AM Warranty - worthwhile?
Discussion
2017 Vantage S, 15k miles, 1 year from purchase now so warranty renewal coming up. Weekend and high-days use, not garage queen. Winter use likely until sale goes down at least..... cost for warranty is £1800 p.a., slightly less if taken out for 2 years at once.
I know the self-insure versus warranty arguments, but am looking for general views on reliability of these cars, typical costs people might have faced p.a. that would have been warrantied, and in particular whether the warranty is a decent one or whether it's long but doesn't cover the key parts.....
I know the self-insure versus warranty arguments, but am looking for general views on reliability of these cars, typical costs people might have faced p.a. that would have been warrantied, and in particular whether the warranty is a decent one or whether it's long but doesn't cover the key parts.....
I've not heard that its a bad warranty per se, but like any extended warranty it doesn't cover everything that the new 3yr warranty does.
The cars are on the whole quite reliable, and the warranty is above average cost, but then in the unlikely instance that something really nasty goes wrong then costs can be high. However if you put the £1800 a year into a piggybank, it wont be long before you have a sizable chunk stashed away to pay for even a larger than expected bill.
That said, as you have already identified it is down to personal risk attitude and affordability of the cost if the worse was to happen.
At the end of the day a warranty is just an insurance policy, and we all know that insurance companies make healthy profits most years, so read into that what you will....
The cars are on the whole quite reliable, and the warranty is above average cost, but then in the unlikely instance that something really nasty goes wrong then costs can be high. However if you put the £1800 a year into a piggybank, it wont be long before you have a sizable chunk stashed away to pay for even a larger than expected bill.
That said, as you have already identified it is down to personal risk attitude and affordability of the cost if the worse was to happen.
At the end of the day a warranty is just an insurance policy, and we all know that insurance companies make healthy profits most years, so read into that what you will....
I did 83K miles over 9 years in my first 2006 Vantage without a warranty and saved many thousands in warranty costs vs unscheduled repairs. Most of the things that "went wrong" were just wear items that wouldn't be covered anyway. A couple of items that would have been covered like ABS transducer and a door module were cheap to fix DIY.
I have now done 63k miles in a 2012 Roadster I have had since 2015, which came with warranty for 12 months when I purchased from main dealer. I have had a couple of paint finish related issues like door mirror arms not covered by extended warranty (would have been covered by factory warranty) thankfully it was just £150 to respray the mirror arms. The another corrosion issue on the side strakes, pitting chrome finish on a 4 year old car. Not covered by the extended warranty. Paid to have new side strakes fitted. Wheel finish issues, again not covered by extended warranty, I will get them refurbed next service.
So my experience of the extended warranty has been no use at all so I've never paid for it to be renewed. All the larger bills have been wear items; discs, clutches, wheel bearings.
I have now done 63k miles in a 2012 Roadster I have had since 2015, which came with warranty for 12 months when I purchased from main dealer. I have had a couple of paint finish related issues like door mirror arms not covered by extended warranty (would have been covered by factory warranty) thankfully it was just £150 to respray the mirror arms. The another corrosion issue on the side strakes, pitting chrome finish on a 4 year old car. Not covered by the extended warranty. Paid to have new side strakes fitted. Wheel finish issues, again not covered by extended warranty, I will get them refurbed next service.
So my experience of the extended warranty has been no use at all so I've never paid for it to be renewed. All the larger bills have been wear items; discs, clutches, wheel bearings.
I claimed on mine for my old 4.3, it transferred from the previous owner thankfully as it covered a couple of new injectors and associated works. It wasn't too painful to claim but although AM branded it is an aftermarket warranty/insurance product, so you get the whole 'if we tear it down and it isn't warranty you'll be paying for it' which wouldn't be much fun if the engine lunched itself.
I guess it depends on your risk appetite, thankfully there's a lot of 4.7's out there and parts are available including quality patent parts to keep repair costs down. If I still have my new Vantage when the factory warranty expires I'll definitely be extending it as I assume the Mercedes engine will be £20-30k, the gearbox probably 5 figures etc so a mechanical failure could end up being telephone numbers to repair. At least it isn't a Ferrari where I heard the going rate for a gearbox can be £30-40k!
I guess it depends on your risk appetite, thankfully there's a lot of 4.7's out there and parts are available including quality patent parts to keep repair costs down. If I still have my new Vantage when the factory warranty expires I'll definitely be extending it as I assume the Mercedes engine will be £20-30k, the gearbox probably 5 figures etc so a mechanical failure could end up being telephone numbers to repair. At least it isn't a Ferrari where I heard the going rate for a gearbox can be £30-40k!
Jon39 said:
Have you seen the recent BR video, where there was mention of the Timeless warrany company refusing a claim? Think it related to a broken cat on a V12. MB wondered whether they would have also refused any consequent engine ingestion damage.
dbs2000 said:
I'd take it to an indy for a thorough going over, get the warranty stuff done and then forget about it.
AM Nottingham have offered a free healthcare check to see if any warranty work needs doing before it expires - as they are paid by warranty co I assume this will be as thorough as an indy inspection?xcentric said:
dbs2000 said:
I'd take it to an indy for a thorough going over, get the warranty stuff done and then forget about it.
AM Nottingham have offered a free healthcare check to see if any warranty work needs doing before it expires - as they are paid by warranty co I assume this will be as thorough as an indy inspection?However, the guys at AM Notts are brilliant and if they'll do that then it sounds like a good option.
xcentric said:
AM Nottingham have offered a free healthcare check to see if any warranty work needs doing before it expires - as they are paid by warranty co I assume this will be as thorough as an indy inspection?
All depends on the experience of the technician.
There is one point which you have missed though. They are paid by the warranty company, but not very well, so a routine oil change is much better for their finances. Doing a check for no charge though is worth taking up, but will it be just be their Timeless 140 point ticking boxes.
phumy said:
Jon39 said:
Have you seen the recent BR video, where there was mention of the Timeless warrany company refusing a claim? Think it related to a broken cat on a V12. MB wondered whether they would have also refused any consequent engine ingestion damage.
king tiresome but totally predictable. AMVSVNick said:
phumy said:
Jon39 said:
Have you seen the recent BR video, where there was mention of the Timeless warrany company refusing a claim? Think it related to a broken cat on a V12. MB wondered whether they would have also refused any consequent engine ingestion damage.
king tiresome but totally predictable. M1AGM said:
On the cat thing. Maybe someone with greater AM knowledge than me can confirm, but my understanding is that the ceramic honeycomb structure of the primary cats do degrade over time and hot cold cycles (I presume this is just what happens to anything subjected to repeated hot and cold cycles that is brittle?). When were the ceramic cats introduced on the v12 engine? At a point in time or number of heat cycles wouldn’t this concern become a real issue (I dont know when that would be, asking the question)?
Of course all cats will degrade over time, in any make of car but BR does bang on about it to the Nth degree in the V12 and pushes, in the video`s, to get them removed with a ECU upgrade too, its boring now FFS (Yawn). Its all about worrying the V12 owner and trying to drum up more business, you can see it a mile off.From my personal experience
I bought my V12V and had 2 year timeless
In year one they paid out over 12k on small items such as a flickering button on the radio controls - That was expensive as it was a new dash bit!
They also covered a misfire and replaced all 12 coils and not just the one that was failing.
Year 2, there where no claims
I didn't renew for the 3rd year either as it was getting really expensive as the car was over 10 years old
I bought my V12V and had 2 year timeless
In year one they paid out over 12k on small items such as a flickering button on the radio controls - That was expensive as it was a new dash bit!
They also covered a misfire and replaced all 12 coils and not just the one that was failing.
Year 2, there where no claims
I didn't renew for the 3rd year either as it was getting really expensive as the car was over 10 years old
xcentric said:
2017 Vantage S, 15k miles, 1 year from purchase now so warranty renewal coming up. Weekend and high-days use, not garage queen. Winter use likely until sale goes down at least..... cost for warranty is £1800 p.a., slightly less if taken out for 2 years at once.
I know the self-insure versus warranty arguments, but am looking for general views on reliability of these cars, typical costs people might have faced p.a. that would have been warrantied, and in particular whether the warranty is a decent one or whether it's long but doesn't cover the key parts.....
I was in the same position as you with my 2015 V8V with 7,000 miles. I decided to renew for two years. So far the warranty has fixed the timing cover seal and has paid for a complete handbrake rebuild after an MOT fail. They are currently assessing a claim for a replacement joystick, which isn't cheap.I know the self-insure versus warranty arguments, but am looking for general views on reliability of these cars, typical costs people might have faced p.a. that would have been warrantied, and in particular whether the warranty is a decent one or whether it's long but doesn't cover the key parts.....
I think I'm ahead on the cost and certainly will be if the joystick replacement goes ahead. I've got about another year before I have to consider whether to go again or self-insure.
phumy said:
Of course all cats will degrade over time, in any make of car but BR does bang on about it to the Nth degree in the V12 and pushes, in the video`s, to get them removed with a ECU upgrade too, its boring now FFS (Yawn).
Its all about worrying the V12 owner and trying to drum up more business, you can see it a mile off.
Its all about worrying the V12 owner and trying to drum up more business, you can see it a mile off.
How busy was BR the last time you visited their premises ?
A recent topic here seemed to suggest, they did not need any additional business.
I have no involvement with them, but I do watch their videos. I cannot remember any specific mention of cats degrading over time, but there are references to the possibility of unburnt petrol vapour reaching the very hot cats (think only on two pairs of cylinders), if there are engine misfires (due to faulty coil packs or spark plugs). I am not an engineer, but I know the V12 configuration produces one of the smoothest engines, so that might be why the videos have mentioned, that on a steady speed motorway journey, misfires may not even be noticed by the driver.
Edited by Jon39 on Tuesday 9th November 18:26
Jon39 said:
How busy was BR the last time you visited their premises ?
A recent topic here seemed to suggest, they did not need any additional business.
As far as I recall that thread was started by someone who couldn't get a call back and his car had been there for months.
Yet the proprietor has all the time in the world to make YT videos stating the opposition.
Lots of questions (apologies to OP as I release they are asking about a V8).
If a V12 engine, under Timeless warranty, ingested cat material, would the repair costs be covered? Has anyone on here got first hand experience of this?
How many confirmed cases of this issue have there been over the past decade?
Can a catalytic converter be considered as a consumable? And if so, and if it risks engine damage, wouldn’t it be a critical service check?
If a V12 engine, under Timeless warranty, ingested cat material, would the repair costs be covered? Has anyone on here got first hand experience of this?
How many confirmed cases of this issue have there been over the past decade?
Can a catalytic converter be considered as a consumable? And if so, and if it risks engine damage, wouldn’t it be a critical service check?
Gassing Station | Aston Martin | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff