Mileage Question

[911 Billy]

Hi everyone,

I have a bit to do with Aston Martins and I wonder if anyone here can help.

I currently run a 911 and am looking to upgrade to a V8 Vantage (budget up to £60k). I note that lots of the examples out there have very low miles which is obviously OK providing it's genuine.

My question is can I get the mileage verified by a dealer or indy ? With Porsches you can get the genuine mileage verified along with additional engine information such as over-runs etc. This information is all stored in the DME which to the best of my knowledge is not changeable (unlike the odometer).

Is there a similar thing that I can request the dealer or Indy to do when I find the right example. I've been bitten by the mileage issue in the past and so am now probably over cautious. I know service history etc shows miles, but that's not exactly difficult to tweak if needed.

Any thoughts are appreciated.

Thanks
Billy

[steveatesh]

Hal you're not suggesting for one moment that one of we Aston Martin owners would engage in such caddish behavior are you? I mean, surely the Empire would come to an end, and Jockman Formingto-Smythe would choke on his Bolinger and Kippers he has for breakfast!

I haven't seen that being discussed here before, it's fair to say though that many Astons are low mileage as they are not necessarily bought for daily drivers. My own is over 5 years old now and I've just cracked 10000 miles. Come to think of it all I have is the service history documents to prove that.

Good luck with your search, I have a Porsche too, entirely different cars but the Vantage gives a better feeling when driving it.

[Jonsv8]

There are companies that do these checks but often a combination of service stamps and possibly invoices and mots will give you the info and reassurance

[911 Billy]

So are we saying that there isn't the same thing as Porsche (DME etc) which can just give the AM Dealer / Indy a true mileage reading irrespective if what the odometer says ?

Seems a bit odd, I would have thought all these sorts of cars would have this in, after all the difference in value between a 5k and 25k car is vast surely.

Thanks all

[Jonsv8]

911 Billy said:

So are we saying that there isn't the same thing as Porsche (DME etc) which can just give the AM Dealer / Indy a true mileage reading irrespective if what the odometer says ?

Seems a bit odd, I would have thought all these sorts of cars would have this in, after all the difference in value between a 5k and 25k car is vast surely.

Thanks all

Ah, I misunderstood. I don't know that I just go on what I suggested. Profile of mileage use can be interesting too, serviced correctly etc.

[BeauBee]

Not sure that this answers your question specifically but may help.
I had reservations when buying my first AM last year.
So I decided to pay a premium (probably about £5k more than private sale) and buy from the Aston Martin Pre-owned site, that is, from an AM dealership - you get the 140 point check + 12 month extended warranty included = piece of mind.
I was also able to check the service history of the vehicle (stamped in the book) by contacting the previous servicing dealerships who provided me with confirmation of the service date, mileage and type of service carried out - this, and previous MOTs, in effect verified the mileage.
HTH

[Jon39]

Main dealers do hold computer records of all maintenance work and include mileages, so there might be a certain amount of reassurance there.

As you say, many of these cars are little used, and some are even rarely driven on wet days.
With low mileage, you of course have to hope that it has not been a series of very short trips on a cold engine. I try to ensure a minimum drive 30 miles, so that everything is hot before putting the Aston away again.

I think condition is probably the main clue, to a good car and considerate useage.

Edited by Jon39 on Sunday 5th April 22:18

[Neil1300r]

911 Billy said:

So are we saying that there isn't the same thing as Porsche (DME etc) which can just give the AM Dealer / Indy a true mileage reading irrespective if what the odometer says ?

Seems a bit odd, I would have thought all these sorts of cars would have this in, after all the difference in value between a 5k and 25k car is vast surely.

Thanks all

Correct, Aston's don't have it, but then they still have single clutches in the automated manuals. Not as leading edge as Pork on tech stuff

[Jockman]

steveatesh said:

Hal you're not suggesting for one moment that one of we Aston Martin owners would engage in such caddish behavior are you? I mean, surely the Empire would come to an end, and Jockman Formingto-Smythe would choke on his Bolinger and Kippers he has for breakfast!

Complete misperception

It's caviar, Steve

[Captain Greg]

Down here the dealer records the Km's the car has done when they do a service and keep very good records against Vin numbers even recording body parts ordered in the case of body repairs.

My only gripe with the Aston is I find the steering a bit hard,....but I parked right next to a 911 at the club yesterday, not sure of the year cos they all look the same with no personality...no doubt the Vantage is more sexy in stance despite its lack of performance, just my opinion...now if we could just get 911 reliability into a Vantage we could drive it harder

[BamfordMike]

When the diagnostic kit is connected to car, pretty much the first screen of data before entering main tools pages states DIM (driver information module) mileage and CEM (central electrical module) mileage. Clearly the two should report the same, so this is the check you are looking for.

it is known for the DIM to fail and new one needed, in this case DIM mileage would start from zero if new DIM or whatever the mileage of the second hand DIM used will be displayed, in either case the mileage with CEM would be in error and alarm bells ring.

it is much more tricky (electronics wizard beyond dealer level of capability)to reset CEM mileage then sync that to DIM, but as said before, old fashioned check of mileage @ MOT and service is pretty much failsafe

Edited by BamfordMike on Monday 6th April 11:52