vanquish owners?

Yes the Vanquish is under appreciated in the US. I’m sure if values continue to slowly rise in Europe as I have seen, they may prime for export soon if permissible and tax affordable.

 

Can't believe these pics are from 17 year ago....

The best sounding exhaust of any car I've owned. I had them "bypass the bypass," (which we now know means pin the valves open) when I took delivery. I went to trade in my SL 55 on a DB9 and the salesperson asked if I wanted to drive the Vanquish. Sonofabitch knew once I pressed START it'd cost me 100 grand more.

'05 S, Jet Black. Obsidian black uppers, iron ore lowers & seats. It is still up there next to the 812 SF as far as my favorite car. F12 being a close third.

Gonna order another Aston next week. Took a while, but I just knew I'd have another one in my garage when I had to sell it.

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No action here? No one has got a Vanq legacy anymore?

Here are some picts for getting some appetite.
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Vanquish and Vanquish:
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More Vanquish old and young sisters:
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nice butt..:
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I got mine back from Works Service about 2 months ago. Got the manual conversion, shorter "S" differential, and retrofitted the SDP package wheels brakes and suspension.

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License to Kill ..... Love it

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Congrats! I have been considering the manual conversion as well. How long did the whole process take to complete? How do you like it?

 

The whole process took about a year but the vast majority of that was waiting for the wheels and other upgrade components I wanted. They actually got the manual conversion done in about 2 months.

Depending on how attached you are to your current Vanquish (spec/condition etc.) the smart $ thing to do is just find an already converted car. (i.e. if a converted car goes for ~$120k and you sell your car for ~$60k that's probably a bit cheaper all-in depending on how much you pay for overseas shipping).

The conversion is very high quality. Shift action is excellent. Clutch is easy. Tuning is perfect (no rev hang and it’s really easy to both shift extremely fast and smooth but also just cruise and shift slowly). A fun Easter egg is there’s now a shift light where the original gear number indicator used to be. It’s a red arrow the builds to a full arrow as you approach redline. Honestly I’m really impressed with the whole setup… except… for the pedal box ergonomics. I’m pretty tall at 6’3” and I simply can’t drive the car in sneakers. I leave a pair of little slip-on shoes in the car or drive barefoot. Some people make comments about the gear knob being too close to the center console but this is a non issue in my experience. Your hand does not hit the center console when shifting.

I really love the original Vanquish. I didn't dislike the paddle shift system when it worked but it was highly unreliable and only starting to get worse for me. Stalling at traffic lights (unable to get back into gear), "sport mode" slippage at high rpm. cumbersome in parking garages, etc. etc. so I viewed the manual conversion as a preventative maintenance or reliability upgrade aside from the 3 pedal desirability.

 

Anybody have a line on an engine ECU for an 2005 Vanquish S? I haven't gone full search yet..just looking to get a quick outcome. Thanks

 

Awesome! Thanks for sharing all that information. Very glad you are enjoying it.

I feel the same way about the paddle shift set-up. It isn't bad at all and I haven't had problems with it, but I worry about its long-term reliability and I'd rather have a manual.

 

One of mine went bad a few years ago. Aston Martin made me buy 2 even though I only needed 1. They make you turn in the old ones. I understand that they refurbish them, but the failure rate on the refurbished ones is higher than we would hope, so they are running out of them. Wish I could help, but it's going to be very difficult to find one. Maybe contact www.scuderiacarparts.com or one of the other Aston Martin part sellers in the UK and see if they can help. Try the forum on the Aston Martin Owner's Club site, if you are a member or have access to the site. Good luck.

 

Thanks so much..I do have accounts with the usual supplier..I will give them a try.

My next question would be if anybody would have a wiring diagram for the engine electrical and ECU pin outs. I just want to confirm a few inputs and outputs before condemning the ECU.

The vanquish is very much its own animal is seems..it's been difficult to get good accurate info.

 

Aston calls the ECU the PTEC. The PTEC's are depicted on sheets 21 and 22 of the wiring diagram at the back of the workshop manual. I have the workshop manual for a 2003. Do you have the workshop manual? My car is a non-S, so an S may be different, but it might not.

What code are you getting P1585?

 

I'm getting 1656 CAN PCM/PCM link
Cooling fans come on right away at key up..usually a bad sign. I need the diagrams to chase the wiring before condemning the EcU. I don't have a service manual for the Vanquish..

Also have communication faults for gearbox and immobilizer (dash LED flashes really fast when the car is keyed up) center display also says low brake fluid, and control module not recognized.

This all took place rather suddenly. Have checked all fuses..found one popped for the transmission pump..but that won't cause my no start..

 

I don’t know but usually a bad PTEC results in P1585 along with some other secondary codes. This sounds different. How old is the battery? The vanquish doesn’t like low voltage.

 

Battery is new..and is kept on a trickle charger..

 

Without screaming heresy in a reply, does anyone have an input on the 6L80 GM Automatic Transmission conversion in a Vanquish. Certainly, there can't be many out there, but I know of one I'm considering.

 

I know which car you are looking at . How do you make out?
I recall a discussion earlier on the GM. Was said to be a good fit. Problem is originality unless they give you the original trani in a crate with the car. Now if you font care about that and price is right a good car can be worst it. i ll say test drive

 

I haven't heard anything bad about them in terms of reliability. It isn't for me. I have listened to drive videos on youtube and just find the automatic shifting sound a disappointment. I think I would be happier with the car with the original paddle shift (what I have now) or a manual conversion. But again, if you like the set up, go for it. It has to be much cheaper to maintain than the original set up. Probably pretty problem free. If it is that car on ebay, seems like a good deal and a great car to use as a daily. Good luck.

 

Thanks for your responses. I appreciate it. I don't disagree about the original configuration being more desirable and maintaining better value. I'm not concerned with either of those factors. I guess the up-side is cost of maintenance and single-disc clutch lifespan of the original automated manual. This particular Vanquish caught my attention as I drive with hand controls since a bad accident while racing my Formula Ford at an SCCA National many years ago. All my cars (993S, 996 track car, 360F1, SL550, Range Rover and wife's Cadillac) are all two-pedal cars with hand controls. I have also been considering a DB9 being a true automatic, and I looked at several Maserati Gran Turismo's, but moved on from that.
Thanks again for your input.
Cheers.

 

The car in Bellevue has been on the market for a while. Surprising given it has had extensive up to date maintenance. rare color and original trani comes with it.
if someone doesn't care about the original transmission this is a bargain IMO. this would be a decent driver.
Anyone checked it out?

 

'
"Reveille! Reveille! Sweepers, sweepers man your brooms. Give the ship a clean sweep down fore and aft. The smoking lamp is lit in all authorized spaces. Now reveille." Aside from a flashback to my USN days 50 years ago, this a wake up for this great thread which has been quiet for 4 months! Loving all older V12's, particularly the handsome Gen. 1 Vanquish, I've read this thread front to last and been keeping an eye on it regularly. In particular, there has been a helpfulness and camaraderie, which, along with the enthusiasm for the cars, is really nice.

@tbakowsky has noted concern for parts availability and support for the Gen. 1's. I searched the current Aston website and can't find a reference to Heritage or legacy models. Considering that news about the company's financials still isn't great, hopefully Aston hasn't abandoned owners of older cars and the Gen. 1 in particular.

Your thoughts?

 

My understanding is the gen 1 is heritage so there are no parts issues.
Values have taken a hit hitting the 20-25 years lately. I believe we are seeing the bottom at this point just like the 80s countach in the early 2000 that you could puck up for 50k or so

 

I had done a search on the Aston main website and not found a link to Heritage. I just searched as "Aston Martin Heritage" and an Aston Martin Works site came up, in which I found Heritage sales, service and parts links. I assume that the US, Canada, Europe, etc. have full access, considering that it seems UK focused.

 

This discusion was on several years ago as to the VQ becoming heritage. One heritage dealer in the US is LI sports car in Roselyn NY Long Island. You may contact them if needing info. The techs there love the Gen 1 VQ.
Not sure what is wrong iwth the Web info.

 

I have a few of these coming in. It's getting scary parts wise. I haven't contacted Aston heritage yet..but I should expect to shortly. They are a great car, and shouldn't be allowed to die..