Need Vanquish Advice
Discussion
I am giving serious consideration towards buying a Vanquish. It would be my 1st Aston and need help on what to look out for.
A couple of specific questions, is the Vanquish S worth the premium over the Vanquish ?
Is a base Vanquish fitted with the SDP pack equal to the S ?
Can you use it as a daily driver ?
Does the paddle tranmission eat through clutches ?
What are rough annual maintenance costs ?
In additon I have looked at a few Ferrari 575's. They seem to offer similar performance for roughly GBP 15-20k less. Is the Ferrari a real alternative ?
Thank you for the help.
A couple of specific questions, is the Vanquish S worth the premium over the Vanquish ?
Is a base Vanquish fitted with the SDP pack equal to the S ?
Can you use it as a daily driver ?
Does the paddle tranmission eat through clutches ?
What are rough annual maintenance costs ?
In additon I have looked at a few Ferrari 575's. They seem to offer similar performance for roughly GBP 15-20k less. Is the Ferrari a real alternative ?
Thank you for the help.
By any stretch of rational thought the S isnt worth the premium over the normal car. Then you drive one and to be honest rational thought doesnt get a look in. Sorry, Id love to be able to give you sensible, financially astute answers, but that side of my brain rather goes out of the window when it comes to Vanqs. I drove the standard Vanq and thought "oo I do like this S, the S surely cant be worth more *that* much more than this?" and then I drove the S and thought "I was right, the S isnt financially worth much more than the standard car but blimey I dont think Id be able to resist the S over the standard Vanq!" It basically feels like a Spinal Tap amp...a Vanq turned upto 11. A 575 feels like a Mondeo by comparison 
A 456 though has a bit of the "special feel" of the Vanq.
A Vanq is possibly just about the only car I could get away with with doing something silly money wise and the wife wouldnt seriously unhappy. It isnt a theory though I want to fully test out yet!
A 456 though has a bit of the "special feel" of the Vanq.A Vanq is possibly just about the only car I could get away with with doing something silly money wise and the wife wouldnt seriously unhappy. It isnt a theory though I want to fully test out yet!
i'd concur with the Vanquish S comments above ^^ a great car, but the standard car still offers pretty much the same experience TBH
an uncle of mine uses his '03 Vanquish every day in all weathers and it has been superb thus far, a very nice big GT for long distances and thrilling when hustled along too, it'll quite happily crawl through town traffic too with regular stopping and starting
can't offer much assistance on the gearbox issues, except my uncles car has only had 1 fault with its thus far and that was a short and simple fix at the main dealer
go for it, you won't be disapointed at all!
an uncle of mine uses his '03 Vanquish every day in all weathers and it has been superb thus far, a very nice big GT for long distances and thrilling when hustled along too, it'll quite happily crawl through town traffic too with regular stopping and starting
can't offer much assistance on the gearbox issues, except my uncles car has only had 1 fault with its thus far and that was a short and simple fix at the main dealer
go for it, you won't be disapointed at all!
Edited by Forthright MC on Friday 15th February 15:17
Yep, the vanquish is a great car with a fine gearbox IF you remember its a manual gearbox, not an auto unit. Treat the clutch as you would on any high performance car and it'll be fine.
(Unless you're Vicky Butler Henderson, who used the gearbox to brake from top speed "to save the brakes" and wondered why it kept failing)
The manual conversion is about £15k, from memory. Not sure if you can choose which ratios to have or not.
(Unless you're Vicky Butler Henderson, who used the gearbox to brake from top speed "to save the brakes" and wondered why it kept failing)
The manual conversion is about £15k, from memory. Not sure if you can choose which ratios to have or not.
Higgins23 said:
I am giving serious consideration towards buying a Vanquish. It would be my 1st Aston and need help on what to look out for.
A couple of specific questions, is the Vanquish S worth the premium over the Vanquish ?
Is a base Vanquish fitted with the SDP pack equal to the S ?
Can you use it as a daily driver ?
Does the paddle tranmission eat through clutches ?
What are rough annual maintenance costs ?
In additon I have looked at a few Ferrari 575's. They seem to offer similar performance for roughly GBP 15-20k less. Is the Ferrari a real alternative ?
Thank you for the help.
I can't answer the Ferrari question as I've never driven one - but on the Vanquish I have a thought or two.A couple of specific questions, is the Vanquish S worth the premium over the Vanquish ?
Is a base Vanquish fitted with the SDP pack equal to the S ?
Can you use it as a daily driver ?
Does the paddle tranmission eat through clutches ?
What are rough annual maintenance costs ?
In additon I have looked at a few Ferrari 575's. They seem to offer similar performance for roughly GBP 15-20k less. Is the Ferrari a real alternative ?
Thank you for the help.
I think the Vanquish S is a better car - different drive train, better (bigger, stronger) clutch, new cylinder heads with fully machined inlet ports and combustion chambers to improve airflow, revised engine mapping and new fuel injectors - and then the SDP parts, which are essentially suspension and brakes.
The non S SDP has simply the better brakes and suspension than the standard V12 Vanquish.
Given all of that.... AND the fact that the V12 Vanquish is rather fragile in the clutch department, then the S starts to look more attractive. The S won't go through clutches.
Just reading, if the 575 is 15-20k less then i would tend to go for one of those. Only because these are big cars and servicing is going to be pretty pricey. Also, you could find a manual 575 and clutches last a lot longer on these than f1 paddles.
But, down to you, if you want a vanq get an s its a very special car, if you want a ferrari get the 575.
But, down to you, if you want a vanq get an s its a very special car, if you want a ferrari get the 575.
Higgins23 said:
Appreciate all the advice. There seems to be a general preference for the Vanquish S over the Vanquish but no major negatives on either. I will try to find a dealer who will let me test drive both Vanquishes and then I will try to drive the Ferrari 575 later on the same day.
I would put my vote on Vanqish S over Vanquish as well, the interior upgrades alone would be enough to sway my vote.I agree. I wouldn't buy a Vanquish for every day use. The clutches don't like being stuck in traffic for too long, especially crawling up hills.
The Vanquish S is a much better car than a standard Vanquish. The gearbox uses a better position sensor than a standard Vanquish which makes it much more relible. Neither cars eat clutches like Ferrari's do, I've seen several cars with 30,000 plus miles on the origional clutches.
The easiest way to check for a worn clutch is to put on sport mode and give it a full boot full in 2nd and 3rd. At about 5000rpm the gearbox goes into hypershift mode and if the clutch is weak the revs will flare up and bounce off the rev limiter. This will only happen in sport mode.
For every day use, I would recommend a DB9 or V8, both are much nore user friendly and only need servicing once a year.
The Vanquish S is a much better car than a standard Vanquish. The gearbox uses a better position sensor than a standard Vanquish which makes it much more relible. Neither cars eat clutches like Ferrari's do, I've seen several cars with 30,000 plus miles on the origional clutches.
The easiest way to check for a worn clutch is to put on sport mode and give it a full boot full in 2nd and 3rd. At about 5000rpm the gearbox goes into hypershift mode and if the clutch is weak the revs will flare up and bounce off the rev limiter. This will only happen in sport mode.
For every day use, I would recommend a DB9 or V8, both are much nore user friendly and only need servicing once a year.
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