Water ingress = electrical damage - not covered by warranty?

[vinnie83]

UPDATE : SCROLL DOWN FOR THE END RESULT!


Hi guys, any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I have had my DBS for ~8 months now. Unfortunately, due to various problems, the car has not beein in a working condition/in my possession for probably 30-40%+ of this ownership.

I have done maybe 2000 miles in the car.

I purchased from a main dealer as a 'Timeless' approved AM, it's always been in the main dealer network and all work I've had done has also been at main dealers.

I had gearbox issues a couple of months into ownership, first intermittently. This was reset and looked at by a local main dealer, problem resolved for a short time, then came back with a vengance - failure to engage gear at all.

They took the car for 6 weeks or so, sorted some paintwork issues that were present from delivery, and apparently the gearbox too. However, 3 days after delivery, the gearbox issue returned - refusal to engage any gear.

They recovered to my local dealer (not the supplying dealer) and I am told that it appears as though the windscreen has leaked, causing water in the footwell to corrode some connectors - causing the failure. This was not spotted during the 6 weeks my car was with the supplying main dealer.

I am told that any issue arising from water ingress from the windscreen (or indeed apparently any reason) is not covered under warranty.

Am I really left with no leg to stand on re. the water issue? I really find this hard to believe and am struggling to find the warranty T&C's anywhere online.

Edited by vinnie83 on Monday 6th March 16:02

[Sump]

Seems reasonable to me.

[vinnie83]

Sump said:

Seems reasonable to me.

Thanks for the informative comment

[Wacky Racer]

Sump's profile occupation:-

Trolling PH as hard as possible

[davebem]

If it was water ingress from driving into a flood or leaving a window open in the rain I could understand. But water ingres from windscreen suggests shoddy workmanship or mistake or quality control issue at the factory which is what a warranty should cover?

[vinnie83]

Wacky Racer said:

Sump's profile occupation:-

Trolling PH as hard as possible

Yes I noticed that shortly after posting. Basically, he's an asshole.

[vinnie83]

davebem said:

If it was water ingress from driving into a flood or leaving a window open in the rain I could understand. But water ingres from windscreen suggests shoddy workmanship or mistake or quality control issue at the factory which is what a warranty should cover?

My thoughts, apparently not so

Can't find the T&C's anywhere, will have to ask for them to be sent as I want to see how this is not covered.

[tonyhall38]

I had my windscreen replaced under warranty because of it leaking....I would have thought that any damage caused by faulty installation of the screen should be covered.....
If not at least a goodwill gesture on the behalf of the supplying dealer should be evident....

[vinnie83]

tonyhall38 said:

I had my windscreen replaced under warranty because of it leaking....I would have thought that any damage caused by faulty installation of the screen should be covered.....
If not at least a goodwill gesture on the behalf of the supplying dealer should be evident....

Supplying dealer has pretty much washed their hands of me and the car.

Can I ask Tony - how old was your car when you did have this repair?

[tonyhall38]

5 years old if I recall correctly

[vinnie83]

tonyhall38 said:

5 years old if I recall correctly

Thanks. They insisted that it's only covered under the manufacturers 3 year warranty, not extended as offered on any 3+ year old approved car.

[hornbaek]

Sorry to hear about your problems with the car. I would not accept the reply from the dealer re the windscreen and it not being covered by the warranty regardless of what is stipulated in the contract. Get in touch with AML and Mr Palmer himself. This is unacceptable.

[vinnie83]

hornbaek said:

Sorry to hear about your problems with the car. I would not accept the reply from the dealer re the windscreen and it not being covered by the warranty regardless of what is stipulated in the contract. Get in touch with AML and Mr Palmer himself. This is unacceptable.

Thanks, I am certianly going to give it a try.

Anybody have any contacts at AML that I can get in touch with?

[AstonExige]

Who's the dealer?

[vinnie83]

AstonExige said:

Who's the dealer?

I would rather not say at this point as should I be able to make any progress, I don't want them finding out I have slagged them off online!

[steveatesh]

vinnie83 said:

Thanks, I am certianly going to give it a try.

Anybody have any contacts at AML that I can get in touch with?

I had an issue on my Vantage more than once, wrote directly to AP and it was resolved very quickly at no expense to me.

I just addressed the envelope to him at Gaydon IIRC....

[Car mad enthusiast]

Sorry to read about your plight. The selling main dealer should hang their head in shame IMHOP. Name and shame them. They have done you no favours by fobbing you off so you don't owe them any loyalty back. Its entirely your decision though. I agree a nice letter to AML should do the trick and if this has been an issue in the past with other owners cars ( Tony eludes to his being changed ) then maybe it could be a service recall issue or one of those system flash alerts which you have not been made aware of possibly.

Regarding contacts in AML to write to I would suggest in the first instance you just send it to Dr Palmer ( signed for recorded delivery) he will then peruse it and hand it to the relevant specialist on that model of Aston just like my issue was early last year. I have to say AML were bloody marvellous about it all and resolved the matter very quickly indeed.

Either way I hope you resolve it and not to your cost.

vinnie83 said:

I would rather not say at this point as should I be able to make any progress, I don't want them finding out I have slagged them off online!

Edited by Car mad enthusiast on Saturday 4th March 10:23

[M5MarkM]

Doesn't sound right to me, if the screen leaks thenshould be sorted. Not sure how that much water coming through leaks in a screen could end up doing that much damage. If the suggestion is that this damage happened over time(which it must have if problems were there when you took ownership of the car)then they should still man up and sort the damage as it was present when they sold the car. Another reason to name and shame the dealership is that clearly they pre delivery checks could have been better! I Don't think they have a leg to stand on!

[Neil1300r]

I would start with the dealer principal pointing out how long they had the car and their failure to diagnose it correctly.
How much are the repairs - a few terminals needing re terminating or new wiring harness?

[V8V Pete]

vinnie83 said:

Anybody have any contacts at AML that I can get in touch with?

When I had an issue which was not dealt with by my Main Dealer to my satisfaction I went directly to "Aston Martin Client Support" on 01926 644722. I spoke to a chap who listened and gave me his individual email address and asked me to put my issue down in writing in an email to him. It has been quite a long journey but the issue has been dealt with entirely to my satisfaction (my car now has a new engine) and at no expense to myself. So if you're not getting what you want from your dealer then Aston Martin Client Support definitely worked for me. Good luck.