You Can Buy An Aston Martin Rapide For The Price Of A New Honda CR-V

Before the crossover SUV started to dominate the war on the sedan, several high-end brands decided to experiment with sedans. Lamborghini had the magnificent Estoque concept that was killed in the global recession, Bugatti floated the concept of a sedan in the form of the 16C Galibier concept, Porsche launched the Panamera, and Aston Martin made a four-door of its own happen. The Rapide took what everyone loved about the DB9, stretched it out, added two doors, and unleashed it on the world’s wealthy.

We’re talking about a 5.9-liter V12 engine up front, generating 470 horsepower and sending it all through a six-speed ZF automatic transmission. The zero-to-60 mph dash was dispatched with in a reasonable five seconds flat, while the Rapide lived up to its name with a top speed of 184 mph. Plenty enough thrust to rival the Maserati Quattroporte Sport GT S, although the price tag was out of this world.

In 2010, the Aston Martin Rapide carried a suggested retail price of $199,950, while the Quattroporte Sport GT S stickered for just $134,700. That’s a $65,250 delta in 2010 dollars. However, if you want an Aston Martin Rapide these days, you won’t pay even close to $65,250 for the entire vehicle. In fact, you can pick up a Rapide for less than the price of a new Honda CR-V. Here’s proof, along with some reasons why you probably shouldn’t attempt to ball this hard on a CR-V budget.

How Cheap Are We Talking?

No, for real, some early Rapide models are now up for sale at prices cheaper than a new Honda CR-V. Granted, the most expensive new CR-V you can buy, the Sport Touring Hybrid, is $41,550 including freight, but anything under that figure is fair game, right?

Right off the rip, here’s a 2010 Aston Martin Rapide that sold earlier this month on Cars & Bids for $28,250. Yep, $28,250. Sure, it had 124,000 miles on the clock and a hit on its Carfax, but this is a genuine V12 ultra-sedan for less than $30,000. Perhaps best of all, it’s a southern car, so it won’t have been exposed to the ravages of rock salt. Not that it matters too much given the car’s bonded aluminum construction.

Alright, maybe 124,000 miles is a lot for something made by an exotic carmaker, even if its V12 is based on two Ford V6s. No worries, for here’s a 2011 Aston Martin Rapide that sold on Cars & Bids back in July of 2023 with 78,300 miles on the clock. If we use the patent-pending Autopian method of rounding, which involves two cases of Schlitz and someone who doesn’t know how to use an abacus, that’s nearly half the mileage of the last one I showed you. Don’t whip out your calculators, just go with me here.

This white-on-black car may be of a relatively boring spec, but it has a clean Carfax, rear seat entertainment, and enough dings and scratches to make you not give a shit where you park it. Now that’s freedom right there. The best part? A sale price of $36,000. That’s fairly cheap for a modern V12 anything, let alone an Aston Martin.

Over on the typical used car classified sites, Rapides continue to be cheap. If you still think murdered-out cars are cool, here’s a 2011 Rapide with 84,802 miles on the clock for $37,499. Sure, it looks like something you haven’t yet unlocked in a video game, but that’s nothing a few hundred dollars worth of alloy wheel refinishing and window tint removal can’t fix.

Maybe Don’t

When it comes to owning depreciated cars, I’m not a role model. I own two cars that aren’t driven in winter and zero cars that are. Both of those cars are aged, both are German, and both have their widely-reported foibles. However, if I’m saying you probably shouldn’t buy an Aston Martin Rapide for Honda CR-V money, that means something. Here’s why.

Let’s ease you into things with a minor annoyance: Every Aston Martin of this vintage suffers from lifting interior leather, which, if left unchecked, will make it look like the dashboard is upholstered in finely-tanned scrotums. If the prospect of spending the money to have the leather fixed properly doesn’t sound appealing, you really aren’t going to like what else lies ahead.

Like any Aston Martin with the 5.9-liter V12, there’s the very real possibility of engines going kaboom. I’ll let Floren, the author of a glorious piece we ran titled “I Bought A ‘Flood-Damaged’ Aston Martin And It’s Taking Over My Life”, explain, as this failure happened to his DB9.

One of the connecting rods broke in two pieces, destroyed one piston and now was trying to escape through the sides of the engine block. On one side the piston made it all the way out, on the other side it only pierced the internal liner. You can see what was left of the offending piston.

Apparently, this is not actually that uncommon! What kind of design would result in this kind of issue happening with any frequency? Because of the size of the block, and the fact that it has 12 pistons, apparently the last two can suffer from oil starvation, which seems to be exactly what happened here.

Replacing an engine is expensive enough in a regular used car, but it’s downright diabolical on something exotic. A quick search on car-part.com reveals that a second-hand good replacement Aston Martin V12 engine will run you about $21,000. Yep, a two, followed by a one, followed by three zeroes. That’s without shipping, labor, replacement gaskets, new engine mounts, you name it. On a sufficiently high-mileage V12 Aston Martin, engine replacement could mechanically total the car.

However, the biggest problem by many country miles is the Rapide’s boutique status. Small-batch cars often require small-batch parts, and small-batch parts can be astronomically expensive. If a rear damper on a Rapide starts leaking, a quick price check on Scuderia Car Parts reveals that replacements are only sold as a spring-and-damper assembly, and cost $1,758.95 each. Wear out a tie rod end? That’ll cost you in excess of $100 just for the part. Need to replace the front brake discs? You’re looking at $802.45 per brake disc. The pads? A scarcely believable $1,064.37 for the front set. Even without labor, shipping, tax, what have you, new front brake discs and pads will run you $2,669.27 just in parts. Better have pockets deep enough that James Cameron wants to send his submarine into them.

Should I Buy A Dirt-Cheap Rapide?

Let’s see, are you a certified technician with Aston Martin experience and six figures in the bank? If so, you have the right credentials to buy a cheap Rapide. However, if you don’t fit that description, don’t buy a cheap exotic car of any sort. Sure, they look cool, but service costs rarely ever depreciate.

However, if you want a powerful sedan with a bit of style and a fastback profile, you aren’t out of luck. A gently-used 2020 Kia Stinger GT is worth about as much as an early Aston Martin Rapide, is roughly a decade newer, has widespread parts availability, comes with more gadgets, and is just as quick. Sure, it’s an anticlimactic conclusion, but let’s be honest — would you have clicked if this article was titled “You Can Buy A Kia For The Price Of An Aston Martin Rapide”?

(Photo credits: Cars & Bids, CarGurus seller, Scuderia Car Parts, Kia)

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