Vantage vs MGT

This really depends on your budget I think. If you’re looking at the youngest V8V as you said you’re into £70-80k. Both AM and Maserati have the potential for terrifying running costs. If routine servicing on a DB9 is anything to go by the costs can mount pretty rapidly. If this doesn’t worry you at all then I would go all in…

The V8 vantage is one of the most beautiful cars ever made, but when you have the option of a V12, I’d take that every time personally. A DBS would be a lovely thing and isn’t wildly more expensive than a top end V8V of the same generation. Otherwise a V12 vantage would be amazing. £75k even gets you a manual.

If you’re buying a Maserati GT solely for the Ferrari engine, why not actually buy a Ferrari? You could have 8 or 12 cylinders for below £80k. This is a heart over head purchase right?
 
MissChief said:
As much as I love the Granturismo it needs to be remembered the original car was released in 2007 and while it has received updates and a new 4.7L V8, and still sounds absolutely epic, it is also woefully short when it comes to technology, especially compared to something like a new Mercedes or even an Aston. Beautiful cars though, I'd absolutely test drive one but I'd find it very difficult to justify a nearly new one at even £60k+ when fundamentally it's a 15 year old design with refreshes every few years.
Click to expand...

Have you looked at when the Vantage was released? :D

Both cars are rather woeful in the technology stakes and are very old designs, despite the updates. Neither really matters here, not for this purchase. My M5 had all the tech and lasted me… 6 months? I’ll be fine with the level of old tech on offer, it’s almost a case of less is more.




tom_nieto said:
This really depends on your budget I think. If you’re looking at the youngest V8V as you said you’re into £70-80k. Both AM and Maserati have the potential for terrifying running costs. If routine servicing on a DB9 is anything to go by the costs can mount pretty rapidly. If this doesn’t worry you at all then I would go all in…

The V8 vantage is one of the most beautiful cars ever made, but when you have the option of a V12, I’d take that every time personally. A DBS would be a lovely thing and isn’t wildly more expensive than a top end V8V of the same generation. Otherwise a V12 vantage would be amazing. £75k even gets you a manual.

If you’re buying a Maserati GT solely for the Ferrari engine, why not actually buy a Ferrari? You could have 8 or 12 cylinders for below £80k. This is a heart over head purchase right?
Click to expand...

My budget is rather arbitrary, but I’m seeing the ‘right’ sort of cars around 60-70k. I’m trying not to go totally silly and so I’m looking at cars that represent a reasonable deal, good spec, SH and extended warranty etc. If I stick to this price range it’ll give me enough slack that I’m prepared for any big bills. I’m no stranger to high running costs (BMW Ms, Audi RS, Porsche etc) but I concede this will be a level above.

The V12 while tempting, I think is a later upgrade for me if anything. I’ve always been a big V8 fan and I think the engine will dominate the experience too much in the V12. Plus if AM ownership doesn’t work out for me longterm, I’m ok with losing money on a V8.

The Ferrari comment was rather tongue in cheek. I’m not looking for Ferrari or sudo Ferrari ownership at this stage. The Maser is probably as close as you get to an actual Ferrari without the badge, but it’s really the car that I’m attracted to. Same goes for a old DB9/DBS really, I could look to spend more to get one of those, but neither are really what I set out to get.

I’m trying not to lose myself down the rabbit hole of spending more money for the sake of it, especially if I’m not sure how much more tangible enjoyment I’d be getting in the case of a DB9 over the vantage. I remember a serial car changer stating their DB9 ownership was boring and that they missed their previous Vantage. If I really wanted to go all out, I’d look at a brand new DBS. However, we’ve just welcomed our 2nd baby into the family a day ago and already I feel a little guilty treating myself in this way. I reckon I start small and see where we go from there.
 
Sounds like you want a Vantage and are trying to convince us now :p. Go try some I think, only way to be sure. My gut feeling is I'd rather spend close to 50k than 70k on one, value for money wise. You can chuck an Aston Warranty on one if you want / find a good local. If going nearer to 70k I think you need to look at V12 / AMR /N430 etc. to make it really worthwhile IMO. For such a low mileage/usage aswell I think you might aswell go Roadster to make it even more 'weekendy'.
 
The Aston was my original goal. It was only when I started second guessing myself and the creep of sensibilities that I widened the scope to the Maser. The Cayman I had previously, worked perfectly fine and I only really changed that for a bigger car (RS6) with the arrival of our first daughter. I felt I needed to demonstrate some grown up thinking but the reality was there was only ever two of us in the car at any one time.

My main concern was that the reality of a hand built Aston was going to be that of poor paint finishes, aluminium oxidisation and panel gaps you could put your hand through. I thought (hoped?)the Maser quality might be better and more akin to that of the German marques, but without the staid, sombre approach to design. Jury is still out on that unless anyone can enlighten me?

I’ve got some test drives lined up in the coming weeks, so will see how that goes. The car I’ve got a deposit on should be ready by then too. Exciting times.
 
naefeart said:
The Aston was my original goal. It was only when I started second guessing myself and the creep of sensibilities that I widened the scope to the Maser. The Cayman I had previously, worked perfectly fine and I only really changed that for a bigger car (RS6) with the arrival of our first daughter. I felt I needed to demonstrate some grown up thinking but the reality was there was only ever two of us in the car at any one time.

My main concern was that the reality of a hand built Aston was going to be that of poor paint finishes, aluminium oxidisation and panel gaps you could put your hand through. I thought (hoped?)the Maser quality might be better and more akin to that of the German marques, but without the staid, sombre approach to design. Jury is still out on that unless anyone can enlighten me?

I’ve got some test drives lined up in the coming weeks, so will see how that goes. The car I’ve got a deposit on should be ready by then too. Exciting times.
Click to expand...
Please do keep the thread updated!
 
DRZ said:
From the outset my McLaren intentions were only ever main dealer just because you absolutely need a dealer relationship to enjoy owning one. I'm not sure AM ownership is quite the same in that respect - sure, large bills are possible but there's enough cars out there and there's plenty of them so support is plentiful beyond the main dealer network. There are a few AMV8 owners on here though, @Gibbo has one as does @NickXX and I'm sure there are more I can't name :)
Click to expand...

Just seen this!

I've got a 2007 V8V (4.3) which I've owned for about 6 and a half years now - happy to answer any qs! I bought it after many years of e46 M3 ownership and have had a few Bamford Rose tweaks done to it - it's actually in next week for the later V8S Bilstein upgrades.

Overall it's been a very reliable car to own, some repairs can be expensive. If you're used to running an e39 M5/e46 M3, costs will be broadly similar in my experience.
 
naefeart said:
The Aston was my original goal. It was only when I started second guessing myself and the creep of sensibilities that I widened the scope to the Maser. The Cayman I had previously, worked perfectly fine and I only really changed that for a bigger car (RS6) with the arrival of our first daughter. I felt I needed to demonstrate some grown up thinking but the reality was there was only ever two of us in the car at any one time.

My main concern was that the reality of a hand built Aston was going to be that of poor paint finishes, aluminium oxidisation and panel gaps you could put your hand through. I thought (hoped?)the Maser quality might be better and more akin to that of the German marques, but without the staid, sombre approach to design. Jury is still out on that unless anyone can enlighten me?

I’ve got some test drives lined up in the coming weeks, so will see how that goes. The car I’ve got a deposit on should be ready by then too. Exciting times.
Click to expand...

Just on this - I have found the build quality (and materials used) to be generally very good. Paint finish is usually excellent, but the paint is quite soft, so you do need to look after it. I have had door handle corrosion repaired, but it's not too expensive. Panel fit and finish should be top notch. If it's not, it's been in a crash.

The V8V engine is bombproof (and German built). What sort of budget are you thinking (I.e. 4.3 or 4.7)? Have you driven one before?
 
Thanks for the feedback, it’s really good to hear from owners that have had the cars for a good amount of time. I had heard the paint could be quite soft - the car I’m looking at has quite a rare paint finish, so that does worry me if (when?) it needs work.

Good to know the general quality of the fit and finish should be spot on too. I was worried it would be a bit hit and miss and just labelled as ‘hand built’. There’s a lot of issues mentioned on PH but that’s to be expected.

I have driven a couple of Vantages previously, however one was a manual 4.3 and the other a 4.7 SS which I really couldn’t get on with during the test drive. The 4.3 was good, but perhaps made more noise than it did progress? Was a couple of years ago now, but I figured the 4.7 manual would be the right combination.

I’ve got a big decision to make now. The car was supposed to be transported north so that I could see it. This has been delayed for various reasons, most recently due to the Jubilee celebrations, if you can believe that. I’ve generally felt there’s been a lack of urgency with the dealer negotiations from the beginning. Out of the blue I’ve now landed a build slot for a 718 Cayman GTS in Nov. I didn’t think this was even possible, so now I need to figure out which direction to go.
 
naefeart said:
Thanks for the feedback, it’s really good to hear from owners that have had the cars for a good amount of time. I had heard the paint could be quite soft - the car I’m looking at has quite a rare paint finish, so that does worry me if (when?) it needs work.

Good to know the general quality of the fit and finish should be spot on too. I was worried it would be a bit hit and miss and just labelled as ‘hand built’. There’s a lot of issues mentioned on PH but that’s to be expected.

I have driven a couple of Vantages previously, however one was a manual 4.3 and the other a 4.7 SS which I really couldn’t get on with during the test drive. The 4.3 was good, but perhaps made more noise than it did progress? Was a couple of years ago now, but I figured the 4.7 manual would be the right combination.

I’ve got a big decision to make now. The car was supposed to be transported north so that I could see it. This has been delayed for various reasons, most recently due to the Jubilee celebrations, if you can believe that. I’ve generally felt there’s been a lack of urgency with the dealer negotiations from the beginning. Out of the blue I’ve now landed a build slot for a 718 Cayman GTS in Nov. I didn’t think this was even possible, so now I need to figure out which direction to go.
Click to expand...

How about a 997 Turbo? Ben Collin's car of choice, as it is for many others :-)
 
Funnily enough it seeing a 996 Turbo on sale that started all this. It was a low mileage, one owner car with all main dealer service history. It was a fair price but even a late car is coming up to 17yrs old. Looking at newer 997 Turbos and the price goes silly for well kept cars, but ultimately they are getting on too.

As well as these cars can carry the passage of time, especially with good maintenance, I didn’t really want a 10+ yr old car to maintain.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom