V12V bought from JCT In May might need new clutch, advice?

V12V bought from JCT In May might need new clutch, advice?

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grarno

Original Poster:

14 posts

213 months

Sunday 19th October 2014
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I purchased a 2010 V12 Vantage with 10,000 miles from JCT600 In May 2014. I bought it over the phone with detailed pictures and trusting the Aston Martin dealership inspection. At the time I also asked about clutch wear but was told you can't get a wear reading like on automatic models, but that clutchwear was normal for the age of the vehicle. On collection I went for a 5min test drive but this was the first V12V I was driving so didn't notice anything special.

6 months and 2,500 miles later I had the opportunity to drive a manual DBS and realised the clutch felt completely different. As the car was due a service I asked Works to look into it and they confirmed the clutch operation was wrong. Next step is apparently to take the gearbox out to check whether it is a fault that can be repaired under warranty or wear. If it's wear that could apparently be a £4,000 bill, which I'd find pretty hard to swallow. AM Works suggested I contact JCT600 before they take the gearbox out as they might want to do it themselves and contribute to the cost if is indeed wear, but my email to them didn't get much interest.

Any advice / experience on average clutch life, cost or alternatives welcome

cayman-black

12,624 posts

215 months

Sunday 19th October 2014
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Only 12500 miles on the clutch then? I would be phoning them to see what they say. Does the warranty not cover any part of this work?
A few on here deal with JCT i think they are one of the better dealers, i think.
Best of luck.

HappyBoxster

214 posts

122 months

Sunday 19th October 2014
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Google Sales of Goods act 1979.

Unless they identified the clutch as an issue at time of sale, and can prove this, then you are in a strong position. Note: within 6mths of purchase the onus is on them to prove that the clutch was fine, not on you to prove it was faulty.

If the car is not sold in a roadworthy condition you can request a replacement, fix, or refund. All of this is in the consumers favour not the seller so be sure you know your rights before speaking to the Dealer Principal in a polite manner.

Remember, until they take it apart they can't be sure of the problem. It might be an item that has failed and can be warrantied. Hence my advice to be polite.

Finally, the 6mth window is an important date. After that your rights are the same but the onus of proof moves on to the consumer. Get an email into them before the 6mth anniversary. The key factor here is the date in which you lodge the matter, not the date it is resolved.

BamfordMike

1,192 posts

156 months

Sunday 19th October 2014
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Needing new clutch at that mileage (except for eradicating the squawk on take up of drive which was done under warranty) is totally abnormal indicating fault with clutch and not wear and tear. The only time it would be wear is if it was owner misuse and the friction plate was burnt out. But sounds like here the problem is in pressure plate side so this all helps your cause of being fault not wear and tear and therefore covered on warranty.

on the subject of the common replacement of clutch under warranty for squawk problem, ask the warranty history of your car and see if on original clutch. If on original clutch, what you experience now could be an issue caused by the reason why clutches were replaced under warranty and this car fell through the net under makers warranty, and seeing as you have top spec extended warranty, is reason why clutch should be changed now under that warranty because issue stems from a known fault with part.

basically, after strip and investigation, if fault is burnt out friction plate, that is wear, but car would be telling you this by clutch slip. If not friction plate, then at that mileage is component failure and should be mopped up by warranty free of charge to you.

finally, £4k is an interesting figure for clutch renewal, if debate about who foots the bill does not go in your favour ask for itemized breakdown, because i have no clue why clutch change on V12V could be that high

mikey k

13,011 posts

215 months

Sunday 19th October 2014
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I test drove a V12V roadster from that neck of the woods around the same time. That clutch was not right either.
I was lucky enough to find all the service receipts in the documents folder.
It transpired the previous owner paid for a new clutch at 4k mikes eek
I walked away as it had other issues.
It transpires JCT had also passed it up so it had some real issues.

My point is they can wear early due to abuse
In your situation I'd be having a conversation with JCT about a gesture of good will (free issue parts?)
You might be lucky and they offer to do the lot?
IMHO you will be lucky to get a wear and tear item done FOC after driving it for 6 months

mb1

579 posts

255 months

Sunday 19th October 2014
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grarno said:
I purchased a 2010 V12 Vantage with 10,000 miles from JCT600 In May 2014. I bought it over the phone with detailed pictures and trusting the Aston Martin dealership inspection. At the time I also asked about clutch wear but was told you can't get a wear reading like on automatic models, but that clutchwear was normal for the age of the vehicle. On collection I went for a 5min test drive but this was the first V12V I was driving so didn't notice anything special.

6 months and 2,500 miles later I had the opportunity to drive a manual DBS and realised the clutch felt completely different. As the car was due a service I asked Works to look into it and they confirmed the clutch operation was wrong. Next step is apparently to take the gearbox out to check whether it is a fault that can be repaired under warranty or wear. If it's wear that could apparently be a £4,000 bill, which I'd find pretty hard to swallow. AM Works suggested I contact JCT600 before they take the gearbox out as they might want to do it themselves and contribute to the cost if is indeed wear, but my email to them didn't get much interest.

Any advice / experience on average clutch life, cost or alternatives welcome
I have done 20,000 miles on my V12V clutch with no issues.
When I sold it, it was the very first question most of the dealers asked, how was the clutch as they are known to need replacement.


cayman-black

12,624 posts

215 months

Sunday 19th October 2014
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Can they tell by driving it if the clutch is ok or not? As for the dealer asking hows the clutch how where you to know if its on its way out?

BamfordMike

1,192 posts

156 months

Sunday 19th October 2014
quotequote all
mb1 said:
I have done 20,000 miles on my V12V clutch with no issues.
When I sold it, it was the very first question most of the dealers asked, how was the clutch as they are known to need replacement.
isn't it the case that the original clutch first fitted to car at birth needed checking / replacement due to squawk at take up of drive, but all later cars where update clutch was fitted, and any earlier car that has latest level of clutch are not subject to such caution. The latest clutch in V12V, as far as a clutch can be, is top notch and not subject to early life failure so long as not in hands of owner misuse / abuse.

mb1

579 posts

255 months

Sunday 19th October 2014
quotequote all
BamfordMike said:
isn't it the case that the original clutch first fitted to car at birth needed checking / replacement due to squawk at take up of drive, but all later cars where update clutch was fitted, and any earlier car that has latest level of clutch are not subject to such caution. The latest clutch in V12V, as far as a clutch can be, is top notch and not subject to early life failure so long as not in hands of owner misuse / abuse.
That's correct. But I thought all of those were replaced under warranty (like my 2010 car had).
You should know you have one of those early clutch if it does indeed squeal from stand still in first gear.

waremark

3,241 posts

212 months

Monday 20th October 2014
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Incidentally I bought my 2012 V12V from JCT 600 in Jan 2014. I asked the salesman about the expected clutch life and cost, after we had returned from a brief demo drive. He said that the way I drive (obviously like a wuss) the clutch would last forever. It is healthy at approaching 10k miles.

grarno

Original Poster:

14 posts

213 months

Monday 20th October 2014
quotequote all
Many thanks for you contributions guys, all very helpful. I will get back to the AM guys with more info now and hopefully can get the issue resolved quickly and get the car back soon!

sukh_m

1,325 posts

191 months

Monday 20th October 2014
quotequote all
waremark said:
IncidentallyHe said that the way I drive (obviously like a wuss) the clutch would last forever
Please MTFU, it's a CAR tongue outbiggrin

grarno

Original Poster:

14 posts

213 months

Monday 20th October 2014
quotequote all
BamfordMike said:
finally, £4k is an interesting figure for clutch renewal, if debate about who foots the bill does not go in your favour ask for itemized breakdown, because i have no clue why clutch change on V12V could be that high
Hi Mike,

Thanks for your contribution. Just in case I thought I would start exploring options if I need to replace the clutch. Are there any uprated clutch I should be considering? Is that a conversation we need to have separately on email?

Thanks

BamfordMike

1,192 posts

156 months

Monday 20th October 2014
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grarno said:
if I need to replace the clutch. Are there any uprated clutch I should be considering?
i'm not aware of an aftermarket clutch any better than the OEM part.

Perhaps there are outlets which might sell a sintered material clutch for V12V, but ditching organic material clutch (considering its already very so strong) in favour of a sintered clutch bringing potential draw backs that comes with that type of material clutch, is a compromise that IMHO is not necessary.

Trek930

129 posts

166 months

Tuesday 21st October 2014
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My 2008 DBS had the rubbish clutch with the squak issue. It wasnt replaced by the previous owners through warranty but I only had to change it out at 28K when it was about to fail. I got the BR replacement with the lightened flywheel and it was a decent bit less than £4K.

grarno

Original Poster:

14 posts

213 months

Tuesday 21st October 2014
quotequote all
Trek930 said:
My 2008 DBS had the rubbish clutch with the squak issue. It wasnt replaced by the previous owners through warranty but I only had to change it out at 28K when it was about to fail. I got the BR replacement with the lightened flywheel and it was a decent bit less than £4K.
Anybody knows whether that's available for the V12 Vantage as well?

Jon1967x

7,175 posts

123 months

Tuesday 21st October 2014
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grarno said:
Trek930 said:
My 2008 DBS had the rubbish clutch with the squak issue. It wasnt replaced by the previous owners through warranty but I only had to change it out at 28K when it was about to fail. I got the BR replacement with the lightened flywheel and it was a decent bit less than £4K.
Anybody knows whether that's available for the V12 Vantage as well?
On the basis the Mike has said there isn't a better clutch than the OEM one and he is BR then I'd go with OEM parts. That said, you should be able to get it fitted for less than 4k

Trek930

129 posts

166 months

Wednesday 22nd October 2014
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As far as Im aware its a like for like swap.