V8Vantage "Gear selection not possible"

[Swillsy]

Hi Guys
My Mum has been having a number of issues with her 2010 reg vantage. It has been recently loosing gear selection while she is driving and today she was accelerating away from a junction and lost gear selection completely and the display said 'gear selection not possible'.

She ended up rolling down a hill and then after a while it started working again, needless to say she is at the end of her tether. She has tried contacting Aston and they've just informed her that this may happen to the cars although it has been taken car of and has only done 25k miles. Unfortunately it is recently out of warranty so very unsure what to do as obviously Aston will be charging an arm and a leg and are denying that this is an design fault.

What are your opinions? I'm getting an ear full over the phone so good news would be appreciated

[Neil1300R]

Swillsy said:

Hi Guys
My Mum has been having a number of issues with her 2010 reg vantage. It has been recently loosing gear selection while she is driving and today she was accelerating away from a junction and lost gear selection completely and the display said 'gear selection not possible'.

She ended up rolling down a hill and then after a while it started working again, needless to say she is at the end of her tether. She has tried contacting Aston and they've just informed her that this may happen to the cars although it has been taken car of and has only done 25k miles. Unfortunately it is recently out of warranty so very unsure what to do as obviously Aston will be charging an arm and a leg and are denying that this is an design fault.

What are your opinions? I'm getting an ear full over the phone so good news would be appreciated

Am assuming its Sportshift, not a manual. Sounds like clutch, based onthe limited information above.

[X7LDA]

As above, sounds like the clutch.. Sounds normal miles for a sportshift.

[Neil1300R]

May be worth trying a 'clutch learn'
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

Should be doing regularly if its a Sportshift anyway.

[Swillsy]

Thanks for your replies, I was really just checking that this isn't some known problem that dealers are denying. I will pass on your suggestion, unfortunately I haven't given it a drive so haven't seen it happen so am just translating my mum whose pretty upset, hence the limited info

[MichaelV8V]

If its a 2010 reg then it should still be in warranty, but if its just the clutch that has worn from normal wear and tear then its not covered. Unfortunately, at that mileage, it seems likely to be the clutch has worn

[hogg968]

My sportshift roadster had a similar problem. Pulling away the car
would not select gear. It was taken to Amersham who replaced the
brake switch and all was well. I was told that if this sticks the
car can't decide if the accelerator or brake is on so has a minor
meltdown. Hope it is this.

[mikey k]

MichaelV8V said:

If its a 2010 reg then it should still be in warranty, but if its just the clutch that has worn from normal wear and tear then its not covered. Unfortunately, at that mileage, it seems likely to be the clutch has worn

25K on a 2 year old car and a knackered clutch is not normal wear & tear.
It's also a bit of a leap of faith to condemn the clutch at this stage

If found with my old ASM1 car that 3-4 clutch learns in a row made a big difference, especially if it has not been driven in a while.
Get it to the dealer.

[Swillsy]

Hey guys sorry it was 2009 reg only just out of warranty! 25k on the clock and my mum took it in today to the derby dealership and apparently it's the gear box which has worn out and will cost £2500 to fix. seems amazing that you can spend all that money on a car and wears out so quickly,I drive a Toyota mr2 on 80k and apart from the exhaust still drives like a dream.for an mr2 :-p

Thanks for your ideas, any advice I can give her or looking after the new gearbox... She didnt know about the clutch learning that you should perform.

[steveatesh]

Swillsy said:

Hey guys sorry it was 2009 reg only just out of warranty! 25k on the clock and my mum took it in today to the derby dealership and apparently it's the gear box which has worn out and will cost £2500 to fix. seems amazing that you can spend all that money on a car and wears out so quickly,I drive a Toyota mr2 on 80k and apart from the exhaust still drives like a dream.for an mr2 :-p

Thanks for your ideas, any advice I can give her or looking after the new gearbox... She didnt know about the clutch learning that you should perform.

You sure it's the gearbox and not the clutch? A replacement lunch is about that price but I would have thought a gearbox was considerably more? Did she go in by herself?

[silverspeed]

hogg968 said:

My sportshift roadster had a similar problem. Pulling away the car
would not select gear. It was taken to Amersham who replaced the
brake switch and all was well. I was told that if this sticks the
car can't decide if the accelerator or brake is on so has a minor
meltdown. Hope it is this.

Had exactly the same on my DB9 - worked ok with paddles but not in D. Wouldn't change up thinking I was braking.

With regard to the OP I assume you have tried the clutch learn on the car? Where did your mother buy the car from as this should have been advised at time of purchase.

[mikey k]

It will be the clutch rather than the gearbox.
Not too surprising on clutch that has not done regular learns nor had "considered" use.
I would still be look for some "goodwill" from the dealer as it is just out of warranty