Want A Vantage - Unsure How Deep To Jump In!
Discussion
I've yearned for a Vantage pretty much forever and it works out that now is finally the time to realise the dream. Hoorah! Problem is that now that the time has actually come, I'm not sure on exactly which kind of car to go for. I've narrowed it down to three options of varying degrees of expense (and awesomeness 
) that appeal to me for different reasons.
1. 4.3 V8 Coupé
Manual. Absolutely mint condition example with <20k miles. MY07 onwards for the better seats. Love the purity in the design of the original. Expect to pay about £40-£45k and presumably these shouldn't really ever lose that much?
2. N430 Coupé
Manual. Massively attracted to the Le Mans-style colour schemes on these (the silver/white and green/yellow in particular) and obviously the extra performance over the 4.3. Reckon a decent one should be about £65-£70k, but concerned about depreciation.
3. V12 Coupé
Manual (obviously!). On another planet in terms of performance and probably my only chance to own a car with a V12 engine. Must have lightweight seats, but otherwise not fussy. Seems to be around the £85k mark, but completely unsure on residuals now the new Vantage is on the way. Will they go up or down?! £85k is a lot of money for me, but doable with lots of finance and my family eating a disproportionate amount of baked beans.
My head says 1, my heart says 3. Perhaps 2 is the happy medium? Who knows!
I plan to keep the car a good long while, but I suppose will end up upgrading whatever I buy to something newer at some point. I guess I'd want to change a 4.3 V8 quicker than I would a V12!
I have driven option 1 (my uncle has a manual 4.3 Coupé), but have no experience with anything newer. I have two young kids and work a lot, so the car won't be seeing an awful lot of use, but it will be something that I treasure, no matter how little I get round to using it. Any advice from the seasoned AM folk on here? I currently have no car, having sold my Land Rover Defender a while back and have been using my wife's child-wagon Volvo V70 since, thus any Aston Martin will feel like a rocket ship.
Cheers.
) that appeal to me for different reasons.1. 4.3 V8 Coupé
Manual. Absolutely mint condition example with <20k miles. MY07 onwards for the better seats. Love the purity in the design of the original. Expect to pay about £40-£45k and presumably these shouldn't really ever lose that much?
2. N430 Coupé
Manual. Massively attracted to the Le Mans-style colour schemes on these (the silver/white and green/yellow in particular) and obviously the extra performance over the 4.3. Reckon a decent one should be about £65-£70k, but concerned about depreciation.
3. V12 Coupé
Manual (obviously!). On another planet in terms of performance and probably my only chance to own a car with a V12 engine. Must have lightweight seats, but otherwise not fussy. Seems to be around the £85k mark, but completely unsure on residuals now the new Vantage is on the way. Will they go up or down?! £85k is a lot of money for me, but doable with lots of finance and my family eating a disproportionate amount of baked beans.
My head says 1, my heart says 3. Perhaps 2 is the happy medium? Who knows!
I plan to keep the car a good long while, but I suppose will end up upgrading whatever I buy to something newer at some point. I guess I'd want to change a 4.3 V8 quicker than I would a V12!I have driven option 1 (my uncle has a manual 4.3 Coupé), but have no experience with anything newer. I have two young kids and work a lot, so the car won't be seeing an awful lot of use, but it will be something that I treasure, no matter how little I get round to using it. Any advice from the seasoned AM folk on here? I currently have no car, having sold my Land Rover Defender a while back and have been using my wife's child-wagon Volvo V70 since, thus any Aston Martin will feel like a rocket ship.
Cheers.
The 4.3 V8 does have a degree of design purity and a 'cleaner' look than subsequent models. But...
If you buy a V8 and you could afford the V12 then go get one. The V12 is simply special. Just saying V12 makes me smile. I had a 06 4.3 V8 and with a brief intermission I replaced with a 59 V12.
If you test drive the three, may I suggest you test drive up and down the price range. So you can have a fair test of handling etc, rather than simply going fast, faster, fastest...
Happy shopping, nice problem to have.
Oh, and Heinz are best!
If you buy a V8 and you could afford the V12 then go get one. The V12 is simply special. Just saying V12 makes me smile. I had a 06 4.3 V8 and with a brief intermission I replaced with a 59 V12.
If you test drive the three, may I suggest you test drive up and down the price range. So you can have a fair test of handling etc, rather than simply going fast, faster, fastest...
Happy shopping, nice problem to have.
Oh, and Heinz are best!
BravoV8V said:
If you’ve got £85k, it’s number 3. Easy peasy. End of etc etc.
Hi DavidAs above. That’s the right answer! It’s been said on here before but if you drive the V12V you’ll buy it and if your situation permits, then do it. I had a 07 V8V which I bought new and I loved it. Having come from BMW M cars and a few 911s it was a refreshing change. BUT, the V12 is a big step up in many ways. The performance is sublime, you’ll get the later interior, and it just looks and feels more planted. Plus the gear change is much better due to the twin plate clutch (if you go for the earlier cars, that would be a modification worth doing). The only problem as I see it would be finding one in your ideal specification. The supply is drying up. Last time I checked I think there were only 5 coupes left on AM Approved/Timeless. Good luck with your search. It’s a nice dilemma to have!
Best Regards
Minglar
Realistically - for the budget (and age) you are suggesting, I'd expect 1) to be a 4.7 not a 4.3.
I had a similar dilemma to you when I bought my 4.3 a couple of years ago - although I wasn't considering a V12, I did debate between the 4.3s at the lowest price point (~£30k) and the 4.7s at around £50k.
I concluded that since I might not like the car as much as I expected, I'd stick to the bottom end (although I still picked up an excellent example) - but actually liked the car far more than I expected and wished I'd bought newer!
Having said that - personally, I don't find I have a desire for a V12 and I don't think I'd want option 2 - the Vantage isn't that kind of car for me, so the "benefits" of that model don't appeal so much. If I was in your position now, I'd be doing option 1 - although with a twist, since I am considering changing my 4.3 for a Roadster at some point this year.
I had a similar dilemma to you when I bought my 4.3 a couple of years ago - although I wasn't considering a V12, I did debate between the 4.3s at the lowest price point (~£30k) and the 4.7s at around £50k.
I concluded that since I might not like the car as much as I expected, I'd stick to the bottom end (although I still picked up an excellent example) - but actually liked the car far more than I expected and wished I'd bought newer!
Having said that - personally, I don't find I have a desire for a V12 and I don't think I'd want option 2 - the Vantage isn't that kind of car for me, so the "benefits" of that model don't appeal so much. If I was in your position now, I'd be doing option 1 - although with a twist, since I am considering changing my 4.3 for a Roadster at some point this year.
Nice decision to have!
The V8VS is nice, but there's no manual option, so I think this probably rules it out for you. I probably wouldnt bother with the N430 over a normal 4.7, unless one happened to come up for sale that met your requirements.
Beyond that, it really comes down to how much you want to spend. As mentioned above, your Option 1 budget is at the bottom end of 4.7 ownership which would be a good middle ground in terms of price and performance. I went from 4.3 to 4.7 coupe (and then recently to 4.7 Roadster). The 4.7 is a better and more powerful car, but I still really enjoyed my 4.3. Of course, if you want to spend twice as much, then yes, a V12V would be awesome!
The V8VS is nice, but there's no manual option, so I think this probably rules it out for you. I probably wouldnt bother with the N430 over a normal 4.7, unless one happened to come up for sale that met your requirements.
Beyond that, it really comes down to how much you want to spend. As mentioned above, your Option 1 budget is at the bottom end of 4.7 ownership which would be a good middle ground in terms of price and performance. I went from 4.3 to 4.7 coupe (and then recently to 4.7 Roadster). The 4.7 is a better and more powerful car, but I still really enjoyed my 4.3. Of course, if you want to spend twice as much, then yes, a V12V would be awesome!
Edited by johnnyBv8 on Wednesday 10th January 10:38
After two decades of mainly Porsche's I finally bought my first Aston end of last year. My requirements after my 997 turbo tip was noise & a stick. I first test drove a V12V manual. Awesome power & on another level after so many Porsche's. Bit like you with man maths etc i could just about justify an £85K car; however, I was left unsure. So, I jumped into a V8VS Manual - really liked it. It just felt right for what i was looking for. The V8VS - has that sophisticated aggressive look - with carbon front splitter, tighter steering rack, slightly nicer interior than the V12 i took out, slight bump up in bhp to the the standard V8V & almost £20K less than the V12. I would definitely include the V8VS in your short list. But we are all different so go & test drive a few & enjoy the shopping experience.
Number 3. No doubt.
The new Vantage is nice but a manual is at least 2 years away (3 for delivery). I doubt they'll put a V12 into it because of the power you already get from the V8 and because it will completely bugger the weight distribution. It's a very heavy engine. The V12 Twin Turbo also has so much torque - I doubt they'd ever do a manual. It's likely (if it ever happens) to be auto only.
Chris.
The new Vantage is nice but a manual is at least 2 years away (3 for delivery). I doubt they'll put a V12 into it because of the power you already get from the V8 and because it will completely bugger the weight distribution. It's a very heavy engine. The V12 Twin Turbo also has so much torque - I doubt they'd ever do a manual. It's likely (if it ever happens) to be auto only.
Chris.
David87 said:
Thank you for the replies so far, folks. I'll reply in more detail later when I have more time, but why does the V8 S manual seem held in higher regard than the N430? I assumed they were quite similar? Thanks.
Sure plenty on here with greater knowledge will answer this. Not sure the V8VS is necessarily held in higher regard to the N430 but possibly in equal regard - they both have v.similar power, LW seats in N430 make it very nice, but tighter steering rack in the V8VS makes it very nice & so on. I personally really don't like the bright colour lipstick on the front grille & colour accents for A pillars & wing mirrors so would definitely be a non starter for me.Standard 4.7 I'd say. If you don't like it you should be able to jump out without taking too big a hit.
It will also give you something to work up to, and saves you having a huge commitment straight away. You never know you might get more enjoyment out of it knowing you've not got the huge monthly costs
It will also give you something to work up to, and saves you having a huge commitment straight away. You never know you might get more enjoyment out of it knowing you've not got the huge monthly costs
rovcallum said:
Try a 4.7 V8V 2009 onwards. Plenty of poke, more up to date interior, good value, less finance, less baked beans.
If you want a keeper, a V12V would be my first choice, but it obviously means committing more money.
The very last N/A V12 6 speed manual Aston Martin. Prices move according to how many are on the Pre-owned list. A couple of years ago, only one was listed and the price level moved up from 90 to over 100.
For less money, the 4.7 with model years between 2009 and 2012.25 seem popular.
They obviously have the 4.7 mods., but still retain all the smooth bodywork of the true original Vantage, before that changed for MY2012.25.
Prices do seem to be mileage sensitive. I saw a 65,000 miler outside the main dealer network stick for ages, before having the asking price lowered to about £38,000. Low milers seem to have crept up in price recently, to nearly 50.
Voice of reason here........
Given your circumstances I would consider looking for the very best 4.3 out there for 30-35k or so, allow another 5k to get it perfect and use that and treasure it for a couple of years. You'll get the full Aston Martin experience and it's unlikely it will depreciate at all.
Failing that, option 2 - 50k for a very nice 4.7?
The V12 seems like a stretch, and big finance on a car is a little scary.
Concerning depreciation re the new Vantage. Not sure, but as a new nicely specced V8 will be approaching the 150k mark, it takes the car into a different league, and I'm pretty sure the old cars will hold their value very well from where they are now.
One other thing. If you take the option 1 route, you won't have to feed your family on tins of beans. If you go to option 2, maybe you could feed them on tins of beans with those little sausages in? Do they still make those?
Given your circumstances I would consider looking for the very best 4.3 out there for 30-35k or so, allow another 5k to get it perfect and use that and treasure it for a couple of years. You'll get the full Aston Martin experience and it's unlikely it will depreciate at all.
Failing that, option 2 - 50k for a very nice 4.7?
The V12 seems like a stretch, and big finance on a car is a little scary.
Concerning depreciation re the new Vantage. Not sure, but as a new nicely specced V8 will be approaching the 150k mark, it takes the car into a different league, and I'm pretty sure the old cars will hold their value very well from where they are now.
One other thing. If you take the option 1 route, you won't have to feed your family on tins of beans. If you go to option 2, maybe you could feed them on tins of beans with those little sausages in? Do they still make those?
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