Discussion
I'm looking at the market currently with a view to adding a toy to the collection, and have mainly been focusing on things from the other side of the Atlantic so far. However, my attention was drawn to the fact that there are now DB9s for sale at around the £25k price point, generally with approx 50k-70k miles.
I had a V12 DB9 rented for 24 hours for me by the lovely MrsC a few years back and I must say, I was blown away by it; the sense of occasion and the whole experience far outweighed my expectations.
So I guess my key question is, would a DB9 at those sort of values/miles be an utterly ruinous experience, or would I find it just as wondrous as I did when I didn't have to pay the bills?
Any good reference points where I can read up on ownership , problems, issues etc?
TIA.
I had a V12 DB9 rented for 24 hours for me by the lovely MrsC a few years back and I must say, I was blown away by it; the sense of occasion and the whole experience far outweighed my expectations.
So I guess my key question is, would a DB9 at those sort of values/miles be an utterly ruinous experience, or would I find it just as wondrous as I did when I didn't have to pay the bills?
Any good reference points where I can read up on ownership , problems, issues etc?
TIA.
I, too, have been looking at DB9s lately and seems to be plenty of 2004/5 cars at your price point. Issue is, a car 15 years old can have plenty of lurking problems so look out for a good service history and, if not mechanically minded, have someone who knows the cars come with you to inspect.
Problems that seem to have a recurring theme are; engine tick, air con operation, gearbox oil cooler, radiator distortion, coil packs and plugs to name a few.
Don’t let these things put you off just be aware, these are great cars and I wish you luck with your search, cheers, David
Problems that seem to have a recurring theme are; engine tick, air con operation, gearbox oil cooler, radiator distortion, coil packs and plugs to name a few.
Don’t let these things put you off just be aware, these are great cars and I wish you luck with your search, cheers, David
I was going to ask what your prior experiences are because if you’re used to running £100k motors but fancy something cheap it’s a lot different to if you’re used to running £10k cars and looking to stretch upward!
Looking at your garage in your profile you’ve had a few Rangies? From my experience of shoestring Aston ownership I would say those are probably a good yardstick. When it works it’s fine and it could well be faultless. When it doesnt work there’s a chance it’s something simple and parts-bin or fairly easily resolved by a specialist. When it needs a unique part or when it needs for example 12 spark plugs or coil packs changing it can add up to a bigger bill than you’d like!
Looking at your garage in your profile you’ve had a few Rangies? From my experience of shoestring Aston ownership I would say those are probably a good yardstick. When it works it’s fine and it could well be faultless. When it doesnt work there’s a chance it’s something simple and parts-bin or fairly easily resolved by a specialist. When it needs a unique part or when it needs for example 12 spark plugs or coil packs changing it can add up to a bigger bill than you’d like!
As far as I know there isn’t really many issues with the DB9. Anything common will have a known fix by now.
Could packs etc listed above are service items associated with running a 6.0 V12.
Are you close to Bamford Rose / McGurk / AML Performance? All well respected and known specialists who will halve your running costs, iirc Mark at AML runs a DB9 as his only car / daily / parked on the street.
Some early models had an issue with oil starvation due to an incorrect dipstick (or something like that).
I ended up with a V8 Vantage as I couldn’t get a manual DB9 in my budget, I’ve had the AC unit fail and brake pipes since 2016 / 8k miles. No clutch as of yet but sub £2k pa inc consumables, no warranty and proper FSH (every 12 months irrelevant of mileage).
Now is the time too buy, my 08 / 4.3 / 40k Vantage in excellent condition with FSH was valued at £18k!
ETA; it was cheaper than my Mini Cooper S to run in 2018 (mini only lasted a year, piece of junk) and on par with my 330i. Maybe I’ve been lucky.
Could packs etc listed above are service items associated with running a 6.0 V12.
Are you close to Bamford Rose / McGurk / AML Performance? All well respected and known specialists who will halve your running costs, iirc Mark at AML runs a DB9 as his only car / daily / parked on the street.
Some early models had an issue with oil starvation due to an incorrect dipstick (or something like that).
I ended up with a V8 Vantage as I couldn’t get a manual DB9 in my budget, I’ve had the AC unit fail and brake pipes since 2016 / 8k miles. No clutch as of yet but sub £2k pa inc consumables, no warranty and proper FSH (every 12 months irrelevant of mileage).
Now is the time too buy, my 08 / 4.3 / 40k Vantage in excellent condition with FSH was valued at £18k!
ETA; it was cheaper than my Mini Cooper S to run in 2018 (mini only lasted a year, piece of junk) and on par with my 330i. Maybe I’ve been lucky.
Edited by Lord.Vader on Tuesday 9th June 09:19
Edited by Lord.Vader on Tuesday 9th June 09:21
Speculatore said:
JulianPH on here is selling his Bentley Continental and his DB9 as he has purchased a Ferrari 360. Both the Bentley and the Aston are immaculate with no expense spared. Also detailed by 'Paddy' in the past so he knows what condition they are in.
That’s interesting, I’ve been talking to Julian offline about other things, I’ll see what he has, thanks. Thanks for the other replies, all very interesting. As noted above, I’m running a 5.0 SC Rangie as my daily currently so I’m no stranger to the occasional big bill!
Lord.Vader said:
Now is the time too buy, my 08 / 4.3 / 40k Vantage in excellent condition with FSH was valued at £18k!
Edited by Lord.Vader on Tuesday 9th June 09:19
Edited by Lord.Vader on Tuesday 9th June 09:21
Is that a typo? An 08 Vantage valued at £18k? I've only been looking for around a week but the lowest I have seen are around £25k with 1.5x the mileage, or am I misunderstanding?
WakeFlakes said:
Is that a typo? An 08 Vantage valued at £18k? I've only been looking for around a week but the lowest I have seen are around £25k with 1.5x the mileage, or am I misunderstanding?
Probably realistic for retail / part-ex. It would be on the forecourt for £25k perhaps? It would seem proportional to a 20k mike 2016 4.7 V8S likely being part-ex’d for around £45k in February. Likely a chunk less now.Naturally, selling privately would attract more... if you find a buyer.
Note: all assumptions and guesswork on my part by simply following prices on AT and once asking AM Bristol about p/x’ing mine. I didn’t
Just like to err on the side of caution, Ive owned 2 early DB9 cars and although my second one is a keeper I've had to work on it to get it upto scratch.
I've seen a pattern for these kind of cars- the previous owner will have the cars serviced every year by either a dealer or independent and what seems to happen is the cars will develop minor problems, these will be ignored as they are not MOT failures or anything that will at its current form make the car brake down. When the time comes that a few issues become serious and to repair them will cost thousands the car is then either traded in or sold to a garage.
This garage will do the bear minimum to turn it around and sell it, as long as it drives ok and cosmetically it looks good thats the main thing.
I've seen expensive issues like leaking shocks, bent swollen radiators, faulty door modules, condensation in lights, worn brakes, aircon faulty, leaking front engine covers, misfires etc not repaired and the car is flogged on to a unsuspecting next owner.
Ive had a couple of the above issues myself, some done under a years warranty and repaired myself.
So buyer beware, some parts can be very expensive, especially if you don't do any work yourself.
As they get older it makes sense to do as much as you can or develop a relationship with a specialist or good local garage, plus on here there is a topic regarding cheaper parts as genuine parts are ridiculous prices.
I've seen a pattern for these kind of cars- the previous owner will have the cars serviced every year by either a dealer or independent and what seems to happen is the cars will develop minor problems, these will be ignored as they are not MOT failures or anything that will at its current form make the car brake down. When the time comes that a few issues become serious and to repair them will cost thousands the car is then either traded in or sold to a garage.
This garage will do the bear minimum to turn it around and sell it, as long as it drives ok and cosmetically it looks good thats the main thing.
I've seen expensive issues like leaking shocks, bent swollen radiators, faulty door modules, condensation in lights, worn brakes, aircon faulty, leaking front engine covers, misfires etc not repaired and the car is flogged on to a unsuspecting next owner.
Ive had a couple of the above issues myself, some done under a years warranty and repaired myself.
So buyer beware, some parts can be very expensive, especially if you don't do any work yourself.
As they get older it makes sense to do as much as you can or develop a relationship with a specialist or good local garage, plus on here there is a topic regarding cheaper parts as genuine parts are ridiculous prices.
Edited by paulrog1 on Tuesday 9th June 21:55
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