As most of us, I am always thinking of the next car... Like a fat kid thinking of the next meal while he has food in his mouth, lol...


The cars I am considering are (all will be used with under 20K miles on the clock)


Aston Martin Vantage with a manual
Lotus Evora
Jaguar F-Type
Jaguar XKR-S

I went by my local Aston-Lotus dealer to check out the first two.

The Lotus has an amazing focused driving position, but the seats were kind of narrow for me and it was not so easy to get in and out of. This car will be a daily driver.

The Vantage was awesome, but storage is lighter than the XK and no room for our dog in the back (she can fit in the XK rear seat).

No impression on the F-type yet and I hope they come out with a coupe soon as planned.

XKR-S, will it look dated in a few years? Is it too much like just having the same car (already have an XK)? Not sure how many buyers of XKR-S leased their cars or how many will show up for sale in a year or two....

I need to go back to dealership and drive both cars, he said it would be no problem on a Saturday morning to rip it up in both.

 

I'd pick the Aston every single time. Best looking, classy and decently fun as well. Great engine sound to boot!

The Evora does nothing for me. Was behind one the other day and, while it was a novel thing to see, it wasn't all that impressive.

The Jag F-Type is gorgeous but ultimately, I think overpriced for what you get (plus I'd want a manual transmission, which won't be offered for a while, if at all).

XKR-S doesn't tempt me at all. Neat looking car but still not my type of machine.

 

Depends what's your looking for. The evora will be the most fun to drive IMHO. Best handler out of those cars except maybe the f-type.

 

This is true, but will that be "too much" for an everyday driver? I don't want to herniate another disk getting in and out of car at my age. At least the Evora did not have a power seat so sliding it back was easy and fast. The example I sat in was built up for more track with a total alancantarra interior. Lotus would be cool, I could buy a newer example than a Vantage, but it's no Aston.

 

Depends on how your daily commute is. Do you make multiple stops? Do you just drive 20-30 minutes to work & back?

Once your in the car the evora is pretty comfortable. Just like a cayman or 911 (or even more comfortable).

It's def no Aston but the Aston is meant to be a luxury cruiser. Also the maintenance and potential repairs on a out of warranty Aston scare me. It's rare on the newer engines but I've seen first hand some horror stories from my local exotic dealer, where I bought my exige. Repairs, if your the unlucky 1 out of 1,000, could be potentially extremely high.

The evora would be much cheaper to fix and IMHO it looks unbelievable for the price. Mini f430.

If your not driving a lot of miles I would go see if Maserati is still leasing GTs for decent prices. They were in the $1200-$1500/month range with 12-15k miles when I was looking for one. Astons lease like shit tho lol

 

F-type / Vantage

 

Technologically and quality wise, the Maserati does little for me. The car is mostly vynil, it's heavy and the quality is just not up to the other marques considering the price. Has nice lines and the engine can sound cool, but just not digging it that much. Good to hear some praise for the Evora. Typically, right now, I have a 8.5 mile commute under 30 mph, but I expect to have a job either working from home or taking public transportation in the future.

On my Jaguar XK forum, a few members were shopping the same and went for the XKRS over the Vantage or older F430 so there is no absolute answer. I'd like to wash each car before I buy one and see which one is going to suck more of time than the other. I sold my VDP because it was too much car to wash and park. The next owner now wants to sell as its too big to park, lol!

 

Technologically and quality wise, the Maserati does little for me. The car is mostly vynil, it's heavy and the quality is just not up to the other marques considering the price. Has nice lines and the engine can sound cool, but just not digging it that much. Good to hear some praise for the Evora. Typically, right now, I have a 8.5 mile commute under 30 mph, but I expect to have a job either working from home or taking public transportation in the future.

On my Jaguar XK forum, a few members were shopping the same and went for the XKRS over the Vantage or older F430 so there is no absolute answer. I'd like to wash each car before I buy one and see which one is going to suck more of time than the other. I sold my VDP because it was too much car to wash and park. The next owner now wants to sell as its too big to park, lol!

 

V12 Vantage

 

I'd go F-Type because I absolutely love that car. But I agree with it being a little overpriced for what you get. But I could say the same about the Evora. I'd choose a Cayman/1M over it. Other than that it would have the be the Aston. Astons aren't the fastest cars on the road in their price range but they're beautifully built, they're beautifully designed, they sound beautiful and the interiors are beautiful. There aren't many flaws with an Aston. I would probably also rather the new Exige over an Evora, but last I've checked it barely has an interior somewhat like the Elise, right?

Just throwing out this for shits and gigs, but what about a C63 Black Series? Couldn't you get an Audi R8 near the price of a Vantage? Are all these cars going to be purchased new?