Curious to know if some of you folks could provide first hand experience so I can better make a decision.

I am trying to decide between an 06/07 Aston Vantage or a 2010/2011 Jaguar XKR

My main concern is more ownership of the vehicle and reliability.


I am curious to know what the reliability of this vehicle is. I wont be using the Aston as a daily commuter, just to be used during weekends.

What should I look for in service history? Spark plugs, clutch, filters ?
How much should I budget for yearly maintenance?

What is the life of this vehicle? Given I will be taking financing, I dont want to be financing a broken car.

I am at a point in my life where I can afford a few luxuries. I am not looking for the cheapest method to travel, but the most enjoyable as well. Typically whenever I require a car I rent from enterprise at 40 dollars a day. Given I have no car insurance history in canada, the cost of renting a car every weekend is equivalent to just my insurance payments. So it was always the cheapest option.

I am considering a few options of cars within my budget and am curious to know if you have any feedback or suggestions.
Budget around 55,000 - 70,000
Down payment 35,000
Financing cost 1,000-1500 36 months

 

Look at the what 10-15 year old XK8's look like and that's a good gauge of where the current XK will be at a minimum. I see no reason why this car can't go 200K plus miles on the original engine.

 

There was way more money spent on developing the current car. It should be MORE reliable than the older ones.

 

Expence report on XK/XKR:
Add fuel, go
Add more fuel, go
Add more fuel, go really really fast!
Add more fuel....

Dang reliable car, but I understand the go-fast peddle really hurts fuel economy! he he...

You will obvioulsy get a biased view here, but most will tell you the Jag, although quick to depreciate, is a highly underrated! This is a great car loaded with lots of value and reliability for its price.

Vince

 

There is no more fuel efficient car with this power. I can't think of another 5.0 liter period that gets good enough gas mileage to evade the gas guzzler tax!

 

'07 XKR, bought 10 months ago with 53k miles on it or so and put about 6k miles on it.

Have probably spent $2000-2500 on repairs, with a mix of dealer, indy shop and self-performed repairs.

Repairs what I consider above and beyond the norm: have replaced the car battery (due to electrical gremlins--still started and drove fine), keyfob battery (twice in 10 months?), right rear axle, turn signal stalk, thermostat, transmission reflash. Also have wobbly power steering on hot days which seems to be somewhat normal on Jaguars as my '06 XJ8 had this issue (also had a bad thermostat as well).

That being said, I still love the car. If your main concern is about maintenance costs, Jaguars are not for you. Especially not late model Jaguars--parts costs are still quite high (that axle was $700 for the part).

 

The real debate in my head is the cost of maintaining a jag vs a aston. From what I see its very similar.

 

Jaguar Pre-Owned Inventory Search | Choose Your Vehicle

Check the above web site for Select Certified used Jaguars.
These have a - 6-Year / 100,000-Mile Limited Warranty from Jaguar.
There are several listed today from 10k to 42k miles in your price range.
The Jaguar still has some significant depreciation at your price range.
The Aston Martin depreciation may have leveled off more as they are an older car.

 

Two things you will not get on a Jag.... Manual trans, and a real handbrake...

May or may not make a difference for you...

Just an FYI

 

I will say if the jag 's tires are in great shape, if service was done, and it is under 30k miles., shocks should be fine, charge the battery and you could get a year free of maintenance. Out of a 2006 aston martin, you may find less security features, and like others says the mechanic at aston will assume you are very rich and will screw your car 10 days for service....I will not hesitate myself buying a xkr.

 

Would love the sex appeal of the Aston, but you can't beat the performance, bang for the buck and price of a Jag. I'm positive the Aston repair parts will be a lot more expensive. That said my Jag has been the most reliable car I've ever owned. Everyone thinks it's a Aston Martin anyways! LOL

 

ROTF!
Isn't it true... But it is somewhat pleasing that the populous deems these gems as exotic and unreachable and a maintenance nightmare... it keeps us unique.

 

Plus the XK is larger than Vantage or DB9.

 

If you were looking at a 2009+ Aston it would be a harder decision since that is the year they made significant upgrades to the engine and interior. Even still, I shopped them both and ended up with the Jag which runs circles around the Aston, performance wise.

Any Vantage or DB9 under year model 2009 in my opinion is a no-brainer for the Jag. Plus there is a chance the Jag will still be under warranty, no chance with the Aston.

What I think also swayed me was reading forums and guys that had both Aston and Jag were actually praising the Jag. I thought that was very telling.

Good luck! I wouldn't mind owning an Aston one day, but no way am I giving up the XKR-S for one.

 

I went from a vantage to XKR... very different cars. Even the blown 4.2 liter XKR's are faster than the V8 astons and the 5.0 XKR's are a nudge faster than the V12 to include the DBS. If you're really just considering performance then get an XKR with a pulley and tune and no Aston will be faster. Stock for stock a jag turns better and the only astons that will stop better are the ones with ceramic brakes - even then on the street the jag still wins. Ceramic brakes are magic when heated up on a track but actually worse when cold on the street.

 

vantage very problem car. like all astons if you have at least one more car - aston is very good choise everyone who chose the jag xk was thinking about Aston. in fact i think that xkr and db9 same cars, but interior. but for price difference you can tune your xk and it will be better than any stock db9.

 

My main vehicle is a ducati super sport 848, the power on that is more than I can handle. I am not really looking for what car is best on paper. I would assume between the xkr and Nissan gtr, the Nissan would smoke an xkr.

I am trying to take a practical approach to selecting an exotic.

Jaguar - great performance, low maintenance (relative), highly depreciable
Aston - sex appeal, medium to high maintenance, realized a significant portion of depreciable value

 

Your correct about the Nissan. <sigh>

Another XK owner and I have debated the term "exotic" , and honestly dont feel the Jag quite makes the cut. I have seen articals list us as "sub-exotic", and I am comfortable with that classification. I am always humbled by the cars present at the Exotics meets, and they have never shunned a Jag pulling into their ranks thanks to her amazing good looks, but to me, "exotic" is a group of cars just one notch above us. Aston does climb that extra notch.

An arguable opinion of course, but one for the weigh-in...

 

I would challenge that nissan statement... The Nissan would win the first and maybe second lap but its a heavy pig and brakes would are worthless after a few laps. It is sterile and has similar build quality of an altima. It's just redonculously fast from 0-60.

If you're not worried about power then the price point of a 4.2 XKR would be extremely compelling! It's still plenty nice and still faster than a v8v

 

Comparing these cars on the merits of performance alone... you're correct that this is not the point.
Want raw performance alone, look somewhere else. Want purely sex appeal, and bragging rights, Aston is in the list. Want a clever blending of performance, grand touring, luxury... Jaguar or Maserati.

As for maintenance, it comes with the territory... parts at a local parts shop are better suited to assisting the japanese or big 3... not these babies.