2019 Aston Martin Vantage

Mike said:
https://www.caranddriver.com/news/2...stunning-news?src=socialflowFB&mag=cdb&dom=fb
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Having purchased #3 of the first generation of the Vanquish, I can say I will NEVER EVER consider buying an Aston Martin ever again. I had the thing three months, it overheated every single time I took it out despite the supposedly "space shuttle" bricks used to disperse heat from the engine. It was beautiful but couldn't be driven. I was lied to that there were no production problem ONLY to find out there were production problems only to see two Vanquishs on the lift with lifts removing their engine. Dumped it after three months, thankfully only lost 30K as the prices plummeted with the release of the DB 5 months later which was 100K cheaper, just as fast and almost as pretty.

The silver lining in the cloud was that Greg Norman picked his up right before me, traded in his new BMW Z8 which had 700 miles on it and my dealer was leasing it for 600/month. Of course I jumped on it for my "everyday car" quickly dumping my Acura and loved the Z8 for the next 3 years.

So it ended ok.
 
I had often wondered about their QC. Thanks for shedding some light on that.

Sounds old Ferrari like in terms of reliability.
 
Mike said:
I had often wondered about their QC. Thanks for shedding some light on that.

Sounds old Ferrari like in terms of reliability.
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I had a 355 Spyder that was HEAVEN compared to the Vanquish and I had nothing but problems with the Ferrari. So that puts an Aston into perspective.

I like to invoke Yogi Berra in describing a Ferrari. It's the cheapest car you can buy assuming you can afford it. I literally beat mine to death, put 14,000 miles on it, had it for 2 years and one day after a long week of work woke up and decided to take it for a drive to the Keys with my wife. Of course the thing wouldn't start. I lost my temper, kicked it and put a small dent into and pushed it into the driveway and told my dealer get it the hell out of here I am sick of trickle charging it, oil burning, clutch issues, etc etc.

Amazingly, it cost me only $5,000 to drive it for two years of course exclusive of maintenance.

The other funny thing about it was that my dealer's chief of service guy was from Maranello. He would beg me to call him before I brought my car in. He explained to me that everyone in America is crazy. They keep their cars under bubbles, shine it every day BUT never drive it and it was a pleasure to work on my car as there was actually something to do on it compared to the others.

I never understood the buy a car thing and not using it.

I think I am done with the exotic car thing. In FL, whether it be on the Tpke or I-95, loose debris and open trucks have a way of finding exotics and destroying them. I had a Lotus years ago which I loved driving and a tire fell off a truck in front of me and my Lotus was totaled. It wasn't just a tire but a tire and rim. Too many of these kinds of stories plus few places to drive them.
 
Priaptor said:
Having purchased #3 of the first generation of the Vanquish, I can say I will NEVER EVER consider buying an Aston Martin ever again. I had the thing three months, it overheated every single time I took it out despite the supposedly "space shuttle" bricks used to disperse heat from the engine. It was beautiful but couldn't be driven. I was lied to that there were no production problem ONLY to find out there were production problems only to see two Vanquishs on the lift with lifts removing their engine. Dumped it after three months, thankfully only lost 30K as the prices plummeted with the release of the DB 5 months later which was 100K cheaper, just as fast and almost as pretty.

The silver lining in the cloud was that Greg Norman picked his up right before me, traded in his new BMW Z8 which had 700 miles on it and my dealer was leasing it for 600/month. Of course I jumped on it for my "everyday car" quickly dumping my Acura and loved the Z8 for the next 3 years.

So it ended ok.
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Wow!!
Btw, had you kept that Z8 you would be sitting on a very desirable car. Read somewhere that several have sold for over $300k today.
 
By the way, there are a few exotics that are fairly reliable these days. The R8 and the new Lambos (the ones built by the Germans).
 
nicoff said:
Wow!!
Btw, had you kept that Z8 you would be sitting on a very desirable car. Read somewhere that several have sold for over $300k today.
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I know. However, I put over 42K miles on it. I really drove it. The residual was ridiculous so I walked on it. It was the best BMW I ever owned BUT didn't handle well but was absolutely gorgeous and just a pleasure to drive and own. Definitely on my favorite list of exotics I have owned.
 
nicoff said:
By the way, there are a few exotics that are fairly reliable these days. The R8 and the new Lambos (the ones built by the Germans).
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My buddy has an R8. Love that car. By the way, where I talked about things flying at you on the highway here in FL, a mattress flew off a truck at his car several weeks ago on 595. 40K worth of damage. Like I said above, the more expensive the car, the more likely you are to get nailed.
 
Looked at buying a used DB9, but couldn't stomach the maintenance costs. They just live in the shop every year after doing my research and talking to various folks around LA. Maseratis are dirt cheap out here and have the same issue.

I like exotics, but honestly Porsches are so good now and much more reliable - why pay the premium.
 
KeithR said:
Looked at buying a used DB9, but couldn't stomach the maintenance costs. They just live in the shop every year after doing my research and talking to various folks around LA. Maseratis are dirt cheap out here and have the same issue.

I like exotics, but honestly Porsches are so good now and much more reliable - why pay the premium.
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YUP. I remember the days of the handmade Porsche, with a 26 step custom paint process, engine all hand built and NOTHING but trouble and you had to carry oil with you as you burned a liter every 1000 miles. I had what they called the original doctor killer, one of the Turbos they ultimately took off the market. Today's Porsches are much lower maintenance and just work. Same with Audi.

Having said the above, I have never had a more reliable car/truck than my 2007 Tundra that I have out in Montana. It has never given me one problem.
 
Priaptor said:
YUP. I remember the days of the handmade Porsche, with a 26 step custom paint process, engine all hand built and NOTHING but trouble and you had to carry oil with you as you burned a liter every 1000 miles. I had what they called the original doctor killer, one of the Turbos they ultimately took off the market. Today's Porsches are much lower maintenance and just work. Same with Audi.

Having said the above, I have never had a more reliable car/truck than my 2007 Tundra that I have out in Montana. It has never given me one problem.
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The reason why today’s Porsches are more reliable is due to Toyota. When Porsche was about to fold with high costs and low reliability, Toyota helped Porsche get rid of their QC problems. Without Toyota, Porsche would have not survived.
 
Audis are much more reliable than any Porsche (I own both). And by much, I mean like 10x more reliable. It is a little known fact that almost none of the Porsche engines can make it past 150k miles (unless it is a VW/Audi engine). 911, Boxter, Cayenne (flat 6, V8) - ALL just fell apart after that milage and need super costly rebuilds. And many do fail MUCH sooner than that - 50-60k miles before a complete engine rebuild. Just talk to any Porsche mechanic.

Hell, Porsche has not been even able to solve the transfer box issue in the 958 Cayenne (2011-2018). There are people who are on their 3rd transfer box already (which costs several thousand to replace).

I second the R8 V10 as one of the most reliable exotics. A friend of mine owns one and apart from regular maintnance, had only to replace rotors and pads. The car has been absolutely trouble free for 7 years and 60.000 miles.
 
Love my 2017 Corvette Grand Sport Convertible. It’s loaded. Bought it used (2000 miles), so about $34k under sticker. It’s a much better car than my 911 GTS. It puts a smile on my face every time I drive it and I don’t fret if it doesn’t get driven for a few days. It’s not good for hauling speakers and amps to customers, but most DAC’s fit in the trunk. [emoji6]

Being a GM, it’s also very reasonable for maintenance. Love it. Just, love it.

Fun to watch:

https://youtu.be/GbtoXMOiqtQ


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Mike said:
Love my 2017 Corvette Grand Sport Convertible. It’s loaded. Bought it used (2000 miles), so about $34k under sticker. It’s a much better car than my 911 GTS. It puts a smile on my face every time I drive it and I don’t fret if it doesn’t get driven for a few days. It’s not good for hauling speakers and amps to customers, but most DAC’s fit in the trunk. [emoji6]

Being a GM, it’s also very reasonable for maintenance. Love it. Just, love it.

Fun to watch:

https://youtu.be/GbtoXMOiqtQ


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Nice video! This new Corvette looks great and it is a performer! Glad to see that GM finally got it together.
Enjoy your car!!! [emoji106][emoji106][emoji106]
 
Mike said:
Love my 2017 Corvette Grand Sport Convertible. It’s loaded. Bought it used (2000 miles), so about $34k under sticker. It’s a much better car than my 911 GTS. It puts a smile on my face every time I drive it and I don’t fret if it doesn’t get driven for a few days. It’s not good for hauling speakers and amps to customers, but most DAC’s fit in the trunk. [emoji6]

Being a GM, it’s also very reasonable for maintenance. Love it. Just, love it.

Fun to watch:

https://youtu.be/GbtoXMOiqtQ


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

It's a great car Mike , nicer than the GTS , ahhhhhhhhhh , errrr ..... :)
 
Elberoth said:
Audis are much more reliable than any Porsche (I own both). And by much, I mean like 10x more reliable. It is a little known fact that almost none of the Porsche engines can make it past 150k miles (unless it is a VW/Audi engine). 911, Boxter, Cayenne (flat 6, V8) - ALL just fell apart after that milage and need super costly rebuilds. And many do fail MUCH sooner than that - 50-60k miles before a complete engine rebuild. Just talk to any Porsche mechanic.

Hell, Porsche has not been even able to solve the transfer box issue in the 958 Cayenne (2011-2018). There are people who are on their 3rd transfer box already (which costs several thousand to replace).

I second the R8 V10 as one of the most reliable exotics. A friend of mine owns one and apart from regular maintnance, had only to replace rotors and pads. The car has been absolutely trouble free for 7 years and 60.000 miles.
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This has not been my experience, at all , unreliable ..! R8's are good cars but nothing better than Porsche's' and if you do track days you will understand why Porsche sells more than all other's combine ...


BTW Cayenne is Audi /VW powerplant, Audi's and VW's are far from trouble free, if you like driving buy the Porsche if only as a transport buy the audi, VW , et al ....


Regards ..
 
My 07 Tundra was a POS...the under carriage rusted, calipers always needed to be taken apart to prevent seizing, everything in engine compartment rusted. Toyota sucks

The only Jap stuff to buy is Honda. My 3 yr old Ridgeline is pretty devoid of any rust.
 
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