advice on warranties
Discussion
The usual conclusion Neil, each time this subject arises on the AM forum, is that you have to be quite mechanically unlucky to be a winner with an extended warranty. Mentally put the premiums aside, to be ready in case problems occur.
My own experience, was to have the 1 year dealer warranty following purchase, then as nothing went wrong, did not renew.
During the following 9 years, one clutch and one door damper. Clutch obviously not covered by warranty anyway, so with hindsight all the premiums would have been wasted.
Edited by Dewi 2 on Tuesday 9th February 20:29
I got quotes for warranties because the DB9 I was interested in was over 10 years old so the dealer couldn't offer much. I am generally an anti-warranty person for the reason above, but then I thought I've never had a 6.0 V12 before and things could get expensive. An AM dealer warranty was about £2,400 and I found a third-party one - AWS? - for about half. I can't say how good either is, though I'm sure they'd both take very opportunity to wriggle out if called upon. The AM dealer said a broken headlight would cover the warranty cost... The jury's out!
Ive never extended after the factory warranty ran out. First Vantage owned from 2007 to 2015 and 83k miles, current Vantage from 2015 and now at 63k miles.
I had a really great experience on the first Vantage with just a few sensors and a door module being the only non consumable failures.
The current Roadster has not been so lucky, as it needed a new tail light and headlight last year due to water which was a surprise £1700 bill at MOT time.
Otherwise ive had 10 years ownership out of warranty, and saved the £1500-2000 a year warranty cost ....(fingers crossed!)
I had a really great experience on the first Vantage with just a few sensors and a door module being the only non consumable failures.
The current Roadster has not been so lucky, as it needed a new tail light and headlight last year due to water which was a surprise £1700 bill at MOT time.
Otherwise ive had 10 years ownership out of warranty, and saved the £1500-2000 a year warranty cost ....(fingers crossed!)
I've had my MY2009 V8V manual Coupe from new. During the 3 year factory warranty, the only thing that failed was the radio's AM band. So, I didn't extend the warranty, which would've cost about $6000 for 2 years -- it seemed highly unlikely I'd have $6k worth of problems. During the 2 years that the extended warranty would have covered, my total cost outside of the routine annual servicing was $0.00. Not a penny. Since then, it's probably cost me about $300 in non-routine maintenance. Total. Wonderful car.
Edited by Speedraser on Wednesday 10th February 05:35
I had the Timeless on mine, well worth it for the first year - the clutch was replaced under warranty (in fairness it didn't feel right on the way home) but also a bubble appeared on the paint, couple of worn suspension components were covered. I was surprised these latter ones were covered but pleased they were.
Mulled about extending but reconciled the big things had been done so didn't, and 2.5 years later nothing that I would or could have claimed for has gone wrong. So they all flushed out in the first year, fingers crossed.
The first year yes but after that, as above, I'd save the premium.
Mulled about extending but reconciled the big things had been done so didn't, and 2.5 years later nothing that I would or could have claimed for has gone wrong. So they all flushed out in the first year, fingers crossed.
The first year yes but after that, as above, I'd save the premium.
Call me cynical but I think these cars not infrequently come out of the dealer network hiding a number of unresolved issues. This was certainly the case with my two purchases from main dealers. It obviously makes sense for them not to sort things out before marketing a used car because it would cost them to do the work before the sale whereas they make money out of it sorting the problems under warranty after the sale.
So my advice to any would be used buyer would be this.
If buying from a main dealer (so with manufacturers or Timeless warranty) get a thorough inspection by an Indie after purchase and get the issues sorted under warranty. Thereafter, continue without warranty.
If buying privately or from a non-franchised dealer get the inspection before purchase and get the issues sorted as part of the deal and then run without warranty. If any vendor refuses an independent warranty then walk away.
So my advice to any would be used buyer would be this.
If buying from a main dealer (so with manufacturers or Timeless warranty) get a thorough inspection by an Indie after purchase and get the issues sorted under warranty. Thereafter, continue without warranty.
If buying privately or from a non-franchised dealer get the inspection before purchase and get the issues sorted as part of the deal and then run without warranty. If any vendor refuses an independent warranty then walk away.
V8V Pete said:
If buying from a main dealer (so with manufacturers or Timeless warranty) get a thorough inspection by an Indie after purchase and get the issues sorted under warranty. Thereafter, continue without warranty.
Pete, I'm with you on everything else, but surely it would be safer to get the inspection before purchase in the event something is raised that is not covered by warranty or is simply best fixed before you drive off the forecourt?As someone who worked as an insurance underwriter until retirement, I’d say self-insure; but make sure you do self-insure, i.e. every year put the amount you’d spend on a warranty into a savings account or something similar. Don’t just spend the money. If you get lucky, after about 10 years you’ll have a nice pot of cash, and if you don’t, you can have whatever needs fixing fixed by the people that you want to do the fixing using OEM parts......
Would agree with V8V Pete comments.
My car had the 100+ point check performed by the AM dealer before purchase, but an indie inspection found both front dampers and front timing cover leaking all sorted under the Timeless warranty but not picked up by the dealer at the time as it would have cost money to fix.
If the car is 3 + years old check the MOT status on the DVLA site for any advisories.
Also remember within the UK you can return goods up to 30 days after purchase for full refund this includes Astons, and up to 6 months but will be include fair wear and tear clause so you will not get all of your money back.
Peace of mind get an independent inspection if you do purchase.
My car had the 100+ point check performed by the AM dealer before purchase, but an indie inspection found both front dampers and front timing cover leaking all sorted under the Timeless warranty but not picked up by the dealer at the time as it would have cost money to fix.
If the car is 3 + years old check the MOT status on the DVLA site for any advisories.
Also remember within the UK you can return goods up to 30 days after purchase for full refund this includes Astons, and up to 6 months but will be include fair wear and tear clause so you will not get all of your money back.
Peace of mind get an independent inspection if you do purchase.
bullet7 said:
V8V Pete said:
If buying from a main dealer (so with manufacturers or Timeless warranty) get a thorough inspection by an Indie after purchase and get the issues sorted under warranty. Thereafter, continue without warranty.
Pete, I'm with you on everything else, but surely it would be safer to get the inspection before purchase in the event something is raised that is not covered by warranty or is simply best fixed before you drive off the forecourt?The 'Timeless' warranty is very comprehensive and AML (Gaydon) customer service is fantastic. Unfortunately, some main dealers (notebly one in Belfast NI) 
use it as a tyre kicking exercise in order to have consequent faults repaired by the warranty. Car delivered with big ends knocking? Rear brake calliper loose? (one bolt in by couple threads) 100 odd point check my arse. For me the inspections should be carried out by another garage other than the one selling and randomly at that to prevent deals being done.
use it as a tyre kicking exercise in order to have consequent faults repaired by the warranty. Car delivered with big ends knocking? Rear brake calliper loose? (one bolt in by couple threads) 100 odd point check my arse. For me the inspections should be carried out by another garage other than the one selling and randomly at that to prevent deals being done. I've contributed to threads on this topic before. I chose to extend my warranty after the first one year that came with the Timeless purchase and, so far, it's paid for the infamous front timing cover oil leak to be fixed and for a complete rebuild of the handbrake system after an MOT failure. Mike over at Bamford Rose has a good video on the topic and he reckons banking the money would be a better deal - I guess I just like the piece of mind.
Be aware though that, no matter how Aston Martin market it, it is essentially an insurance policy and not an extension of the factory warranty, as things like trim and door seals aren't covered - read the policy document before you pay. For example, shortly after I bought the car I noticed a small area of the leather on the airbag cover was coming unglued and I was a little surprised to find that the warranty wouldn't cover getting it fixed. Sadly the previous owner either didn't notice or couldn't be bothered to get it fixed under warranty, so I'm going to have to pay a trimmer at some time in the near future.
Be aware though that, no matter how Aston Martin market it, it is essentially an insurance policy and not an extension of the factory warranty, as things like trim and door seals aren't covered - read the policy document before you pay. For example, shortly after I bought the car I noticed a small area of the leather on the airbag cover was coming unglued and I was a little surprised to find that the warranty wouldn't cover getting it fixed. Sadly the previous owner either didn't notice or couldn't be bothered to get it fixed under warranty, so I'm going to have to pay a trimmer at some time in the near future.
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