Here's the situation: I'm moving from Phoenix to Minneapolis for work. I absolutely do not want to get rid of my Aston, as I love it too much! It's a 2006 with 29K miles, and it is in absolutely perfect condition, inside and out. I got a very good deal on it at $42.5K about a year ago. I drive it almost everyday, but short distances. I have a s2000 to drive when I have to deal with bad parking, a long distance drive, or on bad roads. I am planning to sell my s2000 before I move.

So, which scenario would leave me with more cash in my pocket at the end of 3 years?

1) Keep the Aston as my only car in Minneapolis. Spend $1.5K on an Xpel clear bra (or other recos?) to at least attempt to protect in from gravel, salt, and snow in Minneapolis. Get a good set of snow tires for the winter. Drive it every single day of the year, averaging 12K miles/year. Accept that as careful as I will be, some wear and tear will happen in this scenario. Sell the Aston in 3 years.

2) Keep the Aston but only drive it during the non-salted road months (6 months out of the year). Pay for registration, insurance, and $100/month for an extra parking spot. Buy a used Audi S5 for ~$30K and use that as my daily driver. Sell the Audi and Aston in 3 years.

Thoughts? Really appreciate it! I'm torn and do not know how much depreciation I'd have in either scenario.

 

It's too difficult to calculate how much you can get in 3 years. Just drive what makes you happy

 

I don't know how much salt they have in Minneapolis but we have lots here and I'd never put my Aston in it. As far as winter driving goes...before you even got into it you'd be scraping snow and ice off of that formerly pristine paint job. On the other hand the drivers behind you might appreciate the cleared road in front of them thanks to the low clearance, snowplow shaped vehicle in front.

Around here no one takes their sports cars out in the winter. We just budget a winter beater. From a resale point of view, it's the first question asked... Ever winter driven? -though you might not get asked because no one would ever assume that someone would do that to an Aston.

Handling, visibility, traction... I could go on but you get my point.

Recommend an all-wheel drive for winter. The Audi's great for that.

 

You need not have a 4-Wheel drive car if you are in Minneapolis or St Paul proper... that's how good they clear the snow, even in the most severe storms. In the 30 years I've been here I've never been stuck and never had 4WD. The most important thing is actual snow tires - Blizzak is the standard, but does not come in all sizes. On my 15 Mustang with the performance option, the wheels and tires are wide and I use Pirelli Winter Sports which makes the Mustang Jeep-like and almost no slippage on ice. Ice is the big thing - an all wheel drive car with all season tires is going to leave the road just as fast as two wheel drive with all season tires - which are pretty useless on the icy roads here. Salt - in our winters where weather can be well below zero for an entire month, salt is not that effective, so they use other chemicals mostly or sand - not sure what it is, but it does not seem corrosive as rust is not so prevalent as you see in Michigan which uses tons of salt.

In the old days (the 1980's and early 90's) I use to drive 928's year round, but they were never what I'd call pristine, and you could buy them dirt cheap used. If I opened the hood and saw the road dirt and grit in the engine compartment or underneath the car I cared little.

With the Vantage and it's soft paint compared to other cars, I do not drive it in the winter and I avoid the rain. I'll probably add about 5,000 miles on it's already 42,000 this driving season. Like your's it's pristine. The other reason I don't like driving in the winter is the crap that drops off of other cars (pollutants) is not washed away and ends up in nooks and crannies that would be virtually impossible to get properly cleaned if you drive over the roads in winter.

I used to get winter beaters - but now I lease 2 years something different (the 15 Mustang I've had 7 months and it's got just one more winter). No out of warranty repair problems, no worry about grit and grime, and leases are pretty cheap.

If you are in town - this summer driving in Minneapolis with all the highway construction is no fun - tons of traffic at least on my route, which if you draw a line between my house and my office - right in the center of that line (2 miles away) is the new Aston dealer!

The winter before last in November, it had not yet snowed, and I had my Aston out. I looked in my rear view (at night) and saw Vantage headlights! It was a black Vantage and we pulled over. He told me that he was getting snow tires and was to drive it year round. The next day we had a huge snow fall... I've never seen that particular Black Vantage again, nor have I ever seen an Aston in the winter driving in this area.

 

Thanks guys.

Would a top of the line clear bra or wrap keep it still pristine on the outside? Can those handle salt, sand, and chemicals?

 

Could you? Sure! Would you really want to? Ehhhh....

I suggest finding a daily beater and a warm, dry place to store the Aston for the winter. "Beater" can be subjective, of course (my "beater" is an RS6). If you want an Audi, why not lease a new A4 or something similar? Heck, even something like a Ford Fusion would be cheap and allow you not to stress over packing miles and abuse on the Aston.

 

Clear bra will do a very good job of protecting the paint, but you will probably need to wrap the entire car. It is essentially 1mm of clear film on top of the paint. But getting hit with big pieces of the debris will mark or maybe even pierce the film.

 

MN gets a lot of snow and a lot of salt. The car will probably be fine, but all that salt on the car for a few months plus using an ice scraper often....ugh. Just the thought pains me

 

For years now I have never worried about the top side of the car in the winter. Corrosion protection and painting techniques have made (undamaged) body panels pretty immune to the worst winter can throw at them. It's the underneath bits that would have me losing sleep if I were driving your car in the winter. The clear bra won't protect those...

 

Thank you!

Any guesses as to how much you think a 2006 in pristine condition with 29K miles will depreciate per year driving 12K miles and in the snow/salty roads? I paid $42.5K.

Just throwing it out there, would $6K/year be too high? So, if I paid $42.5K and brought it up to 67K miles, in 2018 it'd be worth $24K. Seem like a good estimate?

 

I cant imagine pristine Vantages lower than $40k unless they are abused or excessive miles in the future, or the updated Vantage in 2018 is that much better.

 

My V8V was my only car for a few months while I was in between 2nd cars. It was perfectly fine in that role, but that was down in GA during the fall. Hardly demanding.

I'd recommend getting a second car. Like others have mentioned, the problem is the salt - not necessarily the snow itself. It will get into the underside of the car - into the suspension components, underside of the engine and transmission, into all the moving bits. You can take it to get the undercarriage cleaned, but that's going to be very maintenance-heavy (salt stays on the roads for days after being laid down).

Myself, I'd recommend a second car. The peace of mind alone knowing that you don't have any winter-related issues will be worthwhile. And if you get something that can hold its value (I have a 4Runner - they're great at holding value if you buy at the right time), you'll come out with little-to-no loss from purchase.

 

Thanks guys. Think you convinced me to get a second car. Definitely will be keeping the Aston and getting the Xpel Ultimate clear bra on it too!

 

I second the 2nd car route. I love my Aston, but i wouldn't want the mental stress or the physical wear of taking it out in the winter - and I live in Atlanta!

I had an A5 as a second car for a while along with a Leaf, but found that I wasn't driving the Audi at all. If I wanted something fun and sporty, I'd take the Aston, if I was just going for a quick errand, taking the Leaf was a no brainer. So I sold the Audi.

With government incentives (at least in GA), the Leaf runs me about $65/month including all fees and maintenance. On top of that, no gas costs. Not sure how it would do in the snow, but a low cost option in case its helpful.

 

When are you moving?