My brother and I have always had "interesting" second cars - even though we both have sensible wives. I picked up my Grail last year, an '06 DB9, and my brother is now looking for a replacement for his BMW 645ci.
He's had a couple of M3s and liked them. He's had Mercedes SLs and never emotionally connected. He had one Porsche that his wife didn't like.
The problem is that there aren't many cars that feel as "special" as an Aston Martin. Yeah, a BMW M-series or a number of Porsches are amazing performers, but you know what I'm saying... Aston's balance of heritage, beauty, style, exclusivity, comfort, and performance is pretty special.
I recognize that $40-$70k isn't everyone's used car sweet-spot, but within that range, an Aston's hard to beat!

 

Completely agree! You are easily over $100k to get something else in the zip code... (R8, Gallardo, etc). Factor in the reliability and its very hard to beat a well cared for DB9 or Vantage. The M3/SL/911 grouping, while great cars... just isn't that exclusive.

 

+1, that was my exact thought process while shopping for cars before I came to the conclusion that the Aston would be my next car.

I was originally looking at used 997 Turbos, and the Vantage was there next to it. The 997 Turbo was a beast to drive, had tons of power, and was comfortably familiar to me since I owned a 997S before.

In the end, it was too familiar (despite having a lot more power than my old car) and I felt it was time for a change and to try something different.

I love my V8 Vantage and at the price point I got it at, see it as a value and a find! It makes me smile every time I see it in my garage and is always a special experience to drive it on those sunny days. I'm not sure I'd feel that way if I chose to go with the 997 (turbo or otherwise) since it felt (at normal driving speeds) and looked so similar to my last car.

 

It's absolutely hard to beat for ~$60k, especially if you're looking for an all-around exotic that sounds great, drives great, is plenty fast, won't break the bank with maintenance, and won't depreciate like a rock. In fact, with $50-$60k being such a deal for the 4.3 cars, I really wonder if they're going to fall much more at all. They've been hovering in the same area for the last year solid. I really wonder if this is the "bottom". Plus, if you look at any of the other exotics, it's hard to find pretty much anything below $100k that doesn't have extremely prohibitive maintenance costs (i.e., 355) or near the exclusivity of the Aston marque (i.e., Porsche).

But, this is just me talking about $60k toys, not a daily driver or anything. I'd say about the only thing I'd give up my Aston for at the moment (that's a similar price) is a Morgan three wheeler.

 

We are all in very similar thought fields.... Good friend has a turbo cabrio 996 putting down 550hp (factory x50 pkg) ... paid the same $~56k I did recently... I ride in his car weekly and drove it... yes a bullet... Would never trade... But it suits him perfectly like my V8V suits me. I also drive mine daily and no novelty has worn off.... Thought of a 355 but wasnt daily drivable and you could total it with a valve job... (i.e. putting in half what its worth) but I still want one as a wknd car.. haha...Yellow Spider of course... get a 95... non obdII car. I also dig the morgan with the Vtwin bike engine... but the price is crazy.

 

You mean this? http://www.hammacher.com/Product/Default.aspx?sku=12273

 

Yes its a 'toy'. .. (more bike than car). but still cool. I think the novelty could wear off pretty quick.

 

Price for a used V8V can't be beat. Every person that asks me about V8V prices is surprised when I tell them market ranges.

As for exclusivity - I'm always the "rare" car (save my buddy's Noble when he comes out) at events. I went to a pair of events on Saturday and was the only Aston (we had two Aventadors). There are always more Ferraris and Lambos than Astons. I'm almost always the only one, though Justin (P1nkyUp in the yellow V8V) is there sometimes, too.

For performance, I got dusted by my buddy's modified 996TT and the Aventadors this weekend, but otherwise I have no problem keeping up. Of course, I'd love another 100 hp lol

Style - I constantly get compliments on the way my car looks and sounds. Tons of compliments on my wheels, especially when people see them in person (I heard "Those are perfect, the pics don't do them justice" from several people on Saturday). If it's dated, it's only because we owners (especially on this forum) are constantly exposed to them. For everyone else, it's a timeless and still-modern design. And for the design itself, it's still gorgeous.

I flog my car relentlessly and it takes it in stride. I'm sure I'll eat my words at some point - every car has its limits and over a long enough period of time, survivability always drops to zero. But until then it's been great.

For outright performance, a 996TT is better bang for the buck. But for something special, I've got to agree that the V8V is in a category of its own.