I have £40k-£45k for first Vantage.. any tips appreciated!

[ilovethiscity]

Hello all,

Firstly let me say thank you for this amazing forum! It has so much detailed information I can't wait to get involved some more with my car! I am 25 years old I live in London and will be buying my first 'proper car' in the next 3-4 weeks. Over the last few weeks I have test driven an R8, Panamera (odd I know) and Cayman but the Aston beats them all by a very very long way. I wanted to ask if there are any specific tips or things I should be looking for/not looking for when buying my Vantage?

My only non compromise so far seems to be the premium audio (I am really into music) also some kind of iPod/iPhone connection. Other than that I am not really sure what else to look for in an Aston?

I am into a bit of light photography so will take lots of pictures once I get my hands on this beautiful car!

[mikey k]

Buy Grants book in hte sticky at the top
Decide what model, does it need a roof & what engine
Go test drive a few
Assuming you are after a Gaydon era car your budget ought to get you an early DB9 and possibly a 4.7 Vantage if you buy over the winter

[steveatesh]

mikey k said:

Buy Grants book in hte sticky at the top
Decide what model, does it need a roof & what engine
Go test drive a few
Assuming you are after a Gaydon era car your budget ought to get you an early DB9 ...

OP is only 25, long way from Saga territory yet

Seriously welcome to the forum, it's a great problem to have isn't it " which Aston Martin should I buy?"

I suggest test drive the potential cars and decide from there. Premium audio is fantastic, and well worth sticking out for IMHO. Best of luck with it

[Bravo73]

1. Buy the book
2. The consensus is generally to try and stretch to a 4.7l model. However, having a quick look at Autotrader, you might have to stretch to at least the high 40ks.

How about this for an alternative? A 2007 Vantage that has been 'BR'd':

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2013...

BR stands for Bamford Rose. Have a read of their thread at the top of the page to see what they can do to a 4.3 V8V.

[mikey k]

steveatesh said:

OP is only 25, long way from Saga territory yet

Seriously welcome to the forum, it's a great problem to have isn't it " which Aston Martin should I buy?"

I suggest test drive the potential cars and decide from there. Premium audio is fantastic, and well worth sticking out for IMHO. Best of luck with it

I clocked that then clocked the Panamera comment

[gibbon]

Sounds a very tedious point, but have you checked insurance out? 25 and central London would make it extremely eye watering if possible at all i would imagine.

[taylor172]

probably not as bad as you would imagine, im 26 was 25 when i insured it, less than insuring my dads mx5

[gibbon]

taylor172 said:

probably not as bad as you would imagine, im 26 was 25 when i insured it, less than insuring my dads mx5

Do you mean it was less to insure the aston at 25 in your own name than being a names driver on your dads mx5?

Mine was significantly less than my 911 before, in central london, at 30 years old. However i still think central london + 25 + male + aston martin will be tough.

[taylor172]

no insuring an mx5 for myself, i guess it all goes on statistics

[ilovethiscity]

Thank you all so much for the kind replies I forgot to mention I am looking at the coupe only not the roadster also has to be sport shift as a manual in central London will drive me nuts!

As for the insurance yes it's around £2,400 for me but my current new shape 5 series costs £2,100 so I honestly wasn't that upset by it! Just pay it a year up front and forget about it I guess!!!

[mikey k]

ilovethiscity said:

Thank you all so much for the kind replies I forgot to mention I am looking at the coupe only not the roadster also has to be sport shift as a manual in central London will drive me nuts!

Presumably a Vantage then?
Plenty to chose from;

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds?Category=us...

I'd be stretching/haggling on this one as it is a 4.7 and has the sport pack and the Premium Audio;

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/a...

[Bravo73]

ilovethiscity said:

...also has to be sport shift as a manual in central London will drive me nuts!

Reading reports on here, the ASM will drive you more nuts in London traffic. Lots of kangerooing and accelerated clutch wear. Expect to have to change the clutch every 10k miles or so.

The ASM is best suited to either the 'open road' or a track.

[mikey k]

Bravo73 said:

ilovethiscity said:

...also has to be sport shift as a manual in central London will drive me nuts!

Reading reports on here, the ASM will drive you more nuts in London traffic. Lots of kangerooing and accelerated clutch wear. Expect to have to change the clutch every 10k miles or so.

The ASM is best suited to either the 'open road' or a track.

I disagree with that so long as the clutch learns are done and you avoid relying on creep mode ASM1 is fine around town
It is no more prone to failure than a manual

ETA this link is worth a read

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

[ilovethiscity]

mikey k said:

Presumably a Vantage then?
Plenty to chose from;

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds?Category=us...

I'd be stretching/haggling on this one as it is a 4.7 and has the sport pack and the Premium Audio;

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/a...

Hi yes a vantage seems to be the one for me! Tested a 4.3 yesterday liked it if I could haggle a newer 4.7 that would be great! Thanks for the info!

[PiloteAM]

Bravo73 said:

ilovethiscity said:

...also has to be sport shift as a manual in central London will drive me nuts!

Reading reports on here, the ASM will drive you more nuts in London traffic. Lots of kangerooing and accelerated clutch wear. Expect to have to change the clutch every 10k miles or so.

The ASM is best suited to either the 'open road' or a track.

Yes, definitely, the ASM at low speeds is *very* bad.

Get a car with the multiplate BR clutch (sintered or organic, depending on your preference), it's loads better than either the stock manual, or the ASM.

- Steve

[PiloteAM]

mikey k said:

Bravo73 said:

ilovethiscity said:

...also has to be sport shift as a manual in central London will drive me nuts!

Reading reports on here, the ASM will drive you more nuts in London traffic. Lots of kangerooing and accelerated clutch wear. Expect to have to change the clutch every 10k miles or so.

The ASM is best suited to either the 'open road' or a track.

I disagree with that so long as the clutch learns are done and you avoid relying on creep mode ASM1 is fine around town
It is no more prone to failure than a manual

ETA this link is worth a read

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

In London traffic though, avoiding the creep is extremely hard, unless you want to back up half a mile queue of cars...

I've tried an ASM1 box in traffic (with a clutch learn) and couldn't really live with it.

If the OP lives somewhere where the traffic isn't too bad it might be OK.

[ilovethiscity]

PiloteAM said:

In London traffic though, avoiding the creep is extremely hard, unless you want to back up half a mile queue of cars...

I've tried an ASM1 box in traffic (with a clutch learn) and couldn't really live with it.

If the OP lives somewhere where the traffic isn't too bad it might be OK.

Hi there it's actually not too bad where I live also worth mentioning is the missus' family live in Wales so will get a good run in once every two weeks or so.

[jamesc12]

ilovethiscity said:

Thank you all so much for the kind replies I forgot to mention I am looking at the coupe only not the roadster also has to be sport shift as a manual in central London will drive me nuts!

As for the insurance yes it's around £2,400 for me but my current new shape 5 series costs £2,100 so I honestly wasn't that upset by it! Just pay it a year up front and forget about it I guess!!!

Have you checked out Locktons insurance? I was 26 when I insured my DB9, SE1 postcode (now E1W - premium is slightly less) - I bit their hand off when they quoted me £1,250 for a 7,500 mile policy on a 2005 DB9 worth £43k. All other quotes were upwards of £2300 with huge excesses (Locktons is £150 I think?).

[ilovethiscity]

jamesc12 said:

Have you checked out Locktons insurance? I was 26 when I insured my DB9, SE1 postcode (now E1W - premium is slightly less) - I bit their hand off when they quoted me £1,250 for a 7,500 mile policy on a 2005 DB9 worth £43k. All other quotes were upwards of £2300 with huge excesses (Locktons is £150 I think?).

Hi thanks for the suggestion I will definitely check them out! The sad reality of being my age is my excess has always been £3,000 and I am with non existent insurers (the nearest quote I got from a company I had ever heard of was admiral at £11,000!!!) even in my bmw I am literally just paying to be able to drive not be covered!

I would love to hear what you get MPG wise in town? How often you fill up etc?

[mikey k]

ilovethiscity said:

I would love to hear what you get MPG wise in town? How often you fill up etc?

Mine averages 16.2 mpg how ever I drive