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Intro to my 2009 DB9 6-Speed

I had been looking off and on for years. And for the last 2 years running up to the purchase, I think I searched online almost everyday. In the summer of 2019, I found an interior photo on a web image search, showing off the manual transmission of my soon-to-be car.  I clicked on the image, which led me to a dealer called Long Island Sports Cars. The link was broken, but I called and asked about it. They said they just got it and haven't even posted it for sale yet. I jumped on the next flight to New York and the rest is history.

 I had specifically been looking for a 2009+ model year car with a manual transmission. Early V12s, pre 2009, going back all the way to DB7 had various oiling and machining issues that resulted in catastrophic engine failure. Throughout the years there have been minor revisions that worked on addressing these issues from oil pump to even dipstick length. Eventually production was moved to Cologne Germany for 2009 MY where the issues seem to have coincidentally stopped occurring. I wonder why :)  

The 2009 MY DB9 was also more powerful, with 475hp. Essentially the same engine as the 510hp DBS but with longer intake runners, which results in the DB9 having a lot more torque throughout the rev range compared to the DBS. The DBS makes up for the loss in torque with different gear ratios in order to keep up with the DB9.

Manual cars are hard to find in general. The DBS manual is probably the easiest to find as it is a star of various James Bond movies so they are bought and sold as collectables and come up for sale very often. The early DB9s (2004-2008) which had the oiling issues are the next harder to find in manual form. And the 2009+ DB9 manual is the rarest of them all. With only a few hundred sold globally. In the 5 years or so that I spent looking for my car, I think I only came across 5, 2009+ manual cars for sale, globally! A very rare pet indeed.

My car has been well maintained and well loved. I got it at around 55k miles. Which a lot of people believe is very high miles for this class of car. Its had several extended warranties which the previous owner has used to its fullest. Now that the car is over 10 years old, it is no longer possible to get an extended warranty from Aston.  

Although there are a lot of Ford bits here and there, the DB9 and V12 are bespoke to Aston and as such parts are very expensive. And I mean absurdly expensive. Easily 1x-3x the price of Ferrari parts. There are just no economies of scale for such a low volume car.

Like Aston1936, I would like to use this space to disseminate knowledge of what works and what doesn't when it comes to service and repair to help fellow owners. The oldest DB9s are now 15 years old, these are now well and truly "youngtimer" classic cars and require a completely different set of expertise and process in their upkeep. Its certainly not the sort of car you want a technician working on the clock to service. It takes a lot of care and patience to maintain these cars.




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