The cars and bikes thread!

[tribe125]

A little lower down the ladder but giddily high for me - and it's eight years since I bought a car.





Paid for today but won't be parked outside my house until next week.

I think they must use a backdrop for the photos. Maidstone doesn't look like that...

[mlcor]

A little lower down the ladder but giddily high for me - and it's eight years since I bought a car.





Paid for today but won't be parked outside my house until next week.

I think they must use a backdrop for the photos. Maidstone doesn't look like that...

That's a handsome car! We rarely see wagons here (do you still call them shooting brakes?), everyone seems to want SUVs instead...

[Raza]

That's a handsome car! We rarely see wagons here (do you still call them shooting brakes?), everyone seems to want SUVs instead...

A shooting brake is technically different from a wagon. I believe it denotes a 2 door car that is converted to a wagon.

Wagon and estate car are the same thing.

[stew77]

Thanks, Chris. I suspect the v12 actually might be less enjoyable--it would add weight to the front of the car, and of course weight overall, which I think could hurt the nimble feel of the car. In any case, the V12 would be way out of my price range. In fact, if it weren't for the fact that this was a leftover 2015 (albeit brand new--20 miles on the odometer when I bought it), I wouldn't have considered it. Basically, the dealer took the massive first year depreciation hit rather than me, and I got around 70% of what I paid for my Lotus when I bought it new nine years ago in trade. It was easy for them, because they are a Lotus dealer as well, and have serviced my car for a number of years, so they know how well kept it is. Bottom line, net price was less than I would have paid for a Jaguar F Type R, or a Corvette Z06 roadster (not that I would have considered the latter).

You know my watch collection, and it reflects my overall taste, which has a distinct preference for things that are a bit different and off the beaten path. Aston Martin only produced around 1600 cars in total in 2015, around 1000 came to the US, so my guess is that there aren't more than a couple of hundred Vantages from that year over here, and therefore probably no more than a couple of thousand in total over the past ten years. And even fewer of the GT version. Kind of like the Nienaber of cars--highly unlikely that I'll run into another one...

I agree with you on all accounts ml! This one is way out of my price range, but based on your comparisons to the TypeR and Z06, you stumbled onto and negotiated an incredible deal.

Just for grins, I did a quick search on the used market for Vantages and was completely shocked to see that 2006-2008 models are available in the $40-$50K range! (and many with not a lot of miles on the odometer either...tempting indeed ).

I think you nailed it with this one, and like you said, such low numbers produced that you will likely never run into another one.

[mlcor]

I agree with you on all accounts ml! This one is way out of my price range, but based on your comparisons to the TypeR and Z06, you stumbled onto and negotiated an incredible deal.

Just for grins, I did a quick search on the used market for Vantages and was completely shocked to see that 2006-2008 models are available in the $40-$50K range! (and many with not a lot of miles on the odometer either...tempting indeed ).

I think you nailed it with this one, and like you said, such low numbers produced that you will likely never run into another one.

Based on my research, you'd want to be careful about 06-08 models with the original Sportshift I transmission; they had some issues. And you'd probably want to check on general repair costs...

P.S. The Aston Martin warranty is 3 years, unlimited mileage. I asked about that and the salesmen said the typical owner averages only 1500 miles per year, so AM doesn't worry about mileage.

[geoffbot]

A little lower down the ladder but giddily high for me - and it's eight years since I bought a car.





Paid for today but won't be parked outside my house until next week.

I think they must use a backdrop for the photos. Maidstone doesn't look like that...

Very nice Alan! I wouldn't have pegged you for a Mercedes man. Which model?

[mlcor]

A shooting brake is technically different from a wagon. I believe it denotes a 2 door car that is converted to a wagon.

Wagon and estate car are the same thing.

Hey, I used to own a shooting brake, then (borrowed picture, don't have one of mine):



Early '70's Corolla. Automatic, couldn't get out of its own way, but could hold all of the band's gear, which was the important thing at the time...

[Henry Krinkle]

Based on my research, you'd want to be careful about 06-08 models with the original Sportshift I transmission; they had some issues. And you'd probably want to check on general repair costs...

P.S. The Aston Martin warranty is 3 years, unlimited mileage. I asked about that and the salesmen said the typical owner averages only 1500 miles per year, so AM doesn't worry about mileage.

Are you going to teach them to be a bit more concerned?

[stew77]

Based on my research, you'd want to be careful about 06-08 models with the original Sportshift I transmission; they had some issues. And you'd probably want to check on general repair costs...

P.S. The Aston Martin warranty is 3 years, unlimited mileage. I asked about that and the salesmen said the typical owner averages only 1500 miles per year, so AM doesn't worry about mileage.

That's solid advice ml. Agreed, in even just my short look, the original Sportshift 1 transmission was mentioned as having issues (If I got even remotely serious about an 06-08, would definitely go with the manual transmission and educate myself on general repair costs, which I expect are pretty high). Very interesting regarding the unlimited mileage warranty! No doubt that most people that buy these aren't using them for their daily driver, and they are probably sharing a garage with several other ringers in the stable.

[mlcor]

Are you going to teach them to be a bit more concerned?

Nah, this is my fair weather car. After nine years, my Lotus had 25,400 miles on it.