Does the V12 Vantage have clutch issues?

[AstonExige]

Sorry for all the questions of late

Just wondering, when buying a V12 do I need to worry about impending clutch failure like you do on the V8?

[dbs2000]

Nope, twin plates as standard. Doesn't mean you can really guage how much life is left in one at purchase sadly.

[kbooker]

Vast improvement over a V8 clutch

[JohnG1]

AstonExige said:

Sorry for all the questions of late

Just wondering, when buying a V12 do I need to worry about impending clutch failure like you do on the V8?

Some early V12 Vantage suffered from a "chirp" at power take-up from a standing start. This was not terribly noticeable, I didn't spot it in two years. When the warranty was due to expire I took mine to Bamford Rose where Mike spotted this and after haggling AML fitted a new clutch. So, worth getting an inspection before purchase to identify this issue. If you need a new clutch, that's not cheap so you'd want to get that factored into purchase price.

This only affected V12V manual up to a certain chassis number, something around 380 I think.

Post on the Bamford Rose thread and I'm sure Mike can fill in the details.