What a nightmare
Discussion
This is a bit long winded, but I just have to post this!!
Also appologise in advance for bad spelling and grammer, maybe I should have attended school more often in my teenage days... LOL
I bought an Aston Martin V8 Vantage about 2 months ago, I bought the car from a prestige car dealer.
The car came with full Aston martin service history and one owner. The garage I bought the car from told me that before they sell the car to me it will need a service! They offerd me 2 choices, they do it or Aston can do it.
As the car has full main dealer history so far in its 4 years of life I decided to instruct that it go to Aston martin for a service and full chek over.
Once this had been done they called me to say the car was ready, I picked up the car and drove it home. The nightmare starts!!! 3-4 days of owning the car it appears there is a problem with the gearbox/clutch!!
The car would not select 5th or 6t gear. I contact the seller straight away who tells me it will need to go to Aston martin to be checked out. Whilst I had the car at Aston I asked them to give the car a once over to check if the car was ok in all other areas....
Oooops, The car was apparentley given a full health check and a clean bill of health by the garage! As it turns out the discs and pads were in desperate need of replacement and were dangerously low on life & the clutch had gone!
To start, the garage seemed to be doing all they could to help and get the car sorted for me. They asked the Aston martin garage where the car was at this time for a quote to rectify the problems.
The garage I bought from then decided that the labour cost to do the work was excessive? and wanted to send a low loader to pick up the car and have it taken to an AM garage local to them at a lesser cost.
I was advised at the time by my local AM garage & another AM specialist garage that the work on the clutch shopuld only be carried out by an AM garage or similar.
Once the garage had the car back they told me that they could do the clutch & breaks, I was not happy and told them this... I was told initialy it would be done my an AM garage and now they were going to do it.
With pre warning of any reprisals on the work they would be hearing from me straight away!!
After this work was carried out and before the car was delivered back to me I had them take the car to an AM garage to have a warranty put on the car, 2 years premium warranty!!! Ah at last peace of mind.
They dropped the car back to me and all seemd ok, Bare in mind this car gets used 2-3 times a week tops. In the 1st few days of having the car back the breaks were screaching, squealing and in no time at all became undrivable. The garage had not even applied any anti squeal to the breaks. This was sorted for me by a Surrey based specialist.
2 days later, suprise suprise!!! The clutch playing up again, same problem!!
No 5th or 6th gear selection and a never ending clutch pedal!!
I have now had enough!! My dream come true of owning the Aston is being seriously affected by these problems.
I have dropped the car back to my local AM garage to check the car out!!
As it turns out the garage I bought from and who carried out the repairs against my recommendation that the work should have been carried out by a fully qualified AM technician, had not only completley ballsed up the fitting of the clutch, they had left bolts untightened and dropped the gearbox without resting it on a stand etc... They also did not bother to change the fly wheel or any of the other really important things that need to be done.
In short they have carried out a bad repair and caused more damage in doing so.
The car is still off the road and being fixed by AM. I have contacted the garage throughout all of the problems with the car. I now fear that the garage is going to try and get away with this by not coughing up for the repairs.
They havnt as yet said that they are not going to pay for the car to be put right, but they also havnt said they will. I have been in contact with a solicitor and trading standards who say that the garage is at fault therefore liable for any costs.
I await the response from the garage!!!
I cannot believe that they one golden opportunity to put the car right and they decided to go the cheap route quick fix!!
From this experience I have decided that I will never again entertain an Aston Martin or any other prestigeous car from anywhere other than a main dealer, regardless of the additional costs.
Any feed back on this woud be much appreciated.
Also appologise in advance for bad spelling and grammer, maybe I should have attended school more often in my teenage days... LOL
I bought an Aston Martin V8 Vantage about 2 months ago, I bought the car from a prestige car dealer.
The car came with full Aston martin service history and one owner. The garage I bought the car from told me that before they sell the car to me it will need a service! They offerd me 2 choices, they do it or Aston can do it.
As the car has full main dealer history so far in its 4 years of life I decided to instruct that it go to Aston martin for a service and full chek over.
Once this had been done they called me to say the car was ready, I picked up the car and drove it home. The nightmare starts!!! 3-4 days of owning the car it appears there is a problem with the gearbox/clutch!!
The car would not select 5th or 6t gear. I contact the seller straight away who tells me it will need to go to Aston martin to be checked out. Whilst I had the car at Aston I asked them to give the car a once over to check if the car was ok in all other areas....
Oooops, The car was apparentley given a full health check and a clean bill of health by the garage! As it turns out the discs and pads were in desperate need of replacement and were dangerously low on life & the clutch had gone!
To start, the garage seemed to be doing all they could to help and get the car sorted for me. They asked the Aston martin garage where the car was at this time for a quote to rectify the problems.
The garage I bought from then decided that the labour cost to do the work was excessive? and wanted to send a low loader to pick up the car and have it taken to an AM garage local to them at a lesser cost.
I was advised at the time by my local AM garage & another AM specialist garage that the work on the clutch shopuld only be carried out by an AM garage or similar.
Once the garage had the car back they told me that they could do the clutch & breaks, I was not happy and told them this... I was told initialy it would be done my an AM garage and now they were going to do it.
With pre warning of any reprisals on the work they would be hearing from me straight away!!
After this work was carried out and before the car was delivered back to me I had them take the car to an AM garage to have a warranty put on the car, 2 years premium warranty!!! Ah at last peace of mind.
They dropped the car back to me and all seemd ok, Bare in mind this car gets used 2-3 times a week tops. In the 1st few days of having the car back the breaks were screaching, squealing and in no time at all became undrivable. The garage had not even applied any anti squeal to the breaks. This was sorted for me by a Surrey based specialist.
2 days later, suprise suprise!!! The clutch playing up again, same problem!!
No 5th or 6th gear selection and a never ending clutch pedal!!
I have now had enough!! My dream come true of owning the Aston is being seriously affected by these problems.
I have dropped the car back to my local AM garage to check the car out!!
As it turns out the garage I bought from and who carried out the repairs against my recommendation that the work should have been carried out by a fully qualified AM technician, had not only completley ballsed up the fitting of the clutch, they had left bolts untightened and dropped the gearbox without resting it on a stand etc... They also did not bother to change the fly wheel or any of the other really important things that need to be done.
In short they have carried out a bad repair and caused more damage in doing so.
The car is still off the road and being fixed by AM. I have contacted the garage throughout all of the problems with the car. I now fear that the garage is going to try and get away with this by not coughing up for the repairs.
They havnt as yet said that they are not going to pay for the car to be put right, but they also havnt said they will. I have been in contact with a solicitor and trading standards who say that the garage is at fault therefore liable for any costs.
I await the response from the garage!!!
I cannot believe that they one golden opportunity to put the car right and they decided to go the cheap route quick fix!!
From this experience I have decided that I will never again entertain an Aston Martin or any other prestigeous car from anywhere other than a main dealer, regardless of the additional costs.
Any feed back on this woud be much appreciated.
ds....Agree with Jockman.......write to the supplying garage with the full history of the problems.....include a report from AM dealer outlining the poor fitment of the clutch.
Tell them that you expect them to pick up the bill for the repairs and give them 7 days to confirm this verbally and 14 days to confirm this in writing (give them the actual dates that you expect conformation).......supply your telephone numbers for the verbal conformation.....Tell them that if they do not agree to pick up the bill you will also be seeking compensation for loss of use.......send the letter by registered post.
Good luck
Tell them that you expect them to pick up the bill for the repairs and give them 7 days to confirm this verbally and 14 days to confirm this in writing (give them the actual dates that you expect conformation).......supply your telephone numbers for the verbal conformation.....Tell them that if they do not agree to pick up the bill you will also be seeking compensation for loss of use.......send the letter by registered post.
Good luck
This is a nightmare situation - but once rectified you will have your dream car, fully functioning - on your drive
There are plenty of consumer laws protecting you in respect of the car being fit for purpose. As previously mentioned, log all conversations, confirm everything in writing, take names down etc as you may have to replay this conversation in court. However, they may well come good and rectify everything, the right way.
Don't let this detract from you having achieved owning your dream car.
Cheers
Kris
There are plenty of consumer laws protecting you in respect of the car being fit for purpose. As previously mentioned, log all conversations, confirm everything in writing, take names down etc as you may have to replay this conversation in court. However, they may well come good and rectify everything, the right way.
Don't let this detract from you having achieved owning your dream car.
Cheers
Kris
brakedwell said:
Handing the car back and getting a full refund might be the best option. It may be a one owner car with a full AM history, but the state of the brakes and clutch would worry me. Has it seen a lot of track use?
This is indeed an option in law, once the seller has been afforded a reasonable amount of time to rectify any issues.I assume from the above narrative that this has been the case
Thanks for the support every one...
I have had confirmation from the Office of fair trading/ trading standards that I have already given them the chance to rectify and repair the car.
As they have failed to do this correctly and have caused more damage to the car I am within my rights to have the car repaired elsewhere, which in this case is a main dealer.
They have also told me not to bother with a solicitor as if the claim is under £5000-00 it will be persued through the small claims court
I just cannot believe that the owner of the garage has ignored me all week even after the head salesman assuring me that he was going to call.
Iknow that makes me sound a bit niave, and trust me I am not that wet behind the ears. But I do think that this is going to get messy. Although it would be nice if they come good and do the right thing.
No matter how many times I mill it over in my head I cannot understand how they could even contemplate not paying the bill.
I want to keep the car as I have speant a lot on it already, Quick sivver SS exhaust and clear rear lights and not forgetting 2 years warranty.
Very frustrating......
I have had confirmation from the Office of fair trading/ trading standards that I have already given them the chance to rectify and repair the car.
As they have failed to do this correctly and have caused more damage to the car I am within my rights to have the car repaired elsewhere, which in this case is a main dealer.
They have also told me not to bother with a solicitor as if the claim is under £5000-00 it will be persued through the small claims court
I just cannot believe that the owner of the garage has ignored me all week even after the head salesman assuring me that he was going to call.
Iknow that makes me sound a bit niave, and trust me I am not that wet behind the ears. But I do think that this is going to get messy. Although it would be nice if they come good and do the right thing.
No matter how many times I mill it over in my head I cannot understand how they could even contemplate not paying the bill.
I want to keep the car as I have speant a lot on it already, Quick sivver SS exhaust and clear rear lights and not forgetting 2 years warranty.
Very frustrating......
Sorry to hear about your issues. I had a similar experience with my Ferrari 360 and ended up taking the dealer I bought it from to court and won the case. It took about 8 months from start to finish but it is a straight-forward process and I did it without the use of a solicitor. I'm not saying that you shouldn't get legal advice, only that the Small Claims Court is set up for self-representation.
I'm happy to give you the benefit of my experience if you drop me a PM.
Darren
I'm happy to give you the benefit of my experience if you drop me a PM.
Darren
sidned said:
Sorry to hear about your issues. I had a similar experience with my Ferrari 360 and ended up taking the dealer I bought it from to court and won the case. It took about 8 months from start to finish but it is a straight-forward process and I did it without the use of a solicitor. I'm not saying that you shouldn't get legal advice, only that the Small Claims Court is set up for self-representation.
I'm happy to give you the benefit of my experience if you drop me a PM.
Darren
Hi Darren,I'm happy to give you the benefit of my experience if you drop me a PM.
Darren
Thank you... I hear what you are saying, the small claims system is brilliant! All done online.. I am at the moment preparing my letter to send to the dealer. I am also awaiting the reports from Aston martin about the repairs to accompany the letter.
All of this is still only preparing myself as yet the dealer has not said ether way if they are going to pay or not.
Trading standards were very helpful, I told them every account of what has gone on so far and they seem to think that the garage doesnt have a leg to stand on, especially as I did give them the opportunity to repair the car.
Hows the ferrari now? Beautiful car!
The Ferrari's great now. It was an RMS leak that the dealer refused to replace even though he had just replaced the clutch which had obviously caused the leak. The leak had contaminated the new clutch so this had to be replaced at a cost of over £2,000. This was spotted 10 days into ownership. Anyway, the car is now running great and I'm glad the issue is behind me, but I feel better prepared if I need to go down this route in the future, and I'm happy to help anyone who has to go down the same route. I am considering a DB9 which is why I'm in these forums, by the way!
BTW - There's a good pic of my car on my profile.
BTW - There's a good pic of my car on my profile.
sidned said:
The Ferrari's great now. It was an RMS leak that the dealer refused to replace even though he had just replaced the clutch which had obviously caused the leak. The leak had contaminated the new clutch so this had to be replaced at a cost of over £2,000. This was spotted 10 days into ownership. Anyway, the car is now running great and I'm glad the issue is behind me, but I feel better prepared if I need to go down this route in the future, and I'm happy to help anyone who has to go down the same route. I am considering a DB9 which is why I'm in these forums, by the way!
BTW - There's a good pic of my car on my profile.
Glad to hear it all turned out for the best!!!BTW - There's a good pic of my car on my profile.
I saw the pic of your car, looks stunning.... I think I would like a ferrari at some point. DB9... very nice....
I had a call today from the dealer I bought the car from!! They have said that they are going to pay for the repairs!!
Cant tell you what a relief that news was! The call did however come after I speant 3 and a half hours on a letter that I had been advised to send to them by trading standards.
I will PM you a copy when all is sorted, as I said I am not very good at letters, spelling, grammer etc but i think that the letter would have been a knock out.
I will block out the name of the garage especially if all gets sorted, but the letter is dodt for dot what happend.
I am looking forward to having the car back! And getting some serious use out of it. Also cant wait to see it with the clear rear lights that have been put on whilst having the other repairs were being done.
I hate to stste the obvious. But go main dealer!!!! LOL.......
Finally after owning my Vantage V8 for 10 weeks, 7 of those I have been with out the car due to all the hassle & grief! I get to pick it up this week, all fixed!! All the work guaranteed by AM...
The garage I bought from done the right thing and coughed up the bill for all the repairs.. A massive relief!!! Was starting to make me feel ill...
It has been the worst purchase experience I have ever encountered.
Time to finally enjoy the car.... Cant wait!!!
Thank you to every one who commented.... Some good advice etc...
The garage I bought from done the right thing and coughed up the bill for all the repairs.. A massive relief!!! Was starting to make me feel ill...
It has been the worst purchase experience I have ever encountered.
Time to finally enjoy the car.... Cant wait!!!
Thank you to every one who commented.... Some good advice etc...
burntout said:
Finally after owning my Vantage V8 for 10 weeks, 7 of those I have been with out the car due to all the hassle & grief! I get to pick it up this week, all fixed!! All the work guaranteed by AM...
The garage I bought from done the right thing and coughed up the bill for all the repairs.. A massive relief!!! Was starting to make me feel ill...
It has been the worst purchase experience I have ever encountered.
Time to finally enjoy the car.... Cant wait!!!
Thank you to every one who commented.... Some good advice etc...
Great stuff mate. Here's to many miles of trouble free motoring!The garage I bought from done the right thing and coughed up the bill for all the repairs.. A massive relief!!! Was starting to make me feel ill...
It has been the worst purchase experience I have ever encountered.
Time to finally enjoy the car.... Cant wait!!!
Thank you to every one who commented.... Some good advice etc...
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