V8 Vantage - what's it really like?
Discussion
LordBretSinclair said:
Grey surround 
Thanks.Seems the option is black or grey - I assumed that for a black car, black would be the obvious choice. But having looked at a few pictures, I think grey surround actually looks better on black cars. It makes it look like part of the light (which it obviously is) - the black surround looked a bit odd in the pictures I found even on black cars.
So, the snow last week postponed the collection of my new clear rear lights, but I got them this morning and fitted them:
I've wanted clear lights ever since buying the car, and despite being annoyed that my right side one failed I was really looking forward to fitting these today. And...
I must admit I'm slightly underwhelmed. They look nice, no question and I do think clear lights suit a black car. But I'm less impressed than I was expecting. I'm happy with them but glad I only did it when I'd had a light fail - if I'd done it purely for cosmetic reasons I think I'd have been disappointed.
ETA: Walked up to the car this evening and thought they looked fabulous. So happy now!
I've wanted clear lights ever since buying the car, and despite being annoyed that my right side one failed I was really looking forward to fitting these today. And...
I must admit I'm slightly underwhelmed. They look nice, no question and I do think clear lights suit a black car. But I'm less impressed than I was expecting. I'm happy with them but glad I only did it when I'd had a light fail - if I'd done it purely for cosmetic reasons I think I'd have been disappointed.
ETA: Walked up to the car this evening and thought they looked fabulous. So happy now!
Edited by davek_964 on Saturday 24th March 20:16
Buster73 said:
They look really nice on a clean car though......
Unfortunately, I didn't take the picture on my driveway and since it was raining that day the car wasn't very clean by the time I took the picture. Plus my Vantage lives outside, so although it is usually pretty clean, at this time of year it sometimes gets dirty even without being moved!As of lunchtime, the car is off the road for a few weeks.
An oncoming lorry decided he wanted half of my side of the road, and although I avoided him it was at the expense of hitting the kerb. I now have damage to both wheels - although less than I expected - and two blown tyres. Plus a need to get the tracking done. Hopefully no damage apart from that.
Car is currently parked on a side street waiting for the recovery to call me. I can't do anything to sort it next week, so will deal with it after that. However - I will be checking the camera footage to get the lorry registration. And I pray it shows him doing something like using his phone.
ETA : Ah, you have to laugh. Between blowing the tyres and getting the car home on the recovery truck, the emission warning came on! Second time in a year and probably confirms the need for an oxygen sensor that was mentioned at the last service.
But the really funny thing - I always thought my tyre pressure monitor was disconnected. But it seems not, because it's now warning me about tyre pressure!
An oncoming lorry decided he wanted half of my side of the road, and although I avoided him it was at the expense of hitting the kerb. I now have damage to both wheels - although less than I expected - and two blown tyres. Plus a need to get the tracking done. Hopefully no damage apart from that.
Car is currently parked on a side street waiting for the recovery to call me. I can't do anything to sort it next week, so will deal with it after that. However - I will be checking the camera footage to get the lorry registration. And I pray it shows him doing something like using his phone.
ETA : Ah, you have to laugh. Between blowing the tyres and getting the car home on the recovery truck, the emission warning came on! Second time in a year and probably confirms the need for an oxygen sensor that was mentioned at the last service.
But the really funny thing - I always thought my tyre pressure monitor was disconnected. But it seems not, because it's now warning me about tyre pressure!
Edited by davek_964 on Friday 20th April 18:41
soofsayer said:
Sorry to read this dave, hope it all gets sorted.
My dash cam showed the car dipping as you hear the tyres explode, which made me suspect a pothole. Sure enough I've gone back and checked and I hit a pothole with a solid edge about 2.5" deep.I will be telling the council they need to repair my tyres and wheels. The video evidence makes it fairly clear, you can hear the tires explode as the car dips into the portion of the road that has sunk and then hits the other edge.
So, the car has been off the road for the last two weeks, although that was partly due to me being away for a week. With two totally flat tyres it did look a bit like an abandoned stolen car which had been dumped on my driveway.
It now has 4 new tyres, and I figured it deserved a quick clean at the same time. I cleared the emission code which occurred as it was reversed off of the recovery truck (I will wait until it triggers one more time and will then order an O2 sensor) and the TPMS warning cleared after a 100 yard drive.
I still need to get the front left wheel refurbed, but at least now I know it's not buckled, and there appears to be no other damage.
This is what caused it - I initially thought I'd caught the kerb, but the dash cam showed the car dipping down as the tyres exploded (you can hear them go). I went back and checked the road, and there is a repaired section which gradually dips down and up again - unfortunately, the dip means this edge runs parallel to the kerb, and as I moved to the left to avoid the incoming van which wanted some of my lane, I caught the edge. Bad luck really.
Glad the car is back on the road again.
ETA: Car is booked for wheel refurb on 14th May. Although I really shouldn't be doing it now - it will also have some paint to get rid of scratches / chips on the left front wing and the boot - and they will give the car some paint correction at the same time.
It should look better than it has at any time in my ownership.
It now has 4 new tyres, and I figured it deserved a quick clean at the same time. I cleared the emission code which occurred as it was reversed off of the recovery truck (I will wait until it triggers one more time and will then order an O2 sensor) and the TPMS warning cleared after a 100 yard drive.
I still need to get the front left wheel refurbed, but at least now I know it's not buckled, and there appears to be no other damage.
This is what caused it - I initially thought I'd caught the kerb, but the dash cam showed the car dipping down as the tyres exploded (you can hear them go). I went back and checked the road, and there is a repaired section which gradually dips down and up again - unfortunately, the dip means this edge runs parallel to the kerb, and as I moved to the left to avoid the incoming van which wanted some of my lane, I caught the edge. Bad luck really.
Glad the car is back on the road again.
ETA: Car is booked for wheel refurb on 14th May. Although I really shouldn't be doing it now - it will also have some paint to get rid of scratches / chips on the left front wing and the boot - and they will give the car some paint correction at the same time.
It should look better than it has at any time in my ownership.
Edited by davek_964 on Thursday 3rd May 13:43
I've replied to your other thread, but I'll repeat the answer here :
Unfortunately, I don't have the working light anymore. I bought the clear ones from a guy that sells Aston Parts (Paul Cheeseman) and part ex'd my working light. He can probably do you a much better deal on that working light than Aston would for a new one though. If you PM me, I'll send you his email address.
Unfortunately, I don't have the working light anymore. I bought the clear ones from a guy that sells Aston Parts (Paul Cheeseman) and part ex'd my working light. He can probably do you a much better deal on that working light than Aston would for a new one though. If you PM me, I'll send you his email address.
Time for an update. This thread has been mostly positive during my ownership, but with the odd update where I'm unimpressed with the car and am ready to abandon it in a car park with the doors open and the engine running. This is one of those times.
The car had to go back to the bodyshop a few times because I wasn't 100% happy with the paintwork they'd done. I suspect it's going to go back yet again but that's a story for another day. Whatever my concerns about the paintwork I had done, I gave the car a wash and a wax a couple of days ago, and it looks superb. But.........
It was only a few months ago that the rear light failed, and that obviously isn't a cheap fix. The damage from the pothole was also expensive to fix (the council have another 2 months to let me know if they'll refund me) - although I acknowledge that it wasn't really the cars "fault", and that I made the bill a fair bit larger by having some unrelated paintwork done. However, it's a fact that if I'd hit a pothole in a Ford Fiesta, the tyres would have been a damn site cheaper.
So the Aston has already been the black sheep of the family this year when it comes to running costs. The 360 had an expensive service, but that was because it was a major (belt change) and hasn't really cost me anything "unexpected". The Aston has - and it seems, is about to again.
I noticed the first issue a couple of weeks ago. It seems the lovely hot summer has had a detrimental effect on the dash - I noticed this :
It feels as if the glue underneath melted and then set hard. I tried a hairdryer on it (with a cloth over it) in the hope I could re-melt the glue but it didn't seem to work. I will try again at some point though. When we have clear sunny days (i.e. always at the moment) and if I'm not using the car, I've started leaving a couple of old towels across the dash. Looks very dapper.
A couple of days ago, I opened my passenger door. Nothing very unusual about that - except that the alarm went off because the car should have been locked. I've experienced this a few times in the past, and assumed it meant that the door hadn't closed properly and hence hadn't locked properly - but this is not the case. I have the common problem of malfunctioning door locks - and I believe I've had it for quite some time.
It seems that, often - the passenger door won't lock. What's worse is the car seems to get out of sync and I get to play this fun game :
1) Lock car with remote. Confirm driver door is locked. Try passenger door to find it's unlocked.
2) Unlock car with remote, lock car with remote.
3) Confirm passenger door is locked - it is. Confirm drivers door is locked - it isn't.
4) Unlock car with remote. Repeat steps 1-4 many many times.
Locking each door with the key does work - so that's the current solution. Looking back, I've had enough instances of accidentally opening doors which should be locked that I believe I've had this problem for over a year. Which is a bit scary, since it means my car has probably been unlocked a lot of the time.
I knew this was a common fault, but a quick search finds threads where it's clear a lot of people have this problem and only realised when threads like this pop up and they check their doors after locking. Even if you believe your car looks fine, it might be worth a check the next few times you lock it - you may have an unpleasant surprise.
Old threads seem to suggest I need both lock mechanisms - particularly since it seems both my doors have a problem. And that the price will be north of £1k.
My indy closed down a few months ago, but it seems they are opening under a different name in a few weeks. Once they confirm they are open, I will get a quote.
I still haven't fixed the driver seat heating either.
So, the car is neglected and probably needs well over £1k spent on it to get it back to scratch. And unfortunately, it's been an expensive enough car year so far that the car maintenance fund doesn't have enough in it to fund these repairs. Well actually it does - but I'm conscious of the fact that my insurance is due at the very start of September, and that takes a chunk of change.
Whether I decide to do the locks anyway depends on the quote - it is pretty annoying. On the other hand, I have 3 other cars - one of which is a convertible and it's currently perfect convertible weather - so the Aston may find itself parked up on a trickle charger for a month or so!
I can't deny that when I discovered the door lock problems a few days ago, the Vantage was dangerously close to being put up for sale. In recent months, it has had too many problems and cost too much money. On the other hand, I drove it down to Devon and back yesterday - about a 350 mile round trip - and I remembered why I like it (and it looks stunning with it's recent coat of wax). Having said that - whilst accelerating up a hill it briefly flashed up that it was low on coolant which didn't help it's case much........ but I am currently assuming this is a foible rather than a genuine fault........
I shall leave this update on a cliff hanger. It might get fixed soon / it might get left outside my house for a month or two until I'm willing to pay for the repairs / it might get left at the side of the road with the keys in and the ignition running / it might get sold. At the moment, even I don't know which of these it will be! In the unlikely event that the council cough up some of the money for the pothole damage, that might help its case - but that seems fairly unlikely.........
The car had to go back to the bodyshop a few times because I wasn't 100% happy with the paintwork they'd done. I suspect it's going to go back yet again but that's a story for another day. Whatever my concerns about the paintwork I had done, I gave the car a wash and a wax a couple of days ago, and it looks superb. But.........
It was only a few months ago that the rear light failed, and that obviously isn't a cheap fix. The damage from the pothole was also expensive to fix (the council have another 2 months to let me know if they'll refund me) - although I acknowledge that it wasn't really the cars "fault", and that I made the bill a fair bit larger by having some unrelated paintwork done. However, it's a fact that if I'd hit a pothole in a Ford Fiesta, the tyres would have been a damn site cheaper.
So the Aston has already been the black sheep of the family this year when it comes to running costs. The 360 had an expensive service, but that was because it was a major (belt change) and hasn't really cost me anything "unexpected". The Aston has - and it seems, is about to again.
I noticed the first issue a couple of weeks ago. It seems the lovely hot summer has had a detrimental effect on the dash - I noticed this :
It feels as if the glue underneath melted and then set hard. I tried a hairdryer on it (with a cloth over it) in the hope I could re-melt the glue but it didn't seem to work. I will try again at some point though. When we have clear sunny days (i.e. always at the moment) and if I'm not using the car, I've started leaving a couple of old towels across the dash. Looks very dapper.
A couple of days ago, I opened my passenger door. Nothing very unusual about that - except that the alarm went off because the car should have been locked. I've experienced this a few times in the past, and assumed it meant that the door hadn't closed properly and hence hadn't locked properly - but this is not the case. I have the common problem of malfunctioning door locks - and I believe I've had it for quite some time.
It seems that, often - the passenger door won't lock. What's worse is the car seems to get out of sync and I get to play this fun game :
1) Lock car with remote. Confirm driver door is locked. Try passenger door to find it's unlocked.
2) Unlock car with remote, lock car with remote.
3) Confirm passenger door is locked - it is. Confirm drivers door is locked - it isn't.
4) Unlock car with remote. Repeat steps 1-4 many many times.
Locking each door with the key does work - so that's the current solution. Looking back, I've had enough instances of accidentally opening doors which should be locked that I believe I've had this problem for over a year. Which is a bit scary, since it means my car has probably been unlocked a lot of the time.
I knew this was a common fault, but a quick search finds threads where it's clear a lot of people have this problem and only realised when threads like this pop up and they check their doors after locking. Even if you believe your car looks fine, it might be worth a check the next few times you lock it - you may have an unpleasant surprise.
Old threads seem to suggest I need both lock mechanisms - particularly since it seems both my doors have a problem. And that the price will be north of £1k.
My indy closed down a few months ago, but it seems they are opening under a different name in a few weeks. Once they confirm they are open, I will get a quote.
I still haven't fixed the driver seat heating either.
So, the car is neglected and probably needs well over £1k spent on it to get it back to scratch. And unfortunately, it's been an expensive enough car year so far that the car maintenance fund doesn't have enough in it to fund these repairs. Well actually it does - but I'm conscious of the fact that my insurance is due at the very start of September, and that takes a chunk of change.
Whether I decide to do the locks anyway depends on the quote - it is pretty annoying. On the other hand, I have 3 other cars - one of which is a convertible and it's currently perfect convertible weather - so the Aston may find itself parked up on a trickle charger for a month or so!
I can't deny that when I discovered the door lock problems a few days ago, the Vantage was dangerously close to being put up for sale. In recent months, it has had too many problems and cost too much money. On the other hand, I drove it down to Devon and back yesterday - about a 350 mile round trip - and I remembered why I like it (and it looks stunning with it's recent coat of wax). Having said that - whilst accelerating up a hill it briefly flashed up that it was low on coolant which didn't help it's case much........ but I am currently assuming this is a foible rather than a genuine fault........
I shall leave this update on a cliff hanger. It might get fixed soon / it might get left outside my house for a month or two until I'm willing to pay for the repairs / it might get left at the side of the road with the keys in and the ignition running / it might get sold. At the moment, even I don't know which of these it will be! In the unlikely event that the council cough up some of the money for the pothole damage, that might help its case - but that seems fairly unlikely.........
Harry Flashman said:
I will say this though - the AMV8 is not reliable, and parts/work cost an absolute fortune: above Porsche, and below Ferrari levels. That is the reason Astons have such terrible residuals - you get raped at every turn by dealers, specialists and parts people for every bit. Coil spring? £600.
Actually, I'm coming to the conclusion that the Aston costs more to run than Ferrari, primarily because of parts prices.My 360 has been very reliable - and a coil spring for that was ~£80 (plus fitting). My reversing switch failed, but again - that wasn't expensive. Wiper motor failed a couple of years ago - labour was pricey because of where it's fitted, but cost of motor wasn't so bad (£250 I think?). Compared with ~£1k because a rear light got water in it, and £1k because the doors don't lock - and potentially £2.5k for a clutch at some point in the future etc. - the Aston seems to have the potential for much bigger bills when it goes wrong.
For reference, my 360 has about 32k miles on it I think whereas the Vantage rolled over 45k yesterday so they do not have massively different mileages. And my Vantage is 5 years younger.
I think it's clear from the thread that overall, I've loved owning the Aston. However - at the moment, I must admit I'm still not feeling that positive about it.
The reality is that the recent / pending bills means it's comparing very badly to the running costs of a Ferrari and I really don't think that should be the case.
I've owned my 360 almost 5 years. In that time, I had one very large service bill (~£5k) but even that was because I wanted everything done and much of that cost was not actually mechanical failure (e.g. oil filler paint had cracked and needed repainting, undertray was cracked so I wanted a new one, membrane in the luggage area needed replacing etc.) - it all added up.
But apart from that, it's been very reliable and relatively cheap to run.
Whether I keep it or sell it, I will need to get the door locks fixed - and the seat heating too. But at the moment, I think I'm edging towards selling it and reducing my car costs.
The reality is that the recent / pending bills means it's comparing very badly to the running costs of a Ferrari and I really don't think that should be the case.
I've owned my 360 almost 5 years. In that time, I had one very large service bill (~£5k) but even that was because I wanted everything done and much of that cost was not actually mechanical failure (e.g. oil filler paint had cracked and needed repainting, undertray was cracked so I wanted a new one, membrane in the luggage area needed replacing etc.) - it all added up.
But apart from that, it's been very reliable and relatively cheap to run.
Whether I keep it or sell it, I will need to get the door locks fixed - and the seat heating too. But at the moment, I think I'm edging towards selling it and reducing my car costs.
Harry Flashman said:
davek_964 said:
I think it's clear from the thread that overall, I've loved owning the Aston. However - at the moment, I must admit I'm still not feeling that positive about it.
The reality is that the recent / pending bills means it's comparing very badly to the running costs of a Ferrari and I really don't think that should be the case.
I've owned my 360 almost 5 years. In that time, I had one very large service bill (~£5k) but even that was because I wanted everything done and much of that cost was not actually mechanical failure (e.g. oil filler paint had cracked and needed repainting, undertray was cracked so I wanted a new one, membrane in the luggage area needed replacing etc.) - it all added up.
But apart from that, it's been very reliable and relatively cheap to run.
Whether I keep it or sell it, I will need to get the door locks fixed - and the seat heating too. But at the moment, I think I'm edging towards selling it and reducing my car costs.
This is me. Loved owning/driving it. Hated running it - just far too many small but exoensive things went wrong, and the perceived quality of AM ios not there. You hear similar things when people speak about JLR. Lovely looking products but, with 10% of the development budget of the Germans, reliability on small stuff is comparatively poor. As the cars get older, cheaper and out of warranty, such costs remain the same - meaning that you spend a relatively high proportion of the value of the car in sorting it out. Any performance car is the same - but with the early AMV8 it seems that reliability is low, and cost remains high as good, decent specialists are rare and parts prices are ludicrous.The reality is that the recent / pending bills means it's comparing very badly to the running costs of a Ferrari and I really don't think that should be the case.
I've owned my 360 almost 5 years. In that time, I had one very large service bill (~£5k) but even that was because I wanted everything done and much of that cost was not actually mechanical failure (e.g. oil filler paint had cracked and needed repainting, undertray was cracked so I wanted a new one, membrane in the luggage area needed replacing etc.) - it all added up.
But apart from that, it's been very reliable and relatively cheap to run.
Whether I keep it or sell it, I will need to get the door locks fixed - and the seat heating too. But at the moment, I think I'm edging towards selling it and reducing my car costs.
As someone else said - buy the warranty. I'd rather by an R8 though, personally. The early V10, with running, insurance and servicing costs below the V8V (!!), is a conspicuous bargain at the moment.
The thing is, I'm aware that sometimes you get unlucky with cars and several expensive things break at the same time. It doesn't necessarily mean it's an expensive car to run generally, or that it's unreliable - it's just a bit of bad luck. Although in this instance, the rear lights and the door locks aren't exactly unusual failures and hence aren't entirely bad luck......
While I can live with unexpected expenses, it really is the Ferrari that is making the Aston look bad. First world problem, but when you wish your Ferrari was the unreliable car because it would be cheaper to fix, that's not a good sign!
telum01 said:
More balance... both of my V8V's have been far more reliable than my friends' Audis. Two of my friends nearly sued Audi NA over their cars because they were such catastrophic messes. One's S7 was taken back by Audi for full refund and he left Audi entirely. Other friend's R8 is still problematic and he's trying to get them to buy it back. I'd never touch an Audi based on their experiences, let alone all the "small" issues I've seen with a bunch of other friends' Audis.
If they were that reliable, we wouldn't have all of your helpful videos showing us how to fix things 
Maybe I'm going through an unlucky phase and once the door locks and seat heating is fixed it will all be perfect......
Interesting that Telum had his gearbox cable pop out. I had that, but fortunately only lost 2nd, 4th and 6th. Fixed it on my driveway for free (minus some skin from my arm).
If problem is the door latches, and if I did it myself, a cost of £250 for parts is something I could live with....
If problem is the door latches, and if I did it myself, a cost of £250 for parts is something I could live with....
tgclowes said:
It's interested that on another thread when I suggested these cars are unreliable I got pulled apart, wrong part of the forum perhaps.
Over my 3 years of ownership, I wouldn't say the car has been unreliable - and even now, I wouldn't say that. I think my 911 turbo had just as many problems. On the other hand, when it has problems - the prices can (usually are) outrageously high and that's what's upsetting me at the moment.Jon39 said:
None of us like paying the high prices charged for Aston Martin parts.
We have seen mentioned on here, examples of £600 for a suspension spring, and I think over £1,000 for a headlight (when supposedly just one cheap electronic component inside has failed).
I do though, have some sympathy for the circumstances.
Aston Martin struggle to sell cars in large numbers, so all costs are spread amongst relatively few customers.
I don't know how many thousands of F-type Jaguars are being sold, but the JLR group last year sold 621,109 vehicles. It is 'another world'. Selling just 5,000 Aston Martins, with only a few of those customers needing a headlight, probably illustrates the temptation to charge high prices for spare parts.
From a dealer point of view, it also cannot be easy to finance the running of a smart showroom and workshop. An expensive corporate image is demanded, but with relatively few sales. Each time that I visit a dealer, I have usually been the only 'customer' in the building, and only a few of my visits have ever involved handing over money.
Is the point being made, slightly akin to the £30 bottle of wine in a smart restaurant, when somebody says, "that is riduculous, it is only £7 in a supermarket?
sundayjumper said:
So just as it's unfair to tar all Astons based on your car, I think it's also unfair to claim Ferraris are cheaper, just based on your car. Have you needed a new timing belt on the 360 for example ?
Yes - this years service was a major. Hence, rather than the ~£1k it usually costs me for a minor, it was £1,775. Not really excessive when it happens every 3 years.ETA : I think it's worth clarifying the "tar'ing all Astons based on my car".
As I've said a few times, I don't think my car is particularly unreliable. But there are common issues on these cars - and the reality is that if you suffer them - most of them are far from cheap to put right. Having suffered two of them in a fairly short period it has caused my view to be slightly negative.
I'm sure it will pass (or I'll sell the car) but some of the Aston parts prices are eye watering - more than I found in a Porsche, and more than I've found in two different Ferrari's.
Edited by davek_964 on Thursday 26th July 13:29
martyspain said:
That's what I've got. It's beautifully made, extremely fast and looks sensational but it's totally soulless. However, I'm in a small minority in feeling this way about it and I'm aware that these issues fall into the "wallet's too small for my fifties and my diamond shoes are too tight" category of first-world problems.
My experience with it is that it needs to be caned within an inch of its life to get it to 'wake up', as it were; at anything less than maximum attack, it could be a diesel A4. If you wring it out in 1st and 2nd, you're already well over the NSL. Top of 3rd takes you deep into instant ban territory, and there's just so few opportunities to really use that kind of performance outside of my yearly pilgrimage to the north Highlands of Scotland that most of the time I end up having to short-shift and the car goes back to sleep.
It's not helped by an engine noise inside the cabin that's very harsh and mechanical and lacking in soul, which is strange for a V10. It sounds much better from outside, but that's not much good for the driver!
I wanted to sell the R8 and move onto a 4.7 V8V, which I'd (perhaps foolishly) hoped would have more of a personality, a better exhaust note, and would feel more special at sane speeds. However, the R8 sale's just fallen through and I'm so tired and frustrated of dealing with clowns from the classifieds that I've lost the will to sell it myself right now.
I had a 996 turbo before the Vantage, and your description of the R8 is very close to how I'd describe that.My experience with it is that it needs to be caned within an inch of its life to get it to 'wake up', as it were; at anything less than maximum attack, it could be a diesel A4. If you wring it out in 1st and 2nd, you're already well over the NSL. Top of 3rd takes you deep into instant ban territory, and there's just so few opportunities to really use that kind of performance outside of my yearly pilgrimage to the north Highlands of Scotland that most of the time I end up having to short-shift and the car goes back to sleep.
It's not helped by an engine noise inside the cabin that's very harsh and mechanical and lacking in soul, which is strange for a V10. It sounds much better from outside, but that's not much good for the driver!
I wanted to sell the R8 and move onto a 4.7 V8V, which I'd (perhaps foolishly) hoped would have more of a personality, a better exhaust note, and would feel more special at sane speeds. However, the R8 sale's just fallen through and I'm so tired and frustrated of dealing with clowns from the classifieds that I've lost the will to sell it myself right now.
In my experience, the Vantage does give you those things.
So, well overdue an update I guess.
Summary of the previous update is probably : Locks were playing up, I was getting tired of the expense of fixing things on the Vantage, my Ferrari is more reliable and cheaper to maintain than my Aston. This was not a popular opinion, and I think some people assumed I murder puppies as a hobby.
The Aston is still here, and at least for now there are no plans to change that. The door locks are now working all the time as far as I can tell (I check occasionally, but they are reliable enough that I gave up checking every time). New battery in the remote really did solve it for me.
Heated seat still hasn't been fixed - I am reluctant to take the car somewhere just to get that done, and because the service gets done around March time it seems pointless paying for it to be fixed just before the spring / summer.....
I replaced the hand brake pads - don't think I've updated since doing them - and it was fairly painless. Although the generic tool I have for winding the calipers back didn't really quite fit. It has many sized attachments, and did have one the correct size - but the pins really didn't want to sit in the holes. It was just about good enough to wind them back though, since they weren't stiff.
While adjusting the cables after that, I managed to trap my finger between the spoke and the brake caliper while making sure the wheel still spun. Ouch - and minus one fingernail.
Apart from that, it's all been very painless. I can't think of anything that has gone wrong with the car since the last update. It's odd that previous years I've favoured it over the Cayenne when winter arrived, but this year I seem to prefer the Cayenne - maybe I'm just getting older!
Some good news : I posted in the Spring that I'd blown two tyres and damaged a wheel when hitting a pothole. The council (or actually the company they use to repair roads) has just admitted liability - and will pay my costs (-5% for betterment).
Will update again in a few months, or sooner if anything unexpected happens.
Summary of the previous update is probably : Locks were playing up, I was getting tired of the expense of fixing things on the Vantage, my Ferrari is more reliable and cheaper to maintain than my Aston. This was not a popular opinion, and I think some people assumed I murder puppies as a hobby.
The Aston is still here, and at least for now there are no plans to change that. The door locks are now working all the time as far as I can tell (I check occasionally, but they are reliable enough that I gave up checking every time). New battery in the remote really did solve it for me.
Heated seat still hasn't been fixed - I am reluctant to take the car somewhere just to get that done, and because the service gets done around March time it seems pointless paying for it to be fixed just before the spring / summer.....
I replaced the hand brake pads - don't think I've updated since doing them - and it was fairly painless. Although the generic tool I have for winding the calipers back didn't really quite fit. It has many sized attachments, and did have one the correct size - but the pins really didn't want to sit in the holes. It was just about good enough to wind them back though, since they weren't stiff.
While adjusting the cables after that, I managed to trap my finger between the spoke and the brake caliper while making sure the wheel still spun. Ouch - and minus one fingernail.
Apart from that, it's all been very painless. I can't think of anything that has gone wrong with the car since the last update. It's odd that previous years I've favoured it over the Cayenne when winter arrived, but this year I seem to prefer the Cayenne - maybe I'm just getting older!
Some good news : I posted in the Spring that I'd blown two tyres and damaged a wheel when hitting a pothole. The council (or actually the company they use to repair roads) has just admitted liability - and will pay my costs (-5% for betterment).
Will update again in a few months, or sooner if anything unexpected happens.
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