Hi all!

I picked up my first Aston, a 1 owner (ish) 2007 V8 Vantage 6MT with 51k miles on the clock.

I'm located just outside of Pittsburgh, PA. Unfortunately it's about time to tuck the cars away for the winter but it will give me some time to tackle any maintenance due on the Aston.

I have a long history of owning Honda S2000s. I've had 4 so far along with a 997 911S for a couple years. I've driven many cars but none of them were ever as engaging and exciting as my S2000's were, until I drove the Vantage. My boss purchased this car from it's original owner, owned it for a couple months, did most of the needed maintenance on it and only drove it a couple hundred miles. I drove the car right after he bought it and fell in love. I told him I must be first in line should he ever decide to sell it. Shortly after, he decided he wanted a catamaran instead, so he offered it to me and here we are! It's not perfect but I snagged it for below market price, so I'm alright with it.

I'm totally smitten by the car. This is my first Aston and the first Aston I've ever driven. I always thought they were quiet touring cars until I drove this one.. much more soul than expected! This car drives like a V8 S2000 - loves to rev and perfectly balanced. The clutch takes a little getting used to, but the more miles I put on it the smoother I get with it.

I've been reading and watching as much information as possible learning about these cars. I intend on maintaining the reasonable things myself. I do have many questions about certain items on my car but I'll make a separate thread for that. Pics below!

 

welcome... there's something about these cars...

 

Congrats! Funny you explain all that, I've had 3 S2K's, 3 generations of BMW M cars but always had my heart stuck on the S2K. 100% agree that the vantage feels like a V8 version of a true drivers car such as the S. I picked up my 2010 6sp convertible recently, and ordered highflow cats and a tune from Velocity AP with the black friday sales going on.

 

Likewise on the M cars... I searched for a good condition e92 M3 6MT for a long time and couldn't ever find one for a reasonable price.. I was quite close to purchase on a few of those.

 

They are really fun to drive, and worth the DIY effort!

If you really plan to work on it yourself, I really recommend a maxjack lift. Perfect for a small garage, and really makes getting to all 4 corners, and under it feasible. I used mine to swap the engine out.

https://www.maxjax.com/maxjax/

Basically if you grew up with jackstands, this is heaven. If you worked at a shop with a full two post lift, it's a step down. And, while it's $2400 bucks, you can spend that and more on the parts that you are going to install, and it really allows all the basic maintenance to be trivally done. And... all the maintainance requires you to lift the car, so just get it now!

 

Thank you, I have seen those lifts before.

Fortunately I have 11.5ft ceilings in my garage. I plan on getting a 4 post lift for DIY and winter storage stacking of vehicles.