"Broken" Aston advice
Discussion
Hi
I want to start by saying I have had and continue to receive excellent service from HWM. They are professional and responsive and this email is not about them.
Last April I bought a brand new Rapide S and had a number of issues with a warning about gear box failure which culminated in the car getting locked in Park mode. Fortunately I was in a parking space and when I got back a few hours later the error had corrected and the car restarted. Various fixes were applied. However 2 and a half weeks ago the car was being driven back to me by the driver from the dealer after its first service and the same issue occurred and the car just stopped and had to be recovered by the dealer.
Since then the car has been with them and Aston Martin have been trying to find a fix. They are replacing the central computer. By the time this is done I will likely have been without the car for over three weeks. As a loyal Aston customer (5 New Astons in 10 years) I have reached the point of thinking that there should be some sort of compensation. I am not usually "Pushy" in this area but feel that having a car that has broken down a number of times at less than 2K miles is a bit much to just accept.
Would appreciate the counsel of this form.
regards
Simon ( Josh)
I want to start by saying I have had and continue to receive excellent service from HWM. They are professional and responsive and this email is not about them.
Last April I bought a brand new Rapide S and had a number of issues with a warning about gear box failure which culminated in the car getting locked in Park mode. Fortunately I was in a parking space and when I got back a few hours later the error had corrected and the car restarted. Various fixes were applied. However 2 and a half weeks ago the car was being driven back to me by the driver from the dealer after its first service and the same issue occurred and the car just stopped and had to be recovered by the dealer.
Since then the car has been with them and Aston Martin have been trying to find a fix. They are replacing the central computer. By the time this is done I will likely have been without the car for over three weeks. As a loyal Aston customer (5 New Astons in 10 years) I have reached the point of thinking that there should be some sort of compensation. I am not usually "Pushy" in this area but feel that having a car that has broken down a number of times at less than 2K miles is a bit much to just accept.
Would appreciate the counsel of this form.
regards
Simon ( Josh)
Edited by josh bear on Saturday 2nd March 19:57
josh bear said:
..... As a loyal Aston customer (5 New Astons in 10 years) I have reached the point of thinking that there should be some sort of compensation. I am not usually "Pushy" in this area, but feel that having a car that has broken down a number of times at less than 2K miles is a bit much to just accept.
Would appreciate the counsel of this forum.
Would appreciate the counsel of this forum.
Sorry to read your tale of woe Simon. Especially frustrating when the precise cause is unknown, because one wonders whether it then involves guesswork/replace and hope.
5 new Astons in ten years eh! That should at the very least, entitle you to Christmas lunch with Dr. A P. -
Hopefully you have been given another Aston Martin to use, whilst your own car is unwell. Probably awkward for them to find an equivalent though.
Wonder if someone at AML will read your post.
Stand by.
Is seems that Twitter has worked on occasions apparently.
If the issues were more constant I'd consider it a lemon, but even three weeks out of fifty-two would fail to inspire confidence in me, I think at the very least an agreement about what should happen if further problems occur (IMO the return of the vehicle) and/or an extension to the warranty would be reasonable.
Hi simon, such a shame to read about these issues, hopefully they will get sorted.
At the moment I would agree you should be at very least getting a loaner, and possibly a fair bit of goodwill towards servicing and/or hospitality.
Good luck with it.
At the moment I would agree you should be at very least getting a loaner, and possibly a fair bit of goodwill towards servicing and/or hospitality.
Good luck with it.
Edited by anonymous-user on Saturday 2nd March 21:53
Sorry to hear that Simon. I know how it can shake your confidence in the car as I had a sporadic issue with my Rapide when it was new to me about 5 years ago. All the electrics shut down and the door mirrors folded in. but it continued to drive albeit without much PAS). They had several root 'rounds and changed a few modules and checked all connectors and eventually it all went away after a few visits - but with no eureka moment or real diagnosis. So I think my advice would be to push for a categorical diagnosis and to rope in the manufacturers flying troubleshooter sooner rather than later. They can put a data logger in the car and all sorts and the data from that when the fault occurs may be the key.
The garage that was by me swore there was no faulty with a mates Vantage that used to cut out mid corner and, after a while, he refused to have it back and had a month long mexican stand off. Eventually the factory guy noted a brake pressure sensor transducer fault - it WAS buried in the cars own logs despite what the garage said. A £60 part but he sold it as the experience was ruined
This will not be you - as we are rare beasts
The garage that was by me swore there was no faulty with a mates Vantage that used to cut out mid corner and, after a while, he refused to have it back and had a month long mexican stand off. Eventually the factory guy noted a brake pressure sensor transducer fault - it WAS buried in the cars own logs despite what the garage said. A £60 part but he sold it as the experience was ruined
This will not be you - as we are rare beasts Ken Figenus said:
Sorry to hear that Simon. I know how it can shake your confidence in the car as I had a sporadic issue with my Rapide when it was new to me about 5 years ago. All the electrics shut down and the door mirrors folded in. but it continued to drive albeit without much PAS). They had several root 'rounds and changed a few modules and checked all connectors and eventually it all went away after a few visits - but with no eureka moment or real diagnosis. So I think my advice would be to push for a categorical diagnosis and to rope in the manufacturers flying troubleshooter sooner rather than later. They can put a data logger in the car and all sorts and the data from that when the fault occurs may be the key.
The garage that was by me swore there was no faulty with a mates Vantage that used to cut out mid corner and, after a while, he refused to have it back and had a month long mexican stand off. Eventually the factory guy noted a brake pressure sensor transducer fault - it WAS buried in the cars own logs despite what the garage said. A £60 part but he sold it as the experience was ruined This will not be you - as we are rare beasts
Thanks all. Ken, we are rare beasts and I don’t want to walk away but this Aston is testing my love to the limit The garage that was by me swore there was no faulty with a mates Vantage that used to cut out mid corner and, after a while, he refused to have it back and had a month long mexican stand off. Eventually the factory guy noted a brake pressure sensor transducer fault - it WAS buried in the cars own logs despite what the garage said. A £60 part but he sold it as the experience was ruined
This will not be you - as we are rare beasts I know the guys at HWM very well. I would actually be very open with them and say that you have lost the trust in the car and ask them to help you get an exchange from AML. It is not HWMs fault that the car is faulty and they have an interest to keep you as a trusted customer so an open and frank discussion seems for me the way to go. Good luck.
Quick update. Into the 4th week now and the rapide is still breaking down when on the test run post repairs. HWM service continue to do an excellent job in keeping me informed. My main concern is making sure the error is found and sorted. If it not found then I can have no confidence that the car will not breakdown somewhere dangerous.
Missing some great driving weather as well!
Missing some great driving weather as well!
josh bear said:
Quick update. Into the 4th week now and the rapide is still breaking down when on the test run post repairs. HWM service continue to do an excellent job in keeping me informed. My main concern is making sure the error is found and sorted. If it not found then I can have no confidence that the car will not breakdown somewhere dangerous.
Missing some great driving weather as well!
Tweet Andy Palmer, you need factory involvement to get it fixed.Missing some great driving weather as well!
hornbaek said:
I know the guys at HWM very well. I would actually be very open with them and say that you have lost the trust in the car and ask them to help you get an exchange from AML. It is not HWMs fault that the car is faulty and they have an interest to keep you as a trusted customer so an open and frank discussion seems for me the way to go. Good luck.
+1 to that. I've done the flying mechanic thing with my V8, I've used twitter to message Andy Palmer about my V12V. But having the dealer onside is a winning strategy.
I had a new-car problem and found HWM pretty helpful, though sometimes factory involvement is required - particularly if it's a new car (as it's more the factory's problem than HWMs in those situations).
Tweeting AP is a good idea (it worked for me), but there's no guarantee's he's going to see all of the things he's tagged with. Honestly i think i was lucky. I think the best advice i could give is ask HWM to give you a client services number at the factory - there's a team dedicated to sorting things like this, the guy in charge of said team is very good.
If you have no luck getting a factory contact drop me a PM.
Tweeting AP is a good idea (it worked for me), but there's no guarantee's he's going to see all of the things he's tagged with. Honestly i think i was lucky. I think the best advice i could give is ask HWM to give you a client services number at the factory - there's a team dedicated to sorting things like this, the guy in charge of said team is very good.
If you have no luck getting a factory contact drop me a PM.
Hi all
Just to close this off. The Rapide is back with me. Great service from HWM and also very grateful for AM senior leadership involvement as well. The issue was a non stripped back cable in a loom that is part of the gear box system.
After a month away had almost forgotten how much I love my Aston. Now for some serious driving
Thanks for all the help I received in DMs and on the forum.
Josh
Just to close this off. The Rapide is back with me. Great service from HWM and also very grateful for AM senior leadership involvement as well. The issue was a non stripped back cable in a loom that is part of the gear box system.
After a month away had almost forgotten how much I love my Aston. Now for some serious driving
Thanks for all the help I received in DMs and on the forum.
Josh
Gassing Station | Aston Martin | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff