vanquish owners?

Your car is gorgeous. By sorted I primarily meant the pre-S clutch sensor and also mishandled cars. It is a matter of time before a pre-S sensor failure and that has given the car a bad name for thoses not too involved in understanding the car.
The car is also very sensitive in how it is handled. Too many start and stop before warm up and moving around instead of driving and you soon end up with weird issues and engine lights.
I saw that problem first hand on several cars, including the one I got. Fooled plugs etc due to no driving and moving around (well the guy was dead for 2 years)...
It is also critical that the tech working on fixing a Vanq knows the car! This is especially true of the Vanq. It is an easy car for a tech to screw up and then you got chronic issues. I have seen alignements be screwed up on these cars by techs who did not understand the correct procedure to follow.

I do agree that beyond the sensor, with a good tech and an owner who handles the car as it needs, the car is pretty solid.

 

Wow!!!



That's spactacular.

 

Nice looking Vanquish. Been and AM fan and owner for several years but for a number of reasons, not the least of which is a terrible AM dealer in Houston, I traded mine and ordered a new Ferrari Cali T. Can't beat the AM for looks and exhaust note but they are a little long in the tooth on development.

 

I've enjoyed reading these posts and am happy to announce that I am getting a 2006 Vanquish S (Solway Grey with Blue Leather/Gray Alcantar interior). It was purchased in Naples. I checked the service records and felt comfortable enough to take the plunge... I will post pictures in the coming weeks but any insights or advice that anybody can offer is greatly appreciated.

My current/previous car... almost a daily driver has been a manual Ferrari 355... so going to this transmission set-up will be a new experience for me. I am looking forward to it and my vintage Toyota Landcruiser will keep my manual skills and clutch foot in shape. One slight concern that I have is my wife who does not know how to drive manual. The car I am buying as 21,000 miles so the clutch "should" still have some life left. Any advice for me? For how my wife should drive the car? I have heard stuff about putting the car in neutral when stopped at a light and frankly am not sure what the best practices are.

I'm all ears and if there are good threads or sites that I should be reading if you could point me in the right direction I would be most grateful.

 

^^^^
Great color combo - Welcome - glad to see another new owner to proselytise a magnificent vehicle to the unknowing masses. Please do post pics and your driving impression and experience.

No need for neutral at stops there really isn't anything tricky and the car will automatically go into neutral if you're sitting without the break fully depressed anyway.

Drive it like a regular car just like a Porsche/ferrari/bmw with paddles - there is nothing to learn other than the start sequence. The car will down shift on its own and you can downshift on demand with paddle as well - exception is if your RPMs are revving hard (like Clarkson on Top Gear) in which the system will protect the drive train and not let you downshift and trash your gearbox.

My wife drives my car on rare occasion and cannot even drive a manual, so your wife will be fine. The car is ASM (auto shift manual) and has a button to make it an automatic on demand (no shifting required), which I use on occasion if I'm driving with a cup of coffee. If you want to hear the car sing... Use ASM and floor it. The computer drops the car to 3rd and opens the exhaust to a spectacular sound.

 

Thanks SherrillT and Bjoren for the advice and assistance. If anybody else has any thoughts or impressions or best practices please keep them coming. Out of curiosity does anybody know anything about my specific car or the previous owner? (I believe it was with somebody in Naples)

 

Congrat. these cars are amongst the best exotic bargain at the moment. Lots of car for around $100K. The Vanq is a mile eater. I just drove pretty much all morning today. I quite reved it too on accelaration....saying I am please is quite an understatement.

I heard many people saying that paddle shift is crap, Ferrari are faster etc, etc... This is my 2nd vaquish I am driving extensivly and BOTH non S (with S clutch and sensor) and S and just fine and you really can play shumacher if you want. Who care about a few milliseconds on public road. If you are not trying to do time at the track, there is plenty to enjoy. Now I am convinced manual conversion cannot be worth the money it cost.

as far as the wife, i got the same situation. I will get here on ASM to start off. car shifts at ~2500 rpm if you are nice. the only thing she need to get used to is 1. get to neutral. 2. get in reverse 3. get to 1st. And then make sure she does not let off the breaks on a hill.

only things is, if she keeps it a low rpm, make sure you get the last couple of miles to clean up the engine .

 

spepmiller you got a pm.

 

Thanks all - very useful (I took a mini-vacation for the last few days and hence was out of pocket).

So, if I understand correctly, (and I will read the owners manual that I now have on .pdf)... the car can be put into "full auto" mode for when my wife drives it. Still, best practice - in any mode - is of course to keep the foot on the brake fully pressed when on a hill. I should also try to drive the car with some higher engine revs and for a reasonable length of time when possible (versus a bunch of 1/2 mile to 3 mile trips).

Let me know if I am missing some nuance or good idea but the above is my "strategy" for the car.

I can see my wife driving the car only about 5% of the time and me putting probably 3K-4K miles a year on the car (I have a BMW motorcycle and a vintage Toyota Landcruiser which will get 1K and 1K each over the year probably).

 

Yes it can be put in fully automatic and driven like any automatic car - your wife will be fine. The ASM button is next to the starter button...if anyone says different about it not being an automatic they know nothing about the car (had a dealer service manager tell me it was not possible...) As far as the other stuff goes - I say partially correct. Some say you have to drive the car hard periodically - I haven't. I typically put on 1-2k a year mostly driving to the grocery store or getting hair cuts both about 8 miles away and do not run it much over 85-90mph on some back roads in both manual or auto (not many places to safely do more around here) and will tell you I have had no recent issues with the exception of about 4 years ago I had the common misfire issue and swapped all coils (only one was a problem) and haven't had any issues since.

 

Thank you Sherrillt - great insight

 

That may depend on where you live. ;-)


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Used 2002 Aston Martin Vanquish for sale in Naples, FL | Fort Myers


2002 Vanquish. Low mileage. Only $70k asking (seems like a steal). I noticed this car has been sitting for a good while at the dealership. It is such a beauty (love the racing green and tan interior).

May I ask you guys what you think why no one has "grabbed" this car yet? Are there major issues with these cars in general?

 

Was wondering the same thing. Aston green is absolutly gorgeous and is fairly rare. A friend has one. Like the blue S that was for sale for quite some time until someone got it for an a very good price.

Sometimes car get overlooked. These days everyone is all over Testarossa and 308 at similar or much higher prices.

Make sure the clutch sensor got replaced and that the carfax shows no accident. Naples has good reputation from hearsay.

 

Why? Niether of these are factors IMO - you can fix a sensor yourself when/if needed and an accident is irrelevant if it was properly repaired. 3 of my personal cars (Lexus, Vanquish, and NSX) have had fender benders, garage scrapes, etc over the years and I can't imagine why anyone would pass up any of these properly maintained and well repaired cars (cannot tell they were damaged) - have you never been in an accident or had a car in a body shop for cosmetic or collision work?

Regarding the OP's question of why a slow seller...the car is Green and overpriced! You may like it, but you are in the minority and that is reflected in new production orders which tends to carry over to a certain degree in the secondary market. Just like a Green Ferrari, Bentley, NSX, XKR, etc - It just is not a highly desired color by the masses, but to the buyer wanting one...it's the holy grail.

If you like it..buy it. Chances of finding another will be hard. Tungsten was the highest production color and I can only assume it was because of the James Bond connection.

 

Overpriced?... I am not sure. It is all relative. If the car has been well maintained. It is not over priced. I saw cars at $54K but if you have to plug $30K to fix it then it is not a bargain either.
I am not sure what $69K or less buys you these days in the V12 exotic department. Remember, listed at 69K means it will likely sell for less.

As far as colors, I dont know either. Aston green is special to me but again I may be the oddball out there when everyone else like grey and silver. When I selected my car, I specifically did not want grey, silver or black.

 

Agree that listed at 69k, it will sell for less, esp if it has been sitting at the dealership for a while. If well maintained, ie., no major issue(s), it looks like a steal as IIRC, these were (or close to) a $300k brand new. The 10k clutch job is a let-down, although a full clutch job (including new flywheel) on a car like mine (360) is about 8k.

 

Nothing unique to AM and the brand is not immune to typical car buying behavior of the masses. On any car if you just look at the markets the standard Red (exception - a Luxury car ie 750li, Flying Spur, A8, etc), Black, White, Silver, Beige always are an easy sell due to being commonly desired and suited to the cars atheistic, but once you cross over to cinnamons, yellows, greens, pink, browns, smurf blue, etc it gets tricky and it takes a special buyer wanting the color (do you want a green or pink house?) - just look at all the yellow Gallardos that have been for sale for over a year - it's not the car holding it back from finding a new home, but for someone wanting a yellow one...heck there are plenty to choose from.

I never really look at a car for resale potential and just buy what I like knowing someone else will want it just like I did years down the road. If you like Green - go for it!

 

http://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/618932787/overview/

anyone know this car or have thoughts?

 

http://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/630333127/overview/

or this? I am really having a hard time understanding the wide range of pricing.

 

Black ones are the fastest, blue ones are the most expensive...

I think it really depends on the overall condition and don't forget, many sellers just speculate about the prices currently.


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Just for that blue, I'll pay 5K more! interior is gorgeous too.
I always have a hard on for Vanq outside of the typical range color as long as it keeps the car classy and elegant. Aston Green, Deep blue like that one, Bungandy and 2 tone interiors.
Do I need theraphy?

 

I get it now. Thanks for explaining. I was just under the impression all these times that green, especially BRG, the national racing color, would confer desirability in a British car. (Like Rosso Corsa in a Ferrari). Thanks again.

 

you guys may have seen this car. a late S, 1 owner, good price seem in great conditions and while some people will inevitably say that car was run to the ground with the 25K "high mileage", it has been run just enough to make a great driver without feeling guilty about adding mileage.

there are not many late S left for sale these days.

2006 Aston Martin Vanquish S - Exotic Car Dealership NY - Exotic and classic cars & storage

EDIT: I forgot: disclosure, not affiliated with seller.