Vanquish / Vanquish S / DB9
Discussion
I'm currently planning to put my Diablo on the market in spring, and one of the cars I can't seem to get out of my mind as possible new toy, is a Vanquish.
I'm totally new to Astons, and the only cars I could get access to locally are V8V's.
However, having heard lots of horror stories about reliability, I'm not sure a Vanquish would be a wise choice (is it ever?)...
So what does usually go wrong? I have read about the horrid gearbox, but the newer Vanquish S box would be better?
But what are the changes, what is so horrid about the box (Clarkson said it's jerky and won't shift down properly?), and do they break (or is it the clutch?)
What else is so bad about them? Do they come with satnav? I suppose it's that poor excuse from Volvo?
In one of the threads here I read something about a service every 6 months? Seems somewhat over the top to me...
I suppose the best bet would be a manual vanquish S, but have only seen one, in RHD, none in LHD.
Another option would be a DB9, though I prefer the look of the Vanquish, or the DBS... The latter being a tad pricy... But are they much better? Would go for the volante in that case...
Any Aston owners on the mainland here?
Thanks for the info!
Simon
(Belgium)
I'm totally new to Astons, and the only cars I could get access to locally are V8V's.
However, having heard lots of horror stories about reliability, I'm not sure a Vanquish would be a wise choice (is it ever?)...
So what does usually go wrong? I have read about the horrid gearbox, but the newer Vanquish S box would be better?
But what are the changes, what is so horrid about the box (Clarkson said it's jerky and won't shift down properly?), and do they break (or is it the clutch?)
What else is so bad about them? Do they come with satnav? I suppose it's that poor excuse from Volvo?
In one of the threads here I read something about a service every 6 months? Seems somewhat over the top to me...
I suppose the best bet would be a manual vanquish S, but have only seen one, in RHD, none in LHD.
Another option would be a DB9, though I prefer the look of the Vanquish, or the DBS... The latter being a tad pricy... But are they much better? Would go for the volante in that case...
Any Aston owners on the mainland here?
Thanks for the info!
Simon
(Belgium)
XXXAngelXXX said:
here.. as for reliability i would go for the DB9 as for looks it must be the Vanquish S 
depends how much you will drive the car - i am daily DBS driver - even in wintertime with snow
I only use the car for the weekend, so won't do more than say 10.000km a year. Took my Diablo on a 2600km trip to the south of France in the summer, so that's the real test depends how much you will drive the car - i am daily DBS driver - even in wintertime with snow Edited by XXXAngelXXX on Monday 4th January 15:49
Whereabouts in Europe are you?
Too bad the DBS is more than I'm willing to spend at this time
Any ideas where to find Vanquishes on the mainland at good prices?
As a Vanquish S owner i can say that yes the gearbox isnt the best but its no way as bad as people make out. It was vastly improved on the S with magnetic sensors that control the gearbox and software upgrades i think. I dont know anything about the clutch wearing but im sure there will be a time where it will be worse for wear just like any car (see the thread on here about the AMV8 clutch for example)
The sat nav depends on what model year of car you get, all 06 cars onwards had the new style console with the Volvo sat nav found in the DB9 built into the centre console, all cars before this had the much maligned dash which looks like its been compiled from a ford parts bin and the sat nav on that is just a tiny black and white screen which is stone age compared with modern sat nav technology.
The Vanquish is best suited as a weekend blast car with long drives its speciality it just eats the road and ive had some memorable drives in mine.
The sat nav depends on what model year of car you get, all 06 cars onwards had the new style console with the Volvo sat nav found in the DB9 built into the centre console, all cars before this had the much maligned dash which looks like its been compiled from a ford parts bin and the sat nav on that is just a tiny black and white screen which is stone age compared with modern sat nav technology.
The Vanquish is best suited as a weekend blast car with long drives its speciality it just eats the road and ive had some memorable drives in mine.
Personally I would go for slightly used DB9 manual coupe with sport pack. This will out handle a Vanq, is lighter, has a nicer interior. Also could easily be used everyday. However if one could stretch the budget a bit I would certainly go for a year old DBS coupe. There are several for sale in the US at around 190K USD. I do not know what they are going for in Europe.....
The manual DB9 with sports pack was what I ended up deciding I wanted and 10 months on I'm very happy with it. They're very difficult to find though.
It's a good thing that DBSs with rear seats are even more difficult to find as otherwise I'd have been tempted to be a bit silly with my budget.
It's a good thing that DBSs with rear seats are even more difficult to find as otherwise I'd have been tempted to be a bit silly with my budget.
i am in the *fatherland* alias Germany and good Vanquishs are around 90-100 k Euros here you can find some on http://www.mobile.de/home/index.html?lang=en in english
XXXAngelXXX said:
i am in the *fatherland* alias Germany and good Vanquishs are around 90-100 k Euros here you can find some on http://www.mobile.de/home/index.html?lang=en in english
I often use Mobile.DE in my search for cars, but was wondering if you might know of other cars too Whereabouts in Germany? Far from Belgium?
XXXAngelXXX said:
Stuttgart home of um huh Porsche ? 
Oh that tractor company 
(hmm so is Lamborghini and I have one of those)
Too bad it's a long way, otherwise i'd be interested in having a look at your DBS
Have you had other Aston's in the past?
Edited by SimonSays on Tuesday 5th January 16:52
David W. said:
SimonSays said:
XXXAngelXXX said:
Stuttgart home of um huh Porsche ?
Have you had other Aston's in the past?Edited by SimonSays on Tuesday 5th January 16:52
"Bernice... cancel my 1 o'clock... on second thought, just clear my schedule for the rest of the day."
no never - i was only allowed to test-drive the first Vanquish that arrived in the *fatherland* back in 2002 together with the AM headtestdriver..... made my day - car had a lovely sound and the old Jaguar XK dashboard he was scared that i burn the clutch
i had a DB7 V12 Volante at that time
he was scared that i burn the clutch i had a DB7 V12 Volante at that time
vanquishvroom said:
As a Vanquish S owner i can say that yes the gearbox isnt the best but its no way as bad as people make out. It was vastly improved on the S with magnetic sensors that control the gearbox and software upgrades i think. I dont know anything about the clutch wearing but im sure there will be a time where it will be worse for wear just like any car (see the thread on here about the AMV8 clutch for example)
The sat nav depends on what model year of car you get, all 06 cars onwards had the new style console with the Volvo sat nav found in the DB9 built into the centre console, all cars before this had the much maligned dash which looks like its been compiled from a ford parts bin and the sat nav on that is just a tiny black and white screen which is stone age compared with modern sat nav technology.
The Vanquish is best suited as a weekend blast car with long drives its speciality it just eats the road and ive had some memorable drives in mine.
So what kind of things do go wrong on it? What is maintenance like? I'm used to something running a Diablo, but wouldn't want it to get worse...The sat nav depends on what model year of car you get, all 06 cars onwards had the new style console with the Volvo sat nav found in the DB9 built into the centre console, all cars before this had the much maligned dash which looks like its been compiled from a ford parts bin and the sat nav on that is just a tiny black and white screen which is stone age compared with modern sat nav technology.
The Vanquish is best suited as a weekend blast car with long drives its speciality it just eats the road and ive had some memorable drives in mine.
Any idea how many Vanquishes were built?
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