After four years of reading and learning .....

[Emilio Largo]

….. about my dream car V8 Vantage S I have taken delivery of it this week! It is a brand new 17MY Coupé Manual (C21433), one of the very last 17MY V8 Vantage S Manual Coupés available in Germany (the second last new car to my knowledge). Approximately only 5% of the V8 Vantage S models shipped to Germany are Manuals, so I feel very lucky to have got this particular car.

After having managed to miss out the deadline for a factory order of a 17MY Manual Coupé in April my options were limited to the remaining new stock manual coupés at the German dealerships. There were just two of them (a third one turned up later after my purchase) – both in Magnetic Silver. The one in Munich got sold much quicker than I expected despite being quite expensive, so the Stuttgart floor model was my “now or never” chance to take. The week I signed the purchase contract, the V8 Vantage GTE took class victory at Le Mans. What an unbelievable coincidence – you cannot imagine my joy!

Having wanted to factory order Stratus White or Tungsten Silver with a Lord´s/Chancellor Red interior, I felt at first like I had to “put up” with this Magnetic Silver one with Obsidian Black interior. But the first time I viewed the car in Stuttgart I was immediately convinced that it was no compromise at all. Magnetic Silver is an extremely elegant and sparkling silver Aston colour – very classy. The seemingly cold blue undertone of this exterior colour that is visible in some pictures is not dominant in reality at all.

I am very thankful that before signing the contract I was allowed to take a detailed confidential look at the spec, options and prices of the forthcoming 18MY V8 Vantage AMR. What I saw made my decision for this classic elegant, all bright-finish/chrome 17MY car instantly so much easier.

My intention is to keep this car as long as my finances will allow it – hopefully forever. In fact buying and maintaining the car properly is a financial effort for me, but this being a new car will give me the right motivation for it.

Highlights of the car include the Assortment Pack and Leather Contemporary (Caithness). The gorgeous 10 Spoke Diamond Turned Silver Wheels replaced the original five spoke standard wheels. Also the Rear Cabin Leather was added by my dealer. The interior of the car is particularly lovely with silver contrast stitching everywhere (carpets, steering wheel etc.). Even the “Vantage S” seat embroidery this there (commonly missing) and the accessory platinum tread plates.

My thanks go to all the members of this forum, especially those who have contributed over the years on technical subjects such as troubleshooting, spare parts, costs, maintaining the car etc. (e.g. Bamford Mike, telum01, 8tech and so many others). I learnt so much from you and your posts are highly appreciated and are always read by me. Without the help of this forum my purchase decision would never have taken place.

Great thanks also to my salesman Herrn Patrick Drong (Aston Martin Stuttgart) and all of his colleagues for their efforts which exceeded my expectations! Thanks also to Herrn Carsten Grohmann (Aston Martin Hamburg) for his support in my process of decision making. All German dealerships that I had contact with showed a great responsibility for the marque over here.

Of course I have questions about the car. To start with: The Caithness leather has already proven to be quite sensitive. Does anybody of you use some sort of seat cover for protection (only) when driving the car? Is there anything that looks halfway acceptable (e.g. black faux leather?) and that can be removed without too much hassle when stationary? What can you recommend?

.... and I have no idea how to upload several photos directly attached to this post!

Edited by Emilio Largo on Sunday 8th October 14:38

Edited by Emilio Largo on Sunday 8th October 14:44

Edited by Emilio Largo on Sunday 8th October 14:47

[V8V Pete]

Congratulations and welcome. Great choice of car but I would say that wouldn't I?

[Manx V8V]

Congratulations, and it looks stunning.

The colour (at least in the photo) looks very close to mine which is Tungsten Silver, although the light does make a difference as I've found with mine when looking at photos taken from various angles in different light.

Hard to say on the seats, but my rule is no studded denims, and no new unwashed denims in mine, maybe a pair of those fleecy covers, which just cover the middle portion of the seat, in black, as used by a few taxi drivers.

[Mansfield]

Beautiful looking car. How was Aston Martin Stuttgart to deal with? I was thinking to pop into the dealers when i'm next in the area.

[toffee]

A great looking car, well done on your lovely Aston

Edited by toffee on Sunday 8th October 20:03

Edited by toffee on Sunday 8th October 20:04

[wtdoom]

Beautiful car , great to see so many people get these glorious machines

[Emilio Largo]

Thank you all so much for your warm reception!

Manx, indeed Magnetic Silver is not terribly far away from beautiful Tungsten, but Tungsten is brighter and has a warm brown fleck in it which makes it easier to bond with this colour at first sight. Magnetic is in between Tungsten and Meteorite/Quantum Silver in terms of brightness. My personal opinion is that the proportions of the relatively small Vantage benefit from a bright exteriour clour. Hence I think that Stratus White is an excellent choice for example.

I wish I could upload a photo where you can see how sparkling Magnetic Silver is but unfortunately the file is too big.

I am thinking of getting the car (part-)wrapped into paint protection film but the disassembly of certain parts and the uncovered risk when removing/renewing the film 5 or 6 years after put me off. A difficult topic that I have read lots about here but that needs further investigation.

Mansfield, both sales (Herr Drong) and service (Herr Knöll and Herr Lensing) at Aston Martin Stuttgart were knowledgable and very transparent and fair to me (I am no football pro or DJ). I can be quite picky and may not be the easiest customer to satisfy but they were all very patient and managed well. After all of my three vists there I left the dealership with a smile. All issues were solved to my fulll satisfaction and beyond. The transport of the car to Hamburg was handled with great care as well. I do recommend this dealership.