DB9 Respray by Aston - Not happy but am I being too fussy?

[Sunray3006]

Merry Christmas fellow Astronaughts, I hope it is a time of merriment and joy for you all.

I would however like to ask for your opinions on some work that I have recently had done on my DB9. I purchased the car in October, and after a rocky start (see my previous conversations) in ownership the dealer (under new management) has now gone the extra mile to try and restore my faith in them and the AM brand, HOWEVER..............

I finally received my car back last Friday after it having some paint work done (by Aston at an Aston bodyshop) to remove some stone chips and bubbling as agreed at the time of purchase + additional work paid for by me, I'm not overly happy with the colour match but I don't know if I'm being too fussy - comments please.







The dealer has said they will look at it again after Christmas, but I took ownership of the car on the 30th of October, and since that date I have physically had the car in my possession for 11 days!!!, the rest of the time being back at the dealer and I'm starting to loose faith, let alone the frustration and upset as this is not the Aston ownership experience I wanted or expected from a premium brand

I am aware that Aston paint is difficult to match, but my car currently looks in 3 shades which I hope you can see in the photographs but it is a lot clearer in the flesh and I would not buy it if I saw it now, especially the N/S door to wing / sill area as shown - do you agree? The front bumper also does not match but I could probably live with it as its close enough, and the O/S lower sill which was also painted has a similar match to the door and back panel (as shown) but I'm hoping that once I've had paintshild film added to the area in the new year it will 'merge' the match a little.

I do appreciate that if they match the colour correctly I will have a pristine 2005 DB9 which has had corrective paint work by Aston Martin so will not affect future values but do I persevere or accept it as it is?

Thank you in advance for any advice / help you can offer as I am rapidly starting to regret buying the car and the 'Aston dream' has well and truly popped.

Merry Christmas

[Neil1300R]

Don't accept it. If you can see it others will. Have had part of mine resprayed I. The past bye an Aston approved body shop. It went back 3 times and I still ended up machine polishing it myself. Unfortunately some high end body shops don't have pride in their work and Aston are happy to approve them.

[Manwhoneverwas]

I had exactly the same issue when my V8VR had both sides painted last June (paint bubbles on both the doors and new N400 sills fitted)

The new paint did not exactly match the existing paint and the AM body shop in Edinburgh tried everything to help, they even got the DuPont Paint rep involved to try and advise on a different paint formula (without success)
They ended up painting the whole car at their cost (slightly easier since it is a roadster), they explained this was the only way they could guarantee an exact paint finish.

[michael gould]

don't accept it ......I had one of my arches done due to paint bubbling and the match was perfect. This was done by a small but highly recommended to me, back street body shop. Total cost of the arch being repaired and painted £160

[Sunray3006]

Its great to hear that you also believe that the match and finish has to be right as the're not £900 bangers from a back street garage - its just bloody annoying as since I picked the car up on the 30th of October I've only had it in my possession for 11 days as the rest of the time its been with the dealer, and now its going to have to go back again.......

Perhaps I should have gone for the Bentley /F Type / bike.................

[simonpa]

Not being too fussy at all.
They agreed to do the paint correction, so it really needs to match the existing paintwork.
If that means a full respray, then they would have been aware of the possibility.

[hdiam1950]

Definately not right,aston paint no more difficult than any other top end car, just poor work,mind you having owned a DB9 volante it is easy to see why people buy Bentleys, had both, Aston just not good enough for price and quality control is non existent. Harry.

[8Tech]

Paintwork looks great from the pics but in the wrong shade of colour.

Easy to do if painting in artificial light. That really needs to be done again though.

I feel for both you and the bodyshop. They have done a fair bit of work there for nowt.

[burntout]

I agree....... There should be absolutely no visible differences in the colour at all.......

Makes you wonder why the dealers do it... I had loads of grief with Lancasters in Reading... Shocking quick fix rubbish from them... Its amazing when they call you up and say that its ready, you get there to find that the pre pick up check was carried out by Stevie Wonder... Shocking and I refuse to use them ever again...

Name and shame might prompt them into coughing up some quality workmanship... Or choose a bodyshop of your choice and have them foot the bill... I bet you are fuming about the whole thing...

Mines going into Trinity Engineering in the spring for a paint spruce up... I can guarantee that I will have no issues with them at all....

[Sunray3006]

Fuming is an understatement............. I read on here daily the fun you are all having with your AM's, and mine was either away being fixed or away being re-fixed!!!! 4

The dealer concerned (who have seriously improved their outlook to customer satisfaction since their recent management change is doing their very best), but my argument is this should have all been done on the 3 weeks from my initial deposit to when I collected her, not in the 6 weeks since I collected..... I spent a lot of money buying a childhood dream and since day 4 of ownership when it fist went back I started to wish I'd had a different dream.....

I also agree that that quality of the workmanship is excellent and they should be commended for that, but the colour is definitely off and if I can spot it, my partner can spot it (and she is getting very bored of me going on about everything), and my 80 year old neighbour can spot it then it begs the question why didn't the paint shop spot it and rectify it before sending the car back to the dealer ........I think I'm right in asking for it to be done again.

I just wanted to make sure I wasn't expecting miracles as never owned an AM before, but the work I've had done on my previous Jag XK's (I saw the light and went to AM), and my Porsche has always matched.

Thank you to everybody who has commented, have a great Christmas and I think the sun is now well and truly above the yardarm the bar has now officially opened.

Merry Christmas

[Jon39]

I do not think you are being too fussy.

As you say, difficult to see in the photographs, but I can see what appears to be two colours in the headlight photograph.

We own these cars, partly because (in our view) they are works of art. The Antiques Roadshow experts would be the first to say, "This object has had some poor quality restoration".

I would be most upset if my Aston Martin did not look perfect. A small amount of paintwork was required at the time I bought my car, but fortunately the colour match was perfect.

My suggestion would be, enjoy your Christmas then in 2014, tell your dealer you don't want a multi-colour car.

[ian_uk1975]

Normally, the paint should be blended across the adjacent panel(s) to avoid this happening... obviously more work involved and that's why it may not have been done. One of my old cars (silver Corvette) needed painting due to some scratches on the rear bumper (insurance job). They ended-up painting literally half the car, but I couldn't tell it had been touched (and I'm a perfectionist).

Part of the business of a body shop should be managing expectations; if the dealer couldn't guarantee a perfect colour match, they should've informed you of this before the work was carried-out. That way, everyone is on the same page and there are no nasty surprises. Unfortunately, most places will do the minimum required and hope you don't notice a less-than-perfect job. On the flip side of this, I think it's also worth making yourself very clear when asking work like this to be done and stating your expectations.

[KarlFranz]

Yeah. I'm color blind and even I can see the different shades in your pictures from my iPhone. No bueno.

[robgt]

Simple, do not accept the car back! When you are told that the body shop the dealer used is approved it means that they are in line for money out of any repairs completed. I think that the only way that you should accept the car back considering the areas of mismatching is to effect a complete re spray . Do not settle for less. Should you do so over time as paint fades the car will look as if it has had major body repairs. You state that since you have owned the car it has been in your hands for a matter of days. I think I would be looking for a full refund or for the dealer to source another car.

I wish you the very best of luck. Keep us informed.

[Sunray3006]

Thanks for all your comments.

As an update for you all, the car was returned last Thursday (2nd February) to AM Amersham and they are taking it up with the body-shop concerned but I haven't had an update yet.

I do have faith in the Dealer principle and I do believe he will get it sorted BUT so far my AM ownership experience has been a bitter disappointment as I've spent the cash but there's nothing shiny and 'Bond Lifestyle' on my driveway and all I have to show for my investment is a log book and a spare set of keys............. at least the weather has been on my side for NOT driving it!!!

Lets see what happens over the next few days and weeks and I will keep you all posted but I hope one day I will get my DB9 back, it will be one colour and I will be able to put the 'Best of Bond' CD on max volume as I floor it for the 'growl'..............

[LC23]

For future reference, and seeing as you cannot be far away as your car is at Amersham, Chiltern Aston provide much better service in my experience both for servicing and paint work. The have their own, on site, paint shop and the work they did on mine when I had it was faultless. And I'm a fussy git!

[tonyhall38]

I had a similar problem with my 9 ....had a bubbling issue from early ownership , and had the work carried out at AMs expense before it became popular....the colour match by the approved body shop was good , but not good enough , in the end I rejected the car 3 times , and only settled for a full resprsy to match the panels , the only thing they did not re do was the roof....
So just reject it and if required refer to Gaydon...

[paddy328]

What a lovely shade of fern green it was too.....

[tonyhall38]

You wanna be careful..............

[V8V Pete]

paddy328 said:

What a lovely shade of fern green it was too.....

Could be bad for business slagging off the colour of people's cars Francis There are lots of proud owners of Green AMs on here. I'm not familiar with "Fern Green", is it an official AM colour or was it a one off special?