I was never a fan of the 2018-2023 Vantage in the way it looked inside and out (especially inside) and the way it drove as compared to the 2017 V12S I had (at the time of the design change), which I sold in 2020. Aston lost it's elegance. I also had a C8 at the time which is THE automotive bargain, but not the visceral feeling you get in the 2006-2017 Vantages. About the same time frame I drove the Ferrari Roma, the first real competitor to the Vantage and gorgeous. I felt it lacked that visceral feeling of Vantage and I thought the interior of the Vantage was more elegant. So I bought a 2011 V8 Vantage to supplement the C8 and get that feeling back. At the unveiling of the new Vantage, I went out for a drive. Overall, it's close to the V12S as far as the wow factor, a massive improvement in looks inside and out (not 100% in favor of the interior still), and the driving experience and power is amazing. I just got (yesterday) the original window sticker of the 2011 Vantage and the 2016 V12S I recently bought. After options, the 2011 came out to $149,925.00 with insignificant options ($123,450 before options). Factoring inflation, that's $215,596 in 2025$! The base price of a new V8 Vantage is $185K. It includes every electronic stuff, safety stuff, and stuff-stuff. Essentially a no-option Vantage still blows away the 2011 V8 in every way possible at what is essentially $30K less. I still think the 2015-2017 V12S is a more special car, but if I was looking to buy a Roma, I'd buy the new Vantage instead.

 

A friend bought a 2025 Vantage in Malachite green a few months ago. He loves it. I haven't seen it in person, but it is gorgeous in the pics. I don't know that you'd actually find one for $185k though. Most have addons that put them over $200k.

 

My first new Aston was a 2007 V8 Vantage, I specified the order. The dealers had a lot of stripped down (no or very little optioned) silver with black interior cars. Nothing prevents someone from ordering from the dealer with zero options. Reminds me many years ago I went to the Cadillac dealer and asked what the car cost if I ordered with no options. The salesman belittled me saying no one sane would order a no option car, I'd never be able to sell it. Two years later they had a tan Sedan Deville on the showroom. I asked the salesman what it cost. After ho told me, I asked for the price with no options. He said the car was base - no options as the car came standard with a ton of features. I drove that car home that afternoon. The problem with options is few add to the actual resale and experience. The new Vantage options are mostly (almost all) cosmetic, except for the sports exhaust - I'd add that and nothing else.

 

There is no sports exhaust option I can see. The functional options I know of are the Audio system, the heated steering wheel, and the carbon brakes. Not sure if people consider the lightweight seat option as "functional".

If you are trying to go close to base price, the only issue is that there are limited paint colors available for no cost. However, if you "splurge" and spend about $6500 you get a ton of really good color choices.

The big issue with these cars is depreciation. Its already obvious they made too many in 2025 and in 2026 they've come out with an "S" model. Aston would have a tough time doing more to make the depreciation problem worse.

 

At price range of a new V8 Vantage a used DBS Superleggera looks a lot better in my eyes.

 

Definitely, but there's not many around. Perhaps as more people replace them with the new Vanquish there will be more to choose from.

 

The local dealer is hot to get a friend to trade in his DBS on the new Vanquish. "Your DBS is in high demand. We'll give you about half what you paid for it towards this new 500K car."

 

Yea, I think the deprecation on the DBS is going to be horrendous, except for perhaps the 770 edition. The reality is that the DB12 is probably a better all-around car, with the only thing the DBS brings is having the V12. Meaning that trying to sell of DBS for a lot more than a DB12 is going to be tough.

 

That is quite a big thing, and the DBS edition cars continue to carry cache years after production.

 

The Vantage customer is different than the BDS,DB9, DB11, DB12 and Vanquish driver - the Vantage is more Sports cars than GT cars, so I wanted to compare the new Vantage in terms of what you get per $ compared to older Vantages factoring in inflation.

 

I think the new Vantage is a great car. However... The 4.0L turbo V8 is a great engine, but it's not an Aston Martin engine. All the V12s are Aston Martin engines. To each his own, but, for me, an Aston Martin must have an Aston Martin engine (regardless of the number of cylinders).

 

I agree with this. When I was shopping my DB11 I passed up a number of nice cars with V8s. I wanted the V12 especially the new platform.

the V8 is a bulletproof MB V8. Not complaining about it. Had the same engine in my AMG GTS. But the DB11 had to be V12.

 

I probably could have afforded (barely) the new V8 Vantage, but like others an Aston should have an Aston engine. This is why I bought my recent 2016 V12S instead of going new. Opening the bonnet on my 2011 V8 and 2016 V12S, is impressive, very little 'plastic' and all Aston Martin engine. Opening the bonnet of a Mercedes Aston you see a sea of plastic and the engine tucked way back, to me a real turn-off. You open the hood of any Ferrari and you get the reason people desire it so much. Aston made a serious mistake not making the engine bay more impressive on the V8 models. Another reason I went with the V12S is the interior. I get it, that Aston needed to completely change the interiors to get back to the elegance of before Andy Palmer era, but there are a few things that bothered me, again influencing the purchase of the 2016 Vantage instead of the new one. The elegance - the interiors of the Ford era cars are spectacular - like a cockpit of an airplane, but elegant. The dials are fantastic. Everything just works. The 2016 panel with the haptic buttons are nice, but when things go wrong as they might, will be $$$$ compared to the 2006-2015 ski slope, but I have 2 years left on my Aston Martin warranty. The digital dash on the new Vantage is OK, not spectacular. The dials before warranted the premium, the new digital - not. The console is very nice on the new Vantage, but it looks like it was slapped on. The DB12 console is much better blended to the center console, why they did not replicate that look is beyond me. It's a tiny detail, but if I owned the car it would be an irritation. I think Aston looked at Porsche to replicate the simplicity of the cabin, but in a way lost some of the original elegance. Andy Palmer's complaint about Aston Martins was that the models looked too much alike DB9 and Vantage - hard to tell them apart. Looking at the new interiors, be it that you spend $200K on a Vantage, $300K on a DB12, or $600K on a Vanquish, you now get the identical interior experience! For me the driving experience of the V12S with modulating the gas and driving the Sportshift as intended is at least at best similar to the visceral experience of the new Vantage. The V12S is a timeless design, the new Vantage is leaps above the previous version, but not sure two decades from now it will age well. That said, again factoring inflation, the price of the new Vantage is pretty good compared to what my V8 (over $215K+ in todays $), and V12S cost (almost $300K in today's $).

 

About the dials in the VH generation cars -- they are IMO uniquely beautiful among modern cars. They're machined from a plank of metal and exemplify the craftsmanship that sets these cars apart. No screen could ever compare.

FWIW (sorry about the pun), my highly-optioned 2009 V8V Coupe stickered at a little over $136k -- about $210k today. My highly-optioned 2015 V12VS Coupe stickered at a little over $226k -- about $315k today. In the context of very expensive cars, IMO these look and feel every dollar of their prices.