2007 V8 Vantage rear bumper supply

[The Surveyor]

Just a quick question regarding parts supplies.

My 2007 V8 Vantage was damaged on the ferry to Le Mans 24hr this year, caused by the daft old bugger behind leaving his car parked out of gear and without the handbrake applied, and then not finding his car on departure so when the deck lowered, his driver-less POS rolled majestically into the rear pushing in everything under the boot lid.

Annoyed but not the end of the world as it was his fault and the insurance would sort it....

Once the repairs were authorised despite being disputed by LV, it's now in for repair including a new rear bumper. A straightforward repair you would have thought except there are no rear bumpers available apparently, meaning they can't actually say when i'll get the car back!

Does anybody know if there is a general parts supply issue within AM, or if this is just related to early Vantage body sections, or if there are loads available and it's just the approved body shop are incompetent!

[AMDBSVNick]

Factory shutdown ATM??

[montecristo]

I've always wondered about this - does AM continue to manufacture these parts forever, or when do they stop?

[BigMig]

I might be able to do you a good deal on a rear bumper. I bought a 2nd hand one on ebay which is in mint condition, with the intention of replacing the one on my car which is a bit scuffed here and there. I've not got around to fitting it get and the SOH is getting annoyed at it cluttering up the dinning room.
PM me if this would be an option for you.

[The Surveyor]

Thanks for the offer Bigmig but it's a new one through the insurance that's required. I pushed for a new bumper as the damage was minimal other than the bumper having ripples along its upper edge, if the replacement isn't perfect (I know...) then it'll have to be done again.

Most people wouldn't notice the damage but with the gloss black paint I see it everytime I see it.

[bogie]

tried www.astonmartinbits.com ?

[The Surveyor]

Had the confirmation on Friday that there are no new rear bumpers for the Vantage available. Aston Martin are also unable to confirm when or if any more will be produced.

All a bit poor to be honest and is putting a major cloud over the whole Aston ownership experience. Never had any such problems during 15 years of TVR ownership.

[JohnG1]

The Surveyor said:

Had the confirmation on Friday that there are no new rear bumpers for the Vantage available. Aston Martin are also unable to confirm when or if any more will be produced.

All a bit poor to be honest and is putting a major cloud over the whole Aston ownership experience. Never had any such problems during 15 years of TVR ownership.

I believe someone on here fitted a later model Vantage bumper to his/her car as he/she wanted the fancy carbon fibre diffuser which did not fit the original bumper.

The newer bumper was fitted, so perhaps that's the road to go down - fit a more modern bumper?

[The Surveyor]

JohnG1 said:

The Surveyor said:

Had the confirmation on Friday that there are no new rear bumpers for the Vantage available. Aston Martin are also unable to confirm when or if any more will be produced.

All a bit poor to be honest and is putting a major cloud over the whole Aston ownership experience. Never had any such problems during 15 years of TVR ownership.

I believe someone on here fitted a later model Vantage bumper to his/her car as he/she wanted the fancy carbon fibre diffuser which did not fit the original bumper.

The newer bumper was fitted, so perhaps that's the road to go down - fit a more modern bumper?

It's in the hands of the insurance company so upgrades aren't on the cards, plus I'd rather not make any changes to the way it looks.

It's just unacceptable for a manufacturer to ignore its customers and let their parts supply dry up.

[mjk1]

You've had the offer of an undamaged secondhand one. Get that painted and fitted, you'd never know the difference to a new one which would also have to be painted and fitted. It's just a plastic moulding it's not going to wear out like a mechanical component.

[Murph7355]

mjk1 said:

You've had the offer of an undamaged secondhand one. Get that painted and fitted, you'd never know the difference to a new one which would also have to be painted and fitted. It's just a plastic moulding it's not going to wear out like a mechanical component.

The insurance company might not sanction used parts...

[The Surveyor]

mjk1 said:

You've had the offer of an undamaged secondhand one. Get that painted and fitted, you'd never know the difference to a new one which would also have to be painted and fitted. It's just a plastic moulding it's not going to wear out like a mechanical component.

I don't want the responsibility of supplying parts for the repair, that needs to be done by the repairer. However good the second hand bumper may look, if when it's on my car and painted and 'if' the work isn't 100% right, I'll have no comeback as they will just indicate that 'the second hand bumper you supplied wasn't a good one...' whether that right on not.

The existing bumper is hardly hanging in shreds, the damage is minimal but it has left ripples along the bumper face that I'm not happy to live with, especially when the accident wasn't my fault.



It would be different if I was getting it repaired on the cheap due to me backing into a wall or something but I don't think I'm being unreasonable to expect the car back to being perfect, or expecting a manufacturer like Aston Martin to actually hold major consumable body parts like rear bumpers for current models (albeit an earlier style).

[Bincenzo]

If it were me and the factory had told me that they no longer made the older shape, I'd inform the insurance company and take the newer more modern version in a heartbeat. What else would the insurance expect you to do in this instance?
Equally, how long do you expect a company to make legacy parts for?
Anyway, good luck.

[rog007]

BigMig said:

I might be able to do you a good deal on a rear bumper. I bought a 2nd hand one on ebay which is in mint condition, with the intention of replacing the one on my car which is a bit scuffed here and there. I've not got around to fitting it get and the SOH is getting annoyed at it cluttering up the dinning room.
PM me if this would be an option for you.

That's just become a very smart investment!

[blade runner]

Bincenzo said:

Equally, how long do you expect a company to make legacy parts for?

For something like a rear bumper on what is (for AM) a high production model, I'd expect supply to be continued for a great many years. Early Vantages are only 10 years old and (correct me if I'm wrong) I don't think AM make the bumpers themselves anyway but sub-contract to a third party supplier. Even if the original supplier has gone bust, the tooling will still be around and could just be moved to a different supplier.

[The Surveyor]

blade runner said:

Bincenzo said:

Equally, how long do you expect a company to make legacy parts for?

For something like a rear bumper on what is (for AM) a high production model, I'd expect supply to be continued for a great many years. Early Vantages are only 10 years old and (correct me if I'm wrong) I don't think AM make the bumpers themselves anyway but sub-contract to a third party supplier. Even if the original supplier has gone bust, the tooling will still be around and could just be moved to a different supplier.

I'd certainly expect them to have parts available for cars which are still being sold within their approved-used dealer network. As above, even once they have decided not to hold the stock direct, I'd expect them to pass the rights on to somebody else to carry on the supply. Running out of replacement bumpers is shoddy enough, not being able to say if or when they are going to get stock in is frankly shambolic.

[Bincenzo]

I fail to believe there are none left. Who has your insurance company spoken to within AM?

[The Surveyor]

Bincenzo said:

I fail to believe there are none left. Who has your insurance company spoken to within AM?

I've spoken with AM direct as I was also sceptical of what the bodyshop were telling me about the parts supply via the local Aston Dealer. AM have confirmed that their supplier has closed down and they have no bumpers available, they are looking for an alternative supplier but can't give a date of when they will have an alternative supplier lined up, and therefore when they are likely to have any more bumpers in stock.

Not happy.

[AMDBSVNick]

The Surveyor said:

Bincenzo said:

I fail to believe there are none left. Who has your insurance company spoken to within AM?

I've spoken with AM direct as I was also sceptical of what the bodyshop were telling me about the parts supply via the local Aston Dealer. AM have confirmed that their supplier has closed down and they have no bumpers available, they are looking for an alternative supplier but can't give a date of when they will have an alternative supplier lined up, and therefore when they are likely to have any more bumpers in stock.

Not happy.

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[NeinFondue]

AMDBSVNick said:

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