Used Aston Martin DB9 review and buying guide (2003 to 2016): which one to buy and what to check

Which used Aston Martin DB9 should you buy?

Go for an automatic DB9 with invoices for an oil change every year and the recall work done, whatever year it's from. There's no generation split across its 2003 to 2016 run and the fault record for it is thin, which isn't the same as a clean bill of health, so the car's own history counts for more than its age.

The manual's the one to be wary of. Its clutch can be worn out in about 5,000 miles, so only buy a manual with a receipt for a recent clutch and a test drive that shows it biting cleanly. That clutch warning is about the manual alone; the automatic has its own small parking lock recall, covered under gearboxes below.

Don't assume a later car is a safer one. Recalls between 2005 and 2013 each covered a different part on a different batch, from early automatics to cars built in 2012 and 2013, so a newer car can still need one. What matters is paperwork showing the recall that applies to the car in front of you has been carried out.

Which DB9 engines and gearboxes are the safe choices?

Every DB9 has the same V12, so the real choice is between the six-speed manual and the six-speed automatic, and the automatic's the safer one. The manual's clutch can be finished in about 5,000 miles, so if you want the manual anyway, don't buy one without a receipt for a recently replaced clutch.

The V12 runs a timing chain rather than a belt. What keeps it healthy is a working PCV (crankcase ventilation) system and fresh oil every year, because neglect there leads to trouble with the chain tensioner. Ask for invoices showing annual oil changes, and treat any missing year as a reason to look much harder at the rest of the car.

On the automatic, a 2005 recall covered three cars whose parking lock part wasn't hardened to the right standard, so selecting park could fail to hold the car. It's a tiny batch, but on an early auto check the replacement's recorded, and on any automatic park it on a slope during the viewing and make sure it doesn't creep.

What should you check when viewing a used DB9?

Walk round the back first. The rear lamp lenses can come unstuck and drop off, so press on each one and look for any sitting proud of the body. One owner of a 2006 car had the brake light die while every other light worked, and paid £850 for a complete rear light cluster to fix it, so get a helper to confirm every light works.

Try the radio on a few stations. The aerial's welded to the inside of a body panel and can fail, and replacing it means cutting it out, which wrecks the paint on the outer face so the panel has to be resprayed. Poor reception is your cue to ask whether that job's been done or whether you'd be facing a cut-out aerial and a respray.

On the drive, listen for tyre roar: the standard 20-inch wheels make a lot of it, so decide whether you can live with that on a motorway. Afterwards, feel the boot floor, because the exhaust can overheat whatever's in the load area. On a manual, check the clutch doesn't slip when you accelerate hard in a high gear.

Ask for proof of the recall that fits the car's build year: front suspension cam bolts that could crack on 2007 cars, a front subframe bolt check on a small batch of 2009 cars, a throttle pedal arm that wasn't to specification on 2012 and 2013 cars, and the parking lock part on early automatics recalled in 2005. One owner called theirs the most unreliable car they'd had, so gaps in the file matter.

Paste the advert into the free check and it runs these against the listing, the MOT history and the DVLA record before you travel.

What does a used Aston Martin DB9 cost to run?