Used Aston Martin V8 Vantage review and buying guide (2005 to 2018): which one to buy and what to check

Which used Aston Martin V8 Vantage should you buy?

There isn't a year of V8 Vantage that's clearly safer than the rest, because the evidence on these cars is thin, so the individual car decides it. What it does show is a set of niggles reported across the run: boots letting in water, fuel filler caps breaking up, a handbrake that sticks on and tyre pressure sensors raising false alarms. A car that's had those put right is a better bet than one that hasn't.

Paint deserves a hard look on early cars. One report describes early V8 Vantages bubbling on the bonnet, around the door handles and near the rear parking sensor, with the maker refusing to treat it as corrosion under its perforation warranty. On a 2010 car, an owner found overspray and bare patches in the engine bay that were put down to the factory, so don't assume a later car's paint is perfect either.

The later V8 Vantage S, sold through to 2018, isn't automatically the easier buy. It's available with the seven-speed Sportshift gearbox, and the two most serious owner reports both involve S models with it. They're single cars rather than a pattern, but they mean a late car should be judged on how it drives and what's been done to it, not on its age.

Which V8 Vantage engines and gearboxes are the safe choices?

Neither the 4.3 V8 nor the V8 Vantage S can be called the safe choice, because there's too little evidence on either to pick one. That's a short record, not a clean one. How the engine sounds from cold and what the history shows about this particular car count for more than which version it is.

The seven-speed Sportshift, an automated manual, has one owner's complaint behind it. His V8 Vantage S, new in 2011, gradually developed hunting and clonking through the driveline and jerked in first, second and third at 1,500 to 1,800 rpm on a light, steady throttle. Separately, a 2014 Sportshift S convertible's engine failed at 18,800 miles, starting with a heavy knocking, only 400 miles after its warranty ran out.

One owner's June 2010 car needed a new clutch at just 11,000 miles. The owner was charged about £3,000 for it, and the maker and dealer put roughly £2,000 of that back as goodwill. Ask when the clutch was last replaced and see the invoice, because a low mileage doesn't guarantee there's plenty of life left in it.

What should you check when viewing a used V8 Vantage?

Lift the boot floor and feel for damp, since boots filling with water has been reported more than once. Make sure the fuel filler cap is in one piece, check the handbrake releases fully, and watch for tyre pressure warnings that don't match the tyres, as faulty sensors have sent false messages. Rusty discs after the car's stood outside and heavy brake dust on every wheel are normal, so don't let either put you off.

On the drive, listen for any knocking from the engine, and on a Sportshift car feel for clonks or jerks at low revs in the first three gears. Run the air conditioning: one owner's car needed a new compressor at its 1,000 mile service. Try the sat nav and Bluetooth as well, because another owner had enough trouble with them to want the car taken back at 7,300 miles.

Check the paint by the door handles, near the rear parking sensor and along the bonnet for bubbling, then open the bonnet and look for overspray or unpainted patches in the engine bay. Ask for proof of recall work: the earth stud on 2005 cars (it caused poor starting and could overheat the rear brake hoses), the front suspension cam bolts on 2007 cars, the subframe bolt check on a handful of 2009 cars and the throttle pedal on cars built in 2012 and 2013.

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