V8 Vantage Ownership and the Average Man
Discussion
As some of you are aware I recently posed the question V8 Vantage, GranCabrio or F-Type V8. Although it was my least favourite after driving two 4.3 Vantages I ended up buying a 2008 4.7 Vantage with Sportshift which was a private sale at the right price.
So here is an update of what I think so far. I must admit that some of the sites about an Aston being a rich mans toy only nearly put me off, this and the two 4.3 Sportshift’s I drove just showed I bought the car with my heart rather than my head.
Some of you may balk at buying private but after speaking with the guy I got him to email me scans of the service history, I then phoned the Aston Dealership where the work was done to confirm the history and of course a HPI check. I checked the guy out too and as he owned a business quite a lot of info was available and on the phone he seemed pretty genuine. Test drive done and I transferred all the cash via bank transfer.
The drive from Southampton to Doncaster returned 28mpg which I was impressed with but I still didn’t like the Sportshift. Since, I have only done a few short trips mainly blasting mates about and getting about 19mpg. I went out with the missus last week and really started to get to know the car and, with practice, the Sportshift is getting better and better and I’m much more confident in traffic. It just needs a bit of forward planning.
Car tax was a bit steep at £515 and insurance came in at £450 (52 yo with 3 years NCD)
Problems. The second time I came to fill it up the filler cap release failed and luckily I remembered there is a manual release in the boot…which didn’t open via the external boot switch.
After filling up I drove home and tackled the filler release. There is a small piston attached to the filler flap which had come adrift due to a missing circlip. I fitted a push on type ring clip which is more secure than a plain open end circlip. Time = 20 mins (15 minutes looking for the right size clip). Cost = pence.
External Boot release. After removing the boot carpet there are a couple of screws which hold the mechanism to the boot, remove these and the wires. Remove the screws which hold the switch together carful as it is spring loaded, once this is apart simply spray across the contacts with electrical cleaner or gently brush with a fibre contact cleaner (about £2 from RS). Put it all back and hopefully the boot switch will work every time. Time 30 mins, Cost = pence.
My car has done 23000 miles and the clutch seems fine, however I have contacted Bamford Rose who do a conversion to a dual plate clutch and lightened flywheel and if I need to change the clutch this is the path I will go down after reading some of the reviews on here
So far I’m very pleased with the car and fall a little bit more in love every time I see it. I’m contemplating getting it serviced at Bamford Rose too rather than the main dealer but I’m not sure what the next owner would think about that. I’m not too fussed so long as it is done by the right people.
So here is an update of what I think so far. I must admit that some of the sites about an Aston being a rich mans toy only nearly put me off, this and the two 4.3 Sportshift’s I drove just showed I bought the car with my heart rather than my head.
Some of you may balk at buying private but after speaking with the guy I got him to email me scans of the service history, I then phoned the Aston Dealership where the work was done to confirm the history and of course a HPI check. I checked the guy out too and as he owned a business quite a lot of info was available and on the phone he seemed pretty genuine. Test drive done and I transferred all the cash via bank transfer.
The drive from Southampton to Doncaster returned 28mpg which I was impressed with but I still didn’t like the Sportshift. Since, I have only done a few short trips mainly blasting mates about and getting about 19mpg. I went out with the missus last week and really started to get to know the car and, with practice, the Sportshift is getting better and better and I’m much more confident in traffic. It just needs a bit of forward planning.
Car tax was a bit steep at £515 and insurance came in at £450 (52 yo with 3 years NCD)
Problems. The second time I came to fill it up the filler cap release failed and luckily I remembered there is a manual release in the boot…which didn’t open via the external boot switch.
After filling up I drove home and tackled the filler release. There is a small piston attached to the filler flap which had come adrift due to a missing circlip. I fitted a push on type ring clip which is more secure than a plain open end circlip. Time = 20 mins (15 minutes looking for the right size clip). Cost = pence.
External Boot release. After removing the boot carpet there are a couple of screws which hold the mechanism to the boot, remove these and the wires. Remove the screws which hold the switch together carful as it is spring loaded, once this is apart simply spray across the contacts with electrical cleaner or gently brush with a fibre contact cleaner (about £2 from RS). Put it all back and hopefully the boot switch will work every time. Time 30 mins, Cost = pence.
My car has done 23000 miles and the clutch seems fine, however I have contacted Bamford Rose who do a conversion to a dual plate clutch and lightened flywheel and if I need to change the clutch this is the path I will go down after reading some of the reviews on here
So far I’m very pleased with the car and fall a little bit more in love every time I see it. I’m contemplating getting it serviced at Bamford Rose too rather than the main dealer but I’m not sure what the next owner would think about that. I’m not too fussed so long as it is done by the right people.
red12 said:
As some of you are aware I recently posed the question V8 Vantage, GranCabrio or F-Type V8. Although it was my least favourite after driving two 4.3 Vantages I ended up buying a 2008 4.7 Vantage with Sportshift which was a private sale at the right price.
So here is an update of what I think so far. I must admit that some of the sites about an Aston being a rich mans toy only nearly put me off, this and the two 4.3 Sportshift’s I drove just showed I bought the car with my heart rather than my head.
Some of you may balk at buying private but after speaking with the guy I got him to email me scans of the service history, I then phoned the Aston Dealership where the work was done to confirm the history and of course a HPI check. I checked the guy out too and as he owned a business quite a lot of info was available and on the phone he seemed pretty genuine. Test drive done and I transferred all the cash via bank transfer.
The drive from Southampton to Doncaster returned 28mpg which I was impressed with but I still didn’t like the Sportshift. Since, I have only done a few short trips mainly blasting mates about and getting about 19mpg. I went out with the missus last week and really started to get to know the car and, with practice, the Sportshift is getting better and better and I’m much more confident in traffic. It just needs a bit of forward planning.
Car tax was a bit steep at £515 and insurance came in at £450 (52 yo with 3 years NCD)
Problems. The second time I came to fill it up the filler cap release failed and luckily I remembered there is a manual release in the boot…which didn’t open via the external boot switch.
After filling up I drove home and tackled the filler release. There is a small piston attached to the filler flap which had come adrift due to a missing circlip. I fitted a push on type ring clip which is more secure than a plain open end circlip. Time = 20 mins (15 minutes looking for the right size clip). Cost = pence.
External Boot release. After removing the boot carpet there are a couple of screws which hold the mechanism to the boot, remove these and the wires. Remove the screws which hold the switch together carful as it is spring loaded, once this is apart simply spray across the contacts with electrical cleaner or gently brush with a fibre contact cleaner (about £2 from RS). Put it all back and hopefully the boot switch will work every time. Time 30 mins, Cost = pence.
My car has done 23000 miles and the clutch seems fine, however I have contacted Bamford Rose who do a conversion to a dual plate clutch and lightened flywheel and if I need to change the clutch this is the path I will go down after reading some of the reviews on here.
So far I’m very pleased with the car and fall a little bit more in love every time I see it. I’m contemplating getting it serviced at Bamford Rose too rather than the main dealer but I’m not sure what the next owner would think about that. I’m not too fussed so long as it is done by the right people.
So here is an update of what I think so far. I must admit that some of the sites about an Aston being a rich mans toy only nearly put me off, this and the two 4.3 Sportshift’s I drove just showed I bought the car with my heart rather than my head.
Some of you may balk at buying private but after speaking with the guy I got him to email me scans of the service history, I then phoned the Aston Dealership where the work was done to confirm the history and of course a HPI check. I checked the guy out too and as he owned a business quite a lot of info was available and on the phone he seemed pretty genuine. Test drive done and I transferred all the cash via bank transfer.
The drive from Southampton to Doncaster returned 28mpg which I was impressed with but I still didn’t like the Sportshift. Since, I have only done a few short trips mainly blasting mates about and getting about 19mpg. I went out with the missus last week and really started to get to know the car and, with practice, the Sportshift is getting better and better and I’m much more confident in traffic. It just needs a bit of forward planning.
Car tax was a bit steep at £515 and insurance came in at £450 (52 yo with 3 years NCD)
Problems. The second time I came to fill it up the filler cap release failed and luckily I remembered there is a manual release in the boot…which didn’t open via the external boot switch.
After filling up I drove home and tackled the filler release. There is a small piston attached to the filler flap which had come adrift due to a missing circlip. I fitted a push on type ring clip which is more secure than a plain open end circlip. Time = 20 mins (15 minutes looking for the right size clip). Cost = pence.
External Boot release. After removing the boot carpet there are a couple of screws which hold the mechanism to the boot, remove these and the wires. Remove the screws which hold the switch together carful as it is spring loaded, once this is apart simply spray across the contacts with electrical cleaner or gently brush with a fibre contact cleaner (about £2 from RS). Put it all back and hopefully the boot switch will work every time. Time 30 mins, Cost = pence.
My car has done 23000 miles and the clutch seems fine, however I have contacted Bamford Rose who do a conversion to a dual plate clutch and lightened flywheel and if I need to change the clutch this is the path I will go down after reading some of the reviews on here.
So far I’m very pleased with the car and fall a little bit more in love every time I see it. I’m contemplating getting it serviced at Bamford Rose too rather than the main dealer but I’m not sure what the next owner would think about that. I’m not too fussed so long as it is done by the right people.
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