Aston Martin Quality Control Issues

Aston Martin Quality Control Issues

Author
Discussion

Murph7355

38,839 posts

262 months

Thursday 8th December 2016
quotequote all
RobDown said:
...
2. There's a paint bubbling problem that's been going on for years (and AML seem unable to fix). Doesn't seem to affect all cars but is relatively common around wing mirrors and door handles. Will cost a few hundred pounds to fix if you get it
...
Bottoms of doors, edges of bonnets etc.

It's poor prep on the paint IMO. If it were an inherent design flaw (as I initially suspected - poor choice of materials, bimetallic or similar corrosion etc) every car would suffer. They don't seem to, but far too many do.

This single issue was the main one I had with my car after 55k miles and 8.5yrs ownership. But it was enough.

Aston's handling of these issues is disgraceful and the CEO needs to get a grip of them, grow pair and stand by the product by fixing issues like this without bs rigmarole. I couldn't care less that other marques also behave in this way. Aston should be aiming higher. The others don't cost 6 figure sums and I'm about as likely to buy a Daihatsu as I am to start cross dressing and change my name to Sharon smile

Jockman

17,990 posts

166 months

Thursday 8th December 2016
quotequote all
Sharon7355 said:
The others don't cost 6 figure sums and I'm about as likely to buy a Daihatsu as I am to start cross dressing and change my name to Sharon smile
With you all the way Murph......except on the cross dressing bit.

DAVIDOXE

494 posts

120 months

Thursday 8th December 2016
quotequote all
Am i correct on assumimg the issue is only on the Aluminium panels? (doors/bonnet)
If so its a corrosion issue not necessarily a preparation issue.

bogie

16,597 posts

278 months

Thursday 8th December 2016
quotequote all
DAVIDOXE said:
Am i correct on assumimg the issue is only on the Aluminium panels? (doors/bonnet)
If so its a corrosion issue not necessarily a preparation issue.
Afraid not, it can be anywhere, although certain areas seem most common; around door handles, bottom edges of doors.

Its just amazing that the process has not been changed. Im assuming they must have tried a few fixes over the years and if it still occurs at random, I wonder if the hands of humans are involved.....

JohnG1

3,485 posts

211 months

Thursday 8th December 2016
quotequote all
Is the paint shop as clean as it should be? The areas of regular occurrence all seem to be where people may be holding the door. Process management failure?

Certainly I expect Andy Palmer will be receiving some feedback on this topic from the 1000 pre-production cars he has signed off...

Hopefully that will then lead to improvement.

One note: I have been told that AML has switched paint supplier and has changed some paint shop processes...

northernmedia

1,988 posts

144 months

Friday 9th December 2016
quotequote all
shunt said:
This thread sort of sums up why I moved on from the marque. Nice to have had one, but I no longer need to make those excuses or wear those rose tinted glasses. I've already done more miles in the F Type in 3 weeks than I did last year in the V8V. Having just returned from a weeks skiing the first thing I wanted to do was take it out for a drive, if anyones red rear lights have failed I have a spare set in the garage open to offers...;););)
You wouldn't get me out of mine for a jag in a million years!
You'll come to your senses soon enough. wink

hornbaek

3,726 posts

241 months

Friday 9th December 2016
quotequote all
shunt said:
….. if anyones red rear lights have failed I have a spare set in the garage open to offers...;););)
with or without them misting up : )

AMDBSVNick

7,077 posts

168 months

Friday 9th December 2016
quotequote all
hornbaek said:
shunt said:
….. if anyones red rear lights have failed I have a spare set in the garage open to offers...;););)
with or without them misting up : )
Had mine done under warranty a couple of weeks ago biggrin

shunt

986 posts

231 months

Friday 9th December 2016
quotequote all
hornbaek said:
with or without them misting up : )
They all do that sir. Quite normal nothing to worry about, just like the front ones.

shunt

986 posts

231 months

Friday 9th December 2016
quotequote all
northernmedia said:
You wouldn't get me out of mine for a jag in a million years!
You'll come to your senses soon enough. wink
It's taken me 6 years and now I have thanks. biggrintongue out

silverspeed

1,505 posts

236 months

Friday 9th December 2016
quotequote all
northernmedia said:
shunt said:
This thread sort of sums up why I moved on from the marque. Nice to have had one, but I no longer need to make those excuses or wear those rose tinted glasses. I've already done more miles in the F Type in 3 weeks than I did last year in the V8V. Having just returned from a weeks skiing the first thing I wanted to do was take it out for a drive, if anyones red rear lights have failed I have a spare set in the garage open to offers...;););)
You wouldn't get me out of mine for a jag in a million years!
You'll come to your senses soon enough. wink
Take it from me Jags have paint issues too. My brother XKR had its roof repainted for blistering !

Andy_mr2sc

1,226 posts

182 months

Friday 9th December 2016
quotequote all
Ok chaps thanks for the honesty. On the grand scheme of things they seem no way near as bad as a tvr, which you'd hope not at their price point. I get the feeling there are just a handful of weak points to note as opposed to spending your whole life screwing the car back together and chasing electrical faults. Compared to the latest news about the Corsa that has a habit of bursting into flames due to an electrical fault with the heater they aren't bad!!

Speedraser

1,663 posts

189 months

Monday 12th December 2016
quotequote all
My experience: 2009 V8V Coupe, manual, Sports Pack bought new. Other than scheduled maintenance, my total cost for repairs is under $200. Wonderful, wonderful car.

cayman-black

12,886 posts

222 months

Monday 12th December 2016
quotequote all
northernmedia said:
shunt said:
This thread sort of sums up why I moved on from the marque. Nice to have had one, but I no longer need to make those excuses or wear those rose tinted glasses. I've already done more miles in the F Type in 3 weeks than I did last year in the V8V. Having just returned from a weeks skiing the first thing I wanted to do was take it out for a drive, if anyones red rear lights have failed I have a spare set in the garage open to offers...;););)
You wouldn't get me out of mine for a jag in a million years!
You'll come to your senses soon enough. wink
I will give you another few months, then Aston ownership will start creeping back. Mind you unless you are willing to sell for a couple of quid you might have to keep that Jag. laugh

V8 Vantage GT

1,598 posts

112 months

Monday 12th December 2016
quotequote all
AMDBSVNick said:
A mate of mine was at a MD last week and one of the GT8's in the showroom had paint bubbles rolleyes
The dealer shouldn't have allowed it on the floor with this. Sounds like Aston has a problem with their paint preparation and booths, they are not as clean as they should be. I wonder if cars kept in wetter climates are more prone to this problem than cars kept in drier low humidity climates? There is zero excuse for this problem after all these years, but I would say Aston feels it's acceptable because it's less expensive to fix these cars with this issue, than to overhaul their paint system.

Murph7355

38,839 posts

262 months

Monday 12th December 2016
quotequote all
V8 Vantage GT said:
...Aston feels it's acceptable because it's less expensive to NOT fix these cars with this issue, than to overhaul their paint system.
My edit above.

A few people have had these things sorted under warranty, but I believe it's a VERY small minority.

The best Aston usually offer is a "contribution" if you use an Aston paintshop. The quote after "contribution" is typically what it costs to get it sorted at a paint shop that knows how to paint a car but with no Aston link.

It's definitely cheaper to take that approach than to sort out your processes. At least in the short term. IMO QC issues like this will cost them dear in the long term (I think they already have/are). Especially with their volume aspirations. The more you sell, the more you will come across people who are not prepared to put up with this nonsense. The more will spread the word that Aston have a nice product BUT...

Jon39

13,297 posts

149 months

Monday 12th December 2016
quotequote all
Murph7355 said:
A few people have had these things sorted under warranty, but I believe it's a VERY small minority.

The best Aston usually offer is a "contribution" if you use an Aston paintshop. The quote after "contribution" is typically what it costs to get it sorted at a paint shop that knows how to paint a car but with no Aston link.

It's definitely cheaper to take that approach than to sort out your processes. At least in the short term. IMO QC issues like this will cost them dear in the long term (I think they already have/are). Especially with their volume aspirations. The more you sell, the more you will come across people who are not prepared to put up with this nonsense. The more will spread the word that Aston have a nice product BUT...

Having used this forum for some time, I have read many contributions about the dreaded bubbling paint.
Until today, I thought it had only occurred on cars, after they have been in use for at least some time.

SHOCK OF SHOCKS - Now there is a reported sighting of bubbling paint ON A BRAND NEW GT8, in a main dealers showroom.

Instead of our hope that this long running problem had been solved on later cars, it appears that it might be getting even worse.

Let's hope for Dr. Palmers sake, that Mr Andrea C. Bonomi does not use the internet.



V8 Vantage GT

1,598 posts

112 months

Monday 12th December 2016
quotequote all
Jon39 said:

Having used this forum for some time, I have read many contributions about the dreaded bubbling paint.
Until today, I thought it had only occurred on cars, after they have been in use for at least some time.
The source of the problem has to be contamination under or in the paint. This shouldn't be acceptable even in mass produced cars and I don't believe it is.

JonV8V

7,454 posts

130 months

Tuesday 13th December 2016
quotequote all
Jon39 said:

Having used this forum for some time, I have read many contributions about the dreaded bubbling paint.
Until today, I thought it had only occurred on cars, after they have been in use for at least some time.

SHOCK OF SHOCKS - Now there is a reported sighting of bubbling paint ON A BRAND NEW GT8, in a main dealers showroom.

Instead of our hope that this long running problem had been solved on later cars, it appears that it might be getting even worse.

Let's hope for Dr. Palmers sake, that Mr Andrea C. Bonomi does not use the internet.
A brand new car is the first one I've heard although it happened to my car within 6 months and again elsewhere within 2 years. Andy Palmer and his checks wouldn't find the issue in most cases. I hope he drives the cars in the wet too as my sills filled with water as the drain holes were blocked, something that only appeared in the rain. I fear he's setting himself up for a fall as even a minor issue will ridicule what he's tried to do.

RobDown

3,803 posts

134 months

Tuesday 13th December 2016
quotequote all
I see that as good news though Jon - the only way this gets fixed imho is if Andy Palmer is personally embarrassed when the first DB11s come back with paint bubbling and he's on the final inspection.

Maybe we should start a petition to send to Andy about this, it should really have been sorted after all this time...