New to the marque...DB7 Vantage or Vanquish

[comrie]

Hello everybody,


I have been a Porsche man for the last 20 years and am thinking of dipping my toe into the world of the Aston
Have always loved the lines of the DB7 and had pretty much set my stall out in the pursuit of a DB7 Vantage up to around £35000.....then when having a browse on autotrader noticed that for around £10-£15k more the Vanquish came onto the radar.....now thats one stunning car !!!

Would there be any large differences regarding the general day to day running costs between the DB7V and the Vanquish.......is the Vanquish gearbox really as bad as Clarkson states........looking at max 5000 miles per year
Any owner views,advice or general comments greatly received


Cheers Steve

[rick-derby-]

The DB7 and Vanquish can e more expensive to run than the later cars, the early vanquish had wire potentiometers on the gearbox to the transmission ecu to tell it the gear position, honestly this setup is quite poor, the later cars went over too a magnetic sensor setup which is loads better, once these boxes are setup properly they are a joy to drive, retrofitting the sensors and setting up the transmissions is a job we are asked to do regularly, this month in classic cars for sale there is a great article on the vanquish and will answer most if not all of your questions, I believe it goes on sale this week, if you require specific information just let me know,

[comrie]

Thanks Rick for the info regarding the gearbox on the Vanquish....what is the approximate cost on the sensor upgrade and gearbox setup?

These models (DB7/Vanquish) are so beautiful in my eyes that i must not let my heart rule my head.
After again reading numerous postings on this forum...i am personally getting the feeling that in the case of the DB7 theres not a massive gulf between DB7/DB7V....i maybe way off,just the immpression im getting.

What i am looking for is a reasonably reliable GT car....that wont do more than 5000 miles per year...managable servicing costs

DB7.....stunning looks......reasonable servicing....healthy backup fund
DB7V12..stunning looks V12.....servicing more expensive
Vanquish..stunning looks x 10.....could be expensive to maintain?

choices....choices...choices


steve

[tuscaneer]

i found the 6 monthly service intervals on the db7 to be a bit of a pain but i suppose the vanquish is the same.stretch to a v8v(much cheaper to service etc.), you know it makes sense!

[rick-derby-]

for the sensor upgrade full setup and asm fluid gearbox oil and diff oil change would be about £2000.00, an extra £3000 if uprated clutch to be fitted, further improvements can be made by reflashing the engine ecu's and the transmission control unit with modified software but again this will add the cost of about £1200.00, The only thing i can say is that the improvements make a significant difference to the driveabilty of the car and with the consequence of great enjoyment,

[comrie]

Thanks everyone for there advice and comments.....im not keen on spending another £2k+ on top of the initial purchase cost of the Vanquish as it is near the limit i wanted to spend

So it looks like it may come down to the 2 DB7 models......would be prepared to travel to get the car serviced properly and Rick seems to be the guru

Is there a large diffrence in servicing costs between the 2 DB7 models....with travelling less than 5000 miles a year would i get away with yearly servicing with perhaps 6 monthly oil changes

I must be patient.......perhaps worth putting the search of until next spring and hope Vanquish prices have dropped a little more to offset the gearbox upgrade


steve

[rick-derby-]

most Db7 Vantages i see only have a yearly service usually at the time of an mot, this does cut the servicing bill considerably and i personally do not see any problem with this and actively recommend it, as an idea on servicing an interim service is £345.00 but the major one which would then come every two years is between £550.00 and £1000.00 depending on what is required, the other major problem with the V12 is the coil packs which seem to fail approximately every four to five years this is a quite expensive repair at about £1100.00, they can also be a bit heavy on bushes, sorry i can't be much help on the i6 model as that is not one we cover and leave those to the heritage specialists, if you let me have your location i will recommend someone in your area,

[Neil1300R]

If you are looking at that money look at the V8 Vantage. Reputedly cheaper to service than the DB7. Handles better, and a lot more modern car

[rick-derby-]

i agree with neil defiantly cheaper to run with annual service cost between £245 and £545

[comrie]

Ok guys......servicing costs on the DB7 Vantage dont seem too bad and compare well to the costs i have had with my 911's.....regarding the coil replacement doesnt worry me too much (£20/per month put aside over 48 months).....V8V at top off budget at the moment but will be considered in the future.....DB7 Vantage leaves me a slush fund

So DB7 Vantage....want a coupe.....what are the best colours/colours to avoid

Like the colour of this but not sure of the interior


http://search.autotrader.co.uk/es-uk/www/cars/ASTO...

Edited by comrie on Friday 11th September 15:54

[timmybob]

If you are new to Astons, then I would recommend you get any car you're considering purchasing inspected first. I looked at a few 'dogs' before I found my current car, and even though I thought it was fine an in depth inspection from Rick saved me a lot of money as the garage I bought from rectified all the faults he found. Others have not been so lucky and spent thousands after purchase. Also take a look on the AMOC forum as there is a very good buyers guide.

[RichB]

comrie said:

So DB7 Vantage....want a coupe.....what are the best colours/colours to avoid

Like the colour of this but not sure of the interior

I like it but colour is a personal choice, having said that I don't recollect seeing a DB7 in a colour that I don't like I like two tone leather (see my Griff 500) and tan an blue works IMO.

[LordBretSinclair]

Steve, I went for a DB7 Vantage (Volante) and have never regretted it. I only do about 3000 miles pa and have the car serviced each year, just before the MOT. Colour is a personal choice - a copy of photos of mine - Dubonnet Rosso with parchment interior
regards, Lord Brett

[breakdown]

Hi again. as a db7 owner i have a list of faults that are common with this vehicle-not all expensive. the temp gauge goes to red-common fault but the coolant temp is norm.your other contacts seem very sound, so you will have a good database that you can contact. the '7' is the sexiest car ever designed thanks to ian callum.