Amid the gaggle of mid-noughties V8 Vantages and DB9s for similar money, a 2010 Rapide for £37,000 stands out. The pristine, light silver car has done 59,000 miles and has a full Aston Martin service history. It’s got the desirable black leather and rear DVD screens, too, and has had just one previous owner.
It’s a great example of the value available in the shape of Aston’s understated and, let’s face it, not especially popular Aston Martin Rapide. Former Aston salesman Stefan Jordan recalls trying to sell the first ones. “The price was £164,000," he says, "but when Aston saw what a struggle we were having, it ‘supported’ sales with an under-the-table price cut to £135,000.”
It also, he says, stopped describing the four-door Rapide as a family car, instead marketed it as a sports car with two rear seats.
“That was much better,” says Jordan. “It helped generate greater interest in the car, but it was never going to be the brand’s biggest seller.”
Prospective buyers who imagine artisans painstakingly constructing their car are in for a shock. The first Rapides (from launch in 2010 to 2012) were built at the Magna Steyr plant in Graz, Austria. Fortunately, they did a good job, as did their British colleagues when production transferred to Gaydon in 2012. In fact, the Rapide has an enviable reputation for reliability. The service people we spoke to couldn’t find fault with its 5.9-litre V12, describing it as ‘bombproof’ and free of the gremlins that plagued early DB9s.
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They're tempting
The Rapide is a lovely car and one of the few sports cars with a genuine ability to have 2 adults in the back (though I think an FF has better space). They are getting to be available at really good prices.
My over-riding memory of my day driving one is the handling followed by the engine. Oh, and my 2 year old daughter taking a boiled sweet that the dealer had left in the back, trying it, deciding she didn't like it and putting it down all wet and sticky on the leather in disgust.
Servicing couple of grand a year?
Whatever this is one of the few of these silly buys that could almost make sense to me. That grey one still looks great.Not sure about the dog in the boot though. It's always better to travel than arrive?