Newbie saying hello.

[davidexige]

Well time to introduce myself, I’ve been lurking on here for the last year or so gleaning as much information as I could about my potential purchase and now the time has almost come where I’m going to be in a position to be able to finally start my search for a V8 Vantage. I’ve always liked the Vantage but they seem to be so rare up here in Scotland that I’d never had an opportunity to have a good close look at one, however luckily for me Gareth brought his car along to a Ferrari run last year and I had my first chance to have a good nosy round one, compared to my F360 they seem to be very well put together, but the best bit was the noise when he started it, it was just intoxicating, there are certain sounds that I just love, Merlin engine, Vulcan at full chat on take-off and the sound of the Vantage is defiantly up there in my top ten, so that sealed it for me I knew I had to have one. Well fast forward twelve months and I’ve finally managed to save enough of my hard earned pennies to start looking. My original plan was to try and find a 4.3L car for around 35K privately, but as the months went on I decided to revise my budget to the low 40’s and look for a main dealer car, however here’s my dilemma, I’ve now noticed that the first of the 4.7L cars are starting to dip below 50K, so should I continue saving for another twelve months or not? My sensible head says no, as this would mean putting other things on hold for another year, I’ve already put off buying a new kitchen for the wife twice so I could indulge in my passion for cars, however if I got a 4.3L car am I always going to have this nagging feeling that I should have gone for a 4.7, decision, decisions.

[Jockman]

Save up for a 4.7, David.

Divorce the wife - it will be cheaper than a new kitchen.

Furthermore.....you can't drive a new kitchen.....ever seen one on the road?.....exactly

[Bravo73]

Welcome.

Here's one potential route: buy a 4.3 now and start to enjoy it straight away. After a few months (and once you're used to the 4.3, it's few limitations and bought a couple of kitchens along the way), take a trip down to Bamford Rose. A few £k later, and your car will leave any 4.7 for dead.

(What you won't get, however, is the updated interior. So I suggest that you take a trip to an AM dealer and sit in both cars. If you find that you prefer the newer interior in the 4.7, you will have to continue waiting).

[michael gould]

Jockman said:

Save up for a 4.7, David.

Divorce the wife - it will be cheaper than a new kitchen.

Furthermore.....you can't drive a new kitchen.....ever seen one on the road?.....exactly

My divorce cost me a million quid and a DB7 Vantage ......stay married its cheaper

[Jockman]

michael gould said:

My divorce cost me a million quid and a DB7 Vantage ......stay married its cheaper

We both know you got off lightly, Mr G

[michael gould]

Jockman said:

michael gould said:

My divorce cost me a million quid and a DB7 Vantage ......stay married its cheaper

We both know you got off lightly, Mr G

Yes my father did say it was good value

[bentley01]

davidexige


I have decided to wait until the end of the year to buy a 4.7 rather than a 4.3 now. The waiting is a real killer and the only thing keeping me going is following this forum and dreaming and also the fact that my work will keep me away from home a lot this year. One thing worse than not having a car is having one you can't drive. The reason I want a 4.7 is the fact I intend to keep the car so I think it is worth the wait.

[davidexige]

Cheers for the advice, however I must say as this is on a public forum that it’s possible for the wife to see that I do love her very much and won’t be divorcing her, however I suppose she could always divorce me. I suspect though I am very fortunate, I don’t suppose there will be many wives out there that would let you sell her S1 Exige and also spend the Kitchen money to buy a Ferrari and then when you’ve again saved up for the kitchen let you spend it on adding a Vantage to the stable.

bentley01 said:

davidexige


I have decided to wait until the end of the year to buy a 4.7 rather than a 4.3 now. The waiting is a real killer and the only thing keeping me going is following this forum and dreaming and also the fact that my work will keep me away from home a lot this year. One thing worse than not having a car is having one you can't drive. The reason I want a 4.7 is the fact I intend to keep the car so I think it is worth the wait.

Now that’s food for thought, as like yourself this will be a car that I'm planning to keep for quite some time. When I ordered my first Elise the waiting time was two years for a new build car so I suppose I could wait another 12 months. I just hope though I'm not sat here in another year asking should I wait and get a V12.

[Jockman]

davidexige said:

.... I just hope though I'm not sat here in another year asking should I wait and get a V12.

NOW you're talking, David

[F1 NDW]

[quote=davidexige]Cheers for the advice, however I must say as this is on a public forum that it’s possible for the wife to see that I do love her very much and won’t be divorcing her, however I suppose she could always divorce me. I suspect though I am very fortunate, I don’t suppose there will be many wives out there that would let you sell her S1 Exige and also spend the Kitchen money to buy a Ferrari and then when you’ve again saved up for the kitchen let you spend it on adding a Vantage to the stable.

David, I would be watching out for that BOLT from the heavens. Talk about getting away with murder!

[gibbon]

The problem as I see it is this is classic model creep when looking at cars.

I decided to buy a (i hope!) good, looked after, well spec'd 4.3 from a main dealer, and enjoy the car. If i enjoy it as much as i think i will over the next year or so, I can always upgrade to the 4.7 and if not I can swap into something else, but in the meantime i have been enjoying and experiencing the 4.3.

The other logic to apply to this is I think the 4.7 cars being slightly newer are marginally less far along their depreciation trajectory, so you can partly justify the inevitable chop and change costs by a relative narrowing of the price difference of the two cars in the next year or two.

I think its hard to lose by taking this route, but everyone will have a different logic approach.

[bentley01]

gibbon said:

The problem as I see it is this is classic model creep when looking at cars.

I decided to buy a (i hope!) good, looked after, well spec'd 4.3 from a main dealer, and enjoy the car. If i enjoy it as much as i think i will over the next year or so, I can always upgrade to the 4.7 and if not I can swap into something else, but in the meantime i have been enjoying and experiencing the 4.3.

The other logic to apply to this is I think the 4.7 cars being slightly newer are marginally less far along their depreciation trajectory, so you can partly justify the inevitable chop and change costs by a relative narrowing of the price difference of the two cars in the next year or two.

I think its hard to lose by taking this route, but everyone will have a different logic approach.

I agree that sometimes you can be always waiting for the next model/upgrade. I'm not really bothered by the performance of the 4.7 over the 4.3 and if my work schedule was easier I might be tempted to jump in now. Having said that the prices with spring around the corner have certainly firmed up.

[Slarti]

My job requires me to do a lot of public speaking.
This requires me to be passionate and emotional at times - it draws your audience in and they really feel the empathy (and end buying into whatever I'm talking about).

With the wife I do something very similar. In order to get my first Aston and all cars since then I've discovered that getting emotional to the point of crying while gripping her ankles tightly with both hands really gets me places.

[Lunablack]

davidexige said:

however if I got a 4.3L car am I always going to have this nagging feeling that I should have gone for a 4.7, decision, decisions.

I had a similar dilemma, but in some ways a little more severe in that 2 years ago when I bought my car the 4.7's were completely out of reach to me.... So do I buy a 4.3 now, or wait until the 4.7's drop, and I can afford one...

My wife summed it up for me....... "You've been on about an Aston since I met you 20 years ago, get one now, you might get hit by a bus next month".... She's very forthright my Mrs

Do I feel short changed driving a lowly 4.3?? Not at all, I can honestly say these last 2 years with the car have been fantastic, I still look in the garage, and smile, I love driving it, I love owning it.....

Yes, after 2 years I have started to look at 4.7's as my next upgrade... But do you know what, if it doesn't happen, I ain't going to lose any sleep over it...

[bentley01]

Lunablack said:

I had a similar dilemma, but in some ways a little more severe in that 2 years ago when I bought my car the 4.7's were completely out of reach to me.... So do I buy a 4.3 now, or wait until the 4.7's drop, and I can afford one...

My wife summed it up for me....... "You've been on about an Aston since I met you 20 years ago, get one now, you might get hit by a bus next month".... She's very forthright my Mrs

Do I feel short changed driving a lowly 4.3?? Not at all, I can honestly say these last 2 years with the car have been fantastic, I still look in the garage, and smile, I love driving it, I love owning it.....

Yes, after 2 years I have started to look at 4.7's as my next upgrade... But do you know what, if it doesn't happen, I ain't going to lose any sleep over it...

No wonder your not bothered your car looks fantastic. Have you driven a 4.7 and if so what did you think

[yeti]

Luna, you NEED clear rear lights

There's even a picture thread to help you fit them

[krisdelta]

Lunablack said:

"You've been on about an Aston since I met you 20 years ago, get one now, you might get hit by a bus next month"

+lots - there is always something else, a little new / better / faster / shinier buttons - are you going to use an extra 40bhp much? Buy the best you can afford and enjoy it!

[ds2000]

I was in the same position probably this time last year....buy the 4.3 or save more for the 4.7.

I chose the latter option, the 4.7's are rarer but I knew it was the car I wanted deep down, I eventually bought just before Christmas and pulling out of the dealer was an amazing feeling and scary as you like. There are less 4.7's for sale so be prepared to either wait for your spec or act a little sooner than you were planning. I was aiming to buy about now but the car came up 3 months early and I couldn't let it slip. Good luck!

[Lunablack]

yeti said:

Luna, you NEED clear rear lights

There's even a picture thread to help you fit them

bentley01 said:

No wonder your not bothered your car looks fantastic. Have you driven a 4.7 and if so what did you think

Thanks.....

No I've not driven a 4.7.... I did go through a stage where I was feeling, that I could do with the extra BHP.... And was getting itchy feet, but I sat down and gave myself a talking to, and realised that, most of my enjoyment comes from just owning the car, and cruising around.. I'm not a racing driver, and the way the roads are these days I doubt I'd ever use the extra umph anyway....

I'm still on the lookout for the right 4.7... But I'm not putting much effort into finding one, so unless the right spec comes along at the right time, I suspect it won't happen anytime soon..

I'm very much an easy come easy go, what will be will be, if its meant to happen it will..... Type person

Edited by Lunablack on Saturday 23 March 20:01

[Richales]

Go for the 4.3 now - at least then you can sell it to the wife that you're being sensible and holding some money back to continue the kitchen fund..... then just have the extra saving time to get a 4.7 in 12-18 months time! Win Win!

Make sure you get a Roadster - definitely the best way to hear that intoxicating V8!!!