Im joining the Aston Brigade , a question ...

[wtdoom]

Greetings all . Please dont tell my friends in the porsche forum but I am joining the Aston Martin brigade .
The lure of a manual V12 , in a small and impossibly gorgeous car with a proper mechanical slippy is just too much to resist.

I have a question . How reliable are Astons really ? I hear proper horror stories , i just cant see a cart thats been in production for so long , one that basically raced at the ring as a road car being that bad .

Any owner comments appreciated .


Edited to add, I have made up my mind now but I simply want to know what level of pain do I need to prepare for?

This is almost impossible to answer but what are your experiences dealing with issues , in short what's the customer service like ?

Thanks in advance WT

Sorry forgot to say I'm looking to get into a new V12 vantage s manual ASAP

Edited by wtdoom on Thursday 17th November 21:13

[NeinFondue]

Assume you mean V12 Vantage in which case I don't think there are any mechanical issues to worry about. There are some issues experienced with the early DB9's, but even then it was either luck or the result of a poorly looked after car. My previous 2005 DB9 was reliable for the 6+ years I had it. Advise would be to get it inspected..

[DAVIDOXE]

From personal experience i would pay the premium and get the Aston warranty.
I consider my V12V reliable but on reflection its a 14k mile car with full history and in my 2 years of ownership has had;
2 lots of paintwork cost helped by factory
Heater vent control work covered by warranty
New gearbox or rather transaxle assembly covered by warranty (12k parts)

Still stunning car and no regrets.

[RobDown]

I always find it curious when someone turns up saying "I've heard some real horror stories". Because I would expect those stories to appear in these forums (or to have heard some of them in the last 7 years - the closest being David above)

As far as I'm aware the Vantages are very reliable cars. The one blind spot being the paint bubbling (look for it around door handles and wing mirrors). Oh and the clutch can go quickly in some cases

[AMDBSVNick]

I couldn't begin to guess the collective mileage of all of the tours organised by various members of this forum but it will run into well over six figures. I have never heard of one "major" failure whilst hooning.

In addition to David above the only other major failure that springs to mind in the last 6 years is one of the guys (sorry cant remember who) had a cat ingestion on a newish V12VS.

[Murph7355]

Paint quality is, IMO&E, the single biggest flaw with Vantages. Mine caused me no headaches apart from this in 8.75yrs and 55k miles.

[williamp]

older Astons have a deserved reputation for unreliability. It was part of their....charm.

The Gaydon cars dont have any of these problems. Maybe a bit cosmetic, but nothing like the IMS etc etc Porsche worries.

The biggest problem you'll have is weraring red trousers

[bogie]

Ive done 85k miles in the last 10 years with a handful of non consumable parts failed and replaced. The car has never let me down or been "unreliable" in any way. Never bothered with a warranty and consider that £9k saved...well more like £7k as probably spent £2k on non consumable repairs/replace components.

I cant remember reading any real horror stories. I can remember a couple of instances where someone has bought a car with high expectations, then had a string of common things go wrong in a short time period. Combine that with poor dealer service/lack of ownership of the issues and high dealer rates to try to fix, they gave up with the dealer and the brand.

If you do a bit of research on issues you experience and use the specialists that are out there, the most expensive things are consumables, like a clutch at £2500 or a set of disks n pads all round at £1500 (steel not the carbon ones)

So get on with buying one, a modern Aston is certainly cheaper to run than finicky Italian superbikes

edit to add: If you choose to use the dealer network, the much of your experience is down to where you go. Ive used 3 different ones over the years. 2 of them I would recommend and use again, one I wouldn't. Like any car or bike manufacturer in that respect. Ask on here for recommendations depending where you live....or check FAQ for indies

Edited by bogie on Thursday 17th November 20:57

[DB4DM]

My old Astons have 330,000 miles between them so do they break, yes and sometimes not in a good place. Like the M25 on a Sunday lunchtime when one dropped 3 gallons of oil on the road. Home on a trailer.

My advice after 40 years of ownership is don't think you can run an Aston of any age on a shoestring. I really don't want to think about the number of Porsche I could have bought keeping my rotboxes going.

Edited by DB4DM on Thursday 17th November 21:01

[davek_964]

Only had my (V8) Vantage for 18 months, but so far I've not noticed it being any more unreliable than the 996 turbo it replaced. And there hasn't been one single second that I regret the change.

[RobDown]

DB4DM said:

My old Astons have 330,000 miles between them so do they break, yes and sometimes not in a good place. Like the M25 on a Sunday lunchtime when one dropped 3 gallons of oil on the road. Home on a trailer.

My advice after 40 years of ownership is don't think you can run an Aston of any age on a shoestring. I really don't want to think about the number of Porsche I could have bought keeping my rotboxes going.

Edited by DB4DM on Thursday 17th November 21:01

Ah now that's a different game! If you want stories of broken down pre-Gaydon cars I have one or two of those

[V8Andrew]

Welcome! I've found my Vantage much less of a money pit than a 997 2S we owned.

[rog007]

davek_964 said:

Only had my (V8) Vantage for 18 months, but so far I've not noticed it being any more unreliable than the 996 turbo it replaced. And there hasn't been one single second that I regret the change.

Snap!

[fvert]

V8Andrew said:

Welcome! I've found my Vantage much less of a money pit than a 997 2S we owned.

Funny, I have the exact opposite experience my 997s was bulletproof and cheap to maintain, while I already had to change the v8v clutch at 45000km...
If you live in the UK that's ok, but if you live abroad that's another story, the Aston Martin service costs are astronomical !!! You can double the UK costs

[AdamV12V]

wtdoom said:

Greetings all . Please dont tell my friends in the porsche forum but I am joining the Aston Martin brigade .
The lure of a manual V12 , in a small and impossibly gorgeous car with a proper mechanical slippy is just too much to resist.

I have a question . How reliable are Astons really ? I hear proper horror stories , i just cant see a cart thats been in production for so long , one that basically raced at the ring as a road car being that bad .

Any owner comments appreciated .


Edited to add, I have made up my mind now but I simply want to know what level of pain do I need to prepare for?

This is almost impossible to answer but what are your experiences dealing with issues , in short what's the customer service like ?

Thanks in advance WT

Hello matey - I really don't believe there is any material level of difference in the reliability of new Aston's to Porsche's. The running costs are a tiny bit higher, and the finish is a little bit more "hand built" than Porsche, but in terms of reliability I have had just as many issues with my Porsches as Astons.

My new V12VS Manual has just arrived, my current car is a Porsche GT4, prior to that were 2 more V12 Vantages, a V8 Vantage and 2 997 Carreras before that, so I speak with relative first hand experience on your question. I have no such worries in returning to Aston again and neither should you. For sure the Aston is so much more of an event to own and drive and just admire, even if the Porsche will probably run rings around it on a track.

[tonyhall38]

wtdoom said:

Greetings all . Please dont tell my friends in the porsche forum but I am joining the Aston Martin brigade .
The lure of a manual V12 , in a small and impossibly gorgeous car with a proper mechanical slippy is just too much to resist.

I have a question . How reliable are Astons really ? I hear proper horror stories , i just cant see a cart thats been in production for so long , one that basically raced at the ring as a road car being that bad .

Any owner comments appreciated .


Edited to add, I have made up my mind now but I simply want to know what level of pain do I need to prepare for?

This is almost impossible to answer but what are your experiences dealing with issues , in short what's the customer service like ?

Thanks in advance WT

Sorry forgot to say I'm looking to get into a new V12 vantage s manual ASAP

Edited by wtdoom on Thursday 17th November 21:13

What a .....buy it or fk off

[RobDown]

Wtdoom can I introduce you to Tony? He doesn't do subtle

[V8V Pete]

RobDown said:

Wtdoom can I introduce you to Tony? He doesn't do subtle

You beat me to it by 5 minutes Rob. He's lovely really

If you're buying new then you have 3 years warranty so no worries apart from the odd inconvenience. First thing on the spec sheet - Lightweight carbon fibre bucket seats.

[davek_964]

fvert said:

Funny, I have the exact opposite experience my 997s was bulletproof and cheap to maintain, while I already had to change the v8v clutch at 45000km...
If you live in the UK that's ok, but if you live abroad that's another story, the Aston Martin service costs are astronomical !!! You can double the UK costs

Whilst it's true that the Vantage clutch may not be the best design in the world, and isn't cheap to replace - a clutch is a consumable. 997s need them too, and although I'm sure it costs less - it's not exactly a £250 job on a 911 either.

[RobDown]

A clutch is £5k on a Lambo according to EVO