DB9s - Speed of sale
Discussion
Hi folks - I'm in the market for a DB9 Volante and was hoping for some thoughts on whether I should consider cars that have been on the market for a number of months. I've recently enquired into a couple of examples which sold within a week of being listed, whereas a car I viewed today has been for sale with a particular (non AM) dealer for over a year.
Clearly, certain examples will be hard to sell, perhaps with lurid colour combinations, high mileage or undesirable modifications. However, the car I looked at today was original and immaculate, and I'm inclined to get a PPI done. But part of me (well a lot of me) wants to know why it's not sold.
The dealer specialises in collectibles (particularly American classics and Cobras), and has a lot of exotic metal in their showrooms. Could it be they're used to having stock stay a while at a high price and wait for the right buyer to come along? I've read that Astons don't really like to sit still, and it seems this one has hardly been driven for the last two years. Is this mitigated by the fact it's spend a chunk of that in a heated showroom?
I'm not sure if I'm allowed to name the dealer or post a link to the particular car on here - is that within the forum rules?
Cheers for any input.
Clearly, certain examples will be hard to sell, perhaps with lurid colour combinations, high mileage or undesirable modifications. However, the car I looked at today was original and immaculate, and I'm inclined to get a PPI done. But part of me (well a lot of me) wants to know why it's not sold.
The dealer specialises in collectibles (particularly American classics and Cobras), and has a lot of exotic metal in their showrooms. Could it be they're used to having stock stay a while at a high price and wait for the right buyer to come along? I've read that Astons don't really like to sit still, and it seems this one has hardly been driven for the last two years. Is this mitigated by the fact it's spend a chunk of that in a heated showroom?
I'm not sure if I'm allowed to name the dealer or post a link to the particular car on here - is that within the forum rules?
Cheers for any input.
I've just bought a DBS volante which had been for sale for two years at the dealer. Nothing particularly wrong with it; 20K miles, three owners, mostly AM service history with two independent stamps. They'd dropped the price by £19k to move it on and I offered £4k below that to do a deal now and they took it. The car is amazing and I can't think why it didn't sell sooner other than being overpriced and not being grey. Plus I think some buyers may have been put off at spending close to 6 figures* at a non AM dealer. (*not the price I paid but what it was for sale at)
Edited by 4Q on Friday 19th March 19:14
What kind of a age DB9 are you looking at purchasing?
DB9 cars are brilliant, I have an early one it's a keeper for life and are the best cars in the world.
When you do purchase your DB9 I would get these done -
1 - Get your tracker disconnected as these can cause lots of electrical problems
2- If it's an early DB9 look into getting the rear subframe refurbished.
3 - Go to Bamford Rose and have the Primary cats deleted.
4 - Look at the radiator, the early ones do swell, if so get it replaced.
5 - Check the airfilters, if soaked in oil have the PCV valves replaced.
6 - Check for moisture in the rear lights, that can fail the LED's
7 - Look for history of Sparkplugs and coilpacks replaced, if no history have them replaced.
8 - If it's an early DB9 have the ZF gearbox oil replaced.
9 - Check to see the door locks properly and the windows drop/rise correctly when the door opens/closes
Enjoy looking for your car and finding one that's the correct spec for you, I would go for the newest one in the best condition in your price range, I do think for DB9 cars it's a buyers market at the mo but obviously the one's that are in great condition and priced low do sell quickly, look out as there are some quite tatty one's out there now that the car is now 17 years old and some owners don't really look after them, don't be scared of the "high mileage" one's as the cars can do the miles easily.
Try to get a car with loads of garage receipts, not just the stamp in the service book, It shows what parts have been replaced. a stamp in the book that tells you next to nothing.
Alot of non Aston specialist car sales showrooms don't know much about the cars so I would avoid these places, the warranties are very limited and they wriggle out of most issues, either buy cheap private sale (know what your doing) and with the money saved use it to get any problems sorted or go to somewhere like Mcgurks who is a well respected AM specialist sales showroom and the cars are in first class condition. AM dealers are very overpriced.
Definitely have a look on the Bamford Rose youtube channel, loads of DB9 info (google DB9 tick) etc.
Let us know how you get on.
DB9 cars are brilliant, I have an early one it's a keeper for life and are the best cars in the world.
When you do purchase your DB9 I would get these done -
1 - Get your tracker disconnected as these can cause lots of electrical problems
2- If it's an early DB9 look into getting the rear subframe refurbished.
3 - Go to Bamford Rose and have the Primary cats deleted.
4 - Look at the radiator, the early ones do swell, if so get it replaced.
5 - Check the airfilters, if soaked in oil have the PCV valves replaced.
6 - Check for moisture in the rear lights, that can fail the LED's
7 - Look for history of Sparkplugs and coilpacks replaced, if no history have them replaced.
8 - If it's an early DB9 have the ZF gearbox oil replaced.
9 - Check to see the door locks properly and the windows drop/rise correctly when the door opens/closes
Enjoy looking for your car and finding one that's the correct spec for you, I would go for the newest one in the best condition in your price range, I do think for DB9 cars it's a buyers market at the mo but obviously the one's that are in great condition and priced low do sell quickly, look out as there are some quite tatty one's out there now that the car is now 17 years old and some owners don't really look after them, don't be scared of the "high mileage" one's as the cars can do the miles easily.
Try to get a car with loads of garage receipts, not just the stamp in the service book, It shows what parts have been replaced. a stamp in the book that tells you next to nothing.
Alot of non Aston specialist car sales showrooms don't know much about the cars so I would avoid these places, the warranties are very limited and they wriggle out of most issues, either buy cheap private sale (know what your doing) and with the money saved use it to get any problems sorted or go to somewhere like Mcgurks who is a well respected AM specialist sales showroom and the cars are in first class condition. AM dealers are very overpriced.
Definitely have a look on the Bamford Rose youtube channel, loads of DB9 info (google DB9 tick) etc.
Let us know how you get on.
Edited by paulrog1 on Friday 19th March 19:26
Thanks Both - very helpful. I've also scoured these forums and have noted similar advice you may have posted before, so thanks for taking the time to repost.
I'm looking to spend between £40-£50k, and have been watching the market for over a year. The effect of lockdown has been interesting - I definitely think there's been an uptick in values after each lockdown easing, with some "Corona revenge" spending coming into play. I've also purchased and thoroughly enjoyed reading Grant's "Bible", so have a fairly clear idea of what I'm looking for (right down to testing the fact that the facelift (MY09 onwards) Volantes have 20mm extra of headroom for lanky types - they definitely do!).
That said, there's still enough to think about focussing on facelift cars. I have no idea what premium is worth paying for ADS, nor a Bose sound setup. What has become obvious is the lower number of later cars out there - I guess I just have to bide my time and wait for the right example to come along!
Thanks again for your thoughts, have a good night!
I'm looking to spend between £40-£50k, and have been watching the market for over a year. The effect of lockdown has been interesting - I definitely think there's been an uptick in values after each lockdown easing, with some "Corona revenge" spending coming into play. I've also purchased and thoroughly enjoyed reading Grant's "Bible", so have a fairly clear idea of what I'm looking for (right down to testing the fact that the facelift (MY09 onwards) Volantes have 20mm extra of headroom for lanky types - they definitely do!).
That said, there's still enough to think about focussing on facelift cars. I have no idea what premium is worth paying for ADS, nor a Bose sound setup. What has become obvious is the lower number of later cars out there - I guess I just have to bide my time and wait for the right example to come along!
Thanks again for your thoughts, have a good night!
I could see how that could easily happen, DBSs are lovely but 100% out of sight for me at the moment (I'm looking to spend mid £40s).
Thoughts on the car I looked at would be appreciated. If links like this aren't allowed on the forum please let me know and I'll delete the post asap:
http://www.sovereigncarsales.co.uk/Sports_Gridpos3...
Cheers!
Thoughts on the car I looked at would be appreciated. If links like this aren't allowed on the forum please let me know and I'll delete the post asap:
http://www.sovereigncarsales.co.uk/Sports_Gridpos3...
Cheers!
That looks a nice car, 2010my will give you 470bhp and a revised chassis too. The usual things to look out for would be bubbling in the paint on the doors, particularly around the handles and excessive wear on the drivers seat bolster. Also check the leather on the instrument panel hasn't shrunk back on the edge closest the screen.
The last service was done at AM works too which will have picked up any issues mechanically.
The last service was done at AM works too which will have picked up any issues mechanically.
Thanks all. I'll probably give Works a ring and see what they offer in terms of PPIs.
The only thing putting me off this car is the lack of ADS (that and I do quite like the minor styling tweaks made to the 2011MY). I know the ADS Bilstein dampers were a massive improvement compared to the original Dynamics ones fitted to early cars, but are they that much of a game changer compared to the non-ADS Bilsteins?
Also, the car needs a service (despite having done so few miles since the last one!), and I think I might need to factor spark plugs + coils into the cost of this. Is the general consensus they should be done after 7 years? Or 70k miles?
Thanks for any suggestions, this forum has been invaluable in getting me to this point. Now in the process of freaking out about this actually possibly happening!
Cheers!
The only thing putting me off this car is the lack of ADS (that and I do quite like the minor styling tweaks made to the 2011MY). I know the ADS Bilstein dampers were a massive improvement compared to the original Dynamics ones fitted to early cars, but are they that much of a game changer compared to the non-ADS Bilsteins?
Also, the car needs a service (despite having done so few miles since the last one!), and I think I might need to factor spark plugs + coils into the cost of this. Is the general consensus they should be done after 7 years? Or 70k miles?
Thanks for any suggestions, this forum has been invaluable in getting me to this point. Now in the process of freaking out about this actually possibly happening!
Cheers!
Whip2001 said:
Thanks all. I'll probably give Works a ring and see what they offer in terms of PPIs.
The only thing putting me off this car is the lack of ADS (that and I do quite like the minor styling tweaks made to the 2011MY). I know the ADS Bilstein dampers were a massive improvement compared to the original Dynamics ones fitted to early cars, but are they that much of a game changer compared to the non-ADS Bilsteins?
Also, the car needs a service (despite having done so few miles since the last one!), and I think I might need to factor spark plugs + coils into the cost of this. Is the general consensus they should be done after 7 years? Or 70k miles?
Thanks for any suggestions, this forum has been invaluable in getting me to this point. Now in the process of freaking out about this actually possibly happening!
Cheers!
My 2006 DB9 volante didn't have ADS and I can't say I missed it. My DBS has a button on the dash to change the damper settings but I haven't pressed it yet.The only thing putting me off this car is the lack of ADS (that and I do quite like the minor styling tweaks made to the 2011MY). I know the ADS Bilstein dampers were a massive improvement compared to the original Dynamics ones fitted to early cars, but are they that much of a game changer compared to the non-ADS Bilsteins?
Also, the car needs a service (despite having done so few miles since the last one!), and I think I might need to factor spark plugs + coils into the cost of this. Is the general consensus they should be done after 7 years? Or 70k miles?
Thanks for any suggestions, this forum has been invaluable in getting me to this point. Now in the process of freaking out about this actually possibly happening!
Cheers!
Whip2001 said:
.. and I think I might need to factor spark plugs + coils into the cost of this. Is the general consensus they should be done after 7 years? Or 70k miles?
I presume the sparkplug servicing interval is the same for DB9 as Vantage ie. 7 years or 70,000 miles.
Most AMs will be low use, so many owners will leave the original spark plugs in at the 7 year point.
In my case, after 16,000 miles, changing plugs was clearly unnecessary, but they should be changed before waiting too long, because there is a possibility the threads can become stuck.
Expect you know about the potential primary cat risk, which can be sorted after purchase, if not already done.
Thanks Dewi2 - yes, I'm aware of the issue with the primary cats. What I'm less clued up on is how much it costs to remedy the possible problem - does it need a whole new exhaust manifold (as I've seen on numerous Bamford Rose videos costing £5k plus) or is there a simpler, cheaper option that people go for?
Whip2001 said:
Thanks all. A bit more digging shows, as well as not having been really driven for nearly 2 years, that there was a 2 year and 13k mile gap between the last 2 services. How much of a concern is that?
It could have been sat at in a dealership during those two years, it was serviced regularly in Cardiff until 2015, then serviced again in 2016 in HWM in Surrey, then at AM Works in 2018 so all at AM dealers. I would bet that each of those locations correspond with a change in owner as there are 3 owners. Providing everything else is ok a missing service in the middle wouldn’t bother me in the slightest.Hi
I noticed there's a 2011 (with adaptive damping) just popped up for sale - Top of your budget but may be worth a look/offer.
https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/11430743?c...
I noticed there's a 2011 (with adaptive damping) just popped up for sale - Top of your budget but may be worth a look/offer.
https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/11430743?c...
Thanks thriftwood - I spotted that one come up last night and, after some highly simplistic man maths, just put a deposit down. It's expensive, but it's literally the ideal spec car and having an Aston Warranty for a year became an important factor the closer I got to shelling out fifty thousand pounds! Thanks all for your help getting me to this point!
Cheers
Nick
Cheers
Nick
Hopefully we’ll all be allowed out to drive them properly soon. 
Evening all. I'm heading up to view and hopefully purchase the car next week. The dealer has confirmed the plugs/coils haven't been changed given the 7 years is generally ignored these days and 70,000 miles is still a way off.
Given the issues about misfires and cat ingestion this does leave me a little worried, so I've a few questions I was hoping for some help with:
1) I believe there's a test that can be run identifying misfires. What is this and could I reasonably ask for a print out or similar prior to purchase, and what would I be asking for/looking for?
2) Would the Timeless warranty cover a failed engine due to cat ingestion?
3) I'm inclined to run the car for just under a year and then get it serviced at Bamford Rose or similar while it's still under warranty (so they can ID any issues I could get AM to fix) - is this a common plan?
4) At this point I'd probably go for a primary decat. I understand you can either go the whole hog and get BR manifolds, or simply have the primary cats removed and the ECU remapped. Does anyone have an idea of the approximate cost of each of these approaches?
Thanks again all!
P.S. anyone reading this thread with similar interest may be intrigued by the Lightning Sliver MY09 DB9V that Just Astons has for sale.
Nick
Given the issues about misfires and cat ingestion this does leave me a little worried, so I've a few questions I was hoping for some help with:
1) I believe there's a test that can be run identifying misfires. What is this and could I reasonably ask for a print out or similar prior to purchase, and what would I be asking for/looking for?
2) Would the Timeless warranty cover a failed engine due to cat ingestion?
3) I'm inclined to run the car for just under a year and then get it serviced at Bamford Rose or similar while it's still under warranty (so they can ID any issues I could get AM to fix) - is this a common plan?
4) At this point I'd probably go for a primary decat. I understand you can either go the whole hog and get BR manifolds, or simply have the primary cats removed and the ECU remapped. Does anyone have an idea of the approximate cost of each of these approaches?
Thanks again all!
P.S. anyone reading this thread with similar interest may be intrigued by the Lightning Sliver MY09 DB9V that Just Astons has for sale.
Nick
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