early v8 vantages

Pretty decent. I have a 09 with F1. Small things have been a pain but only big item was a clutch about 18 mo in. Most of the cars had the problem tho and it was replaced on warranty. No repeat and I've had it for about 30k miles. Beautiful car really and intimate. Feels more analog which makes it unique. Great sound. Wish the extended warranty. Covered more. Standard warranty didn't cover enough. About $1500/yr in running cost excluding gas n tires.

SV

 

A V8 Vantage with a 3 pedal manual is a great buy for the money. And a PPI from a qualified source will help prevent any early surprises. The cars are generally reliable...but repairs on any exotic can be...well...exotic. A good independent service provide can help in that regard. Buy one and enjoy!

 

I have an 07 Vantage 6-speed and love it. It had 12k miles on it when I bought it for $55k and took another $6k in repairs to make it perfect. I expect it to be reliable as an anvil for the foreseeable future.

I do my own maintenance and expect it to cost me about $300/year for fluids and filters. Brakes are new, clutch is new, tires are new. Expecting those to last a LONG time.
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Friggin' gorgeous! Is that black or dark blue?

 

I bought my 2007 about six months ago with 23K miles for 47K. I have been a Porsche guy since 1977 and have had many over the years. This Aston is the best car I have ever owned. I love the sound of the motor, the finish of the interior, that fact that things that look like metal are metal, and the feeling of solidity. It is a wonderful car to drive. And it is flat gorgeous, both inside and out.
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Thank you. It is custom-painted Rolls Royce Black Sapphire Pearl. Looks black in direct light and dark blue in oblique light.

 

I actually like the Vantage better than the DB9. More sporty and fun to drive. May buy one soon. Then save for Ferrari or Lambo as second car.

 

Business partner has an 07 Vantage. Pretty reliable. Sometimes things go wrong and they are difficult to get to, and the dealer or independent will be $$$$ to fix. Manual is much better than the auto. Drives like a muscle car, but so much smoother. It makes you feel like a million bucks. The finish and detail are really incredible.

Favorite details - open the trunk, look where the lights would be bolted into the rear. There's a machined billet piece that is screwed on top of the nut and bolt that holds the lights in.

If you find one with the smoking kit, even if you don't smoke, the ashtray is crystal.

Everything is metal or leather. AMs stick with the true to the touch - if it looks like metal, it's metal. If it looks like leather, it is leather. There's nothing fake about it.

 

This is what impressed me most about the car back in 2006 when I first sat in one. I was fiddling with the volume knob and was blown away by the the weight and feeling of having a solid metal knob. Loads of detail in there.

 

Awesome! I love the AM V8V cars. I was looking initially at a preowned DB9 and then drove a 2013 AM V8V this weekend. Love how sporty and luxurious a car these are compared to Porsches and Mercedes. I am looking to buy one as my new daily driver and save for a Ferrari as weekend car afterwards.

 

New owner of an '07 manual, did a ton of research into them and as others have mentioned, as long as it's got a good history and a clean bill of health there's really not much for concern (there are known issues w/a leaking gasket cover that most cars of that age have already had taken care of but that's one thing I'd be certain of, otherwise a $3-4k or so repair bill).

 

Glad to hear you are enjoying it. I need one of these in my life.

You also have the best new screen name I've seen in quite a while.
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agree, I laughed the first time I saw that screen name

 

Yes, you do! I'm loving mine. Had the opportunity to run it a few laps at Road America recently. What a thrill! While it would be technically out-performed by my track-prepped BMW I was pleasantly surprised by how capable the Aston is. And, oh man, the sound of the V8 through headers and high-flow cats is beyond incredible.

 

I have driven Road America in the DB9 as well (and many years ago in my Shelbys). Great track, and Elkhart Lake is is a fun little town. I agree that Aston gets it right with their exhaust note on both the V8 and V12 cars. Sublime...

 

Am I the only one who opened this thread expecting to find info & some pictures of cars from the 1980's?? Somehow, the words "early v8 vantage" don't bring to mind the mid 2000's for me.

 

Let's change it to "early Gaydon era V8 Vantages" Then start a new one for "Newport Pagnell V8 Vantages"...

 

Haha, thanks!

 

These cars have caught my eye as of late also. I am embarrassed to admit this, but can someone educate me on the engine architecture on these V8's? Are they over head cam engines with chains or belts like Ferraris or pushrod engines like traditional american engines?

 

The 4.3L/380-400HP and later 4.7L/420HP are based on the Ford AJ-V8 architecture; however the block, heads, manifolds and internals are all unique Aston items and the design features quad OHC with timing chain and a dry sump system unique to only the AM engines. All are hand built at the AM plant in Cologne Germany located on the Ford campus there. Some say the 4.3L is freer revving and sounds better than the 4.7L...while the 4.7 definitely has more HP and torque...

 

so with a timing chain set up service intervals must be far longer than what we are accustomed too (led to believe in the ferrari world of belt systems...

 

The design life of the AMV12 is said to be 150,000 miles. I would expect the V8 to be similar. These are not over stressed designs. Very robust with "normal" service only. No "majors" that I am aware of. Oil changes are similarly expensive to others that have a unique oil filter and contain a large volume of Mobil 1. Air filters are expensive as well.

Known service issues? They can leak oil as they age and need to be resealed. And there can be general service issues that are never cheap on a complex, high performance car. Coil packs are common for the older V12s. I have heard of an expensive repair to the cam phaser in the V8, but these are rare occurrences rather than the norm. I am sure that the less fortunate will chime in with a few others...

AM powertrains in a word? "durable"

 

the timing cover gasket leaks oil and was actually a design flaw, certainly in the gasket used from the factory (they were known to start leaking as quickly as 1-2 yrs in). took them a while to figure out the part was part of the issue as well, but now they have a new one that should last a bit longer. i'd only heard of 1 (from an AM guy over on 6speed) case where a resealed gasket had started to leak again, but he mentioned he drives the car pretty hard and tracks it as well (the leak occurred again around the 50k mile mark). this repair in general runs $3-4k, and is probably the most expensive "issue" with the early V8Vs. there are other smaller things that i'm still getting used to, such as difficulty shifting into 2nd when cold(er), it too was part of a tsb. they're also known to go through o2 sensors fairly quickly (i think i may be dealing with such an issue now in fact).

 

This is the first I've heard of the timing cover gasket leak issue. Does the fix involve a new (updated) timing cover as well as replacement gasket? Why the high cost? Just a lot of work removing stuff to access the cover I guess?