running an early (2006) vantage for 10,000 miles PA
Discussion
For a short while I owned an 07 Vantage Roadster (manual) a couple of years ago.
I didn’t keep it long enough or do much in the way of mileage to have a real idea of what it it cost to run, I also sold it for quite a healthy profit so all in all a nice experience.
I’m just trying to work out if I could run an early (2006) manual coupe as my daily driver and just wondering if anyone out there might want to share their wisdom/experience.
To explain, I currently have an Audi S5 on a two-year lease, it has just over a year to run.
Every single time I see a vantage I can’t help but think what a truly beautiful car.
In a years time the S5 will go back and I will have spent just under £6000 a year for the joy of owning it. As it happens it’s a really good car, plenty rough enough, loads of technology and a comfortable place to be.
I’m just wondering however if for the same or even less money could be enjoying a vantage instead…….
I’m not worried about cost of fuel, the S5 isn’t particularly efficient, but I know the Vantage will be even less so, but just want to put that aspect to one side along with any possible variation in insurance. I’m also not worried at this stage about the cost of the actual money itself in terms of having it tied up in an asset - to me more about enjoying what I’m driving.
I’m fairly confident that the depreciation would be minimal.
I would be buying the car privately and I would sell privately, I know there is an element of risk in both, but have been doing this for years and it served me very well.
I will be doing around 10,000 miles per year. Almost all of my mileage is a combination of a and B roads with small cross country lanes as well, virtually no motorway mileage and certainly no city mileage - I live in North Oxfordshire and often travel into the Cotswolds so still have the pleasure of driving nice open roads.
If there is anyone out there that has run or is running an early Vantage and doing this sort of mileage I would love to hear what you think the maintenance side of things has cost over say a 12 month period.
I would probably keep the car for just 12 months, then switch to something else, but just thought I fancied giving it a try.
I will be keeping an eye on the used car values on auto Trader over the next year just to see what the prices are doing, but I’m assuming they are staying fairly level, any price rise I guess would be lost by adding 10,000 miles to the car.
I didn’t keep it long enough or do much in the way of mileage to have a real idea of what it it cost to run, I also sold it for quite a healthy profit so all in all a nice experience.
I’m just trying to work out if I could run an early (2006) manual coupe as my daily driver and just wondering if anyone out there might want to share their wisdom/experience.
To explain, I currently have an Audi S5 on a two-year lease, it has just over a year to run.
Every single time I see a vantage I can’t help but think what a truly beautiful car.
In a years time the S5 will go back and I will have spent just under £6000 a year for the joy of owning it. As it happens it’s a really good car, plenty rough enough, loads of technology and a comfortable place to be.
I’m just wondering however if for the same or even less money could be enjoying a vantage instead…….
I’m not worried about cost of fuel, the S5 isn’t particularly efficient, but I know the Vantage will be even less so, but just want to put that aspect to one side along with any possible variation in insurance. I’m also not worried at this stage about the cost of the actual money itself in terms of having it tied up in an asset - to me more about enjoying what I’m driving.
I’m fairly confident that the depreciation would be minimal.
I would be buying the car privately and I would sell privately, I know there is an element of risk in both, but have been doing this for years and it served me very well.
I will be doing around 10,000 miles per year. Almost all of my mileage is a combination of a and B roads with small cross country lanes as well, virtually no motorway mileage and certainly no city mileage - I live in North Oxfordshire and often travel into the Cotswolds so still have the pleasure of driving nice open roads.
If there is anyone out there that has run or is running an early Vantage and doing this sort of mileage I would love to hear what you think the maintenance side of things has cost over say a 12 month period.
I would probably keep the car for just 12 months, then switch to something else, but just thought I fancied giving it a try.
I will be keeping an eye on the used car values on auto Trader over the next year just to see what the prices are doing, but I’m assuming they are staying fairly level, any price rise I guess would be lost by adding 10,000 miles to the car.
I ran my Jan 2006 Vantage as a daily for a few years, did 84K miles over 11 years, albeit only 3-4k miles a year as a 3rd car for the last few years.
It was one of the best cars ive owned overall, and cost 1/2 as much to run over the first 30K miles as my previous Audi RS6 had done over the same mileage.
Other than a few niggles, that should be sorted now on a well maintained used car, its mostly consumables.
Niggles like squeaky belts and various sensors (coolant, ABS) were easy fixes
3 out of 4 wheel bearings went over 80k miles - £500 odd a corner fitted
Servicing - £650 every 10k miles
On a good year I got away with a £650 service and that was it.
Most years some consumables came due e.g £500 for an axle of tyres or discs n pads.
So average £1200 a year over a few years.
The "worst" years are when a few things fall due at the same time. I had a service, new clutch, wheel bearing , and discs n pads one year and it all adds up to quite a few grand.
Original clutch lasted 74k miles ish and replaced with OE for £2600 at indy
So overall no more in running costs than a big engined premium German car.
I would have no concerns running another for 10k miles a year.....I put 8K miles on my Roadster last year, although more for fun, not as a daily driver. I did another 15k in a Range Rover sport, and another 7k on bikes
It was one of the best cars ive owned overall, and cost 1/2 as much to run over the first 30K miles as my previous Audi RS6 had done over the same mileage.
Other than a few niggles, that should be sorted now on a well maintained used car, its mostly consumables.
Niggles like squeaky belts and various sensors (coolant, ABS) were easy fixes
3 out of 4 wheel bearings went over 80k miles - £500 odd a corner fitted
Servicing - £650 every 10k miles
On a good year I got away with a £650 service and that was it.
Most years some consumables came due e.g £500 for an axle of tyres or discs n pads.
So average £1200 a year over a few years.
The "worst" years are when a few things fall due at the same time. I had a service, new clutch, wheel bearing , and discs n pads one year and it all adds up to quite a few grand.
Original clutch lasted 74k miles ish and replaced with OE for £2600 at indy
So overall no more in running costs than a big engined premium German car.
I would have no concerns running another for 10k miles a year.....I put 8K miles on my Roadster last year, although more for fun, not as a daily driver. I did another 15k in a Range Rover sport, and another 7k on bikes
Ive had my V8V for best part of 2 years and done close to 30,000km (18,500m) - one trip a week of around 280-300km on the motorway plus some minor trips around town to meetings & some trips away
was bought second hand, have replaced brake pads last May (A$500) & have new rotors (A$1700) to go on soon
other than that I change the oil every 6 months (between annual AM service) and fuel costs - get about 24mpg overall average for a typical week
the annual AM service is about A$1000,
car is fantastic as a daily drive & service costs are comparable with my previous RS4
Graeme
was bought second hand, have replaced brake pads last May (A$500) & have new rotors (A$1700) to go on soon
other than that I change the oil every 6 months (between annual AM service) and fuel costs - get about 24mpg overall average for a typical week
the annual AM service is about A$1000,
car is fantastic as a daily drive & service costs are comparable with my previous RS4
Graeme
vernierMike said:
There's a theme here - do lots of Aston owners also run motorcycles?
Just wondering...
There were quite a few of use with bikes on another recent "what else have you got" thread, but I wouldn't say its a majority of Aston owners....Just wondering...
I would take a guess that there are more Range Rover product owners than motorcyclists....they seem like a common complimentary vehicle
I ran my 2006 V8V not quite as a daily driver, but as a regularly used main car, for about 2 years. My experience was similar to those that have already posted; it was reliable, perfectly usable as everyday transport, and not particularly expensive to run. For 6 months I even dropped off my one-year-old in it to nursery every day, so it takes a child seat well too!
I had it serviced twice at independants, costing between £600 and £800 each time (I forget the exact amounts). Nothing went wrong on the car and it cost me nothing over the usual servicing costs. The only consumables were brakes and a pair of rear tyres. I bought at a dealer and then traded it in at another dealer two years later for almost the same amount I paid for it, so in terms of total cost it may be the cheapest car I have ever owned. Plus it was even cheaper to insure than the Boxster S I had before it. I'm sure you already know about the cost of clutch replacements.
With regards to buying and selling privately, this is something I had done with virtually all my previous cars, however for the first time I ended up buying the Vantage at a dealer and then trading it in. That's because there really aren't that many offered privately, out of 71 vantages up to 2007 on autotrader right now only 8 are for sale privately, so you may need to be very, very patient to find the right car. Private buyers of Astons also tend to be very wary of things going wrong and will price that in to their offers, so again you'd need to be patient. I offered mine for sale and most of the calls I got were from brokers and local specialist garages anyway. In the end I traded it in when buying my current DB9 because I was offered close to my asking price anyway. By all means aim buy and sell privately, but keep an open mind about dealers as it will really open up your choice of car.
I had it serviced twice at independants, costing between £600 and £800 each time (I forget the exact amounts). Nothing went wrong on the car and it cost me nothing over the usual servicing costs. The only consumables were brakes and a pair of rear tyres. I bought at a dealer and then traded it in at another dealer two years later for almost the same amount I paid for it, so in terms of total cost it may be the cheapest car I have ever owned. Plus it was even cheaper to insure than the Boxster S I had before it. I'm sure you already know about the cost of clutch replacements.
With regards to buying and selling privately, this is something I had done with virtually all my previous cars, however for the first time I ended up buying the Vantage at a dealer and then trading it in. That's because there really aren't that many offered privately, out of 71 vantages up to 2007 on autotrader right now only 8 are for sale privately, so you may need to be very, very patient to find the right car. Private buyers of Astons also tend to be very wary of things going wrong and will price that in to their offers, so again you'd need to be patient. I offered mine for sale and most of the calls I got were from brokers and local specialist garages anyway. In the end I traded it in when buying my current DB9 because I was offered close to my asking price anyway. By all means aim buy and sell privately, but keep an open mind about dealers as it will really open up your choice of car.
JetskiJezz, I also live in Oxfordshire (near Woodstock), drive around 10,000 miles a year and I previously had an A5 as my daily drive! I moved to a 2006 V8 Vantage in April last year and I haven't regretted it for a moment. I do a lot of motorway driving between Oxford and Heathrow (sometimes up to 16 times a month), interspersed with driving around town and going for an explosive run in the Cotswolds. The car is very easy to live with, the only time I miss the A5 is when I'm in traffic on the M25 or in central Oxford.
I got my car at 54,000 miles and I've put 8k on it since last April. The only issues I've had are the headlamp washer unit coming loose and I'll be needing a new motor for the passenger side window. The clutch is still going strong, but I've got a slush fund to put in a twin plate when the time comes. I have had one service in the last year and the total cost was about £1,200. I've probably spent another £300 on maintenance in that time. So budget on about £1,500 a year and I don't think you'll go far wrong. I was probably spending about £1,200 a year on the A5 by the end. You're really well located for two great independents, David Appleby Engineering (I use them) and Bamford Rose are both very close to you.
Do it. You really won't regret it.
I got my car at 54,000 miles and I've put 8k on it since last April. The only issues I've had are the headlamp washer unit coming loose and I'll be needing a new motor for the passenger side window. The clutch is still going strong, but I've got a slush fund to put in a twin plate when the time comes. I have had one service in the last year and the total cost was about £1,200. I've probably spent another £300 on maintenance in that time. So budget on about £1,500 a year and I don't think you'll go far wrong. I was probably spending about £1,200 a year on the A5 by the end. You're really well located for two great independents, David Appleby Engineering (I use them) and Bamford Rose are both very close to you.
Do it. You really won't regret it.
Edited by A320martin on Thursday 15th March 11:25
mhurley said:
bogie said:
I
Original clutch lasted 74k miles ish and replaced with OE for £2600 at indy
That's impressive run on the clutch. I wonder if you hold the record ? :-)Original clutch lasted 74k miles ish and replaced with OE for £2600 at indy
...I did do some trackdays, drag raced a few runs and other spirited use.
I do think the clutch wear issue was blown out of all proportion due to a few well publicised early failures. Longer term owners generally learnt how to use the Sportshift box, cope with the tall reverse gear and fly off hand brake for hill starts
I imagine many ex demo/hire cars were well abused albeit not intentionally....then later Aston changed clutches, and added hill hold function which helped with clutch life.
You still only hear on the internet of instances of "my clutch went at 25k miles" but you dont hear of the other 5000 cars where the clutch lasted 50K miles upwards....no single entity is tracking clutch life in these cars, so no-one really knows "the big picture".
Its commonly accepted though that a twin plate clutch will feel better and last longer, and is such a worthwhile upgrade, its a factory option now
Thank you everyone for your input and feedback so far.
I have had a bit of a look through the current cast a sale on auto Trader.
My guess is that if I picked up the car that had relatively low mileage, possibly an 07 car with under 40,000 miles I am probably going to end up having to pay somewhere in excess of £30,000 for it, maybe perhaps £32,000?
Perhaps something like this one:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
My theory being that a car like the one above should do fairly well in terms of values, I can't see it dropping much if anything. There are other cars out there with higher miles at lower prices.
It's good to hear that they seem to be to handle the age and mileage fairly well.
I have had a bit of a look through the current cast a sale on auto Trader.
My guess is that if I picked up the car that had relatively low mileage, possibly an 07 car with under 40,000 miles I am probably going to end up having to pay somewhere in excess of £30,000 for it, maybe perhaps £32,000?
Perhaps something like this one:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
My theory being that a car like the one above should do fairly well in terms of values, I can't see it dropping much if anything. There are other cars out there with higher miles at lower prices.
It's good to hear that they seem to be to handle the age and mileage fairly well.
A320martin said:
JetskiJezz, I also live in Oxfordshire (near Woodstock), drive around 10,000 miles a year and I previously had an A5 as my daily drive! I moved to a 2006 V8 Vantage in April last year and I haven't regretted it for a moment. I do a lot of motorway driving between Oxford and Heathrow (sometimes up to 16 times a month), interspersed with driving around town and going for an explosive run in the Cotswolds. The car is very easy to live with, the only time I miss the A5 is when I'm in traffic on the M25 or in central Oxford.
I got my car at 54,000 miles and I've put 8k on it since last April. The only issues I've had are the headlamp washer unit coming loose and I'll be needing a new motor for the passenger side window. The clutch is still going strong, but I've got a slush fund to put in a twin plate when the time comes. I have had one service in the last year and the total cost was about £1,200. I've probably spent another £300 on maintenance in that time. So budget on about £1,500 a year and I don't think you'll go far wrong. I was probably spending about £1,200 a year on the A5 by the end. You're really well located for two great independents, David Appleby Engineering (I use them) and Bamford Rose are both very close to you.
Do it. You really won't regret it.
Thanks. I'm not far from Bamford Rose, I called in to see them a few years back when I was in the early stage of looking for a Roadster and they seem like a decent bunch. Not heard of David Appleby, but will look them up and keep a note of the name on file.I got my car at 54,000 miles and I've put 8k on it since last April. The only issues I've had are the headlamp washer unit coming loose and I'll be needing a new motor for the passenger side window. The clutch is still going strong, but I've got a slush fund to put in a twin plate when the time comes. I have had one service in the last year and the total cost was about £1,200. I've probably spent another £300 on maintenance in that time. So budget on about £1,500 a year and I don't think you'll go far wrong. I was probably spending about £1,200 a year on the A5 by the end. You're really well located for two great independents, David Appleby Engineering (I use them) and Bamford Rose are both very close to you.
Do it. You really won't regret it.
Edited by A320martin on Thursday 15th March 11:25
Dependent on what service I would expect it to be around thousand pounds. When I picked up my vantage it was due both the service and break discs and pads, so I know exactly what that cost me through an independent specialist, it was less than I had budgeted for which was a pleasant surprise.
I can't see any a vantage costing as much to service and maintain in a year as my lease on my S5.
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