Aston Martin Emergency Assistance... woeful experience

[nickv8]

Apologies in advance for a negative post. But I wanted to post this publicly and then point some people to it to get feedback. But I’m also curious as to the experience of others with Aston Martin Emergency Assistance.

It started with a routine oil check of my 2016 V8 Vantage S. It’s my third year of ownership of V8V’s, so I’m fully aware how it works. But this time, when I shut the bonnet (“hood” for our cousins overseas , the bonnet didn’t latch shut apart from the emergency hook. The release handle in the passenger footwell had no resistance, so either the cable has gone, or the latch has seized, etc.

Normally, I’d take a spanner to something like that. But I have Aston Martin Emergency Assistance coverage having bought the car from AM Bristol. I phoned Bristol first and Mike on the service desk was very good (their team always is). He was happy to arrange things with Aston Martin Emergency Assistance but I said no worries and that I’d give them a call. That was 11am.

Now, the car’s on the drive. I don’t need to get to the south of France in 8 hours in an emergency, so I was very relaxed about the first person helping and saying their goal is to always get somebody sorted in 90 minutes. Very polite, etc.

It was arranged that a AM recovery would come by in that time.

Around the time that they were due to arrive, I got a call from the call centre saying that no AM recovery staff are available as it’s a weekend. (Hint: don’t have issues with your Aston on a weekend!!!) Would I mind a local specialist instead? I said no problem. At this stage, I thought they meant specialist for these types of cars.

They call back later saying they are having problems getting a local specialist to commit, so time would slip. OK... starting to get a nagging feeling, but still a few hours before I needed to go out, so no problem.

Another call came to say that a company called “TT Recovery” would be with us 1:10pm. OK.

At 1pm I got a call direct from a guy at TT saying that they are having problems getting a person to me. There was some talk whether they’d send a fitter or recovery guy. I didn’t really care.

After the call, I looked up the caller’s number and found that the specialist company chosen was www.tech-trucks.co.uk

I am sure that if your vehicle has 3 or more axles, this is an ideal company to help you out. I wasn’t quite sure if they knew their way around a British sports car. So, I phoned Aston Martin Emergency Assistance back and just wanted to confirm this was the chosen specialist. It was indeed. And I can rest assure that they have met the standards required.

I was starting to wonder what these standards are in writing!

So an hour later, a guy in a recovery van arrived. Nice guy... friendly and a wearing a well-oiled high-vis jacket as a badge of honour. Trouble is, it wasn’t his recovery truck that day. I tried to bite my lip as much as possible. But when it turned out he only had a flat head and Philips screwdriver, plus a can of white grease spray, he was stuck trying to get the slam panel off with its Torx fastenings. (He did try momentarily with both screwdrivers at which point I was about to ask him to stop... but he thankfully found it futile before damaging a Torx head).

20 minutes later he left having sprayed a little magic on the accused bonnet latch but not much else (bit relieved, to be honest!). I was amazed.

It was 2:30pm, so I thought it best to back-track to Mike at AM Bristol rather than work through Aston Martin Emergency Assistance again. He was very apologetic and said he’d get things sorted immediately and ensure that the car’s picked up and brought down to Bristol (where it was due to go early next week anyway for some typical paint bubbling remedy under warranty).

Sure enough, Mike txt shortly after and said that the recovery wagon would be with me 8:30pm along with a call 30 mins before from Aston Martin Emergency Assistance to update me. The call at 8pm on the dot sadly came with the news that recovery would be 11pm earliest. They are having problems finding a local recovery service. (I’m in a city, not in the middle of nowhere.) Would that be OK?

No. That would not. The whole experience is not OK. Mike at Bristol has done his best and I thank him for that. I started with a care-free attitude to all this. It’s only a bonnet latch for goodness sake!

Ironically, on Tuesday, I am due to renew (a month early) my year warranty which includes Aston Martin Emergency Assistance. It’s £1,600. The warranty bit may be worth it, if only for the usual paint and lamp issues. But the Emergency Assistance? It’s my first experience of them and I’m in no doubt now that I’ll keep paying for the AA for a professional service. I haven’t needed them for years, but they never let me down.

Heaven help us owners if one of us is relying on Aston Martin Emergency Assistance to get us out of a true mess on the roadside. At the weekend!

Apparently they will now arrive between 8:30am and 9:00am tomorrow (Sunday) morning with a call 30 minutes in advance. My breath is baited but not held...

[V8V Pete]

Don't particularly want to turn this into a warranty vs. no warranty thread but the latest I've heard is that paint issues are dealt with FOC for any car under 10 years old irrespective of extended warranty cover. This is certainly the case for my 2014 MY V8VS which hasn't had warranty cover for nearly 3 years. In that time I've saved £5K and had nothing done which would have been covered by warranty. Anecdote maybe but with service like you describe definitely don't pay the subs for the "Emergency Assistance".

[nickv8]

V8V Pete said:

Don't particularly want to turn this into a warranty vs. no warranty thread but the latest I've heard is that paint issues are dealt with FOC for any car under 10 years old irrespective of extended warranty cover. This is certainly the case for my 2014 MY V8VS which hasn't had warranty cover for nearly 3 years. In that time I've saved £5K and had nothing done which would have been covered by warranty. Anecdote maybe but with service like you describe definitely don't pay the subs for the "Emergency Assistance".

Hmmm... that’s an interesting point, Pete.

To me, the warranty aspect is the part of the deal I buy it for (especially now!). It does claim some interesting pan-European benefits such as first class travel back if the car can’t be repaired, etc., but in all honesty, I care for that very little.

What I do want the warranty for is if anything major and non-serviceable goes in the engine or gearbox, etc.

As both driver and passenger windows have dropped a little, I did ask if adjustment for that can be done. But apparently that’s not part of the warranty. There will always be catches like that... and I go into the warranty knowing that.

AM is all about experience. Nobody needs an AM, which is why this is soooo important for their good fortune. If AM themselves aren’t aware of the situation (I suspect it’s all out-sourced), I think it best they become aware of it before a critical matter arises.

[South tdf]

The assistance is provided by Allianz and to be fair I never had a problem with them having used them 3 times for the Aston’s, once in my old Vantage when I went over some metal on the motorway and damaged a tyre. They sent a local recovery agent out who offered to either take me and the car to the dealer, home or a tyre centre.

2nd was for a flat battery (on a Saturday morning), Allianz tech came out within two hours and amazingly kept a new genuine battery for my car that the dealerships don’t even stock.

3rd was for what turned out to be a failed roof module and associated warning lights, the car failed on a Saturday evening so I arranged for a Allianz tech to come out next morning. After half an hour, temporary repair complete and the car could be driven apart from the roof not working.

It is worth noting the techs cover other brands as one of the local guys round here has also been out to my BMW in the past.

Best not mention Ferrari assistance, I was driving a nearly new one last year when it failed leaving me at the side of the road at 5.30 on a Monday evening. After lots of phone calls it seems Ferrari assistance only open office hours so I had to pay for a local recovery company.

[nickv8]

South tdf said:

The assistance is provided by Allianz and to be fair I never had a problem with them having used them 3 times for the Aston’s, once in my old Vantage when I went over some metal on the motorway and damaged a tyre. They sent a local recovery agent out who offered to either take me and the car to the dealer, home or a tyre centre.

2nd was for a flat battery (on a Saturday morning), Allianz tech came out within two hours and amazingly kept a new genuine battery for my car that the dealerships don’t even stock.

3rd was for what turned out to be a failed roof module and associated warning lights, the car failed on a Saturday evening so I arranged for a Allianz tech to come out next morning. After half an hour, temporary repair complete and the car could be driven apart from the roof not working.

It is worth noting the techs cover other brands as one of the local guys round here has also been out to my BMW in the past.

Best not mention Ferrari assistance, I was driving a nearly new one last year when it failed leaving me at the side of the road at 5.30 on a Monday evening. After lots of phone calls it seems Ferrari assistance only open office hours so I had to pay for a local recovery company.

Thanks for posting that... it does give me some hope it was a one-off yesterday.

Still not sure about how relevant the local specialists chosen are to the type of car. If it was just about loading it onto a flatbed, that’s one thing. But they had no hope trying to fix anything.

Fingers crossed for this morning!

[IanV12VSRs]

I have had to call them out three times in 12 years of Aston ownership. Good experiences all three times but, interestingly, on all three occasions just a recovery truck was provided even though on one of the occasions a technician could have sorted the problem.

Each time timings slipped marginally but kept informed so view the service as being good.

[LooneyTunes]

nickv8 said:

Another call came to say that a company called “TT Recovery” would be with us 1:10pm. OK.

At 1pm I got a call direct from a guy at TT saying that they are having problems getting a person to me. There was some talk whether they’d send a fitter or recovery guy. I didn’t really care.

After the call, I looked up the caller’s number and found that the specialist company chosen was www.tech-trucks.co.uk

I am sure that if your vehicle has 3 or more axles, this is an ideal company to help you out. I wasn’t quite sure if they knew their way around a British sports car. So, I phoned Aston Martin Emergency Assistance back and just wanted to confirm this was the chosen specialist. It was indeed. And I can rest assure that they have met the standards required.

I was starting to wonder what these standards are in writing!

So an hour later, a guy in a recovery van arrived. Nice guy... friendly and a wearing a well-oiled high-vis jacket as a badge of honour. Trouble is, it wasn’t his recovery truck that day. I tried to bite my lip as much as possible. But when it turned out he only had a flat head and Philips screwdriver, plus a can of white grease spray, he was stuck trying to get the slam panel off with its Torx fastenings. (He did try momentarily with both screwdrivers at which point I was about to ask him to stop... but he thankfully found it futile before damaging a Torx head).

WTF on so many levels. Personally I wouldn’t have let him near the car if he didn’t have the right tools for the job and/or didn’t seem to be accustomed to such vehicles. What on earth are AM doing sending out people ill equipped to actually help?

I’ve only used AM EA once and when they told me what their first attempt to fix would be decided to to DIY (it involved needing to go for an enthusiastic drive to rearrange luggage in the boot!).

Unless a long way from home, my default position is to avoid letting randoms work on my cars and get them back to/collected by the dealer or specialists I trust.

[nickv8]

IanV12VSRs said:

I have had to call them out three times in 12 years of Aston ownership. Good experiences all three times but, interestingly, on all three occasions just a recovery truck was provided even though on one of the occasions a technician could have sorted the problem.

Each time timings slipped marginally but kept informed so view the service as being good.

Perhaps the best way of going about this!

I imagine that from a mechanical point of view, working on a previous-gen Vantage is likely to be as straightforward as any modern hatch. But there’s the larger potential financial problem if they damage something along the way.

[nickv8]

LooneyTunes said:

WTF on so many levels. Personally I wouldn’t have let him near the car if he didn’t have the right tools for the job and/or didn’t seem to be accustomed to such vehicles. What on earth are AM doing sending out people ill equipped to actually help?

I’ve only used AM EA once and when they told me what their first attempt to fix would be decided to to DIY (it involved needing to go for an enthusiastic drive to rearrange luggage in the boot!).

Unless a long way from home, my default position is to avoid letting randoms work on my cars and get them back to/collected by the dealer or specialists I trust.

Must admit that the guy who came out with two screwdrivers did make me wonder!

After yesterday’s experience, I now think it best to just get the car recovered and taken straight to a MD or specialist.

At least this morning’s experience was the complete opposite. Call at 7:15am to let me know that the recovery lorry would be roughly 8:30am as promised last night.

Bang on time a modern large truck arrived with a great mechanic who normally deals with all sorts including AM Cheltenham. I drove it on. He carefully clamped it down with no chance of damaging any paint. Off it went in a picture of efficiency to AM Bristol.



They have somewhat redeem themselves but I’ve learnt something in case I have to use AM Emergency Assistance again...

[cayman-black]

Well, thank god they have finally collected it, a pretty bad read though! Let's hope its all back and sorted soon.

[nickv8]

cayman-black said:

Well, thank god they have finally collected it, a pretty bad read though! Let's hope its all back and sorted soon.

Thank you! It’ll be in good hands down in Bristol

[lukeharding]

With recovery for any brand they are contracted out to clubs like Allianz/AA/RAC etc, some of whom have their own vehicles and some don't, although they all sub their work to local contractors (and they all draw from the same pool of local contractors). These contractors will have different priorities for different clubs, often based on how much they pay... It is very unlikely that most recovery operators will be familiar with Aston Martins or will have been on the course that AM do run, so eventually the club ends up scrabbling for anyone to do the job, which leaves you with receiving a poor service (which undoubtably this was). I will also add that your timings can be liable to move as you were in a safe location and non critical, so jobs where someone is stranded in a live lane take priority as there is a risk to life, just for example.
Its definitely worth making your feelings known and telling the club you're unhappy about the service though, as it helps them improve (sometimes). I suppose my larger point is that the AA can be no better than Allianz in certain situations, and all the clubs have their faults.

[phumy]

lukeharding said:

With recovery for any brand they are contracted out to clubs like Allianz/AA/RAC etc, some of whom have their own vehicles and some don't, although they all sub their work to local contractors (and they all draw from the same pool of local contractors). These contractors will have different priorities for different clubs, often based on how much they pay... It is very unlikely that most recovery operators will be familiar with Aston Martins or will have been on the course that AM do run, so eventually the club ends up scrabbling for anyone to do the job, which leaves you with receiving a poor service (which undoubtably this was). I will also add that your timings can be liable to move as you were in a safe location and non critical, so jobs where someone is stranded in a live lane take priority as there is a risk to life, just for example.
Its definitely worth making your feelings known and telling the club you're unhappy about the service though, as it helps them improve (sometimes). I suppose my larger point is that the AA can be no better than Allianz in certain situations, and all the clubs have their faults.

But the OP was not with a club, it was Astons own emergency breakdown cover, i would have expected a much better service than what he actually received.

[lukeharding]

phumy said:

But the OP was not with a club, it was Astons own emergency breakdown cover, i would have expected a much better service than what he actually received.

He was with a club effectively, as AM contract their recovery to Allianz as mentioned earlier in the thread, just as all the manufacturers do (such as the AA doing Land Rover).

[GG33]

It does sound a little 'worrying' I guess it would be better if you live somewhere more heavily populated.
Anyone have any experience of European cover? (I am off to France on Friday) :-)

GG33

[MarkwG]

lukeharding said:

phumy said:

But the OP was not with a club, it was Astons own emergency breakdown cover, i would have expected a much better service than what he actually received.

He was with a club effectively, as AM contract their recovery to Allianz as mentioned earlier in the thread, just as all the manufacturers do (such as the AA doing Land Rover).

"Club" isn't the right terminology: third party agent, perhaps, or contractor maybe. A warranty is an insurance product, both Allianz & the AA are financial service companies, not clubs - you're paying for the service, & you should expect to get it, especially at £1600 a year...

[lukeharding]

MarkwG said:

"Club" isn't the right terminology: third party agent, perhaps, or contractor maybe. A warranty is an insurance product, both Allianz & the AA are financial service companies, not clubs - you're paying for the service, & you should expect to get it, especially at £1600 a year...

Apologies, club is the terminology used by the contractors for people like the AA and Allianz, so it is correct in that sense. From my understanding the AM warranty is £1600 rather than just the recovery/roadside part? If that is the case then only a fraction of that will be put towards the recovery/roadside element of it. I completely agree the service received wasn't good enough, but not entirely surprising.

[MarkwG]

lukeharding said:

Apologies, club is the terminology used by the contractors for people like the AA and Allianz, so it is correct in that sense. From my understanding the AM warranty is £1600 rather than just the recovery/roadside part? If that is the case then only a fraction of that will be put towards the recovery/roadside element of it. I completely agree the service received wasn't good enough, but not entirely surprising.

Ah, I get you - "in the club" = "pregnant" kind of thing? Problem is, though, if you pay your money across & only ever use the recovery service, then you feel as though you've paid £1600 for the recovery, however little actually goes towards that part of it.

[AMVSVNick]

Called them out once for my VSV and was told they would need to recover to local dealer. Car drove but had a warning light come up and can't for the life of me remember what for. Serious enough to make the call.

Anyhow the guy who came to recover treated the car like a new born baby, excellent experience. Padded wheel coves for example, before lashing down.

[lukeharding]

MarkwG said:

Ah, I get you - "in the club" = "pregnant" kind of thing? Problem is, though, if you pay your money across & only ever use the recovery service, then you feel as though you've paid £1600 for the recovery, however little actually goes towards that part of it.

No not quite haha. Local recovery operators (usually the ones you see) will refer to the AA/RAC/GF/Allianz as club work, as effectively they are 'clubs' with members who pay a yearly membership fee entitling them to roadside repair and/or recovery. This is separate from other contracts such as police or highways. Each operator/contractor will have a preferred list of whose work they will accept first, and depends on how they're treated and paid by the 'club'. Some contracts like police work are non refusal and operate on 30 minute ETAs. Interestingly some clubs try and take the good work for themselves and farm out the tough jobs to the local contractors/operators (which is why you also get relay jobs as operators can't afford for their drivers to be sent out of area, and so have to leave them at service stations). What also happens is that when the club realises they can't cover the job after many hours they will sub the job to a local contractor and let them deal with a frustrated customer.
If I were taking out a membership I would be heading towards a customer focused option who doesn't own any vehicles, as they sub their work immediately and ask for the best ETAs (and pay the operators better for it).
I completely sympathise with paying £1600 and only using the recovery service, but in my eyes the warranty is there for peace of mind so that you don't get a huge surprise bill from nowhere.

Hopefully that all makes sense, sorry for derailing the thread.