Early V8V as a weekend toy

[Ecosseven]

I’ve been thinking on and off about changing my ‘fun car’. I currently have a Mondeo for daily commuting and a Caterham for fun. My initial thoughts were of Porsche Boxsters and BMW Z4’s. An early V8 vantage is a bit of a stretch but would mean fulfilling a boyhood dream. Early V8’s are now around £30K and the seven is worth about 10K.

Annual mileage for the ‘fun’ car would be around 4K a year and it would be garaged when not in use. Due to the low mileage I’m not too worried about fuel costs or insurance (I’m 36 with a good driving record and live in a quiet, low crime area). I’m more concerned about servicing costs, depreciation and any potentially big repair bills so any advice on these would be very welcome.

Thanks

Edited by Ecosseven on Monday 19th December 15:34

[peterr96]

So long as your expectations are set right, this should be fine.
The Vantage is not a caterham replacement, but then nor is a boxster or Z4.
Providing you are fully embracing that, then read on.

Servicing on V8V should be about £1k with franchished. Independant, maybe half that.
Reliablity I think on the whole pretty well fine. There have been a few instances with faulty thermostats and some bubbling paint round door handles.
At you end of the buying curve, depreciation should be realtively glacial
Fuel will be your primary expense (4000mls will be about £1250). Your overall average speed may be lower owing to the number of unexpected conversations you end up having while fueling

[krisdelta]

Sounds like you have some fun test driving ahead of you.

Biggest potential one-off bill will be the clutch @£2.5k
Tyres @£900 a set
Front discs / pads @£1k
Depreciation will be significantly slower now, if you buy now and sell in a spring / summer period (outside of a financial meltdown ) you shouldn't lose more than 15% over 18 months I'd have thought at that end of the market.

Have fun!

Kris

[julian1963]

Beware of some syndrome I recently discovered: once you own this car you don't want to leave it!
The risk is that you end up selling your Mondeo...
The V8V is an addicting car!

[bogie]

discs n pads should be £250 + £200 + 1 hour fitting ...so £500 ish per axle at an indy, im on 2nd set all round at 60K miles and maybe need some more

[krisdelta]

bogie said:

discs n pads should be £250 + £200 + 1 hour fitting ...so £500 ish per axle at an indy, im on 2nd set all round at 60K miles and maybe need some more

Where do you get your parts from Bogie? I must confess I am replaying what I thought to be true. Front discs / pads will be mid next year for me..

[bogie]

last time through DMS, but im sure any of the other independants can get them

oh - you may need pad wear sensors if youve gone down that low too and they are about £25 each

either way you should be able to do front/rear discs, pads, sensors and handbrake pads for under £1500

Edited by bogie on Monday 19th December 21:47

[Murph7355]

peterr96 said:

So long as your expectations are set right, this should be fine.
The Vantage is not a caterham replacement, but then nor is a boxster or Z4. ...

Perfect advice.

Personally I'm not sure a V8V is quite electric enough to *replace* a 7...of the cars I've owned thus far, none really are. But the one that comes closest, despite me loving the Aston, would be the 355 tbh.

[jontysafe]

I'd go Z4M coupe, you'll get a belter with BMW warranty for 18K ish. A more inspiring drive IMHO than the V8V and cheaper to boot. Will admit its not as nice a place to sit though! Oh and you'll get piles and go mad from rattles. Hmmm.......Aston it is

[steveatesh]

jontysafe said:

I'd go Z4M coupe, you'll get a belter with BMW warranty for 18K ish. A more inspiring drive IMHO than the V8V and cheaper to boot. Will admit its not as nice a place to sit though! Oh and you'll get piles and go mad from rattles. Hmmm.......Aston it is

Hmmm so there you are at the weekend with your new toy. Which one sounds best to you:

" well should we take the Z4?"

" well should we take the Aston?"

And when you are out in the new weekend toy, which one will make you feel better just because it's yours?

[krisdelta]

bogie said:

last time through DMS, but im sure any of the other independants can get them

oh - you may need pad wear sensors if youve gone down that low too and they are about £25 each

either way you should be able to do front/rear discs, pads, sensors and handbrake pads for under £1500

Edited by bogie on Monday 19th December 21:47

Cheers Bogie

[mikey k]

jontysafe said:

I'd go Z4M coupe, you'll get a belter with BMW warranty for 18K ish. A more inspiring drive IMHO than the V8V and cheaper to boot. Will admit its not as nice a place to sit though! Oh and you'll get piles and go mad from rattles. Hmmm.......Aston it is

The couple I test drove a while back didn't handle any where near as nicely as a V8V with sports pack.
The tyres and suspension let it down.

[JaseB]

steveatesh said:

jontysafe said:

I'd go Z4M coupe, you'll get a belter with BMW warranty for 18K ish. A more inspiring drive IMHO than the V8V and cheaper to boot. Will admit its not as nice a place to sit though! Oh and you'll get piles and go mad from rattles. Hmmm.......Aston it is

Hmmm so there you are at the weekend with your new toy. Which one sounds best to you:

" well should we take the Z4?"

" well should we take the Aston?"

And when you are out in the new weekend toy, which one will make you feel better just because it's yours?

Have to go with Steve on this one, I turned up to buy a V8V in my now sold Z4 Coupe (non M), to be fair I ended up with a DB9 but Aston vs Beemer is just chalk and cheese. I didn't think the V8V was actually a rocket ship after the Z4 straight line wise but the drive, ride (most of all the ride, tramlining and bumpsteer) and sense of occasion kicks it into touch.

Having a 7 and a DB9 is a pretty good mix though...

Edited by JaseB on Tuesday 20th December 09:03

[Greenslade]

I think restricting yourself to 4k miles per year will be a problem, if you decide to do a little old european trip you'll be doing about £400 a week on fuel, it is well worth it mind.

[EpsomJames]

Murph7355 said:

peterr96 said:

So long as your expectations are set right, this should be fine.
The Vantage is not a caterham replacement, but then nor is a boxster or Z4. ...

Perfect advice.

Personally I'm not sure a V8V is quite electric enough to *replace* a 7...of the cars I've owned thus far, none really are. But the one that comes closest, despite me loving the Aston, would be the 355 tbh.

I agree with this. The V8V is a luxurious, practical (2 seats aside) car that you can use everyday but is also fun to drive and looks and sounds great, however it's a long way away from a weekend tearabout like a 7.

I think that replacing your 7 with a V8V *only* as a weekend car could see you changing it again after a few months if that's what you are looking for.

[Ecosseven]

Owning a V8V and a 7 is not an option for me. I need a cheap to run daily driver with 4 seats and a decent boot that I can use for anything and everything.

The 7 has been fantastic and I'm still not sure about selling it. I've owned my current seven for the last 4 years and its worth the same, if not more, than I paid for it. Insurance is less than £200 and repairs and servicing are also cheap. In short it's perfect as a second car used for weekend and evening blasts.

I probably have two options.

1. Keep the 7 and upgrade the mondeo to something newer.
2. Keep the mondeo and change the 7 for another toy such as an Elise, V8V, corvette, boxster, or Z4.

Decisions, decisions............

Thanks for the replies.

[Murph7355]

Ecosseven said:

Owning a V8V and a 7 is not an option for me. I need a cheap to run daily driver with 4 seats and a decent boot that I can use for anything and everything.

The 7 has been fantastic and I'm still not sure about selling it. I've owned my current seven for the last 4 years and its worth the same, if not more, than I paid for it. Insurance is less than £200 and repairs and servicing are also cheap. In short it's perfect as a second car used for weekend and evening blasts.

I probably have two options.

1. Keep the 7 and upgrade the mondeo to something newer.
2. Keep the mondeo and change the 7 for another toy such as an Elise, V8V, corvette, boxster, or Z4.

Decisions, decisions............

Thanks for the replies.

From what you've posted here...keep the 7. You'll very much regret selling it for the options in (2) IMO.

If you have space for a third car, why not get something *cheaper* than the Mondeo and a V8V in a year or two

[Ecosseven]

Murph7355 said:

Ecosseven said:

Owning a V8V and a 7 is not an option for me. I need a cheap to run daily driver with 4 seats and a decent boot that I can use for anything and everything.

The 7 has been fantastic and I'm still not sure about selling it. I've owned my current seven for the last 4 years and its worth the same, if not more, than I paid for it. Insurance is less than £200 and repairs and servicing are also cheap. In short it's perfect as a second car used for weekend and evening blasts.

I probably have two options.

1. Keep the 7 and upgrade the mondeo to something newer.
2. Keep the mondeo and change the 7 for another toy such as an Elise, V8V, corvette, boxster, or Z4.

Decisions, decisions............

Thanks for the replies.

From what you've posted here...keep the 7. You'll very much regret selling it for the options in (2) IMO.

If you have space for a third car, why not get something *cheaper* than the Mondeo and a V8V in a year or two

This might be an option. It all depends on what happens to the value of V8V's in the next 12-18 months. If they fall to £25K for a decent one then I could perhaps, just about, possibly, maybe, justify one as a daily driver!

Thanks again.