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.
Okay guys, first things first: it's not a V12. 
I would, of course, dearly love one, but I just couldn't bring myself to stretch myself so much at this point in time. I appreciate that I may never get a V12 Vantage cheaper than I will right now, but alas, I am too poor to really take advantage.
That said, after much reading and deliberating, I have plumped for a 10MY V8 Vantage 4.7 with Sports Pack. I still prefer the pure aesthetics of the 4.3 cars, but was just blown away by how the car I've gone for drove. I felt it was a fairly sweet spot in the options available, in that it offers a little more than the 4.3, but is a good bit cheaper than the N430s that I am so attracted to. Hopefully depreciation should be minimal and I'll be able to climb the ladder up to one of those V12s at some point!
I didn't drive a V12 as I didn't want to be cruel to myself. 
Anyway, the car I've gone for:
The car was up at Aston Martin Works in Newport Pagnell and I just cannot believe the level of service I received from the staff (in particular Simon) whilst I was there. I've never experienced anything quite like it when buying a car and is actually a day I'll remember forever. Being able to see first-hand the incredible facilities and work that goes on there was truly fantastic. I've been on a few proper car manufacturer tours and this was better than any of them! To know that there is somewhere such as this to look after my car - no matter what happens to it - is incredibly comforting.
The car itself is finished in Lightening Silver with Obsidian Black interior and also features clear rear lamps and the N400 sills. Not what I'd personally spec, but the paint is beautiful and it's a very classy-looking combination, whilst still remaining quite sporty. I think the Vantage looks stunning whatever the colour, so I was more concerned with condition and mileage. The car has some nice options and is a desirable 10MY, plus it's in a really lovely condition. Obviously the thing that jumps furthest off the spec sheet is the Sports Pack, which seems to be held in high regard by many. I'm not 100% sold on the aesthetics of the diamond-cut 5 spoke wheels, but I seem to be in the minority here! Still, it's easy to spruce them up a bit with a lick of paint and you can't argue with how the thing goes down the road.
AMW are going to rectify a couple of small bits before I collect the car (a new pair of rear lamps and side repeaters as they're all a little moist inside!), but otherwise the thing looks like new. It's also getting a full service and MoT.
I could not care less if a BMW M4 is faster or a 911 handles better, for this thing is special and you just can't compete with that. I just know that this will be the first car in a lifetime of Aston Martin ownership for me, and I am so very happy to be here.
I would, of course, dearly love one, but I just couldn't bring myself to stretch myself so much at this point in time. I appreciate that I may never get a V12 Vantage cheaper than I will right now, but alas, I am too poor to really take advantage. That said, after much reading and deliberating, I have plumped for a 10MY V8 Vantage 4.7 with Sports Pack. I still prefer the pure aesthetics of the 4.3 cars, but was just blown away by how the car I've gone for drove. I felt it was a fairly sweet spot in the options available, in that it offers a little more than the 4.3, but is a good bit cheaper than the N430s that I am so attracted to. Hopefully depreciation should be minimal and I'll be able to climb the ladder up to one of those V12s at some point!
I didn't drive a V12 as I didn't want to be cruel to myself. Anyway, the car I've gone for:
The car was up at Aston Martin Works in Newport Pagnell and I just cannot believe the level of service I received from the staff (in particular Simon) whilst I was there. I've never experienced anything quite like it when buying a car and is actually a day I'll remember forever. Being able to see first-hand the incredible facilities and work that goes on there was truly fantastic. I've been on a few proper car manufacturer tours and this was better than any of them! To know that there is somewhere such as this to look after my car - no matter what happens to it - is incredibly comforting.
The car itself is finished in Lightening Silver with Obsidian Black interior and also features clear rear lamps and the N400 sills. Not what I'd personally spec, but the paint is beautiful and it's a very classy-looking combination, whilst still remaining quite sporty. I think the Vantage looks stunning whatever the colour, so I was more concerned with condition and mileage. The car has some nice options and is a desirable 10MY, plus it's in a really lovely condition. Obviously the thing that jumps furthest off the spec sheet is the Sports Pack, which seems to be held in high regard by many. I'm not 100% sold on the aesthetics of the diamond-cut 5 spoke wheels, but I seem to be in the minority here! Still, it's easy to spruce them up a bit with a lick of paint and you can't argue with how the thing goes down the road.
AMW are going to rectify a couple of small bits before I collect the car (a new pair of rear lamps and side repeaters as they're all a little moist inside!), but otherwise the thing looks like new. It's also getting a full service and MoT.
I could not care less if a BMW M4 is faster or a 911 handles better, for this thing is special and you just can't compete with that. I just know that this will be the first car in a lifetime of Aston Martin ownership for me, and I am so very happy to be here.
Thank you for the replies so far, chaps. So looking forward to getting the car! Will be very many more pictures when the time comes.
By the pure aesthetics of the original design, I just think the combination of normal side skirts, the beautiful 19" 7-spoke wheels and red rear lights is stellar. I am still very happy with how mine looks though, so will at most just have a play around with the finish of the wheels.
By the pure aesthetics of the original design, I just think the combination of normal side skirts, the beautiful 19" 7-spoke wheels and red rear lights is stellar. I am still very happy with how mine looks though, so will at most just have a play around with the finish of the wheels.
Sadly won't be collecting the car this weekend; it's had to be pushed back to the one after.
As I mentioned before, the rear lamps could happily provide an excellent home to a couple of goldfish, such was the level of moisture trapped inside (actually, just the one lamp was that wet in reality; the better one could probably only maintain a few Sea-Monkeys). Obviously these were due to be replaced before collection, but unfortunately they were delivered today and one of the units was faulty, meaning it'll take a little extra time to get hold of and fit another one.
What this does mean, however, is that there will be time before collection to apply my new and slightly awful 007 number plate that I just couldn't help myself from buying. I think I hate myself for this, but I am a child at heart and a huge Bond fan, so yeah, that's what I've gone and done.
As I mentioned before, the rear lamps could happily provide an excellent home to a couple of goldfish, such was the level of moisture trapped inside (actually, just the one lamp was that wet in reality; the better one could probably only maintain a few Sea-Monkeys). Obviously these were due to be replaced before collection, but unfortunately they were delivered today and one of the units was faulty, meaning it'll take a little extra time to get hold of and fit another one.
What this does mean, however, is that there will be time before collection to apply my new and slightly awful 007 number plate that I just couldn't help myself from buying. I think I hate myself for this, but I am a child at heart and a huge Bond fan, so yeah, that's what I've gone and done.
Got it.
Collected the car yesterday from a (unfortunately) very wet Newport Pagnell. Service from Simon was as excellent as ever, paperwork completed and we moved onto the handover itself, which was in the main workshop area. As you can see from the pics, my lowly little V8 Vantage was in some amazing company!
The car had been prepared to a fantastic standard - way beyond any other used car I've ever purchased. On top of the previously mentioned remedial work, not only was it spotless, but they had also replaced the PPF on the rear arches as it was a little tatty and found me an old set of mats they had laying about that will be just the ticket for now. The car was brimmed with fuel and ready for the journey home. My terribly excited, button-pushing co-driver was my three-year-old son, who summed the car up as "really fast and noisy". Quite.
We had the most wonderful drive home; I couldn't be happier with the car. It's just such a lovely thing to drive and I'm so happy with it. I also think it feels really quite fast - the extra pull at the top of the rev range is seriously addictive, along with the noise that accompanies it! The V12 must be truly unhinged. First thing I did when I got home was bin the fuse that had seemingly been erroneously placed in slot 22 by the factory.
I'll post more thoughts as I spend more time with the car, but for now I have a few quick questions:
1. WTF is the deal with reverse? It feels like I could keep up with motorway traffic whilst travelling backwards if I so desired. In turn, this means reversing over the lip into my garage is a tricky affair and will likely contribute to as much clutch wear as all other driving combined. I have found not using any throttle helps, but it's still pretty easy to stall.
2. Are the seatbelts supposed to go through the straps on the seats? See pic.
3. What is this thing under the passenger side dashboard? I swapped the 'blue' footwell halogen bulbs out for LED replacements and discovered it whilst doing so. See pic.
4. On the subject of LED bulbs, I also have some for the number plate ones, but felt like I was going to break something when I tried to open them up to fit them. Was I doing it wrong?
5. Mats. It's odd and I've never seen any like this before, as there are mats of sorts fitted from the factory, but they're fixed in place with the seat subframe on top of them! Do people usually just leave it as such or put removable ones over the top? There appear to be no fixing points for them if they do.
This thread is worthless without pics, etc., so here you go:
Collected the car yesterday from a (unfortunately) very wet Newport Pagnell. Service from Simon was as excellent as ever, paperwork completed and we moved onto the handover itself, which was in the main workshop area. As you can see from the pics, my lowly little V8 Vantage was in some amazing company!
The car had been prepared to a fantastic standard - way beyond any other used car I've ever purchased. On top of the previously mentioned remedial work, not only was it spotless, but they had also replaced the PPF on the rear arches as it was a little tatty and found me an old set of mats they had laying about that will be just the ticket for now. The car was brimmed with fuel and ready for the journey home. My terribly excited, button-pushing co-driver was my three-year-old son, who summed the car up as "really fast and noisy". Quite.
We had the most wonderful drive home; I couldn't be happier with the car. It's just such a lovely thing to drive and I'm so happy with it. I also think it feels really quite fast - the extra pull at the top of the rev range is seriously addictive, along with the noise that accompanies it! The V12 must be truly unhinged.
First thing I did when I got home was bin the fuse that had seemingly been erroneously placed in slot 22 by the factory. I'll post more thoughts as I spend more time with the car, but for now I have a few quick questions:
1. WTF is the deal with reverse? It feels like I could keep up with motorway traffic whilst travelling backwards if I so desired. In turn, this means reversing over the lip into my garage is a tricky affair and will likely contribute to as much clutch wear as all other driving combined. I have found not using any throttle helps, but it's still pretty easy to stall.
2. Are the seatbelts supposed to go through the straps on the seats? See pic.
3. What is this thing under the passenger side dashboard? I swapped the 'blue' footwell halogen bulbs out for LED replacements and discovered it whilst doing so. See pic.
4. On the subject of LED bulbs, I also have some for the number plate ones, but felt like I was going to break something when I tried to open them up to fit them. Was I doing it wrong?
5. Mats. It's odd and I've never seen any like this before, as there are mats of sorts fitted from the factory, but they're fixed in place with the seat subframe on top of them! Do people usually just leave it as such or put removable ones over the top? There appear to be no fixing points for them if they do.
This thread is worthless without pics, etc., so here you go:
Edited by David87 on Sunday 4th February 23:30
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