Aston Martin V8 Vantage coupe (2005-2017) - Reliability & safety

Aston Martin V8 Vantage reliability

Much like its main rival, the Porsche 911, the Aston Martin V8 Vantage is brilliantly built and benefits from being driven regularly – it can even cope with being used occasionally on track. No major recalls have been issued, and even the relatively complicated Sportshift automated manual gearbox has proved to be problem free. A set of tyres is likely to last 20,000 miles and a clutch should last for 40,000 miles without needing to be replaced. For such a high-performance machine, the V8 Vantage’s dependability is impressive.

Any early niggles have long since been addressed and the car enjoys a reputation for excellent reliability. The engine has been around for a long time now and isn’t particularly stressed in day-to-day motoring.

Owners of the Vantage S who regularly take their car on track days should pay close to attention to wear-and-tear parts such as tyres and brakes and make sure they get the car serviced regularly, as driving the car hard often will greatly reduce the lifespan of certain items.

As with all hand-built cars, there’s always a margin for error, but problems with the Vantage have been few and far between.

Safety

The V8 Vantage hasn’t been crash-tested by Euro NCAP, but the qualities that make it a high-performance vehicle, such as plentiful grip and powerful brakes help to make it a pretty safe choice, too. There are plenty of safety systems on board, including anti-lock brakes, emergency braking assistance, positive torque control, hill-start assistance and traction control.