For $40,000, a Used Aston Martin V8 Vantage Is a Stunning Sports Car Bargain
With its new CEO, Lawrence Stroll, at the helm, Aston Martin is aiming upmarket. Way upmarket if the pricing of the new Aston Martin Valour is any indication. However, if you want in on the elevated aesthetic of a British sports car but you don’t have the net worth of a small island nation, a used Aston Martin V8 Vantage is probably a better place to start.
How much is a used Aston Martin again!?
Aston Martin has never really been synonymous with affordable. But the used car market is a funny thing. Because Astons don’t have any major enthusiast market, they end up as more niche products than their contemporaries. That’s great news for you, the enthusiast on a budget, because it means you can snag a low-mileage DB9 or V8 Vantage for the same price as a GR Corolla.
And to clarify, that’s a GR Corolla before any heinous dealer markups. A quick perusal of Cars.com will find a fair share of older DB7s. Just past those, though, is a lineup of V8 Vantage models, all for around $40,000. Not bad for a relatively modern Aston Martin with one of the best-sounding European V8 engines ever made.
What do you get in a used 2007 Aston Martin V8 Vantage?
OK, so you can get an older Aston and blow the minds of all your C-Class driving colleagues. But what comes in that package is even more enjoyable than the classic Aston grille and the winged badge on the hood.
Under that long, sloping bonnet sits a 4.3-liter naturally-aspirated V8 engine. And that N/A part is just as important as anything on the spec sheet. Turbos give more punch, but they also choke engine noise and throttle response. In the V8 Vantage, you get a sonorous symphony of internal combustion and no-questions-asked power delivery when you put your foot down.
The resulting performance isn’t world-beating by any means. But the 380 horsepower and 302 pound-feet of torque won’t leave you disappointed, either. Sure, modern sports cars offer more punch. But there’s something about the raw feel of an unassisted V8 that can induce an immediate grin even when you’re looking at the taillights of that new M3 next in the next lane.
Is a used Aston Martin the most fun you can have for $40,000?
I know that ‘fun’ is always a subjective term, but from an auto enthusiast’s perspective, it’s hard to think of a car that delivers more for $40K than the Aston Martin V8 Vantage. For one, it’s a head-turner no matter where it goes. We just don’t see that many of these in the States, so it’s always worth a second look.
And with the V8 engine, a six-speed manual, mechanical steering, and those gorgeous Aston Martin proportions, it delivers exactly the kind of experience sports car enthusiasts lament having lost over the past decade and a half.
The V8 Vantage is a surprisingly good used sports car
For starters, the Aston Martin V8 Vantage is a throwback that holds up. Plus, it’s unique enough to be enjoyable beyond what happens at the track. If the options are a GR Corolla, Golf R, or BMW M240i, a used V8 Vantage is probably a more interesting way to spend the same money.
Even better, the only commonly reported problems involve the factory clutch, but aftermarket upgrades eliminate that problem. Hagerty calls it “generally robust and reliable” overall. Two words you don’t often see associated with British sports cars.
