New Aston Martin Owner, a few Questions...

[Gildamesh]

Hey everybody, as of January of this year i have been the proud owner of a 2009 Aston Martin DB9!!

My best friend owns a local body shop, and regularly attends local car auctions for anything worth picking up. Several months ago he told me about this 09 DB9 with front end damage (it had been in an accident) that he might be interested in. The price was $89,000 USD and my friend estimated $30,000 worth of damage....

I had never owned such an expensive car before, but it was always a dream of mine to own something exotic. I told him that i might be willing to buy it myself if he could promise to fix it up right. I've known him for over 20 years and his work is pretty amazing.

So i bought it! It took a few months to fix up, but you can't even tell there was damage, my friend did a great job as usual. I'll probably be in the nursing home before the car's fully payed off, but hopefully it will be worth it.

I just have a few questions for you fellow Aston owners...

1.)
First, how reliable is this car? At first i thought i'd sell my daily driver and just take the Aston everyday, but now i'd rather keep the Aston in the garage for sunny trips and keep my old Jaguar to take to work and take out clients and what not. When i drive the DB9 i feel like everyone's watching, and honestly i don't trust people when i'm not there to guard it. Am i just being paranoid?

2.)
My wife hates the car, she just doesn't understand. We've agreed not to have children, so i tried to explain to her that this car is like my child, but that conversation did not go very well. We are both in real estate and drive about 50,000 miles per year, most of the time showing people around, so I tried to explain to the wife that the car might impress potential clients, but that didn't work either... So how do you guys justify the high car payments to the wife?

3.)
What is the deal with the ignition key? It's a square metal and glass box that slides into the center console that starts and shuts off the car. You need to press it in to start, and pull out to shut off. It's nice looking but a bit of an inconvenience. How do you guys carry it around? It doesn't have a keychain attachment so i've just been carrying it around in my pocket (feels like i'm carrying around a lead weight). I just keep thinking i'm going to lose it... The car also came with a lighter plastic version of this key box, but it's not very flashy and also doesn't have a keychain attachment.

That's about it for now. I am LOVING the seamless acceleration and thrill from this car, much better than my 2001 XJ8 or my wife's 2004 Lexus 330ES. I hope to have many more years of fun from this car and hope to learn a lot from this forum!

Thanks for any input,

Charles

[altawashm]

enjoy your, and give your wife what she want.
Aston martin: "this car should pool the family"

[Lukeluk]

What do you think of these photos released by Aston Martin producers?
http://www.auto-power-girl.com/cars-...presented.html

[Serega91]

Welcome,

For 1, congratulations on the purchase, the DB9 (gen 1 or gen 2) is a very good car in its bracket, despite the age, relatively reliable + as you have already observed, flat torque curve - excellent GT
Which brings me to the question, is yours a gen 1 or a gen 2 (what are the factory BHP/ Torque figures for your car)? (and what tranny option does it have?)

I doubt any serious chassis damage (chassis is aluminum), but check the tire wear on the car after a while, as well as look out for any oscillations/vibrations of the body due to chassis dis balance. Bring it to an Aston center.

Think about this: Looks DO play a big part in this car, so damage could have been the reason for the big depreciation, however it fell to nearly 1/2 of brand new price, so be very cautious of any frame damage. Try to find out about previous owner as much as possible.

For 2... really keep an eye on the oil level and filters, If you do not use the car as a daily car, fill it up with oil more frequently than

As for family issues... I think your wife thinks that you will devote your attention to the car rather than to her...
No offense, but the only way I see of fixing that issue is having her get used to it... as in not coming up with excuses for the car, but more saying "sorry, life ain't perfect". It is hard to change a person's mind, however I doubt that the car is such a serious issue that it will ruin your personal life.. people get used to all sorts of things, this should not be problem.