db7 3.2 volante. reliable?

[A.C.E]

thinking of taking the plunge, so would like to hear from owners of the 3.2 6c engine cars.
how reliable are they and are the running costs scary? also, i have a nipper, so will he fit in the rear with a child seat?

all info greatly received.

[michael gould]

A.C.E said:

thinking of taking the plunge, so would like to hear from owners of the 3.2 6c engine cars.
how reliable are they and are the running costs scary? also, i have a nipper, so will he fit in the rear with a child seat?

all info greatly received.

I had a DB7 i6 coupe....they are reasonably reliable but bits do fall off them....the biggest problem with them is they are a bit tractor like....not a car I would want to drive as my every day car but would be geat fun at the weekend.....with regards to your "nipper" there is very little room in the back and very few car seats will fit.....the DB7 Vantage was a much better car with a more modern feel

[Knights of Aston]

The autos are pretty slow and the gearbox can be a bit noisy. Listen out for timing chain rattle from cold and under acceleration. This can be fixed but it's expensive and requires a slight alteration to the inside of the front cover. If the exhaust sounds like it's blowing from under the bonnet, the mainfolds are cracked. The very early ones are a bit harder to fault trace in the engine dept if anything should go wrong. The driveline is essentially old Jag XJ so parts are pretty cheap compared to the V12 Vantage that superceeded it (and is a better drive). The A/C can be horrendously expensive to fix if the evaporator fails, rear trailing arm bushes wear out pretty quick as can the front subframe V mounts and wishbones bushes. The springs can snap due to corrosion and the rust protection is not all it's cracked up to be compared to newer cars. Check the paint work for blisters on the front wings and bootlid. There's more but I'm going on a bit now...On the bright side, it is a pretty car and if you get a good one you'll enjoy it.
Get it checked by someone with DB7 knowledge before you buy. Oh and they all pull to the left on test drive, the only concern is if it pulls too much! (ie let go and crash!)
Good Luck!