Hi Folks!

First post here and have been perusing the forums trying to piece together the information I need to help me with my decision.

Moving on from an F-Type V8S next year. Considering a Vanquish Volante from MY 2014 on. Had a chance to test drive one and hear a couple cold starts and revs. Didn't think the curves and sound could get better than my V8S but I was mistaken

This will be my first "exotic/supercar" so naturally I want to gather as much information as possible before taking dive. As a newbie to the scene, I am hoping some of the seasoned vets here can help provide some information and hopefully this will helpful for others looking at similar cars for the first time as well. My questions thus far are as follows:

1) What have been the experiences of owners in terms of unforeseen maintenance/issues with these cars? As my first probably six figure car, I would like to not have a bunch of high 5 figure repairs in the coming years if I can avoid it. Are there any common problems or issues that I should look out for? Anything common that I should look out for on the cars I am considering when checking them out on the lot (panel alignment, AC, seat heaters/coolers, rattles around cabin from stereo, etc)?

2) I love getting my hands dirty and would love the chance to work on this car. I have seen some oil change videos on the 6L V12 online and aside from throttle body removal and some awkward angles, doesn't look too bad - would probably get the hang of it after first couple times. Are there any resources out there for this model in terms of DIY guides, official repair manuals, etc? I seem to see a lot about vantages here but not so much the Vanquishes.

3) I am in the central valley of Cali. Are there any reputable shops that can work on these cars near me? I am assuming the factory warranty will be expired on the model I purchase (any recommendations on after market warranties?) and don't know how $$$ extended warranties are. Would consider if reasonable and then not mind driving to Bay or LA to get to dealer but if not, are there are shops people here you would recommend to work on these cars?

4) Any parts on the cars that are frequently damaged in normal driving (splitters, bumpers, etc)? I am assuming that anything will cost an arm and a leg to replace. Any options for discount/cheap OEM or aftermarket replacements online that are worth looking at?

5) Ceramic brakes - how long do they really last in the real world? I don't drive like a maniac, have no delusions of grandeur that I'm some race car drive even capable of handling 20% of this car, especially on public roads and this car will never be within eye sight of a track, but will occasionally go for spirited drives in canyons and on mountain roads. Will these brakes really last 100k+ miles like i hear from some people or will I be looking at a 15k repair bill at 30k miles? Do they make that horrible squeak when driving around town (anyway to fix if they do)? Are there any steel conversions or discounted options to buy replacement rotors online?

6) Is there a fuse or any other way to keep exhaust baffles open all the time? Haven't had too much seat time in these cars so there may be a way in the controls to do this but every second that exhaust is not signing is a crime in my book. Don't want to touch stock exhaust, just hear it as loud as possible all the time.

Finally 7) Gearboxes: Any common issues or reliability concerns that would make the 8-spd objectively better than the 6-spd? Fully understand performance boost in 8-spd but, realistically coming from an F-type that is probably faster than the vanquish, a couple 10ths in straight line accel is meaningless to me the way I will be driving this car in the real world on public roads - all of these cars will stupid fast compared to 99% of other cars we drive by. Also, the F-type has a ZF-8 and its fantastic. I always shift manually but literally never use 1, 6, or 7 ever. 2-5 is where all the fun is and if I'm cruising, 8 gets best mileage from 60mph on. So I really use 5 of 8 gears, making me think 6 would be just fine. I plan to drive both as much as possible before buying but want to hear from the crowd how they fared and if there are objective reliability or other problems with 6 compared to 8. Wouldn't mind saving 20k or so on the purchase price.

If you made it this far, you are either bored or own a vanquish and are interested in helping me. Many thanks in advance! Looking forward to the journey!

 

Subscribed, as I would eventually like to get into a Vanquish, too, preferably the 2018 Vanquish S, after depreciation takes its toll a bit more. I've heard arguments on both sides of the 6-speed vs 8-speed. Have yet to drive as these cars are relatively rare in and around Chicago in winter.

 

I have a Rapide and I can answer 2 of your questions. For the exhaust go to cccharger.co.uk. Clive will sell you a unit that has a little remote that opens and closes the exhaust valves. He has good detailed instructions on the installation. As far as the 6 speed vs the 8 speed, my Rapide has the 6 speed and I see no reason to have the 8 for my particular driving habits. I can only imagine that there are more parts to wear out although the 8 speed has less weight. Enjoy your search.

 

I have a 2015 Vanquish that I've had since November 2015, I purchased the car brand new and have around 12,000 miles. Hopefully I can answer some of your questions.

1. The car has an option to "keep sport mode" in the dash menus, this keeps the exhaust baffles open and the exhaust loud. You can also retain the option to turn off sport to have it be quiet if coming home late (it will wake up my kids if I leave it in Sport). I'm not sure if there are additional baffles but I've always found the sound of the car in sport mode to be excellent and better than anything I've heard, hands down. It makes my McLaren sound pathetic.

2. I drove both a 14 and a 15 and really preferred the 8 speed transmission. According to my dealer, who I saw recently at my 4-year maintenance, the 8 speed demands a premium in the used market. I did find the car notably quicker off the line with the 8 speed. I thought it was worth getting. Even though I don't drive like a maniac (my tires are cracking from being old, but they aren't worn out at 12,000 miles), I appreciate the extra push and responsiveness to the 8 speed. Also, the manual shifts in the 8 speed feel really quick and seamless, whereas with the 6 speed it felt like an automatic trying to be a manual. The closest parallel I can draw is the 6 speed felt like an old tiptronic Porsche trans vs. the 8 speed which was faster than the PDK I had in my 2009 Carrera S. In my mind, the 8 speed makes the performance much better, but it wasn't "lacking" with the 6 speed.

3. I purchased an extended warranty, so I can not speak to the costs of repairs. That being said, I haven't had many issues with the car. Most of them have centered around a bad wiring harness that was bad from the start with the car. It was finally identified (after several attempts) this year. I am quite sure that it would have cost me a fortune without the warranty, but I will also say that it wasn't a problem that impaired my enjoyment of the car AT ALL. It basically would occasionally turn the screen on the infotainment a "pinkish" hue and also tell me the right rear blinker was out when the car got too hot in the sun. Annoyances, yes, but far from a major problem. The mechanicals on the car have been flawless. The only other issues have been rattles, all of which have been repaired under the warranty. I will say that the annual maintenance at the dealer (which has to be done at the dealer to keep my warranty) is VERY EXPENSIVE. The 4 year maintenance (oil, brake fluid flush, trans fluids,inspections, etc.) rang up at $2,500. That was after the 10 percent discount I get on service at my dealer because I am an Aston Martin Club Member (worth looking into seeing if you local dealer offers the same to club members).

4. If considering a 2014, you should check the build date. They 14 was in production starting as early as late 2012 as I understand it, so you may be getting a car that is much older than the MY indicates. This shouldn't be an issue, only a precautionary note. If you have an earlier build that says 14, you might be getting seals, gaskets, engine, that's almost 2 years older than the MY shows. This was another reason I went for the 15 (kind of the cherry on top of the 8 speed). These cars don't tend to rack up the miles, so gaskets and other items that sit on a warm weather car without being driven would start to wear around now on a 14 that was actually built in 2013.

5. I haven't really heard of any recurring issues with the Vanquish, but the sample size is extremely small. I only know one other person who has one, and that's a Zagato that has less than 300 miles on it.

6. Ceramic Brakes. At 12,000 miles mine are still going strong. I've never tracked the car, which is where the real wear seems to come in. However, if you've never owned a car with Ceramics, they squeak like hell. It's just something to know and it's well known, but they take a long time to get hot and stop squeaking. It's kind of funny to pull up to a stop light in a car that listed over $300k new and have everyone looking and listen to it squeak like 15 year old Accord with bad brakes. FWIW, same deal with the Mac.

7. Watch the splitter / underside. The car will bottom on almost anything and it will be scraped up if it has been driven. The whole body is CF, so its really sturdy, but look for signs of cracking or damage up front. There is an aftermarket scrape guard that can be purchased for around $1,500 (scrapearmor.com). It's probably worth doing and I'm going to do it when the weather turns and I bring it out of the cocoon. It will give the added benefit of hiding the scrapes already on the underside of my splitter.


If you have any other questions, please feel free to PM me. I think you will love the car. As I always tell my car enthusiast buddies, "It's not the fastest car you can buy for the money, it's not the best handling car you can buy for the money, but it is the MOST BEAUTIFUL and UNIQUE car you can buy for ANY money".

 

If you don't have a complete service history, you'll want to do the missing services to get the car up to date. Should be filters and fluids if anything is missing.

 

Thanks cmargosi!

I do agree - the exhaust on this car is the main draw aside from the sheet metal!

Will take your experience into consideration when driving both and make sure I get plenty of seat time in each.

Is there any site or resource where I can run a VIN to get build details in terms of options included, build date, etc? Jag has a great TOPIX website where you can get all of the basic info for any VIN for free. Anyway I can do this with an Aston without having to contact a dealer? Would you consider ever owning the car without a warranty (if there are any reasonable private shops that can reliably service these cars)? Have you ever done any work on it yourself or does the warranty preclude this?

Figured about the ceramics squeaking. Some of the Jag folks who optioned CCBs have found non-OEM pads that reportedly don't squeal. Probably not a huge aftermarket for these cars but any chance there are options for different pads on the Vanquish to stop this?

I'm assuming that's a big no on the steel rotor conversion options too? I feel like ceramics were pointless on this car, as no one who can spend this much money on one car won't be able to afford a performance oriented track rat if they really want one and the brakes just add expense and janky braking noises with no real upside when costs are factored in, IMHO. I feel like the brake squeal would kill the overall mood the car sets for me though I will need more time to in drivers seat to know for sure. Its so hard to get an extended drive though as the cars are so rare there are no options at rentals/TURO and test drives are hardly sufficient to really get to know the car.

 

byrnout,

I would consider buying one without a warranty if I checked the carfax and had a service history. However, if you have the option for a CPO at a similar number, it's well worth paying the extra for the warranty. Work on these cars is so expensive. I'm not aware of any Indy shop in Chicagoland that works on them....I might be wrong though. Seems like the in AM publications, the Indy shops are all in the UK. Maybe 1-2 on the east coast. I have limited talents when it comes to the wrench, so the only thing I ever touch is my race car for simple stuff, I can't speak to that at all on my street cars.

I'm not aware of any resource that show build data, but perhaps someone on here knows. With most exotics, it's pretty limited. I know you can't even configure a Mac online the same way mine was sent. The production is just so limited that it isn't out there to my knowledge.

As for the brakes, the squeal isn't bothersome to me. The Aston doesn't squeal as much as the mac and once they warm up after a few miles it lessens. I will say that the brakes are incredible on the car, especially considering the heft. While it probably wasn't necessary, it seems like it's kind of "standard" on cars in this price range. I wouldn't give up the squeal as I love the pedal feel and the bite on the brakes when I do get it up and moving. Car stops so well for a 4,000 lb vehicle.

Yeah, extended drives are going to be tough....I would try to go to a dealer and drive the 14 and a newer model with the 8 speed back to back though. It's the best way to see the difference.

 

Your local Aston dealer can print out a build sheet based on the VIN. The dealers do not share what services were done, only warranty and recall work. I would consider owning without a warranty if the history is there. You could also eventually get an Aston warranty. The car needs to be inspected and assuming it's ok they dealership sells annual plans via AM. Expensive, but so is a Vanquish... There are a few AM certified Vanquish's on the Timeless AM site. Those should have 1 year warranty included.

 

Thanks guys. Great info so far and good food of thought for someone looking to jump in.

Have you done any work on your car in terms of routine maintenance corgi? I've seen videos of the oil changes and they don't look that bad, not sure what else would be something that needs to be done frequently. My local dealer would be in Los Gatos, CA. I'd be interested to know if anyone knows of any indy shops in the area that are knowledgeable with these cars, though the idea of working on it myself is really exciting if I could find the manual for it to ensure I don't cause a $25k mistake doing $500 maintenance

I'm sure the extended warranties vary with a lot of things, but does anyone have ballpark pricing for an annual plan? I think people's idea of expensive varies from person to person but on a forum like this with a likely generally affluent crowd, probably way on the high side of expensive. Are we talking something like $3-5k or $10-15k for a year? If you break for a year from the annual warranty, any chance you can get it back with a pre-inspection or does it need to be continual?

 

My warranty (Aston Martin factory warranty) was around $8,000 for two years additional coverage. They avoided the need for an inspection as I got it at the same time as my 3 year service on the car. Brought the whopping total to $9,760.

 

It is a myth that all CC brakes squeak. Neither of my two cars do, and never have, all with stock pads. One thing that is universally true, is that they sure keep your wheels clean for a long time.

 

Thanks cmargosi. I suppose $4k a year isn't terrible to sleep well at night when spending this much on a car. Good ballpark number to work into the budget for it anyway as I'm sure it can vary depending on dealer/car condition.

Is your car optioned with a lot of creature comforts? Will likely realize this as I drive more, but wondering how A/C and cooled seats work in summer and heater/heated seats work in winter. I assume this is something I will want to test at dealer anytime I seriously look at a car.

Here in the CA valley, summers get hot but dry. Winters cool but not freezing. I can go top down comfortably year round in the F-type so long as the temp is between 35-108°F (deduced by a lot of driving in the extremes) and it's not raining.

Cross shopping this car with a newer AMG 63/65 cabriolet. While the merc will undoubtedly have more creature comfort and tech, would gladly give that up for the character of the Aston if it does at least OK in the comfort department.

 

Thanks XJRS.

Did you figure out some secret sauce to make that happen (special bedding in procedure, treatment, etc) or is it just luck of the draw? Do you have an aston as well as your jag that doesn't squeak? Could it be a brand thing? Roughly how long do you go between rotors, assuming easy/slightly spirited driving and no track days?

Plenty of Ferraris, 720s, and higher end Porsches around here (relatively speaking, of course) and when you see them in the wild they all seem to squeak a little stopping at a light. Worth noting I personally have NEVER seen a vanquish in the wild, making it way more special in my opinion.

The cleaner wheels is a massive draw/benefit though, especially with some of the wheel options on the vanquishes I've seen.

 

I haven't, but was very close this time around to doing the annual with my neighbor down the street who has a repair shop in his house. Wasn't able to connect and now scheduled the dealer to do the work. I know a lot of people who do work on their own cars and everything is "right there" so it's not too challenging. In your locale, you have a lot of indy shops that can do the work. Around Boston; it's basically the dealer and that's it. There are some indy shops that should be able to do the work, but no one ever promotes Aston Martin competency with their business. Owning a Ferrari around Boston would be much easier.

I bet a one year AM warranty on a Vanquish is 6-7K, but the dealer should refund the inspection if you buy the warranty from them. At least it would be a good gesture. I think AM mandates you owning the car 90 days before the inspection

 

Would you recommend a PPI from a local dealer, the dealer I intend to get a warranty through, to be safe? I'm assuming the PPI at an Aston dealer is quite a bit more than most other brands but may be worth the cost.