Mine is a MY06, the MY07 did get a newer style seat, but having test driven one they made the seat wider to accommodate larger people so found it to be not as supportive. Think there's only subtle changes until you get to the MY09 with the 4.7 engine and revised interior
6 months into V8 Vantage ownership
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Mine is a MY06, the MY07 did get a newer style seat, but having test driven one they made the seat wider to accommodate larger people so found it to be not as supportive. Think there's only subtle changes until you get to the MY09 with the 4.7 engine and revised interior
Cool, it's definitely an awesome car. Whilst I've never driven one, the biggest complaint I've seen is that it feels "slow" compared to a lot of its competitors, but then it looks amazing to make up for that. How much was/is the AM warranty?
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Lovely car very jealous indeed. It might not have the extra ability of the M3 but its by far the more desirable car to me. The design has aged really well, a very handsome car. I especially like them with the multispoke wheels but thats just me! 
It's by no means slow, although coming from the S65 engine in the M3 it took some adjustment. Maybe it should feel faster than it does because on paper they are quite similar, although I'm sure if the throttle pedal wasn't so lethargic it would help, but like you say - the looks and sound more than makes up for it.
Warranty is about £1,200 for the year and again it's through a insurance policy which had quite a few exclusions. May live to regret not renewing but I already have an additional £1,200 in my bank account!
First thing I did after 5 minutes of ownership
It makes a big difference and it's still not intrusive or drones, although I've read that keeping fuse 22 out permanently causes the valves in the exhaust to seize up, but I'm sure they can be unstuck again if needed.
Assume it has a DBW throttle if the response is lethargic, maybe there is a signal amp for the car?
I have a similar issue with the CLK, my solution was to change the way I use the throttle, but most people fit a signal amp.
http://www.pedalbox.com/en/pedalbox/the-pedalbox.html
Have always been a fan of the current generation of Vantages. Sadly there have always been a few things that have bothered me.
Still a great car and I'd take one over a 911, gtr, m3, xkr!!
- For a car which retails at over around 80k iirc. One would expect all parts to bespoke to that car or brand. I find it sad that it carry volvos poor nav. A brand such as aston martin should have a media system on par or better than that offered by BMW's great idrive.
- Have always thought this car could do with more power. Current ones produce around 420bhp iirc... 450bhp would be a little more appropriate.
- My former boss and I once took a trip to an office in the midlands from london in his vantage. The first thing that stood out was the gear stick and key fob. How car so good looking be supplied with an ugly looking gear stick and key fob.... Theres something very lazy about it.
Still a great car and I'd take one over a 911, gtr, m3, xkr!!
Great write up.
As an M3 owner i've always had secret longings to get inside an AM Vantage, despite the 'not powerful enough' comments they always seem to get. They are going for some seriously tempting amounts these days, as are Bentley Continentals - although i'd lay money on the Vantage being a much less scary prospect if something went bang, or needed replacing.
As an M3 owner i've always had secret longings to get inside an AM Vantage, despite the 'not powerful enough' comments they always seem to get. They are going for some seriously tempting amounts these days, as are Bentley Continentals - although i'd lay money on the Vantage being a much less scary prospect if something went bang, or needed replacing.
Thanks for that! Yes it is electronic so may have to take a look into it as I'm sure the mapping of the thorttle could be improved. Although I have heard that the power upgrade from AM (which has improved air intakes and ECU) does improve the throttle response, but costs a little over £2k
A lot of cars around that price do share common parts with other cars in the group. I think the issue is that AM does not have the budget for the investment required in developing an iDrive system. Even with BMW's resources the first iDrive that came out wasn't so great. I'd much rater they concentrate on other areas of development than an iDrive system! At least later AM's gets a Garmin based sat nav which is considerably better. MY09 onwards gets a crystal based key and is called an "emotional control unit", a huge improvment on the previous Vovlo based key fob!
I'm sure the V8V has the potential to throw up eye watering repair bills but the CGT would be in a different league!
Although the stock exhaust is excellent, I have decided to swap the exhaust having heard one in the flesh and being able to source one for a good price. This will be replacing it this weekend
http://www.quicksilverexhausts.com/...005-on)-_ASTON MARTIN_343_productbulletin.htm
Got the new exhaust fitted at the weekend - short clip from the sunday service. Very impressed with the extra noise you get when booting it, and more noticably lower down in the rev range, but still zero drone when driving sedately on the motorway. And it weighs quite a bit less than the stock system.
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Totally out of interest but what would you expect a decent example (such as yours) to sell for?
Surely the warranty at £1.2k is worth it when it's a 7 year old car that is massively complicated and powerful?
Interested to know what you predict running costs to be in terms of tyres, brakes, servicing, unexpected repairs etc....
Surely the warranty at £1.2k is worth it when it's a 7 year old car that is massively complicated and powerful?
Interested to know what you predict running costs to be in terms of tyres, brakes, servicing, unexpected repairs etc....
Probably somewhere between 32-33k I'd have thought.
This is very anecdotal but speaking to various people and looking through forums, they seem to be fairly reliable and do not seem to suffer from any major reliability issues. I thought with the amount of exclusions on the warranty and the possibility that because of the age of the car they will try and argue items are wear and tear, I'd much rather save the money and take it to a specalist when something does need doing.
Thermostat is a known weakspot and have replaced that after getting the part for £25 from Jaguar, instead of £100 from AM. Again with the brake pads AM wanted £530 for the parts alone but sourcing them from Pagid was about £250.
Have replaced the two rear tyres, kept with the original Bridgestone Potenza 275/35 R19s, cost £520.
The car has annual servicing, local dealer offers the following fixed price servicing.
Year 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th
Cost £720.47 £912.96 £861.47 £914.62 £592.07 £874.57 £878.37 £914.62 £718.22 £771.82
