V8 Vantage as a daily?
Discussion
Quick question for the forum - I'm in the fortunate position that I'll shortly have around £40k to spend on a car... Naturally an Aston would be lovely, at least in my mind! However, are they a bit much to drive on a daily basis? By which I mean, do they attract the wrong sort of attention, and/or cause you to worry where you park? It would be my only car, and the choice is between something a little extravagant like an Aston or Audi R8, or something a little more anonymous like a BMW M6 or 911...
I've already got an order in for "the bible" so I'll at least be an informed buyer, but I'm interested in getting current and past owner's feedback / experiences on whether it's advisable to have something reasonably attention grabbing as an only car!
Whilst I'm asking - what is the build quality like? I've had a hand built British car before in the form of a Lotus assembled VX220, and the quality was, shall we say, not good. Just about forgiveable at the price point, but if similar quirks are present with the Aston I'll be far too annoyed with it to enjoy the ownership experience!
Finally - what's the manual like in stop / start town centre traffic? My commute has a fair bit of that at each end, and I'll be honest - having an automatic car for the last four years has made for a very relaxing journey!
I've already got an order in for "the bible" so I'll at least be an informed buyer, but I'm interested in getting current and past owner's feedback / experiences on whether it's advisable to have something reasonably attention grabbing as an only car!
Whilst I'm asking - what is the build quality like? I've had a hand built British car before in the form of a Lotus assembled VX220, and the quality was, shall we say, not good. Just about forgiveable at the price point, but if similar quirks are present with the Aston I'll be far too annoyed with it to enjoy the ownership experience!
Finally - what's the manual like in stop / start town centre traffic? My commute has a fair bit of that at each end, and I'll be honest - having an automatic car for the last four years has made for a very relaxing journey!
Hi DanL
I was in a similar position last year and decided on an 06 V8 Vantage manual, I kept my daily driver (an Alfa Romeo 159 ti).
I'm pleased that I kept my daily driver, as I don't think my commute would be enjoyable every day. It usually involves some stop/start traffic and I don't find this wildly enjoyable in the V8 Vantage. The clutch is heavy enough (for me anyway) to make heavy traffic a bit of a chore.
In terms of build quality, I've found it's better than I expected for a hand built British car, but it's certainly no Audi S8.
I should also point out, that when I wake up and the weather looks decent (like this morning) and the traffic will be light. I absolutely love driving the Aston to work and occaisionally take a 12 mile extension to a 20 mile commute, just to stay on faster moving roads :-)
No issues using it daily at all, have left mine at airports, multi-storey etc. I put 40K miles on mine in the first couple of years pretty quickly using it daily. No issues using it that way, its not like a bling Italian sportscar that seem to attract the wrong kind of attention.
The only thing to be aware of, it will be an early car, the clutch may be heavy and give you a good workout around town. If the clutch has been replaced, hopefully it should be the revised type which is much lighter. Combined with a gearbox oil change makes the manual a lot nicer around town. A £40K early Vantage should have had these done by now, worth checking in the service history.
The only thing to be aware of, it will be an early car, the clutch may be heavy and give you a good workout around town. If the clutch has been replaced, hopefully it should be the revised type which is much lighter. Combined with a gearbox oil change makes the manual a lot nicer around town. A £40K early Vantage should have had these done by now, worth checking in the service history.
Re build quality - I had an Elise for 6 years prior and a couple of TVRs, the modern Aston is certainly way better than either in build quality.
Dont forget Gaydon era Astons started life under Ford ownership and were built to "regular" car durability standards.
Sure, they have their niggles just the same, but on an older, well maintained car, the majority of the niggles should have been sorted out. As with any used and over 5 years old, its all about the previous owners. If they fixed anything that occurred immediately or addressed warranty issues completely....versus selling the car after a year before even servicing it.
Dont forget Gaydon era Astons started life under Ford ownership and were built to "regular" car durability standards.
Sure, they have their niggles just the same, but on an older, well maintained car, the majority of the niggles should have been sorted out. As with any used and over 5 years old, its all about the previous owners. If they fixed anything that occurred immediately or addressed warranty issues completely....versus selling the car after a year before even servicing it.
I think it's possible as a daily but I wouldn't do it. The clutch is a bit heavy, but that's no issue, it's rather that the fun factor is limited in daily stop and go.
On my drive to work I can't go nowhere beyond ~80mph. So reving the car, have some sound, acceleration or ambitious cornering, it's very rare. If it gets cold or wet, you can't even push the throttle anymore as there is too much power on the real wheels. I get sometimes more frustrated by conditions not allowing to treat the car "appropriately" than having fun driving it.
The build quality is not Audi but good and I enjoy each time I start the car and it's nice to ride in it and the interior looks & feels great, but I use it for the daily drive only when it's a bit warmer and dry, best when you can get the roof down.
So it's possible, it's no problem, but it's IMHO also very often not real fun as a daily.
On my drive to work I can't go nowhere beyond ~80mph. So reving the car, have some sound, acceleration or ambitious cornering, it's very rare. If it gets cold or wet, you can't even push the throttle anymore as there is too much power on the real wheels. I get sometimes more frustrated by conditions not allowing to treat the car "appropriately" than having fun driving it.
The build quality is not Audi but good and I enjoy each time I start the car and it's nice to ride in it and the interior looks & feels great, but I use it for the daily drive only when it's a bit warmer and dry, best when you can get the roof down.
So it's possible, it's no problem, but it's IMHO also very often not real fun as a daily.
Leggy said:
Have you considered an F type or Evora S?
I had a quick look at an F-type, and have a couple of reservations. Partly the boot is a joke, and partly it feels like it's going to continue to loose lots of money in depreciation - something I'd like to avoid. Evora hasn't really been on the radar. No local dealer to Windsor so far as I'm aware which would make it a pain, and the VX220 put me off getting anything from Lotus!Thanks for the other feedback so far. Sounds like I'll need to drive one through a town when I'm ready to buy and see how I manage! Is the sport-shift gearbox any good?
If it's the ONE car to have for all commutes the Aston would be it!
I think if you are even considering Astons... Jaguar or Audi won't have that special factor to play the same game.
If you are considering F types and R8 however then GTR would buy you the most street cred for your money and performance.
But nothing buys you the class an Aston has... I have been eyeing a Ferrari or Mclaren to add to the garage for weekends and my girlfriend thinks it's a downgrade image wise LOL.
For pure driving experience what' beats a RWD manual V8/12 NA??
I think if you are even considering Astons... Jaguar or Audi won't have that special factor to play the same game.
If you are considering F types and R8 however then GTR would buy you the most street cred for your money and performance.
But nothing buys you the class an Aston has... I have been eyeing a Ferrari or Mclaren to add to the garage for weekends and my girlfriend thinks it's a downgrade image wise LOL.
For pure driving experience what' beats a RWD manual V8/12 NA??
I used my V8 coupe as a daily for almost two years. Don't think I had a single issue with it, however using it daily does make it feel less special.
The clutch isn't that heavy, but I wouldn't want to do a lot of stop start in it.
They are reasonably depreciation proof so why not try it for 6 months and see how it goes, you can always sell and change to something else.
The clutch isn't that heavy, but I wouldn't want to do a lot of stop start in it.
They are reasonably depreciation proof so why not try it for 6 months and see how it goes, you can always sell and change to something else.
martindesu said:
Why were you an idiot? Genuine question - I want a Vantage and daily is the only way I can kind of justify it. Otherwise it would be sat on the driveway 90% of the year.
I used both my V8 Roadster SS and then a V8S Manual Coupe as DD's and never had any issues with either (other than a pizza delivery guy reversing into the former). The only tiny drawback I would say is what others have said, in that on both occasions they did loose a little of the special appeal over time, but not so much that I'd say not do it.I asked the same question regarding the V12 recently and the responses were the same, quite usable as a DD
Some people have the luxury of multiple cars (both being able to afford and park) others don't. Don't let the thought of using one daily put you off at all, I found both of mine to be equally as usable as the 3.6S Beetle I had at one point (I won't do it again I promise)......go for it
I'd love to use mine daily, but it just isn't practical given the mileage and driving that I do. I do occasionally take it to work to blow out any cobwebs.
I recently went to Brugge and the Nürburgring in October which saw me mix motorway/minor routes, stop-start heavy traffic (M25/E40) town driving and racetrack for 1121 miles over 5 days.
The car was an absolute gem and was quite at home in all situations; other than the heavy traffic. It just doesn't belong there and can get quite fatiguing - if like me you take a serious approach to mechanical sympathy.
It depends on you as an individual so the only thing you can do is to try it. I find myself more considered and patient when it comes to driving and handling the Aston but when it comes to my daily, it's effectively a blunt tool to move me from A to B.
I recently went to Brugge and the Nürburgring in October which saw me mix motorway/minor routes, stop-start heavy traffic (M25/E40) town driving and racetrack for 1121 miles over 5 days.
The car was an absolute gem and was quite at home in all situations; other than the heavy traffic. It just doesn't belong there and can get quite fatiguing - if like me you take a serious approach to mechanical sympathy.
It depends on you as an individual so the only thing you can do is to try it. I find myself more considered and patient when it comes to driving and handling the Aston but when it comes to my daily, it's effectively a blunt tool to move me from A to B.
Edited by Frances The Mute on Thursday 5th January 11:00
DanL said:
Leggy said:
Have you considered an F type or Evora S?
I had a quick look at an F-type, and have a couple of reservations. Partly the boot is a joke, and partly it feels like it's going to continue to loose lots of money in depreciation - something I'd like to avoid. Evora hasn't really been on the radar. No local dealer to Windsor so far as I'm aware which would make it a pain, and the VX220 put me off getting anything from Lotus!Thanks for the other feedback so far. Sounds like I'll need to drive one through a town when I'm ready to buy and see how I manage! Is the sport-shift gearbox any good?
Thanks for the info and feedback so far. I'm not too worried about whether the car feels less special when it's driven every day - I think that's broadly inevitable, regardless of the car chosen, and won't make the decision one way or another. Feedback that it's not terribly happy in traffic for one reason or another is certainly useful though!
It may be more sensible to find a "nice" fully automatic car for the commute than the dream car! Sadly I can't do a two car solution - no space, plus I'm sure the special car (whatever that would be) wouldn't get used enough to justify owning it.
It may be more sensible to find a "nice" fully automatic car for the commute than the dream car! Sadly I can't do a two car solution - no space, plus I'm sure the special car (whatever that would be) wouldn't get used enough to justify owning it.
A word of caution here. The V8 Vantage is a great car but parts supplies appear to be drying up of some 'consumable' parts.
My 2007 Vantage was damaged on the ferry heading to Le Mans last year, Aston Martin didn't have any early rear bumper skins in stock and still can't supply one. My car has had a creased rear bumper and lashed-up numberplate lights since June 2016.
Presenting a Vantage to daily traffic and parking prangs may not be a sensible thing to do if Aston's policy is to ignore their parts supply obligations!
My 2007 Vantage was damaged on the ferry heading to Le Mans last year, Aston Martin didn't have any early rear bumper skins in stock and still can't supply one. My car has had a creased rear bumper and lashed-up numberplate lights since June 2016.
Presenting a Vantage to daily traffic and parking prangs may not be a sensible thing to do if Aston's policy is to ignore their parts supply obligations!
DanL said:
Feedback that it's not terribly happy in traffic for one reason or another is certainly useful though!
DanL said:
Feedback that it's not terribly happy in traffic for one reason or another is certainly useful though!
.
It is fully ok in traffic. Maybe a bit worse off than standard manual cars from the mid to end 2000-range, but I think it's fully comparable to an end-90's manual of other makes and those also go well in traffic. Plus you have PDC and HDI lights which was a bit more unusual in the late 90's..
I think the feedback is quite similar: no one so far says you can't do it, it's clearly feasible but half the people recommend it and the other half don't think it's fun, but the reason is emotional and not technical.
On more technical argument: I don't know how much mileage you will put on the car p.a., but running cost could become substantial..
TKP said:
On more technical argument: I don't know how much mileage you will put on the car p.a., but running cost could become substantial..
I never found running a V8 any more costly than a 997S. Servicing maybe a touch more but not much, tax the same, parts similar and fuel virtually the same. I used to get just over 20MPG from my V8S (mixed driving environments) and only got low 20's from the Porsche (which I was surprised at).Providing you're not putting stupid miles on it then I can't see it materially affecting the value much either.
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