How important is warranty?
Discussion
Hi all, so I'm in the process of making an offer on a V12 Vantage manual, one question though -
how important is it to have a warranty with these, and if so how important is it an AM own warranty?
planning to own the car for roughly 18 months years and will be garaged over winter. The car will be either a 2011-2013 car with between 16-25k miles.
how important is it to have a warranty with these, and if so how important is it an AM own warranty?
planning to own the car for roughly 18 months years and will be garaged over winter. The car will be either a 2011-2013 car with between 16-25k miles.
Big Ry said:
Is the car known to you already ?
If not, then there's personally no way I'd buy one I didn't know the history of with no AML warranty. Like any car of this value, anything that goes wrong is likely to be expensive.
Not known to me no, I'm looking at a few on the classifieds basically, all have a FSH, and trying to decide between 3 cars at the moment - and all at different pricesIf not, then there's personally no way I'd buy one I didn't know the history of with no AML warranty. Like any car of this value, anything that goes wrong is likely to be expensive.
Totally depends on your attitude to risk, how deep your pockets are and if you are a wizz of a mechanic or not.
I bought my V8V (2009 with 16k miles) privately with no inspection and no warranty.
I met the previous owner and I had a good feeling about the car.
Been ok so far....
You can buy a warranty for less than £1500 afaik but check the small print carefully for exceptions.
I bought my V8V (2009 with 16k miles) privately with no inspection and no warranty.
I met the previous owner and I had a good feeling about the car.
Been ok so far....
You can buy a warranty for less than £1500 afaik but check the small print carefully for exceptions.
AMVSVNick said:
I know of several people who have run V12V and DBS without warranty, me included. That said only after a couple of years of ownership so fully aware of recent history.
I agree Nick, I didn't extend the warranty on my old V12V, but I knew the car and had already had things fixed under the AML warranty.I wouldn't be brave enough to buy a car completely unknown to me with no form of warranty at all though, not these sorts of cars anyway.
All really boils down to how risk averse you are, no two cars are the same with regard to reliability or annoying niggles, how lucky do you feel?
At that price point I'd be a lot happier buying from a Main Dealer with their usual level of car prep and Timeless Warranty, and the fact my local dealer is half an hour away, but then some of the specialists cars can be better prepared and their warranties just as good if not better.
If I was buying from a random 'nice car dealer' I'd be looking at adding an AM warranty to the car and factoring in that cost over the warranty that they may place on the car, or negotiating that in the deal.
On a car that can throw a huge bill at any time the piece of mind of the AM warranty is nice, I had it for my first year of ownership, and now knowing the car a bit better I've gone it alone, as it happened I didn't need the warranty enough to warrant it, but the safety net in that first year was nice.
At that price point I'd be a lot happier buying from a Main Dealer with their usual level of car prep and Timeless Warranty, and the fact my local dealer is half an hour away, but then some of the specialists cars can be better prepared and their warranties just as good if not better.
If I was buying from a random 'nice car dealer' I'd be looking at adding an AM warranty to the car and factoring in that cost over the warranty that they may place on the car, or negotiating that in the deal.
On a car that can throw a huge bill at any time the piece of mind of the AM warranty is nice, I had it for my first year of ownership, and now knowing the car a bit better I've gone it alone, as it happened I didn't need the warranty enough to warrant it, but the safety net in that first year was nice.
Edited by raceboy on Monday 25th February 12:16
well the two cheaper options have a 3 month warranty attached (though I don't have the details, I was told they are "comprehensive" in coverage) and extending out to 1 year would be about £1500.
The last is AM Approved Used, so they will have fixed any minor niggles and comes with a very comprehensive warranty for a year. Obviously this is ideal but the car is otherwise quite a bit more expensive so It's not the top of my list at the moment.
The last is AM Approved Used, so they will have fixed any minor niggles and comes with a very comprehensive warranty for a year. Obviously this is ideal but the car is otherwise quite a bit more expensive so It's not the top of my list at the moment.
RiknRoll said:
The last is AM Approved Used, so they will have fixed any minor niggles and comes with a very comprehensive warranty for a year. Obviously this is ideal but the car is otherwise quite a bit more expensive so It's not the top of my list at the moment.
Don't be too sure they will have already fixed all the minor niggles............just saying 
RiknRoll said:
well the two cheaper options have a 3 month warranty attached (though I don't have the details, I was told they are "comprehensive" in coverage) and extending out to 1 year would be about £1500.
The last is AM Approved Used, so they will have fixed any minor niggles and comes with a very comprehensive warranty for a year. Obviously this is ideal but the car is otherwise quite a bit more expensive so It's not the top of my list at the moment.
I would look very carefully at the exact text of the warranty if it is 3rd party.The last is AM Approved Used, so they will have fixed any minor niggles and comes with a very comprehensive warranty for a year. Obviously this is ideal but the car is otherwise quite a bit more expensive so It's not the top of my list at the moment.
I bought my car from a Stratstone non AM dealership with a 12 month comprehensive warranty underwritten by Abraxis. At the time I was told it was the same cover as the AM warranty, and naively I believed them. The max labour hourly rate covered for any repairs was about half that of an AM dealer, so I was left with a bill everytime there was any issue (thankfully not much went wrong). Had there been anything serious it would have proven very costly. I also found a number of exclusions in the policy that would have been covered by an AM warranty. Having said all that I paid around £10k less for the car compared to main dealer, so things would have to have been disasterous to be out of pocket.
As a starting point the cars are generally reliable, the V8 and V12 engines have (in various forms) been around for years. So your not being used as a guinea pig by a manufacturer to test things out.
And I would hope on a 2011-13 car that all of the initial niggles will have been sorted.
But...it’s an Aston Martin. Even using an independent garage if something goes wrong it’s expensive. I guess the biggest fear would be the engine going pop (it’s very rare but as with any manufacturer not completely unheard of) and that could be £20k.
If it were me I would pay the £1500 to get an AML warranty on, and factor that in when making an offer if you’re buying from a non-MD. It’s an £80k car, you’ll enjoy it far more knowing that you don’t have to worry about any major issues
And I would hope on a 2011-13 car that all of the initial niggles will have been sorted.
But...it’s an Aston Martin. Even using an independent garage if something goes wrong it’s expensive. I guess the biggest fear would be the engine going pop (it’s very rare but as with any manufacturer not completely unheard of) and that could be £20k.
If it were me I would pay the £1500 to get an AML warranty on, and factor that in when making an offer if you’re buying from a non-MD. It’s an £80k car, you’ll enjoy it far more knowing that you don’t have to worry about any major issues
RobDown said:
As a starting point the cars are generally reliable, the V8 and V12 engines have (in various forms) been around for years. So your not being used as a guinea pig by a manufacturer to test things out.
And I would hope on a 2011-13 car that all of the initial niggles will have been sorted.
But...it’s an Aston Martin. Even using an independent garage if something goes wrong it’s expensive. I guess the biggest fear would be the engine going pop (it’s very rare but as with any manufacturer not completely unheard of) and that could be £20k.
If it were me I would pay the £1500 to get an AML warranty on, and factor that in when making an offer if you’re buying from a non-MD. It’s an £80k car, you’ll enjoy it far more knowing that you don’t have to worry about any major issues
if it was £1500 for an AML warranty I would agree that would be great - and would definitely, but the £1500 was to extend a 3mth out to 1 year via 3rd party on one of the cheaper cars I'm looking at. It does raise the question though in that how much would it cost to get an AML warranty, something I will have to investigate. And I would hope on a 2011-13 car that all of the initial niggles will have been sorted.
But...it’s an Aston Martin. Even using an independent garage if something goes wrong it’s expensive. I guess the biggest fear would be the engine going pop (it’s very rare but as with any manufacturer not completely unheard of) and that could be £20k.
If it were me I would pay the £1500 to get an AML warranty on, and factor that in when making an offer if you’re buying from a non-MD. It’s an £80k car, you’ll enjoy it far more knowing that you don’t have to worry about any major issues
soofsayer said:
The max labour hourly rate covered for any repairs was about half that of an AM dealer,
Seen this a number of times with aftermarket warranties, they rarely pay main dealer hourly rates, and that's ANY main dealer not just Aston Martin, and seem to think it's fine to take them to Bills Back Street Autos for any work to be put right. 
You also need to remember that the V12V’s have carbon ceramics on them and you are looking at cars on which you have no idea how they have been looked after. If there is a fault with them that will be very expensive
As other have said it is all down to your view on risk and the depth of your pockets - but I think I would go down the warranty (as comprehensive as I could get) for at least the first year.
As other have said it is all down to your view on risk and the depth of your pockets - but I think I would go down the warranty (as comprehensive as I could get) for at least the first year.
I purchased my V8 new and have driven very few miles. My warranty ran out the end of January. I looked into extending it at my AM dealer. It was $4000 for one year or $7500 for two. Plus the part that really pissed me off was and additional $600 (non negotiable) to inspect the car. A car with less than 1000 miles on, from the dealer who services the car! You have to inspect the car?
I told the dealer I will self insure, the cars paid for, so it has no liens, I'll take my chances.
The service manager told me I should never drive an Aston without a warranty for repairs are so expensive. I told him if the car is that f
king fragile maybe I should just sell the damn thing.
For $8000 American dollars I'll self insure.
I told the dealer I will self insure, the cars paid for, so it has no liens, I'll take my chances.
The service manager told me I should never drive an Aston without a warranty for repairs are so expensive. I told him if the car is that f
king fragile maybe I should just sell the damn thing. For $8000 American dollars I'll self insure.
Edited by AstonV on Monday 25th February 16:34
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