WTB: Late production 06/07 Vanquish S

The manual requirement is a killer demand. Or you will pay a huge premium. May be you could find an 06 in the usa and get it converted . Would be more cost effective and easier to find ?
Mine matches all of this but manual. If i ever want manual i ll get it installed.

 

Do you want a manual or unmodified?
All manual Vanqs were modified to become manuals so one excludes the other.

 

Hi Michael,
If you live in the US, then you won't be able to get a 2007MY
The US got their last Vanquish S (chassis 2254 officially but there was a 2257 unofficially apparently, for sale ) in June 2006.
Did you ever test-drive a manual conversion ? I have to say that the original gearbox, if setups correctly, works perfectly and is a joy to drive.
As Patrick said, you can get a 2006 and make it converted by Autosport Designs or directly at Newport Pagnell (AM Works) in England.

Perfect choice anyway... !!!

 

Michael, this is the only manual Vanquish S for sale currently:

https://www.classicdriver.com/de/car/aston-martin/vanquish/2006/357023

Car is originally from U.S., was registered in Poland, driven in Germany, sold to UK and is now for sale.

 

That ad just makes my point: buy a low mileage US car and get it converted for $20K. You will still come out ahead of $171K, at least for now.
EDIt: that said, the paddle VQ are as collectible long term as manual since this is how they came straight from the factory. Manual is a modification no matter how you slice it.

 

I would suggest actually driving a manual (every single one of which is modified from original by AM Works or otherwise) before buying one. Gearshift placement and console mods would be an issue for me. Possibly better looking for a factory manual V12 Vantage??

I too thought manual was the way to go until I bought a 5k mile pristine Vanquish S. I now wouldn't change a thing and remain very happy with it after 2 years despite the predominantly non-owner web-chat folklore out there. J Clarkson has much to answer for in that regard.

The properly sorted Vanquish S paddle shift is absolutely fine if one drives it like a manual transmission and remembers this is simply a manual Tremec 'box being clutched and shifted by the same Marelli electrics Ferrari used at that time.

I formed the same first-hand view of the Ferrari 599 I owned for 3 years.

Cheers

 

Another nice option is a DBS with a manual....

 

Sorry Johnny, as long as the DBS is a good GT car, it is incomparable with a Vanquish S...

 

LOL!. well said. I think you touched exactly on what the main issue is with the v12 VQ. The Clarkson hit piece who was more interested in amusing his public as a comedy show rather than actually informing and following up with the issue.

In addition, many occasional drivers of a car's friend may have experienced badly tuned transmissions or a early failing transmission. That is why you hear about completly opposite reports on that topic. The car still also suffers for early horror stories experiences with sensor failures and techs who did not have the experience for tuning these gearboxes and gear changes, which is not an easy thing to do from what I understand.

Now this is a solved issue for well maintained cars. We all know that any VQ must have had the sensor upgrade and a competent tech has serviced and tuned the gearbox.
IMO, the manual conversion was one alternative to avoid these issues above.

I drive 2 VQ (S and non S) tuned by an Heritage AM dealer and while the gearshifting is not a lap time maker like the mcLaren 570S i tried, for a system that was developed in the early 2000, it remains very efficient once you get out of step walk traffic jams.

 

When I purchased my VQ S I had the intention of converting it to a 3 pedal car. But after driving it for a little I decided to leave it paddle shift. The paddle shift adds to the GT feel of the car and is a nice contrast from the rest of my cars which are all stick.