Hello everyone......

I just purchased a 2010 Rapide with 14,000 miles on it. I know very little about these cars, and truthfully I bought it somewhat on a whim. I was at the Mecum auction to try and score a classic Camaro, and saw this come across the block at what I thought was a reasonable price. Absolutely loved the lines, and have been a huge Aston fan since the days of the widebody Vantage Volantes.

Anyways, what are some of the trouble spots I should look for with this model? I havent seen any on the road that I can remember, so is it just a low volume car, or did nobody really want these?

Any thoughts are helpful, and I will post a pic once Mecum delivers it. Or anyone who is curious can look at the Saturday results from Mecum and see the listing

Thanks!

 

Something that I didn’t expect is that these cars are more sensitive to heat than most modern, mass production cars. By that I mean that if you regularly park them in the sun in hot climates the interior leather tends to shrink and become unglued. In my Rapide I have a piano black waterfall trim on the center console and it has cracked, probably also due to the heat. The previous owner apparently treated my car like any other normal car and it has some subtle damage along these lines as a result. If you park in the hot sun my advice is to always use a shade for the windshield and leave a window cracked open if you can. My parcel shelf (cargo cover) is also sun damaged and I’m planning on having the rear window tinted to help with that.

Best of luck with it. The cars are gorgeous and arguably undervalued in the market. That said, learn to accept that Aston parts pricing reflects the original $200k price, not whatever you paid for a used one.

 

Thanks for the reply. And yes, unfortunately the price of admission for parts and service is sometimes shocking. I experience the same thing with my GT Speed, although so far I have been very fortunate with that car.....

 

Hi, you might like this, he just bought one also. He has this Rapide video, then subsequent ones like where he gets his mechanic to look it over.
Hope you enjoy your new car

 

Thanks!

 

Congratulations. I had owned a Vantage 07 for about 11 years. I traded it in on a 12 Rapide. I prefer the look of of the front end on the 13 and older models, more DB9 like. These cars are more reliable than people think. They had a convententional automatic rather than an automated clutch in the Vantage, which tend to go through clutches. I think the original prices on these cars were off putting (200K plus) and the performance did not really come close to the Panamera. I happen to think it's one of the best designs ever for a 4 door vehicle and offers some real utility with the decent rear seats, their ability to fold and great storage in the rear. And, how can you beat a naturally aspirated 6 liter V12? With their lack of popularity the value on these is tremendous. I have owned a number Porsches, Mercs and BMWs and this is my overall favorite. The sound is fantastic but you'll need to order the remote which allows you to open the exhaust valves at low rpm. Enjoy

 

yes, I absolutely love the lines of it, and I agree about preferring the pre-2014 models before they switched to the big grille. As for speed, I didnt really buy it for that. I bought it basically as a sport touring model. Im sending it over to the local Aston dealer for a once-over. Hopefully no big-ticket issues....... (fingers crossed)