V8 Vantage - what's it really like?
Discussion
I have had two and whilst they were great cars, they were forever in the dealers for rear lights, failed clutch, door handle issues, stereo issues etc. Both cars were under three years old and still under warranty thank god. But the delays getting it repaired once in the dealerships were horrendous. Once I was left without it for almost a month. Frankly my old Lambo costs way less to run than a modern Aston. That said, when you open the door and take a seat and sense the lovely Aston smell its great, but as a daily, no chance.
martyspain said:
Darn. I've been totally committed to buying a V8V once my R8 has sold and have read through this thread at least twice, but the turn that things have taken (and Harry Flashman's experiences) are starting to make me reconsider!
Buy mine - seriously - that car will be one of the very best out there once the dealer does the cosmetics. That should be worry-free motoring.It's being picked up on Thursday, so you will need to deal with the dealer. The price will reflect the work done on it though. This will not be a £30k "bargain" Vantage. Trust me, there is no such thing.
davek_964 said:
I think it's clear from the thread that overall, I've loved owning the Aston. However - at the moment, I must admit I'm still not feeling that positive about it.
The reality is that the recent / pending bills means it's comparing very badly to the running costs of a Ferrari and I really don't think that should be the case.
I've owned my 360 almost 5 years. In that time, I had one very large service bill (~£5k) but even that was because I wanted everything done and much of that cost was not actually mechanical failure (e.g. oil filler paint had cracked and needed repainting, undertray was cracked so I wanted a new one, membrane in the luggage area needed replacing etc.) - it all added up.
But apart from that, it's been very reliable and relatively cheap to run.
Whether I keep it or sell it, I will need to get the door locks fixed - and the seat heating too. But at the moment, I think I'm edging towards selling it and reducing my car costs.
This is me. Loved owning/driving it. Hated running it - just far too many small but exoensive things went wrong, and the perceived quality of AM ios not there. You hear similar things when people speak about JLR. Lovely looking products but, with 10% of the development budget of the Germans, reliability on small stuff is comparatively poor. As the cars get older, cheaper and out of warranty, such costs remain the same - meaning that you spend a relatively high proportion of the value of the car in sorting it out. Any performance car is the same - but with the early AMV8 it seems that reliability is low, and cost remains high as good, decent specialists are rare and parts prices are ludicrous.The reality is that the recent / pending bills means it's comparing very badly to the running costs of a Ferrari and I really don't think that should be the case.
I've owned my 360 almost 5 years. In that time, I had one very large service bill (~£5k) but even that was because I wanted everything done and much of that cost was not actually mechanical failure (e.g. oil filler paint had cracked and needed repainting, undertray was cracked so I wanted a new one, membrane in the luggage area needed replacing etc.) - it all added up.
But apart from that, it's been very reliable and relatively cheap to run.
Whether I keep it or sell it, I will need to get the door locks fixed - and the seat heating too. But at the moment, I think I'm edging towards selling it and reducing my car costs.
As someone else said - buy the warranty. I'd rather by an R8 though, personally. The early V10, with running, insurance and servicing costs below the V8V (!!), is a conspicuous bargain at the moment.
Harry Flashman said:
davek_964 said:
I think it's clear from the thread that overall, I've loved owning the Aston. However - at the moment, I must admit I'm still not feeling that positive about it.
The reality is that the recent / pending bills means it's comparing very badly to the running costs of a Ferrari and I really don't think that should be the case.
I've owned my 360 almost 5 years. In that time, I had one very large service bill (~£5k) but even that was because I wanted everything done and much of that cost was not actually mechanical failure (e.g. oil filler paint had cracked and needed repainting, undertray was cracked so I wanted a new one, membrane in the luggage area needed replacing etc.) - it all added up.
But apart from that, it's been very reliable and relatively cheap to run.
Whether I keep it or sell it, I will need to get the door locks fixed - and the seat heating too. But at the moment, I think I'm edging towards selling it and reducing my car costs.
This is me. Loved owning/driving it. Hated running it - just far too many small but exoensive things went wrong, and the perceived quality of AM ios not there. You hear similar things when people speak about JLR. Lovely looking products but, with 10% of the development budget of the Germans, reliability on small stuff is comparatively poor. As the cars get older, cheaper and out of warranty, such costs remain the same - meaning that you spend a relatively high proportion of the value of the car in sorting it out. Any performance car is the same - but with the early AMV8 it seems that reliability is low, and cost remains high as good, decent specialists are rare and parts prices are ludicrous.The reality is that the recent / pending bills means it's comparing very badly to the running costs of a Ferrari and I really don't think that should be the case.
I've owned my 360 almost 5 years. In that time, I had one very large service bill (~£5k) but even that was because I wanted everything done and much of that cost was not actually mechanical failure (e.g. oil filler paint had cracked and needed repainting, undertray was cracked so I wanted a new one, membrane in the luggage area needed replacing etc.) - it all added up.
But apart from that, it's been very reliable and relatively cheap to run.
Whether I keep it or sell it, I will need to get the door locks fixed - and the seat heating too. But at the moment, I think I'm edging towards selling it and reducing my car costs.
As someone else said - buy the warranty. I'd rather by an R8 though, personally. The early V10, with running, insurance and servicing costs below the V8V (!!), is a conspicuous bargain at the moment.
The thing is, I'm aware that sometimes you get unlucky with cars and several expensive things break at the same time. It doesn't necessarily mean it's an expensive car to run generally, or that it's unreliable - it's just a bit of bad luck. Although in this instance, the rear lights and the door locks aren't exactly unusual failures and hence aren't entirely bad luck......
While I can live with unexpected expenses, it really is the Ferrari that is making the Aston look bad. First world problem, but when you wish your Ferrari was the unreliable car because it would be cheaper to fix, that's not a good sign!
I think this is my problem with the V8V - that every one of the issues I have had is "typical". And when "typical" costs so much, and the manufacturer refuse to support these cars with decent second hand parts prices (why should they - they are a business - but it still sticks that a V8V coil spring is £600 and a Ferrari 360 spring £100), it switches you off a brand.
I will not buy one again. I'd buy a Morgan again because the dealer knew it was badly built, and tried to accommodate/repair/fix where they could. They didn't just say "you need a new one at eleven billion pounds, thanks" and get the credit card machine out (and the specialists are no better).
Porsche had their issue with their engines, but the big secret here is that they did not all blow up. Every 4.3 V8 Aston will have the same issues because the lifetime on their wear electronic parts is useless.
I have a friend with a 10 year old R8 V8. I frequently drove it and the Aston back to back and the quality that shines through the Audi is evident, when back to back. That is the difference between a volume manufacturer with a proper budget, and a Brit manufacturer relying on their badge to sell products.
I hope that the recent ones are better.
My V8V was one of my favourite cars in terms of the way it made you feel, and my most disillusioning experience of a prestige brand - all at once.
I will not buy one again. I'd buy a Morgan again because the dealer knew it was badly built, and tried to accommodate/repair/fix where they could. They didn't just say "you need a new one at eleven billion pounds, thanks" and get the credit card machine out (and the specialists are no better).
Porsche had their issue with their engines, but the big secret here is that they did not all blow up. Every 4.3 V8 Aston will have the same issues because the lifetime on their wear electronic parts is useless.
I have a friend with a 10 year old R8 V8. I frequently drove it and the Aston back to back and the quality that shines through the Audi is evident, when back to back. That is the difference between a volume manufacturer with a proper budget, and a Brit manufacturer relying on their badge to sell products.
I hope that the recent ones are better.
My V8V was one of my favourite cars in terms of the way it made you feel, and my most disillusioning experience of a prestige brand - all at once.
More balance... both of my V8V's have been far more reliable than my friends' Audis. Two of my friends nearly sued Audi NA over their cars because they were such catastrophic messes. One's S7 was taken back by Audi for full refund and he left Audi entirely. Other friend's R8 is still problematic and he's trying to get them to buy it back. I'd never touch an Audi based on their experiences, let alone all the "small" issues I've seen with a bunch of other friends' Audis.
telum01 said:
More balance... both of my V8V's have been far more reliable than my friends' Audis. Two of my friends nearly sued Audi NA over their cars because they were such catastrophic messes. One's S7 was taken back by Audi for full refund and he left Audi entirely. Other friend's R8 is still problematic and he's trying to get them to buy it back. I'd never touch an Audi based on their experiences, let alone all the "small" issues I've seen with a bunch of other friends' Audis.
If they were that reliable, we wouldn't have all of your helpful videos showing us how to fix things 
Maybe I'm going through an unlucky phase and once the door locks and seat heating is fixed it will all be perfect......
Obviously we hear more about "problems" with cars than when they run well - and on a forum those problems are very focused because many of us use the forum to self diagnose & help other members with solutions
I have owned 7 audis (only one of them bought new) ranging fromA4 1;.8L turbo quattros to a B5 (2001) RS4 & a B7 (2007) RS4 and the worst that ever happened was a clutch replacement (in I suspect something like 290,000km over 15 years in all the cars) - so no issue with my audis & would happily buy another tomorrow.
My 07 V8V purchased with 30,000km , now 2 years later, having driven a further 35,000km, minor warranty items in first year, normal service costs & brakes are the only things that have been required. I change the oil myself mid year & get AM to do the annual service, I did the rotors & pads & its bulletproof
My next car will be an Aston (not sure if I'll sell the current one or keep it as a daily), but while i sympathise with those of you that have bad experiences with your AM I think they are great cars
Graeme
I have owned 7 audis (only one of them bought new) ranging fromA4 1;.8L turbo quattros to a B5 (2001) RS4 & a B7 (2007) RS4 and the worst that ever happened was a clutch replacement (in I suspect something like 290,000km over 15 years in all the cars) - so no issue with my audis & would happily buy another tomorrow.
My 07 V8V purchased with 30,000km , now 2 years later, having driven a further 35,000km, minor warranty items in first year, normal service costs & brakes are the only things that have been required. I change the oil myself mid year & get AM to do the annual service, I did the rotors & pads & its bulletproof
My next car will be an Aston (not sure if I'll sell the current one or keep it as a daily), but while i sympathise with those of you that have bad experiences with your AM I think they are great cars
Graeme
I put over 80k miles on my first Vantage over 10 years. It was "reliable" as in never broke down. It did have a few wear items like the clutch that went at 73k miles. Non routine components that failed over 10 years ; thermostat, coolant sensor, ABS transducer, aircon compressor, 3 x wheel bearings. Nothing horrific or more than say £500 to fix.
To be fair, it was no worse than Audis or Volvos that ive owned. My partner and I drive 20-25k miles a year each for the last 20 years so we experience quite a few cars over the years, we buy them a few years old (lose the first 50% depreciation) and always try to put and additional 100k miles on them before we trade in. I can remember 3 Volvos that did 150k miles with just a few minor issues (other than consumables) 1 Volvo was bad though with lots of faults over 18 months before we sold it on. The same for Audis. Had one particularly bad one that cost 2x as much as the Vantage over 80k miles before I sold it. Had another 2 Audis that were "average" with just a few faults.
Its not just Astons Martins you can have issues with - its pretty much anything. Sure if you buy a mainstream Honda or Toyota then perhaps you may own it for 30k miles without an issue and proclaim its the most reliable car in the world, but no doubt someone, somewhere is having bad luck with one and on the internet telling their tale of woe about it before they move onto another brand and try their luck with that
To be fair, it was no worse than Audis or Volvos that ive owned. My partner and I drive 20-25k miles a year each for the last 20 years so we experience quite a few cars over the years, we buy them a few years old (lose the first 50% depreciation) and always try to put and additional 100k miles on them before we trade in. I can remember 3 Volvos that did 150k miles with just a few minor issues (other than consumables) 1 Volvo was bad though with lots of faults over 18 months before we sold it on. The same for Audis. Had one particularly bad one that cost 2x as much as the Vantage over 80k miles before I sold it. Had another 2 Audis that were "average" with just a few faults.
Its not just Astons Martins you can have issues with - its pretty much anything. Sure if you buy a mainstream Honda or Toyota then perhaps you may own it for 30k miles without an issue and proclaim its the most reliable car in the world, but no doubt someone, somewhere is having bad luck with one and on the internet telling their tale of woe about it before they move onto another brand and try their luck with that
I can't remember if I ever contributed to this tread, so here goes. I think this is in the correct order starting at the oldest stuff....
The timing cover gasket in my grey V8V was replaced under warranty by the previous owner before I bought the car. The leak has since returned, it was 50k miles and 8 years after the repair. It's only a seep, not dripping, so I've ignored it since it returned.
The fuel vapor recirculation hose in my grey V8V tore open. Hour of labor at the dealership for an AM Technician to fix it. Been fine ever since.
https://www.redpants.lol/blog/2015/12/1/the-infamo...
The fuel gauge in my grey V8V stopped working properly. It showed "full" tank until the fuel level dropped to about 1/4 full, and then the gauge would drop from full down to the appropriate level. Technician at the dealership repaired the fuel sending unit and it's been fine ever since. Cost me an hour of labor to sort it, no parts needed.
https://www.redpants.lol/blog/2016/3/1/that-one-ti...
The nav screen gears needed to be replaced in my grey V8V. Cheap parts and an hour of labor at the dealership.
Gasket failed on the thermostat of my grey V8V, I replaced it myself.
https://www.redpants.lol/blog/2015/12/4/eternal-fl...
Speakers were cutting out on one side of the car due to a faulty Bluetooth Switcher kit. Replaced it myself with an updated unit and haven't had a problem since:
https://www.redpants.lol/bluetooth-switcher-kit/
Lost the clutch in my grey V8V letting other people drive my car. Replaced it with a VelocityAP setup and love it.
I was having an occasional zero-power situation. Turned out the stud where the battery ground cable is attached to the chassis had broken clean off. Took five minutes to fix, no issues since.
I've had one of my shifter cables pop off while over-zealously shifting my grey V8V. Gearbox stuck in neutral. Used a flatbed tow truck to lift the front end, I crawled underneath and reconnected it. Working fine ever since.
https://www.redpants.lol/blog/2017/7/30/we1it4oxia...
Fuel gauge stopped working in my red V8V a few days ago. Fuel level never stopped reading "full" tank. I filled up 14.2 gallons. Fuel gauge seems to be working now, self-repaired, though I'm keeping an eye on it.
One of the tail lights on my grey V8V is getting condensation in it, which is causing an occasional "Check tail light" warning. It's only happened 2 or 3 times since the first instance of it about a month ago. I just haven't gotten a chance to fix it yet.
Both are 2007 V8 Vantages. The red one has 50k miles and I'm the 4th owner. It was not well cared for before I got it. The grey one has 70k miles and I'm the 2nd owner. The previous owner was very good to it, I have not been - I abuse it constantly. The TSBs and recalls have all been done, and aside from what I listed above, they've been very solid cars. I've done my own maintenance for the last 5 years. The only thing that has left me stranded was the shifter cable popping off, which was my own doing (though it shouldn't be able to happen), and I fixed it on the side of the road... though I can't think of too many people who would/could do that hahahaha
A catastrophic failure like NO BRAKES AT ALL is by far a more concerning reliability issue than a series of small issues that are usually easy and cheap to fix.
The timing cover gasket in my grey V8V was replaced under warranty by the previous owner before I bought the car. The leak has since returned, it was 50k miles and 8 years after the repair. It's only a seep, not dripping, so I've ignored it since it returned.
The fuel vapor recirculation hose in my grey V8V tore open. Hour of labor at the dealership for an AM Technician to fix it. Been fine ever since.
https://www.redpants.lol/blog/2015/12/1/the-infamo...
The fuel gauge in my grey V8V stopped working properly. It showed "full" tank until the fuel level dropped to about 1/4 full, and then the gauge would drop from full down to the appropriate level. Technician at the dealership repaired the fuel sending unit and it's been fine ever since. Cost me an hour of labor to sort it, no parts needed.
https://www.redpants.lol/blog/2016/3/1/that-one-ti...
The nav screen gears needed to be replaced in my grey V8V. Cheap parts and an hour of labor at the dealership.
Gasket failed on the thermostat of my grey V8V, I replaced it myself.
https://www.redpants.lol/blog/2015/12/4/eternal-fl...
Speakers were cutting out on one side of the car due to a faulty Bluetooth Switcher kit. Replaced it myself with an updated unit and haven't had a problem since:
https://www.redpants.lol/bluetooth-switcher-kit/
Lost the clutch in my grey V8V letting other people drive my car. Replaced it with a VelocityAP setup and love it.
I was having an occasional zero-power situation. Turned out the stud where the battery ground cable is attached to the chassis had broken clean off. Took five minutes to fix, no issues since.
I've had one of my shifter cables pop off while over-zealously shifting my grey V8V. Gearbox stuck in neutral. Used a flatbed tow truck to lift the front end, I crawled underneath and reconnected it. Working fine ever since.
https://www.redpants.lol/blog/2017/7/30/we1it4oxia...
Fuel gauge stopped working in my red V8V a few days ago. Fuel level never stopped reading "full" tank. I filled up 14.2 gallons. Fuel gauge seems to be working now, self-repaired, though I'm keeping an eye on it.
One of the tail lights on my grey V8V is getting condensation in it, which is causing an occasional "Check tail light" warning. It's only happened 2 or 3 times since the first instance of it about a month ago. I just haven't gotten a chance to fix it yet.
Both are 2007 V8 Vantages. The red one has 50k miles and I'm the 4th owner. It was not well cared for before I got it. The grey one has 70k miles and I'm the 2nd owner. The previous owner was very good to it, I have not been - I abuse it constantly. The TSBs and recalls have all been done, and aside from what I listed above, they've been very solid cars. I've done my own maintenance for the last 5 years. The only thing that has left me stranded was the shifter cable popping off, which was my own doing (though it shouldn't be able to happen), and I fixed it on the side of the road... though I can't think of too many people who would/could do that hahahaha
bogie said:
Its not just Astons Martins you can have issues with - its pretty much anything. Sure if you buy a mainstream Honda or Toyota then perhaps you may own it for 30k miles without an issue and proclaim its the most reliable car in the world, but no doubt someone, somewhere is having bad luck with one and on the internet telling their tale of woe about it before they move onto another brand and try their luck with that
The master cylinder in my Toyota 4Runner failed without warning, which meant my brake pedal went to the floor while driving. I was lucky to not have any cars in front of me when I went straight through a stop sign. 4Runners are supposed to be some of the most reliable vehicles on the road, but I don't trust them after that incident. Plus, the master cylinder was insanely expensive... a few times more expensive than an Aston one!A catastrophic failure like NO BRAKES AT ALL is by far a more concerning reliability issue than a series of small issues that are usually easy and cheap to fix.
davek_964 said:
If they were that reliable, we wouldn't have all of your helpful videos showing us how to fix things
Maybe I'm going through an unlucky phase and once the door locks and seat heating is fixed it will all be perfect......
Those are mostly maintenance and modification videos.... I think lol. I'll have to go back through them after listing everything out!Maybe I'm going through an unlucky phase and once the door locks and seat heating is fixed it will all be perfect......
Edited by telum01 on Wednesday 25th July 15:55
That pic from the above rear three quarters of your car on a flatbed has reminded me just how bloody good looking these cars are.
If you are handy with the spanners, they aren't complicated. But as most buyers seem to want Aston to have done all the work themselves (rather unreasonable on a vehicle which costs as little as £30,000), you may have a time selling it if this has not been the case. And in my head, Aston dealers and specialists know this, and spank you.
Never had a problem finding a good, reasonably priced Porsche specialist to not rip me off. No such luck with AM (in the South East, anyway).
It also depends what you want. If I wanted a DIY car, I'd have bought (and have done) in the past a TVR. These are meant to be at Porsche levels of build quality. They are not.
If someone one day offers me a 4.7 roadster on a manual box, in a great colour, with all the usual things done, I probably wouldn't say no. Truth be told, I probably would have kept my car had it been a roadster, really.
If you are handy with the spanners, they aren't complicated. But as most buyers seem to want Aston to have done all the work themselves (rather unreasonable on a vehicle which costs as little as £30,000), you may have a time selling it if this has not been the case. And in my head, Aston dealers and specialists know this, and spank you.
Never had a problem finding a good, reasonably priced Porsche specialist to not rip me off. No such luck with AM (in the South East, anyway).
It also depends what you want. If I wanted a DIY car, I'd have bought (and have done) in the past a TVR. These are meant to be at Porsche levels of build quality. They are not.
If someone one day offers me a 4.7 roadster on a manual box, in a great colour, with all the usual things done, I probably wouldn't say no. Truth be told, I probably would have kept my car had it been a roadster, really.
One wonders why we have to put up with car manufacturers selling a product that is not fit for purpose.
Obviously as a car ages, depending on how it's been used, things will need replacing and wear and tear must be taken into account.
However where there are catastrophic failures eg. Engines failing or recurring problems on many cars eg. Bubbling paint , it is totally unreasonable to be fobbed off with a shrug from the MD or a fight with the manufacturer.
One can of course buy, for a mere £2.2K a policy but this should not be seen as a requirement to rectify known and recurring faults.
I
Obviously as a car ages, depending on how it's been used, things will need replacing and wear and tear must be taken into account.
However where there are catastrophic failures eg. Engines failing or recurring problems on many cars eg. Bubbling paint , it is totally unreasonable to be fobbed off with a shrug from the MD or a fight with the manufacturer.
One can of course buy, for a mere £2.2K a policy but this should not be seen as a requirement to rectify known and recurring faults.
I
Porsche have their issue too - the engine failure one is a big one. But the rest of the cars seem to work (I know, I've owned them). My issue with the V8V is twofold:
- it slowly falls to bits in predictable ways
- fixing these well documented and very expensive.
I work in risk, and this is attrition. With AM, you know you are going to have to spend money fixing really irritating things.
Porsche is a catastrophe bet. So with 996 and 997.1 (and equivalent Boxster/Caymans), you may get one that blows up. You may not.
Neither is better than the other. But the constant issues of the Aston, every year, year in, year out, just made me sick of it.
I just bought the ex Chris Harris CLS63 AMG Shooting Brake as a family truck. Witness me on here in a month moaning that the gearbox lunched itself after being repeatedly abused on Youtube for our pleasure when the car was young.
*sigh*
- it slowly falls to bits in predictable ways
- fixing these well documented and very expensive.
I work in risk, and this is attrition. With AM, you know you are going to have to spend money fixing really irritating things.
Porsche is a catastrophe bet. So with 996 and 997.1 (and equivalent Boxster/Caymans), you may get one that blows up. You may not.
Neither is better than the other. But the constant issues of the Aston, every year, year in, year out, just made me sick of it.
I just bought the ex Chris Harris CLS63 AMG Shooting Brake as a family truck. Witness me on here in a month moaning that the gearbox lunched itself after being repeatedly abused on Youtube for our pleasure when the car was young.
*sigh*
Interesting that Telum had his gearbox cable pop out. I had that, but fortunately only lost 2nd, 4th and 6th. Fixed it on my driveway for free (minus some skin from my arm).
If problem is the door latches, and if I did it myself, a cost of £250 for parts is something I could live with....
If problem is the door latches, and if I did it myself, a cost of £250 for parts is something I could live with....
davek_964 said:
Interesting that Telum had his gearbox cable pop out. I had that, but fortunately only lost 2nd, 4th and 6th. Fixed it on my driveway for free (minus some skin from my arm).
It isn't too uncommon. One cause is shifting way too hard (which I did). Other cause is when the gearbox is dropped - if the cables aren't disconnected before lowering the transmission, it can force the connectors to come apart (the ball pop out of the socket), and can easily crack the socket. It's a hairline crack, but just enough to make the cables disconnect far more easily than they should during driving.It's interested that on another thread when I suggested these cars are unreliable I got pulled apart, wrong part of the forum perhaps.
Mine was 3 years old and even if I ignore the trips back to Aston (under a well used warranty) I'm still glad I got rid of mine after 6-7 months. On a spirited drive it was quite nice but everywhere else it was pretty horrible. Perhaps I'll get in another one day but I'd rather be looking for something I find a touch more usable.
Mine was 3 years old and even if I ignore the trips back to Aston (under a well used warranty) I'm still glad I got rid of mine after 6-7 months. On a spirited drive it was quite nice but everywhere else it was pretty horrible. Perhaps I'll get in another one day but I'd rather be looking for something I find a touch more usable.
None of us like paying the high prices charged for Aston Martin parts.
We have seen mentioned on here, examples of £600 for a suspension spring, and I think over £1,000 for a headlight (when supposedly just one cheap electronic component inside has failed).
I do though, have some sympathy for the circumstances.
Aston Martin struggle to sell cars in large numbers, so all costs are spread amongst relatively few customers.
I don't know how many thousands of F-type Jaguars are being sold, but the JLR group last year sold 621,109 vehicles. It is 'another world'. Selling just 5,000 Aston Martins, with only a few of those customers needing a headlight, probably illustrates the temptation to charge high prices for spare parts.
From a dealer point of view, it also cannot be easy to finance the running of a smart showroom and workshop. An expensive corporate image is demanded, but with relatively few sales. Each time that I visit a dealer, I have usually been the only 'customer' in the building, and only a few of my visits have ever involved handing over money.
Is the point being made, slightly akin to the £30 bottle of wine in a smart restaurant, when somebody says, "that is riduculous, it is only £7 in a supermarket?
Edited by Jon39 on Thursday 26th July 11:56
tgclowes said:
It's interested that on another thread when I suggested these cars are unreliable I got pulled apart, wrong part of the forum perhaps.
Over my 3 years of ownership, I wouldn't say the car has been unreliable - and even now, I wouldn't say that. I think my 911 turbo had just as many problems. On the other hand, when it has problems - the prices can (usually are) outrageously high and that's what's upsetting me at the moment.Jon39 said:
None of us like paying the high prices charged for Aston Martin parts.
We have seen mentioned on here, examples of £600 for a suspension spring, and I think over £1,000 for a headlight (when supposedly just one cheap electronic component inside has failed).
I do though, have some sympathy for the circumstances.
Aston Martin struggle to sell cars in large numbers, so all costs are spread amongst relatively few customers.
I don't know how many thousands of F-type Jaguars are being sold, but the JLR group last year sold 621,109 vehicles. It is 'another world'. Selling just 5,000 Aston Martins, with only a few of those customers needing a headlight, probably illustrates the temptation to charge high prices for spare parts.
From a dealer point of view, it also cannot be easy to finance the running of a smart showroom and workshop. An expensive corporate image is demanded, but with relatively few sales. Each time that I visit a dealer, I have usually been the only 'customer' in the building, and only a few of my visits have ever involved handing over money.
Is the point being made, slightly akin to the £30 bottle of wine in a smart restaurant, when somebody says, "that is riduculous, it is only £7 in a supermarket?
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