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    Sold my Gen2 PDK C2S and "defected" to Aston Martin

    Well its been a long story but Ive finally given up on getting a GT3 in the UK until next summer at the very earliest and decided to look elsewhere to fullfill my auto-addiction desires. Its taken me almost 3 years to go back to Aston Martin but Ive finally gone and done it today and bought a new 4.7 Vantage V8 Coupe.  I decided not to proceed 3 years ago when my 12mth long held deposit on an early 4.3 V8 Vantage came to the top of the list and I then jumped into a much "cheaper" new C2S 997 (man, aerokit, sport exhaust) and never really looked back at Aston until a couple of weeks ago.  4 months ago I traded that C2S for a gen2 C2S PDK and Ive hated from a few days after I picked it up (PDK isn't at all what I thought, and the gen2 had no aero and no sport exhaust). The new car was just too much like an auto, too quiet and too bland to look at compared to the first car, and so I placed a deposit for a GT3 to "fix" things, but alas its not going to happen for at least 12mths and I cant drive a car for 12mths that I don't like, so I looked around again and my thoughts flicked back to the vantage I so narrowly avoided 3 years ago.

    Ive managed to get a deal on the V8 that I am pretty happy with, albeit not so happy with the retained value of the 4mth old PDK 997! One of the main reasons I walked from the Vantage 3yrs ago was because of its >£90k price tag and at the time I jumped into a <£80k 997 and pocketed the £15k difference as a happy man.  Interestingly now the GT3 is now >£90k in the UK and deals can be had on a new 4.7 V8 Vantage for significantly <£80k and the £15k saving has reveresed, indeed the AMV8 is almost £20k less than the GT3 will cost me!!!

    The car is already built and I plan to collect it on Friday. Suffice to say my Porsche dealership have behaved shockingly over the whole thing since the moment they took my deposit on the GT3 to a disgraceful amount of messing around today with the trade in value on my car. As a result Im not sure if I will proceed with my GT3 but its perhaps too early to rush for the deposit back - just to keep options open.  On the other hand the Aston dealer I have bought the car from has been a delight to deal with and a real help despite the embarrasing behaviour of the Porsche dealer towards them when they realised their messing me around on the GT3 meant I was now defecting to Aston. I remain a porsche fan of course, but Im really really looking forward to the Aston I wanted all along for almost 4 years now! Bizzarely (and Ive never done this before), Ive not actually seen the exact car as its at the other end of the country and Ive effectively bought it over the phone, but its brand new and Ive seen all the colour options in various other cars so Im pretty sure there is no real risk here.

    Anyway onto the car, its taken me over a week to find the right new car and deal but Im delighted with it as its 99.9% my ideal colour & spec and considering I dont have to wait and got a very healthy discount thats pretty good in my book. I test drove the Aston Sportshift system and I have to say it is really good, seemed very similar to the BMW SMG system I had loved before on my M3's, and certainly a whole lot better than Porsche's "automatic" PDK box. However as I have just had my fingers burnt with PDK I felt it was safest to sick with a manual this time despite my gut feeling that I would be very much at home with sportshift.

    Yes a Vantage is chalk and cheese to the GT3 and if pushed not quite as good to drive as the even the C2S manual, let alone the GT3, but thats not what this car is all about. It is a surprisingly good drive regardless, requires a good deal of input to handle its muscle car style and perhaps most importantly they are quite simply stunning both outside and inside. Ohh and the sound of that exhaust over 4000RPM is out of this world. Its less about the pure driving with the Aston and more of a whole sensory package.

    So the Aston's spec is :

    Model : 4.7 Coupe Manual (V8 : 420BHP / 346lb ft)
    Ext : Onyx Metalic Black + Silver Calipers + Sport Pack with 5 spoke wheels + N400 style clear rear lights + Bright front grill
    Int : Obsidian Leather + Silver Stitching + Piano Black Trim
    Toys : Premium Audio, Sat Nav, bluetooth, HID, Heated Seats, autodim mirror, powerfold mirrors, cruise control + lots of std gear that you have to pay for on a 997S!

    Im really delighted with the colour combo (all stealth black + silver) and hope it will look a bit like a mini V12 Vantage - albeit one that comes at only a smidge over half the price!  EvilEvilEvil

    I shall be unplugging the sports exhaust with immediate effect (the function is almost idential to the PSE and just as easy to unplug) and then it should sound as good as it looks all the time.

    Cant wait - roll on Friday!  (pics to follow in due course)

     

    PS : Im not "leaving" by the way - Im sure I will be back to Porsche at some point, quite possibly in the GT3 in 12mths (despite my current hostile feelings to my OPC) and I certainly shall continue to post and contribute here on this forum as this remains one of the best car enthusiast forums Ive ever been on.


    Re: Sold my Gen2 PDK C2S and "defected" to Aston Martin

    Congratulations  Adam, beautiful car 

    Please post pictures, and a sound clip  


    Re: Sold my Gen2 PDK C2S and "defected" to Aston Martin

     congrats on the Vantage. post pics upon reciebing the car. :D


    Re: Sold my Gen2 PDK C2S and "defected" to Aston Martin

    Congratulations! 


    Re: Sold my Gen2 PDK C2S and "defected" to Aston Martin

    Maybe we should start an Aston Martin forum...AM is getting more and more popular.


    --

    RC (Germany) - Rennteam Editor 997 Turbo, Cayenne Turbo S, BMW M3 Cab DKG, Mini Cooper S JCW


    Re: Sold my Gen2 PDK C2S and "defected" to Aston Martin

    Congrats, you will not regret it. AM ownership has something Porsche doesn't have, something special. Performance is not on par with Porsche but other aspects take precedence despite the gremlins associated with lower volume production cars. I would not swap my roadster for any variant of a 911...

    Sportshift is far from perfect, especially compared to Ferrari F1, but it does the job, learn how to use it correctly, it takes time. Don't drive in D unless traffic is bad. Be careful reversing, and in general be gentle when moving the car from a stop on a hill.

    Driving involvement is IMHO higher than a 997 with PDK.

    Last you might want to consider an aftermarket exhaust (full warranty from dealer). The sound is intoxicating and adds to the uniqueness of the car.

     

    Good luck!


    Re: Sold my Gen2 PDK C2S and "defected" to Aston Martin

    SciFrog:

    Sportshift is far from perfect, especially compared to Ferrari F1, but it does the job, learn how to use it correctly, it takes time. Don't drive in D unless traffic is bad. Be careful reversing, and in general be gentle when moving the car from a stop on a hill.

    Good luck!

    Too many limitations for a car at this price range and with its reputation !

    Also is "good luck" needed with Astons?


    --
    It's not where you're going, it's how you get there that counts


    Re: Sold my Gen2 PDK C2S and "defected" to Aston Martin

    These are not real limitations, just being careful with an exotic car... I felt I was buying an experience, not just a car...


    Re: Sold my Gen2 PDK C2S and "defected" to Aston Martin

    SciFrog:

    These are not real limitations, just being careful with an exotic car... I felt I was buying an experience, not just a car...

    I see what you mean.

    That's part of the beauty of Porsche for me though. Top performance, no fear of daily and heavy use and parts/maintenance at mainstream levels.

    For me the only car worth buying for the experience and pride of ownership is Ferrari. At least there you are paying heavily and accept the exotic car limitations but you own a legend.


    --
    It's not where you're going, it's how you get there that counts

    Re: Sold my Gen2 PDK C2S and "defected" to Aston Martin

    RC:

    Maybe we should start an Aston Martin forum...AM is getting more and more popular.

     That would be nice Smiley


    Re: Sold my Gen2 PDK C2S and "defected" to Aston Martin

    reginos:
    SciFrog:

    These are not real limitations, just being careful with an exotic car... I felt I was buying an experience, not just a car...

    I see what you mean.

    That's part of the beauty of Porsche for me though. Top performance, no fear of daily and heavy use and parts/maintenance at mainstream levels.

    For me the only car worth buying for the experience and pride of ownership is Ferrari. At least there you are paying heavily and accept the exotic car limitations but you own a legend.

    Well, I didn't mean to scare him but the AM is a daily driver still, especially the V8, and is meant to be driven. Ferrari is not as easy, maintenance and service is twice+ AM still...


    Re: Sold my Gen2 PDK C2S and "defected" to Aston Martin

    Congrats Adam, looking foward to the pictures


    --


    Re: Sold my Gen2 PDK C2S and "defected" to Aston Martin

    How is the manual on the aston martin? I have heard mixed reviews that the manual is "cheap" compared to the 911 manual.  I plan on selling my C2S by the end of the summer and getting a new car and i cant decide on a r8, vantage, or 911 turbo.


    Re: Sold my Gen2 PDK C2S and "defected" to Aston Martin

    Errr 911 turbo naturally..

    Re: Sold my Gen2 PDK C2S and "defected" to Aston Martin

    congrats..! vantage is a lovely car.

    911 is the better performer though and you cannot compare a vantage and a gt3...too different.


    --
    Speed has never killed anyone, suddenly becoming stationary... That's what gets you.

    Re: Sold my Gen2 PDK C2S and "defected" to Aston Martin

    WOW - this was quick!

    Great choice, the AM is so classy, you never be wrong with it! 100% agree and understand your reasoning!


    Re: Sold my Gen2 PDK C2S and "defected" to Aston Martin

    Congrats - looking forward to seeing pics and reading your impressions


    --

    Rennteam Moderator - 997.1 C2S Coupe GT Silver/Cocoa, -20mm/LSD, PSE, SportDesign rims, Zuffenhausen collection


    Re: Sold my Gen2 PDK C2S and "defected" to Aston Martin

    The AM V8 is all class and cham, very beautiful car and very nice choice, the engine sound alone is worth every penny Smiley

    J.Seven


    Re: Sold my Gen2 PDK C2S and "defected" to Aston Martin

    Thanks for all the kind comments guys regarding the AM V8 and colour/spec - Im getting all excited again!  (<-Car nut!)

    I know going from a C2S man to a C2S PDK to (an attempted) GT3 to an AM V8 (all within 6mths) might seem like the actions of a slightly crazy man but there is some method to my madness (honest!) and I havnt given up on getting the GT3 - I have just given up on trying to get one in 2009 and resided myself to getting it in 12-14mths when my deposit comes up.

    The V8V isnt quite that strange when you start to consider the what appeals to me about the GT3 and my previous gen1 C2S aero/PSE most - great looks, great soundtrack, fantastic driver feedback & capability and strong residuals. The V8V looks and sounds are off the scale, it is very good to drive - ok not as good as a 997 (but far better than PDK in my mind) and should, I hope, have reasonable residuals considering the huge discount I negotiated. As "J Seven" puts above the sound alone is worth the money - aside from an Ariel Atom 300 the Aston is the only car Ive driven where the sound of it makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up and the Aston can do that pootling around town when the exhaust is unplugged!  Also bizzarely for a car that would in normal times retail at a mighty £94k (almost the same as my spec GT3) it has ended up being cheaper to buy than either of my last two 997 C2S's, so there is a degree of attraction there too!

    For now I plan to keep a deposit on a GT3 and see how I still feel about the Aston when my slot comes due (just hope Ive got it right this time and dont go all funny on it in a couple of weeks like I did with the PDK car! - I really dont want mrcockup to come visiting twice in one year!)

    The decision I have is whether to keep the GT3 deposit with my current dealer or to transfer it prompty to one of the other very helpful and promising dealers I have spoken with whilst trying to no avail to find a 2009 slot - just worried that trying to swap now might put me even further down the queue, however I have reasonable and beliveable assurances from other dealers.  After the messing around my current dealer has done right now I feel like I dont want to give them 1p more of my buisness ever!  Yes, this is the same dealer as I bought the last two C2S's from! Not only have they a) messed me around and basically taken a deposit on a GT3 pretending I should get a 2009 slot ("yes we are very confident of a 2009 delivery sir") when in reality they had no chance in hell of ever fullfilling it now I know the full facts - all just so that I didnt go elsewhere, but b) they have also acted with a total lack of integrity with regard to buying back my current car and shockingly backed out of the cash offer they made me once they learned I was going to buy an Aston from outside their group - I never said I was doing anything of the sort. This is despite the offer being a hard cash offer to walk away with, not a trade in value against another P-car - they gave me two figures, one cash to walk and one much higher to trade in against another stock 997 (and even that took several calls and face to face meetings to get anything like a competetive "we are doing you a favour" offer out of them). Grrr - not sure what they thought I was going to do with the cash other than buy another car elsewhere if I wasnt trading in with them... perhaps he thought I was going to put it under my bed and walk to work! All this whilst holding a £10k deposit for a GT3 and against being an incumbant twice 911 customer - total three 997's in 2 years! Suffice to say I'm pretty p*ssed off with them right now...

    Anyway Im focussing on the Aston for now and will think again more carefully about the deposit situation next week once Ive calmed down.

    Plan to get pics over the weekend when I take it for a spin somewhere...


    Re: Sold my Gen2 PDK C2S and "defected" to Aston Martin

    Are you able to say which Porsche OPC you have been using?


    --

    Rennteam Moderator - 997.1 C2S Coupe GT Silver/Cocoa, -20mm/LSD, PSE, SportDesign rims, Zuffenhausen collection


    Re: Sold my Gen2 PDK C2S and "defected" to Aston Martin

    Great move. Beautiful car. Post a lot of classy pics with a nice background. A much more special ride imo. 


    Re: Sold my Gen2 PDK C2S and "defected" to Aston Martin

    easy_rider911:

    Are you able to say which Porsche OPC you have been using?


    Yes, I had assumed that there was a policy of not naming and shaming on such forums???  Anyway Ive got one final call with them due this afternoon but I very much doubt they will do anything now to rectify how I feel.  If they dont do anything and you confirm its ok to name and shame I will gladly name them here - hopefully to help other members from falling foul of their underhand way of treating loyal customers.


    Re: Sold my Gen2 PDK C2S and "defected" to Aston Martin

    There's no such policy. One of the purposes of any car forum is to provide a platform for users to discuss problems, find solutions from others with knowledge of similar experiences and also to warn others to be wary when using an OPC or 3rd party garage etc etc.

    Recently, another valued Rennteamer and a good friend of mine, function_analysi, had a shocking experience in relation to the UK company that fitted his aftermarket exhaust to his 997.1 GT3. It's important that we help each other by warning each other and learning from each other's experiences, both good and bad.

    The main thing is not to post anything legally defamatory or slanderous. Under English law, truth is a complete defence against any accusation of defamation or slander.

    But how you disclose is your call. You can opt to explain your story publicly with names on one of the main RT boards etc OR you could tell your story without names but then reveal names to individual people by PM only if they specifically request such info.

    BTW I never liked the phrase 'naming and shaming'. It's one of those unfortunate phrases that has become part of normal parlance in the UK because of the media spin culture engendered during the past 12 disastrous years of New Labour spin-doctoring. Think Alistair Campbell, Charlie Whelan and Peter Mandelson and you'll know where I am coming from on this and why these people are so odious IMO...

     


    --
     

    Rennteam Moderator - 997.1 C2S Coupe GT Silver/Cocoa, -20mm/LSD, PSE, SportDesign rims, Zuffenhausen collection


    Re: Sold my Gen2 PDK C2S and "defected" to Aston Martin

    Sound advice easy_rider....

    Well I spoke with the dealership today one last time but they have done little rectify the situation other than confirm I can have a full refund on my GT3 deposit at any time (its not as if they wont sell it on anyway to another person in the waiting list who is currently unallocated).  They failed to call me back by the end of the day as promised on one final point so have done nothing to redeem themselves.

    Im more than happy to pass on the name of my "north-of-london" UK OPC to anybody who asks me (via a PM).

    Getting ready for the Aston now preparing all the final bits before the day.  Anybody got any top tips for things to remember to do on an AMV8 collection?


    Re: Sold my Gen2 PDK C2S and "defected" to Aston Martin

    If it's OPC Hatfield you are hinting at, I've heard some less than flattering stories...


    --

    Rennteam Moderator - 997.1 C2S Coupe GT Silver/Cocoa, -20mm/LSD, PSE, SportDesign rims, Zuffenhausen collection


    Re: Sold my Gen2 PDK C2S and "defected" to Aston Martin

    nope, not Hatfield.... you have a PM :)


    Re: Sold my Gen2 PDK C2S and "defected" to Aston Martin

    Quite happy that you didn't say it was Hatfield cos the Dealer Principal (Perry Hobbs) is a good friend. Only other OPC in north london or close to north london is Chiswick.  Hmmm....chiswick Smiley


    --
    There's only one car, there's only one Porsche

    Re: Sold my Gen2 PDK C2S and "defected" to Aston Martin

    i mean north of london, not 'north london'... i.e. not actually london but somewhere in the midlands or north. was trying to rule out all the southern dealers for the good number of you who live there and might be wondering.

    Re: Sold my Gen2 PDK C2S and "defected" to Aston Martin

    Lovely car Adam, Aston Martin has a certain allure to it that (imho) Porsche can't match.

    Can't wait to see photos!!


    Re: Sold my Gen2 PDK C2S and "defected" to Aston Martin

    Ok here are a few pics from the collection - it was a bit overcast and lightly raining so I hope to take some better pics in the sun next weekend and will write up my first thoughts of the car in full later on.

    I really love it - its totally different to the 997 but every bit as good as an overall package in its own special way. It just oozes style, it is stunningly beautiful to look at (these pics dont do it justice really) and the engine not only sounds fantastic but is a real brute too - so much torque! It certainly gets a lot of looks and in the 2 days Ive had it so far I think Ive had more praise from complete strangers than I had in 2 years of 997 ownership - everybody seems to love an Aston.

    Anyway here are the first pics (you can see my poor old 997S unloved and just dumped in the background - without regrets Smiley) :


     
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