blow it up/stall by being in completely the wrong gear!). I may eventually grow up and get one however when i do it will either be a manual Vantage or an auto DB9 (with some suitable BR alternations), however until I know a lot more about each I am going to wait and enjoy reading the posts on here of people's own experiences.The handling is way better than the SL, the roof I can live with and for noise - the V8V is hard to beat (with the fuse pulled) - it pops away quite merrily and can scare pedestrians
George H said:
Are the SLK55s any good Nick? I spotted how cheap they are in the classifieds the other day... Got me wondering if I could replace the Polo with one 
George I got rid of it because I utterly hated the gearbox. It has that memory stuff and reckons it knows your driving pattern at any given time. This of course is a lie as in general it takes approx an hour for it to work out that you have changed from "I stole it" to "I'm nodding off"Utter s
te.I met a guy at the BR open day earlier in the year who I wont name who works for Merc F1 and he also confirmed the 55 box to be utter s
te.Other than that it was lovely
drmw said:
Neilc123 said:
AMDBSNick: I was very close to swap it for a £46k 4.7 Vantage in July (Brentwood were selling one in Green) however when I drove it I did not like the "auto" gear box and they were offering £3k less for my 55 than I was happy with. Also the snag is I like a hard top convertible for the 5 days of summer that we have plus I have a Quiksilver exhaust on mine and I really like the noise it makes I may eventually grow up and get one however when i do it will either be a manual Vantage or an auto DB9 (with some suitable BR alternations), however until I know a lot more about each I am going to wait and enjoy reading the posts on here of people's own experiences.
I've recently (August 1st) swapped an SL55 for a V8V with sportshift. The gearbox is truly, honestly horrible and anyone that can put up with it in "auto" mode has clearly set the bar extremely low. However, when you use the paddle option, it starts becoming fun - because there's no clutch, it is easy (in the early days at least) to change up or down and then forget that it's going to stay in that gear until you tell it otherwise (or threaten to blow it up/stall by being in completely the wrong gear!). I may eventually grow up and get one however when i do it will either be a manual Vantage or an auto DB9 (with some suitable BR alternations), however until I know a lot more about each I am going to wait and enjoy reading the posts on here of people's own experiences.The handling is way better than the SL, the roof I can live with and for noise - the V8V is hard to beat (with the fuse pulled) - it pops away quite merrily and can scare pedestrians
AMDBSNick said:
George I got rid of it because I utterly hated the gearbox. It has that memory stuff and reckons it knows your driving pattern at any given time. This of course is a lie as in general it takes approx an hour for it to work out that you have changed from "I stole it" to "I'm nodding off"
Utter ste.
I met a guy at the BR open day earlier in the year who I wont name who works for Merc F1 and he also confirmed the 55 box to be utter ste.
Other than that it was lovely
So it's not the 7G tronic system? Had that in my SL and didn't mind it. Didn't like the little button things instead of paddles though, ended up leaving it in auto mainly. Utter s
te.I met a guy at the BR open day earlier in the year who I wont name who works for Merc F1 and he also confirmed the 55 box to be utter s
te.Other than that it was lovely
I quite like the idea of a convertible for my day to day car... And since they can be had for sub £20k they're certainly tempting me.
michael gould said:
My brother and I both had SL55's and on our way up to Statstone the other day to the launch of the new Vanquish, we both commented on how wonderful the 55 is......22k buys a nice one......totaly loved that car and would have another one.
My dad has had 3 SL55s back when he lived in the UK. Absolutely fantastic cars, loved them. Prefer the 55 to the SL63 he got after that. AMDBSNick said:
George I got rid of it because I utterly hated the gearbox. It has that memory stuff and reckons it knows your driving pattern at any given time. This of course is a lie as in general it takes approx an hour for it to work out that you have changed from "I stole it" to "I'm nodding off"
Utter ste.
I met a guy at the BR open day earlier in the year who I wont name who works for Merc F1 and he also confirmed the 55 box to be utter ste.
Other than that it was lovely
+1 I test drove a few a while back with a view to supercharging one Utter s
te.I met a guy at the BR open day earlier in the year who I wont name who works for Merc F1 and he also confirmed the 55 box to be utter s
te.Other than that it was lovely
- hated the box but loved the engineGeorge H said:
So it's not the 7G tronic system? Had that in my SL and didn't mind it. Didn't like the little button things instead of paddles though, ended up leaving it in auto mainly.
I quite like the idea of a convertible for my day to day car... And since they can be had for sub £20k they're certainly tempting me.
It was 2006 and it had paddles. Pretty sure it was the 7G sI quite like the idea of a convertible for my day to day car... And since they can be had for sub £20k they're certainly tempting me.
te. It was in auto mode that is was complete ste. Lets say you drove it like you stole it for 3 miles and then arrived in town. It would take an hour or so to work out you now needed to drive sedately. You could of course intervene but that was not the point. It just tried to be too clever and failed miserably.Utter s
temikey k said:
with a view to supercharging one
Mad man!AMDBSNick said:
It was 2006 and it had paddles. Pretty sure it was the 7G ste. It was in auto mode that is was complete ste. Lets say you drove it like you stole it for 3 miles and then arrived in town. It would take an hour or so to work out you now needed to drive sedately. You could of course intervene but that was not the point. It just tried to be too clever and failed miserably.
Utter ste
Were they proper paddles or little button thingys on the back of the steering wheel?te. It was in auto mode that is was complete ste. Lets say you drove it like you stole it for 3 miles and then arrived in town. It would take an hour or so to work out you now needed to drive sedately. You could of course intervene but that was not the point. It just tried to be too clever and failed miserably.Utter s
teI guess I'll have to drive one and see what they're like for myself
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