So what have you done with your Aston today? (Vol. 2)

[AM-DB9]

Longy00000 said:

Nice pic of the DB9 and glad you're enjoying it at last.

A good reminder too, about checking for parts elsewhere before paying the Aston tax.

Thanks,
and thanks to this forum, 6SpeedOnline and Aston1936.com I have been avoiding the "Aston Tax" as much as possible
Last example - Dealer replacing the front wheel/hub assembly $1,750 + Tax, Me <$500 with parts coming out of the UK.

[Simpo Two]

Today my 2007 DB9 went through 25K miles on the way to Halfords. Not to buy parts for it I hasten to add!

And then into Waitrose to buy some amontillado, some nice cheese and tomatoes at £4/kg

In the afternoon I washed it (the car not the cheese) because it was so dirty it was getting embarrassing!

[Astontony]

What a weekend. Graze, Rudi and I went on a 1700 klm drive to Gloucester in west NSW and drone a famous road called Thunderbolts Way ( ex bushranger track) it did not disappoint. Slow winding climb to the peak and this amazing vista however we did not stop as it was raining and then down through many twisty bits to Gloucester where we stayed opposite the Police station. We were well behaved We managed to avoid detection and arrived home safely.
There are a couple of photos, one is of our toilet stop in Tenterfield ( Tenterfield saddler song by Peter Allen for those old enough to remember) and the second where we dominated the local country garage which was head turning for many passers by.
Thanks to Graze and Rudi for great company and bug coated and leaf filled experiences. This is what these machines are designed for, they don't break.

[Astontony]

[Davil]

Washed it in preparation for tomorrow’s AMOC drive day. It’s a 30 degree 70% humidity day. Thank goodness for the carport and sea breeze.

[stevenichols]

Bit the bullet and replaced the cabin air filters today. Not a tricky job, but you need to be a bit of a contortionist! I just followed RedPants video on YouTube.

The old filters were filthy and full of twigs - I doubt they have ever been changed. Car is a 2006 V8 Vantage with 32,000 miles on the clock. I used Blueprint filters so much cheaper.

Quick tip - use a magnetised screwdriver which helps a lot when replacing the screws in the glovebox hinges.

Edited by stevenichols on Saturday 17th February 15:50

[Davil]

Another great drive day with AMOC NSW south of Sydney.

Maybe the greatest number of Astons you’ve ever seen in a McDonalds car park?


Driving across the Sea Cliff Bridge



Lunch at Austinmere. Lovely spot but parking was at a premium, Probably because it is a lovely spot.


Having some fun with a Caterham we encountered driving home.

[atrossity]

Took my lady away for the weekend.

[Astontony]

Sounds like a great day. I wish we had some sea view roads like yours. Enjoy the 12.

[Davil]

Astontony said:

Sounds like a great day. I wish we had some sea view roads like yours. Enjoy the 12.

It really was a great day. Also a fantastic group of people. No Astons in the 12 boo. Such a shame as there always used to be a few of them.

P.S., lovely DB12 attrosity

[M1AGM]

Not my Aston but the demo Vantage from AM Newcastle they have given me as a courtesy car for a week. Had a drive back from them during the week on the A19 mainly and found it a bit firm and a bit tedious. Took it to the east coast for a proper run today (as the service tech said when he handed me the keys ‘hire cars are the fastest’). Got to say very impressed with the handling and power. Easy to place and very responsive to inputs. Keeping it in the mid range on the good roads was great fun. I thought it might be a little underwhelming being down on power and torque against my 11 but it works really well. Shame about the cosmetics outside and inside, just couldn’t live with the bad fitting side gills and the button smorgasbord isn’t for me either. If the new new vantage is better than this then I’m interested.

[SHIFTY]

Purchased my Vantage from Newcastle cracking dealership went on a track day not a freebie but limited spaces with the DB11, Vantage and 707.

DBX 707 is amazing on track as fast as the other two but in the 707 you had the height to see the corners and react more quickly.

[Longy00000]

Another shout out to the newcastle team, good bunch of guys n girls in there who've always been pretty straight and fair with me.
I would certainly recommend them to anyone

[AM-DB9]

stevenichols said:

The old filters were filthy and full of twigs - I doubt they have ever been changed. Car is a 2006 V8 Vantage with 32,000 miles on the clock. I used Blueprint filters so much cheaper.

Edited by stevenichols on Saturday 17th February 15:50

I know what you mean...from my 2013



and to top it off...

Edited by AM-DB9 on Sunday 25th February 03:46

[Nigel_O]

What is it about pollen filters? I know they are a pain to get at, but that’s no excuse, especially at service time, and especially if you’re a main dealer.

My car had plenty of main dealer history before it dropped out to the indies. When I bought it, the cabin was really smelly and SWMBO refused to go in it. A quick Google on how to do the job (and how to use RX8 filters) and I pulled these out:



Pretty clear that these hadn’t been done for years, which put the last change firmly in the middle of the car’s main dealer service history. Even Bamford Rose didn’t bother to change them, despite it being their “Major ++” service.

[john ryan]

Fitted a pull cord to my 2007 V8V boot latch, in case the electronic release should fail with a boot full of luggage. Tie a boot lace to the emergency handle and pass it in a straight line through a hole in the rear door card to emerge in the middle of the card through a pre-formed hole just below the glass. Works a treat, and being black can hardly be seen.

[AM-DB9]

Out for a sunny drive today...

[Dewi 2]

john ryan said:

Fitted a pull cord to my 2007 V8V boot latch, in case the electronic release should fail with a boot full of luggage. Tie a boot lace to the emergency handle and pass it in a straight line through a hole in the rear door card to emerge in the middle of the card through a pre-formed hole just below the glass. Works a treat, and being black can hardly be seen.

Perhaps I am being slow, to visualise the path of your boot lace.
If you are happy to do so, please post a couple of photos.
Thanks.

[john ryan]

You need to make a small hole in the door card. The loose end can be tucked along the window bottom edge.

[Dewi 2]

john ryan said:

You need to make a small hole in the door card. The loose end can be tucked along the window bottom edge.

Thank you John.

I can now see that the loose end remains internal.
Not sure which window glass you are referring to.
Presume the loose end is reachable from the cabin area, so have you run it on top of the parcel shelf?
Is the other end of the bootlace tied to the internal release handle ?

I have never pulled the internal release handle, but just wonder whether it requires pulling in a particular direction ?

The reason that I am especially interested in this, is because boot release failure occurred recently on our daily driver.
Very fortunately, it was the day after a boot full of Christmas luggage had been removed from the boot.
An even greater stroke of luck, one part of the folding rear seat back was not properly locked in place (the seat back release handle is in the boot). There is no emergency internal boot release, so had to crawl through, remove trim and jiggle the mechanism. It is a strange hydraulic release system, pushing air through a tube.