Hi to all!

I've been reading on your forum for several months now. Seems like a really great bunch of folks! This is my first post, as I am now ready to purchase an 06 or 07 Vantage Coupe.

Here is a link to the car I am considering: http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.js...standard=false

I have a couple questions:

1) Any of you folks familiar with this car? From the car fax, it appears that the car spent most of the past 4 years in Idaho...

2) What would be a fair price for this car?

3) Is there anyway to tell if the issues with oil leaks, door locks, dash rattles, etc. have been addressed?

4) I am thinking to have Scottsdale AM do a PPI. Would you recomend this?

Thanks in advance for any and all input! Look forward to becoming a new owner!

 

I would find out if it has had a clutch. Longevity isn't their strong point, and at 20,000 miles if it hasn't been done, you might want to plan for it within the next 10,000

 

Thanks, Stuart. Really appreciate the advice!

 

I would find out what AM dealership serviced the car and contact them, they should be able to give you some info. Also, I have an 07 and had to have the timing cover seal replaced which seems to be somewhat common. You might want to check on that as well, it is not a cheap fix if out of warrenty. If possible I would have AM take a look at it, not sure what the cost would be but could potentially save you down the road. Hope this helps.

 

Thanks for the insight! I will see if the seller knows and will contact the servicing AM dealer. Really appreciate the responses! Thanks again for the great feedback.

 

If you can't get there to check out the car yourself, then definitely get a PPI done by either the local AM dealer or someone else knowledgeable you can trust (you could try posting here or on the AMOC forum to see if someone local would be willing to do it for you). Ask for copies of the service history, and check that prescribed maintenance has been carried out. These two things should help answer question 3. Get the full Carfax obviously. Ask for more pictures of anything you want. e.g. any paint and wheel dings. Verify the exact options. A few months ago I bought a similarly specced car but with only 7500 miles for $67.5K , so this price looks a little on the high side given the mileage.

 

You could say that about almost every manual car.

 

Except for the interior (different color) the year and model and the whole car looks just about exactly like the one I recently traded on my Ferrari, which sold a week later at the dealer for $69,500K. Mine had only 5K miles on it though.

 

[QUOTE=oldv8guy;2905837]
4) I am thinking to have Scottsdale AM do a PPI. Would you recomend this?


By the looks of the ad it seems as if Scottsdale AM (Ferrari/AM/Maserati are all owned by Penske Group or at least they used to be) is the seller so no PPI is necessary. I bought my '06 from them 3 years ago sight unseen and everything was handled professionally and as promised. I dealt with Stan Briggs. I had car shipped to me here in Northern CA. They handled all the arrangements. I would not hesitate to deal with them again. Don't be afraid to make a low ball offer either.

 

No problem. Thought of a couple of other things worth checking. There's a thread running here on an oil leak that isn't a major issue but should still be rectified. Seems like a large proportion of these were fixed under warranty but worth checking. Thread running here:
https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/aston-martin/216590-two-month-ownership-v8v-problem-already.html

There also seems to be a recurring issue with the thermostats failing around the 3-4 year mark. Not 100 percent of the time, but the seals apparently break up and gum up the thermostat so it is permanently open. Not a huge issue again, but worth finding out if it has been done. Only makes a difference in that it will take longer to warm up. In colder climates it would have more serious effects because you'd be running cold all the time and the oil temp/viscosity would be wrong.

 

Call local AM with the VIN and have them do a look up on the car. They can look up any work AM service has done on it.

I would ensure that:
1)all the recalls had been handled (since warranty is out)
2)The yearly service records are all in place.
3)Car fax is clean

If this checks out, I would give the seller an offer but make it contingent upon it passing the AM inspection that the seller covers. The seller can use this inspection (if it passes) to a different buyer as well.

Mine has 24k on it and still origional clutch.

Hope this helps.

 

Thanks to all for the great input! You guys are the best! It's a little intimidating for me, as this will be the first car of this type I've ever owned. I can't tell you how helpful it is to get this kind of insightful feedback! Hope some day I can help out someone in my spot in the future!!!!! I will keep everyone posted as to how this turns out!

 

33k miles, original clutch. Some say I drive too gently.

Clutch still feels great, I'd say there's a good year or two until it needs replacing. Fingers crossed.

 

I heard some of the manual clutches go out in 6000 miles but it really doesn't make sense...must be silly folks who don't know how to drive manual. My manual has 6K miles and it's still fine....I don't ride on it or abuse it. Check on the records with the dealer. If possible, see if you can get extended warranty on that car...it's probably about $2000-2500 a year. The oil leak mentioned earlier also needs to be checked. Anyway, your best bet is to budget about $3-5K for repairs each year....annual oil service is about $1500 with some software updates and visual inspection. It's expensive to fix the AM but Ferarris and Lambos are a tad more. You just need to keep that in mind cause every trip to the shop or dealer will cause big bucks. But again quite a few people here drive it daily and don't seem to have too many problems. Most folks here have more than 1 car and use the AM on weekends or fun.

 

I'm actually in the same boat and I just signed up as a new member to this forum. I've been thinking about a Carrera S for the past couple months because I thought the Aston was out of reach. Now I've realized that I may actually be able to afford this car. I hope I can manage to resist a little longer...