Rapide power seat troubles...please help

[2011DeepBlueAston]

Hey everyone, I'm a new owner (2nd day) of a 2011 Aston Martin Rapide Luxe, but I have one problem. I purchased this car from a dealership, everything on it was great, functioning fine, and all looked good. After sitting so long, the car didnt have enough battery power to start (everything else worked, however.) The dealer grabs a jump pack and properly connects it to the remote terminals under the hood, and it fires right up.

All seems to be well; however as soon as it was started, both the driver and passenger seats lose the ability to slide back. Both are able to recline up and down and move forward, but they will not slide back. I attempted the reset by pushing the passenger seat all the way forward and holding it, but that didnt reset anything and now the seat is just stuck forward. Therefore, since the whole "seat calibration/ reset" didnt work on the passenger seat, I will not be attempting it on the drivers seat because the car is already practically undriveable with how close the drivers seat is. Any further and I will not be able to get into it. Is there any other reset I can try? I see tons of info on the DB9 battery cutoff switches but almost nothing for the rapide, so if you guys have any ideas on how to possibly reset the seats/ battery/ entire car, please let me know. It's a beautiful car, and I'd love to enjoy it, however I literally have to get out (sorry, fling myself out of the car headfirst) every 5 miles because my legs fall asleep from being sandwiched with 5 inches of legroom. Thanks in advance!

EDIT: while we're on this topic, anyone know how to pop in a new bulb for the rear sidemarker? One of them is out, and I assume (from the very protruding, tacked-on-after-the-fact look of the light assembly) that you can just pop out the housing from the bumper? And it's just a regular 194 bulb? Thanks.

Edited by 2011DeepBlueAston on Sunday 15th December 09:53

[CB07]

I would be fitting a a new battery myself. Then getting a trickle charger from cc charger/ctek/optimate. The dealer should re-set everything again. If it is a main dealer then I would be tempted to have a moan!

FWIW If you leave them (all astons) for long periods without a trickle charger it’s well documented that electrical gremlins appear as there is a large resting drain on the battery from various sources.

Highly unlikely both seat motors have failed at the same time!

Good luck and pics!

[Grant3]

electric seats can occasionally get stuck in programme mode which means they will only move in one direction, try moving fully/right to the end of the available travel and holding briefly (ie in your case forward, try the passenger seat first) this should help re-set things. If not you may need the help of our dealer. As mentioned check that the battery simply had a low charge rather than being faulty, if it is going to fail you will get a world of hassle, so check condition... hope this helps

[Neil1300r]

The rear lights are an LED cluster. There are no bulbs. No you cant replace one LED

[2011DeepBlueAston]

Thanks for the responses. The battery tested OK, as it is 2 years old and charged up fine. I have put the charger on it, as well as (painfully) driven the car about 300 miles so far coming back from the dealer and driving around, and nothing seems to be malfunctioning besides that seat control. The seats worked properly just seconds before the jump start, it's definitely not the motors but I also cant imagine there's a separate fuse for just the rearward power adjustemnt, a blown fuse will typically render the whole adjustment inoperable. I tried the reset procedure on the passenger seat already to no avail.

So basically, it looks like that leaves me with 2 options-
find some way to reset the car 1 last time, and then take to the dealer if that doesnt work. Is there no battery cutoff/reset switch in the Rapide that I can try before going to the dealer?

Also, I am referring to the small rear sidemarker light on the bumper (US spec cars only), not the tail lamp. I was under the impression (from looking at it visually and looking at parts online) that it uses a small bulb, but i could be mistaken.

pics will be up as soon as i can get some decent ones, shes a beauty. Blue-on-blue W/ the Luxe package, and 30k miles.

Edited by 2011DeepBlueAston on Sunday 15th December 14:43

[2011DeepBlueAston]

[2011DeepBlueAston]

[2011DeepBlueAston]

[2011DeepBlueAston]

[CB07]

That is utterly marvellous! Congratulations.
These really are Superb motor cars.

Anyone liking the idea of a 4 seat Aston who is new to the brand having seen the DBX but can’t stretch to one, a Rapide really is worthy of consideration!

If you haven’t done so yet, I would also get the remote exhaust switch fitted so you can be a little more hooligan should you so choose!

[pdbollinger]

Can't help with the seats, but I have a Stratus White over Sahara Tan 2011 Rapide, but the standard version with some of the Luxe options. Please tell me your car came with the 6-piece luggage set that comes standard on the Lux version...or go back and slap the selling dealer around until they com up with it...

[silverspeed]

With main dealer supply you should have AM assist for 12 months so phone them re seats. The rear light cluster needs replacing if bulb out . Suggest you register the issue with the dealer and get it done under warranty . Doesn’t seem like the pre delivery inspection was very professional !

[Jon39]

2011DeepBlueAston said:

Hey everyone, I'm a new owner (2nd day) of a 2011 Aston Martin Rapide Luxe, but I have one problem. I purchased this car from a dealership,

As already mentioned, it is often commented on here, that when a battery is left for some time without a trickle charger, all manner of electrical peculiarities occur.

Why are you trying to mend everything yourself ?
On the 2nd day of ownership, I would be making the dealer deal with everything and not taking up my time to deal with their problem.
Collection by enclosed transporter.

Once fixed, I am sure you will enjoy your new car.

Edited by Jon39 on Monday 16th December 11:24

[Bincenzo]

You need to do a seat reset, which is detailed in the FAQ sticky at the top of this page. Essentially, motor the seat upwards as far as it will go, and the seat back tilt as far forward as it will go (this will result in the seat back/headrest being almost against the steering wheel, so don’t sit in the seat when you do it! This will initiate a reset and free the seats. Often required along with a window reset, again detailed in FAQs and the manual, after a loss of electrical power which resets all of the ECUs. HTH.

[2011DeepBlueAston]

Hey all, sorry I couldnt respond yesterday, the forum temporarily had new members locked out from posting. But yes, I purchased from a dealer but not a main dealer, and they've basically responded as a typical car dealer does: "you bought the car, used as is so it's not my problem." Car passed pre purchase inspection with flying colors, and I picked it up with 34k miles for $58,000 USD, and she only developed this problem after the battery ran too low to drive it home from taking delivery at the dealer.

So I've hit a bump in the road because I've read in depth on the topics of seat reset and battery problems, and that seat recalibration did not do anything. So I assumed maybe the battery was low and on it's way out. It wasnt that old, I believe it was 2016, but for good measure i just got done replacing the battery yesterday with a brand new one. (By the way, does anyone have a brand of aftermarket battery that fits? I had to go OEM ($$$) because the batteries from the local stores were listed as the right type, but the OEM battery is a bit shorter which allowed that aluminum bracket to be bolted across the top, which didnt fit with both the aftermarket batteries I tried. So if theres a brand that fits that I can use in the future, that would be great)

Now, upon changing the battery, everything was reset however the seats are still refusing to slide back. All other adjustments work. I disconnected negative and tried recalibrating again, but nothing. The fuses are fine. Just dont know how the power seats can BOTH kill ONLY the rearward slide function just because of a low battery. Sounds very strange to me. If anyone has any other ideas I'd love to hear them because now that both seats are all the way up, my 6'1 230 lb body means driving it it's practically impossible now haha. Thanks again for all the responses, they are definitely helpful in general but now I'm pretty stumped.

Edited by 2011DeepBlueAston on Tuesday 17th December 16:37

[Jon39]

Sorry that you are having difficulties so soon after purchase. Most disappointing for you.
I understand now, after you explained regarding not a main dealer involved.

The gentleman who was the last poster replying to you yesterday, I think you will find has let's say, 'good connections in the right place'.
Suggest follow his guidance and report back.

Good luck.

[EVR]

Can't really help with the seats but:

1. Car is gorgeous, lovely colour combo,

2. I live in Europe, hence I don't have the side markers but I believe they are using simple bulbs Here is a guide to take them out on a Vantage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXnVI3_sh2s

[2011DeepBlueAston]

Thank you and yes the advice was great, I followed everything that gentleman said to do including the seat recalibration however nothing has worked on getting the seat to slide back. I assume a trip to a specialist/ dealership may be in order??

[EVR]

2011DeepBlueAston said:

Thank you and yes the advice was great, I followed everything that gentleman said to do including the seat recalibration however nothing has worked on getting the seat to slide back. I assume a trip to a specialist/ dealership may be in order??

There is another gentleman who has really nice video tutorials and is immensely knowledgeable like Red Pants, Mike from Bamford Rose, take a look:

https://www.youtube.com/user/BamfordRose/videos

He might be covering some more techie/performance things but you might try to shoot him an email.

[Neil1300r]

Jon39 said:

The gentleman who was the last poster replying to you yesterday, I think you will find has let's say, 'good connections in the right place'.
Suggest follow his guidance and report back.

Good luck.

Not these days