Living With My Aston Martin
Bloggers say the V8 Vantage is a bargain, but is it worth the trouble?
Last March I made a boyhood dream come true: I purchased an Aston Martin.
No, I did not go to the dealer and get the latest model. Scouring Autotrader I found a 2013 V8 Vantage S with under ten thousand miles. Its then owner had lost his job to Covid and was under pressure to sell. Taking a deep breath and a leap of faith, I closed the deal.
This is the exact car I wanted when I was in high school. The modern Vantage came into the world in 2005 under Ford’s ownership. In an unlikely success story, the Vantage became the best selling Aston Martin of all time and helped save the company from bankruptcy.
The Vantage was the baby, designed to appeal to a slightly less affluent customer. In a bold move it took on the Porsche 911 and Corvette. While the entry level Aston never approached the sales volume of its rivals, it did make Aston Martins much more common on the nation’s streets.
Right now, this is one of the best value second hand sports cars. Decent early versions can be purchased for under fifty thousand dollars. Designed by legend Henrik Fisker, the man behind the BMW Z8 and the Fisker electric car, the Vantage has an impeccable aesthetic as well as brand pedigree. As a parts bin car with bits from Ford and Volvo, it’s cheaper than other exotics to service and repair.
As far as collectibility, mine falls in the middle. The later V12 version is by far the most sought after, and with the coveted manual transmission fetches over one hundred thousand dollars. My car is the second generation S model convertible, with a desirable color combination but the less desirable automated manual gearbox (we will go into depth on this later). Following the depreciation curve, the Vantage seems to have hit rock bottom and is ready for an upswing.
This is at least how my left brain sold my right brain…
So far, this car has been like having a tempestuous relationship with a supermodel. It moves at high speeds, looks stunning, but is difficult to deal with.
Ownership has been an emotional ride. Some days it feels incredible, cruising in the growling iconic sports car. Other days the brakes squeal, transmission fumbles, and warning lights pop up.
Let’s go over the GOOD, the BAD, and the UGLY of owning this car.
THE GOOD: Sexy style and a lusty engine
It’s style is breathtaking. Simultaneously contemporary and classic, the Vantage is a symphony of feminine curves and masculine bulges. The front of the car has the square jawed smirk of a young Michael Douglas. A rear mini ducktail spoiler gives the elegant beast a playful sporty vibe in the back.
The looks do indeed attract attention. People stop and stare. Grown men approach me at gas stations to say how much they love the car. All of the feedback has been positive. Aston Martins have a cheeky underdog quality that doesn't engender the sort of resentment that Ferraris or Porsches do. You’re a quirky landed aristocrat, not a soulless investment banker or tech bro.
At its core the Vantage has a good heart. The 4.3 liter V8 borrowed from Jaguar has been a mainstay of British sports cars for over twenty years. While based on Jag architecture, the engine was uniquely tailored to Aston Martin and features race-style dry-sump lubrication, which enables it to be mounted low in the chassis for an improved center of gravity. Mine has the upgraded 4.7 liter engine based on the same platform.
Inserting the key, the car lets out a tasteful but menacing growl. At speed the engine is smooth and burbles pleasantly. In sport mode and with aggressive downshifting it unleashes a lionlike roar. It does what you want when you want it.
Aston Martin has indicated that the next generation of Vantages will be electric and the current model is turbo charged, so this is the last naturally aspirated car the firm will likely produce.
The engine fits perfectly with the car creating cat-like balance. On a recent track day at Sebring, the car shot past Camaros and 911s in the straights and snaked without a hint of trouble around the S bends. Despite a rear wheel drive setup, there was very little over steer and it took guts to break the back end loose. To be totally honest I was surprised by how well it performed, as were my fellow racers.
They said I needed a decal with a steakhouse cartoon of my head sticking out of the convertible wearing a top hat. Driving stripped out purpose built sports cars, these racers saw something faintly ridiculous in competing alongside a car appointed like a St. James Square members club. Somehow I know they were very jealous.
In summary, given an open smooth road with a few corners this car really comes alive. For a while I doubted my decision to get the convertible, but as the Miami temperatures start to dip below eighty I could not be happier with my choice.
THE BAD: A hard car to live with day to day
On my first day of ownership a big drawback became glaringly obvious: The carbon ceramic brakes squeal like Fredo in Godfather II.
Why I didn’t hear this on the test drive is hard to say. Maybe I was going too fast and maybe I should have taken the top down. Perhaps he had them specially serviced to pull the wool over my eyes. Pretty soon after the purchase I found that around town they squeal in a way that made my teeth chatter. This somewhat ruins the smooth James Bond vibe.
Taking the car to the mechanic, I was told this is normal and the only way to permanently fix the issue is to downgrade the brakes at a cost of six grand. To this I said no thanks. Eventually I alighted on a half measure solution, getting the rotors polished and calipers chamfered. This has decreased the noise to a tolerable level.
Another issue is the comically small trunk. At most it can handle a Louis Vutton duffle bag and a bottle of champagne, don’t even try a couple rollaboard suitcases. The interior offers little in the way of consolation. The glove box is tiny and there’s literally no room for anything other than the leather bound owner's manual. Maybe a tropical weekend getaway is possible, just make sure your girlfriend doesn’t want to bring all her makeup. To be fair the hardtop has much more storage space.
Speaking of space, let’s talk about headroom. I am six feet tall and the top of my head graces the convertible roof. It works for me, but don’t buy one without trying it out. You could end up with a very regrettable Bring a Trailer bid.
Lastly, and most comically, is the key. While it’s an undeniably beautiful object, the “emotional control unit” is wildly impractical. The key is capped with a delicate crystal which will break when dropped on any hard surface. There’s no way to connect it to a key ring. The car came with only one and a backup costs fifteen hundred dollars so you really don’t want to lose it. Your anxiety will be at an eleven out of ten as this pricey bauble floats around your overstuffed pockets.
I get where they were going with this. Inserting the key into the dash, I feel vaguely like Superman inserting a crystal into his fortress of solitude. Despite the excellence of the moment when the crystal calls the engine to life, in balance I don’t think it’s worth having such an impractical system for starting the vehicle.
THE UGLY: Gear Box From Hell
The Graziano automated manual transmission is said to be an acquired taste, acquired like the taste of your own urine on a deserted island.
It’s not hard to see the problem: The car shifts like a manual but there is no clutch pedal to ease into the gears. This leads to very clumsy shifts in manual mode. Because it’s also not a proper auto box, you can’t casually cruise either.
To put it less delicately…
Around town the Vantage lurches like a drunken frat bro at the end of his first tailgate. The car feels like it’s searching for second and third gear in a bucket of coal with a rotten tree branch.
Mercifully, after 3rd gear things get better. At speed the transmission works well both in manual and auto mode. The car shoots down the highway, executing almost Germanic shifts. Before you know it you're flying at close to a hundred, just watch for cops!
I have gotten much smoother with practice but I still get gut wrenching shudders from the car in parking lots and in slow creep traffic. Some of the most white knuckle experiences are waiting to enter a parking garage on a steep incline, it takes finesse to not ram the car in front of you or slide back into the one behind you. There’s no clutch pedal so you’re stuck guessing when the power engages.
Reverse is possibly the worst part. The super long gear takes a terrifying large amount of throttle to engage. You always feel like you’re about to slam into the wall behind you if you give just a little too much. Again practice makes this somewhat better, just cross your fingers and prey when you hand the car off to the valet. It took me about six months to master tight parallel parking.
In Conclusion: A Quirky Adventure
Let’s go back to the tempestuous beautiful woman metaphor. You’re just starting to date and it’s the most exciting time of your life. Velvet ropes lift, doors open, and life becomes a non stop thrill ride. Your friends are jealous and you wonder how to post about the relationship on Instagram without getting too much hate from long lost classmates.
Then warning signs pop up and all your money is going to luxurious maintenance and accessories. She refuses to leave the house some days, and when you’re out lots of other guys, perhaps without the best intentions, surround her. Do you wife her up or do you settle for someone more practical who keeps your blood pressure down, in both good and bad ways?
The Vantage, for better or worse, is not a modern Porsche or BMW, it's handmade and British. Porsche sells more 911s in a month than Aston sells from its entire range in a year. Aston is a small company, and the compromises are apparent. Yet somehow, those compromises create the paradoxes which make the car enjoyable.
The interior is a great example of this. The leather is so soft, the carpet so plush, and the finishing so artisanally luxurious that it’ll make your skin tingle like a ASRM video. However, after an hour on the highway, the sport seats will have even the most limber athlete’s back screaming in pain.
Walking to get a coke at the gas station, your posture will be more Quasimodo than Quantum of Solace.
Eccentricity is what makes the car unique as well as frustrating. It will be hard to find a mechanic, to find parts, and to understand how all the interior buttons work. When everything is set up, enjoy it, because like all the best things in life it won’t last.
At the moment I am happy I chose this fun yet difficult relationship. There is, however, a sense that I will feel a bit differently after the almost inevitable messy divorce. Mechanics, like lawyers in a bad marriage, are the only true winners. Oh well, life is short and I wanna have fun.
Andrew, I own a 2008 Vantage Roadster and could not have said it any better. I totally agree with you, and no wonder have to deal with exact the same problems. But f.... it, I anyway wont miss the car. Cheers Andreas
Full of humour.