I agree that it is a great analysis, but Astons seem to take a huge hit on depreciation regardless of their exclusivity. I was planning to purchase a new, ordered, DB9 next year. Now I'm thinking of picking up a used DBS when I'm ready to buy - it will probably be about the same price, or even less than a new DB9.

 

Good point and I don't understand why a low production hand built exotic car has that much of a depreciation?

 

I do not disagree but to further the point of dep'tion you can find 2008 TT for the price of a new 2009 Carrera S. Exclusive or not there are some good deals out there. When I checked last month a local dealer still had a couple of 2008 P-cars cars on their lot not sold ... not good for resale/value of 1 yr old cars or new ones.
Something else to consider - the DBS vs. DB9 w/ Sport Pack has always been an interesting issue ... $10s of K's less money for very close performance ... many say feel of these 2 AM cars is much closer than Carrera vs. Carrera S, of course there are some "cosmetic" differences ... but again a nice beer debate.
I personally would wait and get the DBS ... heck wait a little longer and you might get the DBS for what I paid for my Vantage !
Then again ... driving now sure is sweet ... and I am not getting younger ... but can always make more money .... decisions decisions ... blonde/brunette

 

Michael, thanks for your input! You're absolutely right, there are a lot of turbos out there. I may see one turbo a week where I live but I may see one aston every 3 -5 months. My main concern is reliability. I have a range rover sport and i'm deathly scared of owning it outside of warranty and I'm curious as to how the Vantage with higher mileage has held up. Anyone?


Edwin

 

Hi Edwin,

I think Michael hit the nail on the head with his comments. In my opinion the build quality on the Vantage is very good. There certainly are one or two known issues with the cars but their incidence is very low and if you are buying a pre-owned then the risk of them cropping up is pretty low. For example, if you drive around town like a grandma for a couple of days and then suddenly start spanking it like it's stolen the ECU will sometimes throw an emissions code because of the sudden change in driving style. It normally 're-learns' and the light goes off after 10 drive cycles, or the techs can reset it in 5 minutes.

In terms of value for money I really can't believe how little a 2 year old Vantage sells for. This is for my money, pretty much the best looking car on the road, has one of the best chassis and is still a relatively exclusive club. You've probably heard the criticisms regarding power output but you can easily achieve enough additional power to make a really engaging driving experience. People will talk about the lack of low end torque but sometimes having to spool it up a bit to get the power is more fun. My friend has a 1998 Ascari Ecosse that I have driven. 400BHP, 390lb/ft of torque from incredibly low down and weights 1250kg. 1st gear is totally redundant and as soon as it is rolling you can pull away in top... but you know what, the Vantage is more fun to drive! If you want to waft around at 1000rpms I'd get a luxobarge but if you're after a really engaging and sporting car which gets admiration everywhere and is still pretty refined.... well, you know....

 

Stuart,

thanks for the time and the input. The more I read up on AMs, the more I feel like it's a well-built, high-class, well-performing (nothing crazy but good enough) exclusive car. I wonder why the resale value is so low on the vantage?

Also, what kind of suspension mods can I do? Is there one or two companies that make aftermarket parts?

Edwin

 

I think you're spot on. There aren't really any poorly made cars any more, at least, not towards this end of the market (I'm sure someone will come along and point one out but it's a safe generalisation). The old days when faulty components used to catch fire, or melt etc. on 50% of the cars that left the factory.... long gone. Build quality can certainly be compared and is worth doing but we're talking about pretty small margins these days compared even to 15 years ago.

Resale values are low on a lot of cars right now for obvious reasons but the Vantage in particular has suffered because they released the 4.7 with some nice revisions and IMO it significantly affected the resale on the 4.3's. The good news is you can make the 4.3 a lot punchier without spending a great deal and it means you can get a great deal on pre-owned!

RSC has a special spring setup that we developed with H&R - lowers the car by 1.5". It is a progressively wound spring designed for road use and gives the initial part of the spring travel a bit more give so it is more compliant on bumpy roads. These are $599.00 to all 6speeders.

 

Stuart,

Thanks for your input... it is much appreciated since you are so well-versed with these cars.

I was just going through your website and what shocked me was the prices for aftermarket parts... they aren't that bad!! I would've thought that the prices on AM parts would be more than the Porsche market but it seems right in line with it. That's great news for me

I'll keep my eyes out for one... if you run across a good deal, please let me know.

Edwin

 

Our prices are too low??? Give me 10 minutes and I'll bump everything up by a thousand bucks or so...

Just because people have some money to spend on this stuff doesn't mean they want to spend all of it! Or get ripped off. We deliberately set out to be quality and affordable at the same time.

 

I never said too low... I said they weren't bad Thanks for offering great products are nice prices

Edwin

 

On the clutch issue, I had mentioned on an earlier posting that I purchased a 2007 with 13k miles on it that needed a new clutch after I had driven it 1000 miles. not covered under warranty as it is a wear item , but a bit odd as many of the techs mention the issue of early replacement . The dealer quote was almost 6k, (Kerbeck in NJ) , so I pulled the car out and had it done elswhere for about $4k. In reverse, you still smell clutch , even on the new one . If I had someone nearby (Philly) and of course knew of them before I needed the clutch i probably would have gone for an upgrade if I indeed knew it was a better fix. My partner just sold my car out from underneath me , but I will buy another shortly. I have driven many cars over the years , but no car has eyes like the Vantage , and at 50% of MSRP of a new one , Go figure. Cheap fun.

 

I sold my 997TT after buying my Vantage, the overall quality feel if the AM for similar money made be feel like I got taken by Porsche. The Porsche was faster and I sometimes miss the intoxicating rush of acceleration but overall the AM feels "special" and the P car felt ordinary in many ways.

 

Just add the RSC exhaust system and ECU upgrade and you will have that intoxicating rush of acceleration back along with a sound that makes the Porsche sound like a ricer.

 

I doubt that an ECU upgrade and exhaust would make these cars anywhere close to a 997TT qua performance, but I'd love to be wrong.

 

14K miles on my '08, 6MT, DB9...clutch is going strong.