Vantage ownership?

[Muffster]

Evening folks.
Well basically the question is, can i do it? First of all, i'm no lottery winner so i would be looking at an early v8 vantage around the 35k mark.
Current garage is, Rangerover TD6 vogue, E46 320D, 1989 sierra sapphire cosworth, 1974 VW camper. All of which would be sold should i decide to take the plunge. I'm due to leave the forces in a couple of years and would love to do some touring around Europe and have a fabulous car for trips out at the weekend, it wouldn't be a daily driver.
Depriciation is a factor, but is it soomething i could put up with for 18 months - 2 years to experience the priviledge and thrill of ownership.
Obviously it will be expensive to maintain, any offers on a good indy in Yorkshire and rough cost of servicing? but the prospect of something drastic going wrong and having to sell a limb scares me.
Your thoughts and experiences please.

Thanks.

[bogie]

so far they are proving very reliable ...they were built to Ford durability standards and are not in a high state of tune, so all good on that front

consumables and servicing are no more expensive than a premium German car ...nor are parts really in my experience (60 odd thousands miles in a Vantage over last 5 years)

the biggest expense compared to anything else you have would be the clutch ..which is a £2K bill at cheapest and difficult to judge when they go. Im on original still, others have gone at 30K miles or less

other than that I dont see any issue in running one...as long as you can afford to buy the car and cope with 18mpg average, im sure you will have a great time touring in one

[Muffster]

Thanks for that.
I'm not too fussed about fuel costs after 5+ years for the Td6 and thats diesel prices so i'm guessing there won't be a great deal of difference.
So where do you get yours serviced/clutch done/

Cheers.

[bogie]

I used to get mine serviced at DMS in Derby but sadly they are no more

I think this year I will probably end up at JCT in Leeds (about 1 hour north) or somewhere further afield ...not sure yet

its quite a competitive market for servicing so you will find most dealers will do deals if you ring around

[michael gould]

A 35k V8V will probably only loose 6k over 2 years if you buy wisely and look after it .......good luck with the hunt

[nw28840]

Muffster,

I took the plunge in Feb 2011 , I paid £32.5k for a Dec 05 Tungsten Silver car.

It's been awesome and i don't regret the experience for a second.

Oh....and i'm not loaded either

[Niki M]

After years of dreaming about AM's, I got to buy one last May and haven't regretted it for a minute (56 plate V8V). Every time I drive it, I have a huge grin on my face and still can't believe it's mine. I am also not loaded but I believe in living for the moment ...

[theno23]

Forget 30k, I've seen 15k cars with knackered clutches.

[bogie]

theno23 said:

Forget 30k, I've seen 15k cars with knackered clutches.

Ive heard of 1 car at 10K miles needing a new one...they did manage to claim under warranty though as there was something quite obviously wrong with it

probably the best way to judge, rather than actually open the gearbox and inspect it, go for a drive with the owner and see how he drives it...particularly things like hill starts

[Muffster]

I could live with 6k over a couple of years.
3 years of boxster ownership lost me 10k and 5 years with a RR vogue, roughly 15K. ouch!
NW28840, that is stunning, i'm green with envy.
Now, am i being naive/stupid or can i do the basics like brake pads etc myself. Good/bad idea?
Your replies are very encouraging but i'm still debating should i opt for something more 'normal' such as an RS4 or M5.

I'm going to look at one this aft. Out of my price range but exciting nontheless.
Thanks.

[tonyarmitstead]

Brake pads are easy (I've done them - and stopped them squealing).
Thermostat replacement is doable (I've done it).

I used to do a lot of work on my own cars. One great thing about the Aston is that it is well built. When you take things off, you can easily put them back i.e. no crappy plastic clips!
If you have done brake pads before then doing them on the Aston is easy. You do however have to buy a low profile trolley jack - my 'normal' one would not go under.

Good luck.

[bogie]

an RS4 or M5 will cost just as much to run (if not more IME) and probably depreciate more too ..as well as being a bit more "ordinary" to be in, once you stop going fast they are pretty much the same as a rep mobile inside

Ive had a couple of hot Audis, my RS6 I used daily and did over 30K miles in it ....it cost 2x as much to run as my Vantage over the same mileage (mostly due to dealer and horrific consumable costs), and it had £6K of warranty work in that time

..my Vantage has had a new thermostat (£180 fitted) and coolant switch (£20) In the early days it had a few warranty fixes for squeaky belts and brakes (any 5 year old car should have had these done by now)

the last 2 service bills have been £450 and £550 and its on its 2nd set of discs n pads n tyres

the "biggie" i.e. the clutch is still going well (touch wood) ...maybe it will make 70K miles

[Muffster]

So what's the score with servicing then folks?
How often are the schedules and roughly how much. I'm only looking at doing around 5-7k a year mileage so hopefully that would keep costs down.

Thanks.

[michael gould]

Muffster said:

So what's the score with servicing then folks?
How often are the schedules and roughly how much. I'm only looking at doing around 5-7k a year mileage so hopefully that would keep costs down.

Thanks.

10k miles or 12 months..........550 - 800 depending on which one not including new pads ect

[Muffster]

Ok, so is there a mandatory 12m service?
I ask because it may take me 18 months + to cover 10k miles. Would there be an issue with stamps in the book being longer than 12m?

Thanks.

[Jockman]

Muffster said:

Ok, so is there a mandatory 12m service?
I ask because it may take me 18 months + to cover 10k miles. Would there be an issue with stamps in the book being longer than 12m?

Thanks.

Absolutely no probs with that !! No service is ever mandatory.

So long as you're not looking to sell your car at any future point

[EpsomJames]

Muffster said:

Ok, so is there a mandatory 12m service?
I ask because it may take me 18 months + to cover 10k miles. Would there be an issue with stamps in the book being longer than 12m?

Thanks.

It's 10K miles or 12 months, whichever comes first.

Of course you have the choice of when you get your car serviced, but if you don't adhere to the service intervals you will reduce the resale value.

Cheers.

[michael gould]

Jockman said:

Muffster said:

Ok, so is there a mandatory 12m service?
I ask because it may take me 18 months + to cover 10k miles. Would there be an issue with stamps in the book being longer than 12m?

Thanks.

Absolutely no probs with that !! No service is ever mandatory.

So long as you're not looking to sell your car at any future point

Ha ha he's right