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I have to agree with your assessment over all of the anecdotal evidence here. I love the AM line. I have a 2007 XK8 and have had my eyes darting over to the DBS and Vantage. This discussion has scared me to the point where have to ask myself whether "I feel lucky."
Not gonna do it. Wouldn't be prudent at this juncture.
Thanks for your post.
Speaking of mark up a new thread on Price Paid and Buying experience has been created for the Aston.
Please share your experience there.
There is no doubt the Vantage is more exclusive than the 911, and a beautiful car. But, with all due respect, if "art" and exclusivity is your thing, I still can't help but think of AM as a "wannabe" compared to Ferrari. Of the 3 people I know that spent 2 years waiting for their Ferrari 360's to be delivered back in 2000-2001, all of them have subsequently sold at significant profits to their MSRP. One of them traded up for a 430 and could now sell that at an even greater profit. He jokes that he has made enough profit in owning Ferraris over the past 7 years to pay for a 911 (or Vantage).
Perhaps AM's reliability problems have been overblown in this forum. I haven't been serious enough to do the direct research myself. But in my opinion, AM is not so exclusive or artistic as to survive without at least acceptable relaibility, however you define that. I submit that for the company's financial survival, they need to make cars that are solid, reliable everyday drivers. Because, frankly, if I wanted to spend my discretionary car dollars on a rolling piece of art and risk it being a pain in the [non-permissible content removed] to keep rolling, a Ferrari looks a lot more compelling. Much better risk reward tradeoff.
I would say exactly the same thing about Masserati, by the way. There is only one Ferrari and my [non-permissible content removed] is a little risk averse when it comes to suffering pain at the hands of the others.
Any advice would be appreciated.
I had mine for 3 months now and 2000 miles without any problems.
I was also scared changing from 10 years of Porsche experience (968,Boxster,Boxster S,996 C4S,997 C2S)
but I am very happy with the AMV8 and in general I like it more than the Porsches.
Thanks
VK
I have to tell you one thing.
The moment you drive your AMV8 and you hear the engine/exhaust sound after 4000rpm, you will forget all the bad things about Astons and all the cars you had before.
At least personally I really love it and you get a satisfaction even if you don't go super fast.
Good luck with your purchase!
V
After the test drive I took....I know exactly what you are saying!
John
Anybody else have a comparable experience?
An exhaust leak can cause the O2 sensor to read a falsely high air-to-fuel ratio and trigger the injectors to cut back their open time. The O2 sensor comes on after the engine's warmed up, thus the problem. I'm sure Aston techs know all this, and more idiosynchratic stuff besides. Good luck...
A 2005 spyder USED is selling for 280,000 here in las vegas
I also own a 2007 AM Roadster and thank god I have had no problems in any dept. I'll keep my fingers crossed that it stays that way. I also have a 2006 Xj and I have never had a problem other than bringing it in for oil change.
Oil, filter change on the V8 Vantage should be around 320.00. They tell you 600-800 because they are supposedly checking the whole car but my people say its a crock. just tell them to do the oil and filter and nothing else. If it runs good leave it alone.
Second, if you visited the AM Owners web site, www.amoc.org you would find that there have been very few, I count one, lemons and that AM has replaced problem cars -- even lemon lites.
I owned a very early build 2006 coupe for two years and had a few problems but no more than one would expect from an early build exotic. Later cars seem to have most of these issues sorted out. I take delivery of a new Vantage, an '07 roadster, next week.
It is a very special car though not as special as the Lexus LF-A that I have on order. Of course, the LF-A is going to cost quite a bit more than the Aston.
Firstly...
As the original thread start I never mentioned anything about an oil change costing $600, $700 or $800 whatever. Somebody else mentioned that here, in this thread, so maybe you should correct that particular person.
Secondly...
Again, as the original thread starter my V8 Vantage was al lemon and bought back under Lemon Law in Florida. The choice, by my, and entirely at my discretion under the law, was to accept a replacement, of slightly higher specification, at no cost to me. The claim was filed with the Attorney General's office in Florida. So, as regards to your 'one only' lemon listed at the owner's club, it is not the job or duty of any ''owners club' to record such lemon claims. In the USA lemon claims are handled by the attorney general's office within each state. Each state records all such claims and most states will make the list public. In Florida, every single car that becomes a lemon, is made public and can e seen at their web site. I doubt very much that any owners club bothers to scour the internet and collect any such data. Therefore, regardless of how many it says at the owners club you refer to, that clearly is not a true picture, obviously. I personally have not 'registered' my experience at the owners club you mention, so I am out of the picture.
Not really sure what you are actually trying to imply.
Anyway, enough said on that. My replacement Vantage is doing ok at 2500 miles. I have just had the 'fix' done for the sqealing brakes, at last! New, squeal free shims replaced the originals. A known problem with an AM fix, they said. They also fixed (replaced) the noisy oil pressure relief valve which sounded like a long fart, 5 minutes after a cold start. My previous Vantage suffered from both these problems but the Coral Gables dealer never fixed them. So, all in all, the car is going fine right now.
1) squeaky belt...fixed per service bulletin
2) squeaky brakes...fixed per service bulletin.
Both occurred at 300 miles
Everything has been perfect in the last 1600 miles, and I am driving it more and more as weather has been getting better in the DC area.
Unofortunately, we don't have a choice of dealerships in my area so I have to use my dealer which has been great so far.
As for the question on oil change, it is part of a more comprehensive service at 10k miles or 12 months of ownership...I have heard a fee of $900....expensive but it does include other things.
Typing in all caps makes it look like you're shouting. And maybe you really ARE shouting
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When the rep came over he found the engine cooling fans defective, wheels out of balance, rattles thru-out the car, the driver’s side window leaked air, the air conditioner compressor was bad and more. NOW that was on a BRAND NEW $300,00 Aston Martin DBS
Then my NEW 2009 Aston Martin V8 Vantage had door opening problems, Mirror Problems, rattles everywhere, alarm problems and many other problems. Remember this is a BRAND NEW 2009 V8 Vantage loaded with issues when I got the car NEW!!
So I can’t the Sales Manager for After Market sales in the USA for Aston Martin Mr. Gary Hyman. HE came to my home which was very nice but since I had just spent $ 500,000 on two cars that had many issues I think it was the least they could do. During our visit ME Hyman agreed that almost every issues I had was real and needed to be fixed.
Mr. Hyman said they would sent a truck to pick up my DBS first then when they returned the DBS fixed they would pick up the Vantage fix it and return the car to me ( Mr Hyman’s email to me)
Email from Gary Hyman after they picked the car up and sent it to Las Vegas 8 hours away from me, if I had to go pick it up they should have sent the car to Calif. Just a 3 hour drive from me. Mr. Hyman now states sorry we changed our mind you come get the car breaking the legal contract we had , DO NOT TRUST ASTOM MARTIN AND HERE IS PROOF.
Gary
Here is a email with the agreement we had not only by phone but in writing with this email, a agreement is a contract and if you would like to change it I will fly down get the car and dive it back, then I will use the means I have to recover my daily cost, air fare, hotel etc.
Mr Lentini
First I apologise for not answering your emails , I was not purposely ignoring you I have been conducting a service clinic at a dealer the last 2 days and then drove 3 ½ hours home last night .
You are absolutely right about the paintwork and there is no excuse, as agreed I will have the car collected on the return of the V8 and attended to by the body shop.
Your emails have been forwarded to the general manager of Gaudin Aston martin and I will call you on Monday morning to discuss .
Best regards,
Gary Hyman
Next when the dealer Gaudin in Las Vegas NV had my DBS they installed a new drivers window moulding and made the window leak more air and the wind noise was unbelievable. And they rubbed out the left rear fender with the wrong equipment leaving the fender with REALLY BAD CIRCLES in the paint.
( all the photos, emails, and letters about this will be posted on www.astonmartininfo.com in a few days so you can see just how badly they screwed up the cars, and lied to us.
So Gaudin in Vegas was to pick up the car and fix the wind noise they put in the car, and it was agreed Aston Martin would send the car to a Exotic Car Paint shop to see how to fix the finish on the car the dealer really screwed up.
Next, I spoke to a technician in the UK who had seen a number of cars with mileage well in excess of 20,000 miles. He agreed that there is no design flaw with a V8 Vantage clutch. He has seen some cars do 60,000 miles with no problems. In his opinion, it all boils down to whether the clutch has been abused by owners who either ride the clutch pedal or who try to do F1 style starts from a stand still. Because the V8 Vantage is a high performance car, owners tend to punish their clutches more than those in more mundane transportation.
The UK technician felt that clutches with 20 - 30,000 miles on them may be prone to failure in the not too distant future if they have had a rough life. He also said the same is true for Ferrari, Lamborghini, and other exotics. The difference is that the clutch on Italian exotics will cost a lot more to replace than the clutch on an Aston Martin.
The UK technician identified the following warning signs of imminent clutch problems:
1. A heavy clutch pedal.
2. High bite point.
3. Bad smell.
4. Clutch won’t stall engine when brakes are applied firmly.
The UK technician also said that a V8 Vantage clutch can be fine one day and then fail the next. He also said that it should take about 10 hours of labor for an experienced technician to replace the clutch.
I didn't want to get a service technician in trouble for providing an opinion to me.
Running fine now.
I previously owned a 2016 Aston Martin DB9 GT Volante and it was the best car I have ever bought. Everything about it was as smooth as can be, but I had to get rid of it due to some financial issues.
I wouldn't give up on Aston Martin's just yet my friend.