Id strongly suggest you hold out for an example with less mileage (20-30k, Im not a fan of the super low mileage cars) and one that is the perfect color combo. I did so, and it worked out - I picked one up at a fair price. As far as the depreciation, I think these cars are very close to their floors and dont see them going down much more. Lets face it, I doubt you will be able to get into an Aston Martin for $40k anytime soon.

The extra $10k you could save up will get you into a fine unmolested example with service history etc. Be sure you contact the original dealer where the car was serviced to make sure it wasnt in the shop over and over for the same issue. Id recommend picking up an 07 - mine was a late 07 build, and I havent had any real issues with it....(knock on wood). Also, I like the 07 seats much better.

Purchasing a car with higher miles will make it that much more difficult to sell when the time comes...especially in an odd color combo, Ive seen the same cars listed for sale for many months!

Good luck! - No matter what you decide, every time you sit inside the car you will feel like a million bucks!

 

Well, you can pick up a decent DB7 in the 40k range. I'm not sure that the V8Vs have hit their floor yet.

 

Again, thank you for all of the very helpful replies!

Thanks a million for the reference to Grant's book. I've placed my order and will read it in patience while I wait for the right car to show up for sale.

Thank you all for the input on the navigation system. One other question I had - Is it possible to leave the navigation monitor closed? I always seem to see them popped up in any pictures however I'd guess that's just a resale point in most cases. I could see it being something to mostly ignore on the feature list while shopping assuming it can easily be hidden.

I really appreciate all of the great advice and should now be able to make a much more information purchase.

On that note, are there any sites you recommend I search for a car on besides AutoTrader and eBay(yikes)?

 

Don't forget Craig's List. Many people overlook that site—which is the modern-day equivalent of the ol' newspaper classifieds.

 

Ah yes, forgot to mention that one as I've been browsing it as well via SearchTempest.com.

I did just find they have a nice auto-specific site which is AutoTempest.com where you can specify make/model/etc. and search many classified sites in one go.

 

My nav stays closed most of the time. It would be a terrible shame if it was up all the time, destroys the beautiful lines of the dash.

Make friends with a dealer who can get u access to Manheim. It's like eBay for dealer to dealer sales. You get a great snap shot of what is out there, the condition of the cars and what the 'wholesale' prices so you can estimate how much negotiation room you have on the cars.

If you have a dealer who is willing to act as an agent for you, you can have them represent you in a deal for a finder fee or you can take the info from the listings and call dealers directly yourself, knowing where they would start to negotiate on price with another dealer.

Manheim also has live online and local auctions so if there is a branch in your area, your dealer/agent could represent you at one of those if a Vantage you wanted being sold in the lane (I would not buy this way wihotut someone you trust eyeballing the car though). That's a bit of a long shot though given that the cars are not exactly that common. More a strategy for getting a good deal on a used 'commodity car' that you want as a DD.

 

Oh and, although I'm sure you already know this, beware of deals that seem almost too good to be true out there. As soon as someone gives you a story that eventually boils down to you putting some money in 'escrow' somewhere and taking delivery of the car sight unseen ... just run the other way. Seems obvious putting it that way but it always starts out sounding plausible at the beginning and they can be very very sophisticated in terms of presentation. There is a lot of that going on out there on the used car sites (incl AutoTrader).