advice on 2 astons head to head

[Abdullah37]

Greetings fellow enthusiasts
the options are the following: to note: the prices are obviously not final (in theory) but they will probably won't budge much. ppl here are meatheads lol.
I live now in a middle eastern major city (Riyadh, Saudi) heavy traffic and bad roads [this is a hint that it is not easy to sell expensive astons, let alone a manual one.

2006 4.3 black with red interior (manual) 24,000 km (about 15k in miles) 32k $

2014 4.7 S black on black sportshift 2 (12k miles) 66.5k $

Now the 1st main issues here lie with the following: I have read up that the earlier aston is better overall for what your money gets you, however they suffer from lower if not low quality interior overall especially leather and center console (the heat here is dry and reaches 120 F (50 C).

2nd is how good/bad we are with the sport shift 2. It is an overall known fact the vast majority of any car manufacturer's automated manuals mostly are worse than manuals in terms of clutch life + creeping / stop and go slow traffics being clunky and jittery.

Any input is highly appreciated in finally realizing this dream purchase (yes the 2014 car will need a little bit of push for finances)

[johnymac]

There will be several differences between the 2 cars, but the biggest will be the difference between manual and sportshift. I would suggest you drive them both as it is this difference that is likely to define which of the 2 you go for.

Just my opinion.

Good luck with your search.

[Abdullah37]

the opinion is spot on and I would have given the same advice to any1
the issue lies in that the manual one will be sold in a month's time when the person leaves the country
and I am worried about the wear and feel of the older lower quality dated interior and center console of it would cause some regret.

[Dewi 2]

If neither cars are quite right for you, why not decide what you want, then wait for your dream to be on sale.
Perhaps not a sensible comment if there are onky ever few on the market in your country.

I was very selective, but luck was with me after one year and even obtained the colour which I wanted.

The early 4.7 cars with all the revisions are popular and prices more attractive recently.

You talk about heat. Unfortunately you might have to accept wrinkled leather on top of the dashboard.

[Abdullah37]

am glad you brought that up, while the sales here are very limited and we are not allowed to import most cars
This phenomena occurs where I find myself thinking do I buy the least ruined car or wait till one day what I want pops
I mostly want advice on sportshift 2 and the interior of the first gen car for now.
thanks a lot for the insight

[Manx V8V]

If it helps I find the interior of my 2006 car absolutely fine, I understand the upgrade in later models gave better seats, memory for the seat settings and a few other interior changes, but for what my car is used for I find it fine, I have a big Jaguar saloon for long journeys which is like driving your sofa along the road but the Aston was bought for weekend fun and I dont find the interior lacking in any way.

[Abdullah37]

It does help appreciated and WILL consider if I can actually like the older one and not just be anal

[deeen]

I would go for the earlier manual... the difference in price would more than pay for any interior refresh, re-trim, or even changing the seats, if you wanted to!

[Abdullah37]

deeen said:

I would go for the earlier manual... the difference in price would more than pay for any interior refresh, re-trim, or even changing the seats, if you wanted to!

If you can elaborate more on how and how much to do the refresh.
maybe you know a link to a guide on a certain forum or youtube

[LeeVantage]

Hi.
Look in Dubai and bring it in to KSA, much more choice for you there.
I did this to get exactly what I wanted.

[Abdullah37]

great advice but sadly not possible anymore (i still looked anyway)
new customs laws and regulations require 2 things
1.It has to be better than a certain gas mileage (universal number for all cars)
2.not to be older than 5 years from current year (car model year)

vantage already fails the 1st rule so out of the picture
looked around and asked friends and online and it seems almost impossible to get exceptions

[Abdullah37]

So there is a new car I have found:

2014 4.7 S grey on white interior sportshift 2 (37282 miles) 45k $

This makes me way more curious on the long term cost of sportshift 2
assuming driving 80% city
apparently it costs around 5-7 grand £ and this is the cheapest it gets from what I have looked up. (does it survivce 15k miles or more/less) especially compared to the manual mentioned earlier.
you guy's insight is beyond appreciated on this matter as it needs some insight I have not been able to find a lot about.

Edited by Abdullah37 on Tuesday 24th December 20:11

[Jon39]

The manual and Sportshift gearboxes are identical.

The Sportshift is an automated change manual.

Very rare to hear about a failure reported on here.

[Abdullah37]

Jon39 said:

The manual and Sportshift gearboxes are identical.

The Sportshift is an automated change manual.

Very rare to hear about a failure reported on here.

I meant clutch life and parts/replacement cost and difficulty / labor hours

So the gearbox is solid no issues to be expected?

[Jon39]

Abdullah37 said:

I meant clutch life and parts/replacement cost and difficulty / labor hours

So the gearbox is solid no issues to be expected?

Clutch life is very variable and unpredictable.
Some go at 15,000 miles, but a few reach 70,000.
When needed, best to replace the original single clutch with a twin plate clutch.
Cost is probably between £3,000 and £5,000.
Big job, because there is an alloy torque tube connected to the rear mounted gearbox.