Is this 2015 V8 Vantage a Lemon? (Service Records Available)

[MaybeAnAustin]

Hey Everyone, I've found an Aston I like and put down a deposit while the financing is worked out. I've just recovered the service records--and they have me worried. Do these records suggest this car is a lemon?

Service Records: https://imgur.com/a/pwsgmPT

(History starts at the bottom, most recent is at the top.)

Edited by MaybeAnAustin on Monday 28th March 16:30

[BiggaJ]

Looks like all the faults are with the auto transmission. This is a fault that has seemed incurable from day one.

After a few attempts surely the right thing to do is replace the transmission while the car is still under warranty but no mention has been made of that.

Would I buy this car with any confidence? Probably not.

Edited by BiggaJ on Tuesday 29th March 10:27

[ds666]

Looks like transmission issues in the early days but all good in recent years .

[Finding Neutral]

I think the aforementioned is pretty spot on.

[mrpseudonym]

I’d steer clear too. Nothing worse than having something like this taint your ownership experience. And when (if) you eventually sell it the next owner will be having the same thoughts you are now

[Finding Neutral]

There’s two ways of looking at it in my eyes.

One: it’s had a few issues.

Two: those issues are fixed and you could get those issues with any car.


In many instances you wouldn’t know this info so would be buying blind. If it has been fixed properly, it’s one less thing to worry about.

Car market is a funny old thing. We often want low mileage hardly used cars that often give us grief when we use them instead of cars that have been used and maintained (which will show more often than not part replacement and issues). If the cars been used it will have weeded out the issues is another argument.

Has the car got a warranty? Is it a good one? Is it timeless ? Can you get proof of what items have been replaced to remedy the issues and the steps taken?

[macdeb]

BiggaJ said:

Looks like all the faults are with the auto transmission.

Edited by BiggaJ on Tuesday 29th March 10:27

Ahem, for clarity a V8 Vantage didn't some with an 'auto-transmission' It's SS (sport-shirt) an automated manual, same gearbox and clutch, no torque converter. Just saying.

[JonnyCJ]

ds666 said:

Looks like transmission issues in the early days but all good in recent years .

That was my reading of the situation

[MaybeAnAustin]

Thank you everyone! It’s really reassuring knowing there is a community willing to share their advice. Especially because I plan to service the car on my own and will turn to you guys again. I’ve weighed my options and decided to go for it. I added a comprehensive 2 year CPO warranty from the dealer ($6k and financed with car) for peace of mind. Watch out for a post soon.

In the mean time, can you recommend any resources I should know about as a new Aston owner?
I’m also based in Hamilton, Ontario area. If anyone lives around here, DM me.

[BiggaJ]

macdeb said:

BiggaJ said:

Looks like all the faults are with the auto transmission.

Edited by BiggaJ on Tuesday 29th March 10:27

Ahem, for clarity a V8 Vantage didn't some with an 'auto-transmission' It's SS (sport-shirt) an automated manual, same gearbox and clutch, no torque converter. Just saying.

Thank you for stating the obvious on an Aston forum ....

Edited by BiggaJ on Tuesday 29th March 12:26

Edited by BiggaJ on Tuesday 29th March 14:09

[Jon39]

Interesting to even see the dealer service records.
Are they openly available in Canada?

I managed to get that information for my car, but many on here have been refused. When dealers cannot be bothered (probably different when someone is waving £50,000 / £100,000 at them) they just say data protection laws prohibit them from releasing the information. They like to pretend cars are human and therefore subject to the latest data law.

As mentioned above, the earlier Sportshift problems seem to have been resolved, so that looks reassuring.
My car is manual, but I understand that considerable experience is required to properly resolve Sportshift technical issues. Perhaps that explains why it was worked on repeatedly.

Enjoy your new car.
Is Mr. Ackerman at your dealership? If I were buying an Aston Martin from him, I would first have to check that my tie was straight, shoes shiny and cuff links correctly in line. Please tell him, that his YouTube videos are very good.

[MaybeAnAustin]

Jon39 said:

Interesting to even see the dealer service records.
Are they openly available in Canada?

I managed to get that information for my car, but many on here have been refused. When dealers cannot be bothered (probably different when someone is waving £50,000 / £100,000 at them) they just say data protection laws prohibit them from releasing the information. They like to pretend cars are human and therefore subject to the latest data law.

As mentioned above, the earlier Sportshift problems seem to have been resolved, so that looks reassuring.
My car is manual, but I understand that considerable experience is required to properly resolve Sportshift technical issues. Perhaps that explains why it was worked on repeatedly.

Enjoy your new car.
Is Mr. Ackerman at your dealership? If I were buying an Aston Martin from him, I would first have to check that my tie was straight, shoes shiny and cuff links correctly in line. Please tell him, that his YouTube videos are very good.

Normally, the service records aren't openly available in Canada. In my case, the selling dealer wasn't the importer, which was the servicing dealer. To get the records I called the original dealer and told them I had a downpayment on a car that was serviced by them and that I would, if possible, love to see a driver anonymized service record. They emailed me the service record the same day. So, I got the records from a dealer that is making nothing from the transaction. (Although it's possible they service the car again now that I got the CPO.) In fact, I asked to speak to the servicing technician about "good to know things" that aren't in the record. He said he would call me later today. (As an aside, I don't think this has anything to do with Canadian friendliness. I just got lucky with a nice person on the other line.)

Thank you for the kind words and LOL at Mr. Ackerman. Unfortunately he's not at my dealership.

[macdeb]

BiggaJ said:

macdeb said:

BiggaJ said:

Looks like all the faults are with the auto transmission.

Edited by BiggaJ on Tuesday 29th March 10:27

Ahem, for clarity a V8 Vantage didn't some with an 'auto-transmission' It's SS (sport-shirt) an automated manual, same gearbox and clutch, no torque converter. Just saying.

Thank you for stating the obvious on an Aston forum ....

Edited by BiggaJ on Tuesday 29th March 12:26

Edited by BiggaJ on Tuesday 29th March 14:09

But it appears NOT to be the obvious on an Aston forum does it? Otherwise you'd have got it right.

[ReformedPistonhead]

I understand the nerves but it had a $1,500 new control module according to that print out and that could happen to any car.

Finger's crossed that fixed it, which it most likely did.