Imagine you’re a luxury car salesperson. You’ve seen it all: fake Rolexes, overly flashy outfits, and income stories that don’t add up. But every now and then, someone surprises you. That’s what happened to Ed Bolian, a supercar salesman near Atlanta, when one loyal customer pulled into the lot in the Aston Martin DB9 he’d owned since new.

This guy wasn’t your average high-roller. “Nicest guy in the world,” Bolian said. “Just had kind of a normal job, made low six figures, and had owned an Aston Martin DB9 for a really long time.” But there was a catch. The customer owed $100,000 on a car worth half that.

The man wasn’t there to window shop. He wanted to trade in his DB9 for a brand-new Aston Martin. Problem? Aston Martins depreciate faster than Agent 007 can knock back a martini. “He owed effectively $100,000 on a $50,000 car because Aston’s depreciate like crazy, and he didn’t want to put much money down,” Bolian explained.

Selling him another Aston wouldn’t be easy. Rolling $50,000 in negative equity into a new car loan? That’s tough enough. “Hiding $50,000 in negative equity takes some doing,” Bolian admitted. “Hiding $100,000? That’s a lot harder to manage.” But the man wanted an Aston and wouldn’t take no for an answer.

Making the impossible possible

Bolian and his team tried every trick in the book. They explored long-term financing—12 or even 15 years—to soften the blow. They crunched numbers and juggled incentives. Finally, they worked out a deal. The man drove away in a brand-new Aston Martin V8 Vantage.

“At that point, he owed at least $100,000 more than that car was going to be worth immediately,” Bolian said. “But he loved it. That was his thing.”

There are other ways to drive an Aston Martin

Not everyone has to sink this deep to own a car like this. Bolian himself has a knack for snapping up depreciated supercars outright. He’s even leveraged deals to score his dream ride: a Bugatti Veyron.

The Aston Martin story is a cautionary tale about rapid depreciation, but it’s also an opportunity. Models like the DB9 and V8 Vantage lose value quickly, which means you can find them used for a fraction of their original cost. Some sell for as little as $40,000—putting them within reach of savvy buyers who avoid negative equity traps.

When it comes to supercars, the heart often wins out over the head. As Bolian puts it, “People stretch so hard to be able to buy these cars.” For some, the joy of driving an Aston Martin outweighs the financial gymnastics. For others, buying used offers the best of both worlds: a taste of James Bond glamour without drowning in debt. If you’re curious how much these cars depreciate, check out used Aston Martins near you.

You can hear more of Ed Bolian’s stories in the video below: