1996 ASTON MARTIN DB7 i6
IAN LINDSAY, STIRLINGSHIRE
‘I deliberately went for a supercharged six-cylinder model when I bought my DB7 in 2011 to keep the running costs at a manageable level. It’s not because of the V12’s thirst; it’s because these later cars need a specialist computer to read the diagnostics, whereas earlier models can be quizzed via an onboard diagnostic reader. That enables me to do far more things myself, which saves a fortune.
‘I do all of my own maintenance, but if there’s anything that I’m not sure about I can go on to the Aston Martin DB7 Appreciation Society Facebook page (tinyurl.com/y3ad4yrm), and there will be someone among the 1800 members who can answer any question. What fazes a lot of people is all of the cowlings that make access difficult and can turn a simple job into one that’s time-consuming – or at least that’s the perception, even if it’s not the reality.
‘When looking for a suitable car, three of my key requirements were a reasonably low mileage and ideally something that had been garaged from new and had a decent history, to reduce the chance of being stung with huge bills. I’ve done 20,000 miles in it since I bought it with nothing more than routine maintenance needed so far. But that’s not to say that it’s been completely plain sailing, although some due diligence has saved me plenty.
‘I recently had to get the radiator re-cored but by doing everything myself the bill came to just £250, whereas a specialist would have charged well over £1000; just buying an exchange radiator costs almost that much. An oil and filter change comes in at about £70 while a full service runs to about £200 in parts – a specialist would charge around £1300-£1500 for this because there are quite a few lubrication points, so it’s quite time consuming.
‘My car is original spec throughout and I’m keen to keep it that way, which is one reason why I fit OE parts if I can. Having said that, with some consumables I’ll fit pattern items; £30-£40 highquality brake pads, for example, are fine unless you’re driving the car on-track, whereas top-spec items can easily cost three or four times this. Chiltern Aston (chilternaston.co.uk) supports the Facebook group with discounts and expertise so thanks are due to them – it doesn’t really matter how obscure the question that you ask the team there is, they’re able to answer it because they’ll have been there themselves already.’ TOTAL MILEAGE 44,000 ANNUAL MILEAGE 2000 ESTIMATED ANNUAL MAINTENANCE COSTS £300 RECENT EXPENSES REAR BRAKE DISCS AND PADS (£150), RECON OIL COOLER (£100), RECON RADIATOR (£250) ENGINE 3239cc/6-cyl/DOHC POWER 335bhp@5750rpm TORQUE 351lb ft@3000rpm MAXIMUM SPEED 165mph 0-60MPH 5.7sec FUEL CONSUMPTION 27-32mpg TRANSMISSION RWD, four-speed automatic
’A service runs to about £200 in parts, but a specialist would charge around £1300-1500’