Used Aston Martin

[bigjl]

Originally Posted By: Donald
I assume this will be a car that is not needed day to day? Can you do a lot of the work?


That is a recipe for ruining residuals imho.

 

[Win]

Originally Posted By: Russ300H
You have to realize the English never made TV sets. The reason was they never could figure out how to make them leak oil. You also have to adapt to the Lucas electrical system. Where a regular car's headlight switch is off, parking lights, headlights, on an English car is is "off" "dim" and "flicker"

.....



What a load of ignorant baloney.

 

[Vikas]

Unless Sam's name happens to be "Bond, James Bond", he needs to stay away from Aston Martin.

I would suggest he pick up a good Bugati instead.

 

[Volvohead]

Originally Posted By: Sam2000
I'm thinking of buying a used Aston Martin say in the $60k range.

I just love the way they look.

Any advice on which model and years are going to be the most reliable and easiest to maintain?

Any thoughts which ones may become a classic and hold its value best?


Our neighbor bought a new DB9 in '09. No one ever sees it. He rarely sees it. Seems the dealer mostly sees it when it's not hiding in his garage. He drives a pedestrian BMW on most days.

Unless you have a gigantic budget to keep up with it, I don't get the idea that this is a fun street car to own, except perhaps a few days a year. Sharp looking cabin, though.

 

[djb]

Originally Posted By: d00df00d

The reason there are so many cheap ultra-lux cars on the market in the first place is that people buy them for the looks or the badge, and then get annoyed or overwhelmed by the maintenance. The cars sit and rot, or they get thrashed without the proper care; either way, they become worse problems for the next owners (which would be you in this case).


No, the reason is because they stop making economic sense.

A decade-old $60K luxury car still has the repair cost of a $60K car, but the prestige of the $6K car that it is. The dealer still charges $140/hour, and the dealer parts start becoming scarce.

The best economic decision is to let minor issue remain unfixed, and to sell the car before a predictable major expense. Both the buyer and seller get a better deal when the buyer gets the warranty coverage on new tires, new brakes, new battery, etc.

 

[pottymouth]

Sam:

How badly do you really want this car? I'll assume it is going to be a pleasure car, and if you have 60 grand to spend on a toy I'm sure you can afford to keep it up.

If this is something that you dream about, just get it. Some itches need to be scratched. Life would be pretty bland if every decision had to be practical and sensible.

 

[djb]

Originally Posted By: bigjl

You do know who invented the TV don't you?

Heres a clue.

Baird.


Farnsworth.

There were other contributors, but Farnsworth was the most important. Most development occurred in the U.S.

The Germans made some advances starting with the lead-up to the 1936 Olympics, but little came of that. (We know they used TV cameras to monitor V2 launches/explosions, but apparently made no other significant use of TV.)

 

[lawman1909]

I would keep the money. Aston's obviously are very expensive to fix, and require a specialized mechanic in some instances, so save up for a TOTL BMW or Mercedes. Jaguar too but all are expensive to fix.

 

[bigjl]

Originally Posted By: djb
Originally Posted By: d00df00d

The reason there are so many cheap ultra-lux cars on the market in the first place is that people buy them for the looks or the badge, and then get annoyed or overwhelmed by the maintenance. The cars sit and rot, or they get thrashed without the proper care; either way, they become worse problems for the next owners (which would be you in this case).


No, the reason is because they stop making economic sense.

A decade-old $60K luxury car still has the repair cost of a $60K car, but the prestige of the $6K car that it is. The dealer still charges $140/hour, and the dealer parts start becoming scarce.

The best economic decision is to let minor issue remain unfixed, and to sell the car before a predictable major expense. Both the buyer and seller get a better deal when the buyer gets the warranty coverage on new tires, new brakes, new battery, etc.


Did you read your post before publishing it?

Where can we find $6k Aston Martins?

He is looking to spend $60k on a used model.

Which i would suspect would have cost $150k or $200k new.

An Aston Martin is up there with Ferraris GT cars and Maseratis.

You can't really compare an Aston Martin to any mass produced car as they aren't mass produced cars.

If the OP has the means to maintain it then i would ignore most of what is posted.

A bit of green eyed monster i suspect.

I agree with having a look around for an specifc Aston Martin forum.

Also an idea may be to have a look at the JD Power survey results for the years of cars you are looking at.

I am certain the underpinnings are mainly XK8, which itself was not known for poor reliability.

Beware that owners forums do tend to exagerate the negative in a similar way to the internet in general.

 

[bigjl]

Originally Posted By: djb
Originally Posted By: bigjl

You do know who invented the TV don't you?

Heres a clue.

Baird.


Farnsworth.

There were other contributors, but Farnsworth was the most important. Most development occurred in the U.S.

The Germans made some advances starting with the lead-up to the 1936 Olympics, but little came of that. (We know they used TV cameras to monitor V2 launches/explosions, but apparently made no other significant use of TV.)


There you go.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Logie_Baird

 

[Sam2000]

Thanks for all the replies.

To answer a few questions, yes I can afford it but I am a bit miserly hence the questions about reliability, maintenance and residuals.

I don't drive that much and would look to put less than 5000 miles a year on it.

Which is my dilemma because I like nice cars but don't drive much these days. If I drove more than my choice in that price range would be simpler eg Audi, BMW, Jaguar.

Any thoughts on the Bentley Continental Coupe? Is its maintenance like a VW?

If so it could get expensive.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: djb

A decade-old $60K luxury car still has the repair cost of a $60K car, but the prestige of the $6K car that it is. The dealer still charges $140/hour, and the dealer parts start becoming scarce.


Parts for my M5 have been no more expensive than those for my Expedition or any other "normal" vehicle. Yes, if you get it serviced at the dealer they hose you like mad, but I have a good shop that does the stuff I can't handle at home and because of that the car has been relatively inexpensive to own.

I had a thread about it on here. Getting parts for old Bimmers and Benzes isn't difficult, nor are they overly expensive. If you have a good independant, you are set.

An M5 or AMG are well north of 60K. An Aston Martin is significantly more expensive than that still. And certainly won't be on the used market for 6K.

 

[fdcg27]

Originally Posted By: bigjl
You mean the Bentley VW?


As opposed to the Ford Aston or the BMW R-R?

 

[hattaresguy]

Man a lot of people here hate anything nice, but post about a junk 20 year old Camry and they love you.

Whatever go to an Aston Martin forum and learn about the models, from what I hear most of the new ones are pretty decent. Nothing sounds or drives like an AM, especially sounds.

For $60kish you also might want to consider a Ferrari, you might be able to get a 550 for around their and 360's are about that.

Also consider a Maserati Granturismo, my friend has one great cars. They use a Ferrari V8 and are fairly reliable.

 

[hattaresguy]

Originally Posted By: Sam2000
Thanks for all the replies.

To answer a few questions, yes I can afford it but I am a bit miserly hence the questions about reliability, maintenance and residuals.

I don't drive that much and would look to put less than 5000 miles a year on it.

Which is my dilemma because I like nice cars but don't drive much these days. If I drove more than my choice in that price range would be simpler eg Audi, BMW, Jaguar.

Any thoughts on the Bentley Continental Coupe? Is its maintenance like a VW?

If so it could get expensive.

Drive a Continental, some people like them some don't. IMHO they are kind of just meh, they don't do anything for me. Now an Arnage which could be had for $60k...that's a Bentley!

Their is a reason the Arnage cost $400k+ and the GT was in the $200k+ range when new.

If you like VW group products and want a daily driver have you ever driven an Audi R8? They are AWD and most around here seem to be daily rides.

 

[Whitewolf]

John Logie Baird. A Scottish inventor is generally credited with the invention of the TV.

 

[01rangerxl]

Originally Posted By: Sam2000
Is its maintenance like a VW?

If so it could get expensive.

It will make the VW look like a Cavalier. Probably worse than that.

I have heard of Bentley/Rolls oil changes being $3K "at the dealer in Atlanta." Meaning people here drive their Rolls 2 hours (or have someone else drive it) to Atlanta for a $3K oil change. They go over a lot of stuff obviously, but it probably needs going over.

Aston probably isn't on this level, but this is the kind of car where you need to budget at least the purchase price just for general care and maintenance. I know an indy shop here that will work on all British cars, but it's still going to cost you for something like this. They usually just mess with Land Rovers and Range Rovers.

If you're just looking for pure fun, you can find it much cheaper than that. If you simply have to have one of these cars, just be prepared for the real expense of keeping it up.

 

[Vikas]

Seriously, for that kind of money I can think of many vehicles which would be more rewarding to drive and own.

 

[hattaresguy]

Originally Posted By: 01rangerxl
Originally Posted By: Sam2000
Is its maintenance like a VW?

If so it could get expensive.

It will make the VW look like a Cavalier. Probably worse than that.

I have heard of Bentley/Rolls oil changes being $3K "at the dealer in Atlanta." Meaning people here drive their Rolls 2 hours (or have someone else drive it) to Atlanta for a $3K oil change. They go over a lot of stuff obviously, but it probably needs going over.

Aston probably isn't on this level, but this is the kind of car where you need to budget at least the purchase price just for general care and maintenance. I know an indy shop here that will work on all British cars, but it's still going to cost you for something like this. They usually just mess with Land Rovers and Range Rovers.

If you're just looking for pure fun, you can find it much cheaper than that. If you simply have to have one of these cars, just be prepared for the real expense of keeping it up.


They don't cost any more than any other car to change the oil on, why do these myths keep getting repeated?

 

[d00df00d]

Originally Posted By: hattaresguy
Man a lot of people here hate anything nice, but post about a junk 20 year old Camry and they love you.

I'm sure that's a fair point about a lot of people, but you have to admit there's a good argument for not doing it. Going cheap + buying for looks + seeking minimal maintenance costs = asking for trouble, even on a mainstream car.

The OP just did not come off as someone who is interested in/able to go in with both eyes open. Hope I'm wrong about that.