In praise of Indies...
Discussion
...I came to a halt at the lights, and when I tried to set off again... nothing! The gears wouldn't engage.
I had the car (2007 Vantage Autoshift v8 roadster) recovered to a South Coast Aston Martin Dealer who've taken care of it (under warranty) the last few years, always with acceptable service... BUT - this time it took around a week to diagnose a 'slave cylinder failure' and without disassembling it they said this, along with the clutch would need total replacement. Around £4000. As it was a Bamford Rose twin-plate clutch I'd also have to supply a new one to the dealer.
I called Bamford Rose and described the symptoms for a second opinion, they correctly diagnosed the (same) problem over the phone and collected the car from the dealer - a few days later they returned it to me repaired and perfect (and BEAUTIFULLY valeted) for just £2k including a new battery and hundreds of miles on a low loader.
Though the slave cylinder did need replacing (£386), the clutch didn't need replacing at all it just needed a good clean, which apparently a dealer can't/won't do.
I'm delighted with their speed and competence of service and their reassuring helpful manner. They deserve credit for being the best of the best.
And not MANY cars still look good on a low-loader. First time it's let me down. I forgive it. I love my Aston.
I had the car (2007 Vantage Autoshift v8 roadster) recovered to a South Coast Aston Martin Dealer who've taken care of it (under warranty) the last few years, always with acceptable service... BUT - this time it took around a week to diagnose a 'slave cylinder failure' and without disassembling it they said this, along with the clutch would need total replacement. Around £4000. As it was a Bamford Rose twin-plate clutch I'd also have to supply a new one to the dealer.
I called Bamford Rose and described the symptoms for a second opinion, they correctly diagnosed the (same) problem over the phone and collected the car from the dealer - a few days later they returned it to me repaired and perfect (and BEAUTIFULLY valeted) for just £2k including a new battery and hundreds of miles on a low loader.
Though the slave cylinder did need replacing (£386), the clutch didn't need replacing at all it just needed a good clean, which apparently a dealer can't/won't do.
I'm delighted with their speed and competence of service and their reassuring helpful manner. They deserve credit for being the best of the best.
And not MANY cars still look good on a low-loader. First time it's let me down. I forgive it. I love my Aston.
Cold said:
So essentially the same ballpark price and diagnosis, only the main dealer wasn't prepared to vouch for a used part from a different supplier.
Yay for indies!
You could look at it that way - but my impression was the Dealer hadn't the mechanical skills or felt it uneconomical to disassemble and clean ANY clutch - I did discuss this with them - so my take is "less than half the time and less than half the cost"Yay for indies!
Squaremeal said:
Couldn't agree more about the indies and BM in particular.
Is funny you should think it looked good on the low loader - I thought I was the only one.
Perhaps we should start a thread!
My contributions to your thread lol...Is funny you should think it looked good on the low loader - I thought I was the only one.
Perhaps we should start a thread!
Full story here if anyone wants to read it:
http://www.redpants.lol/blog/2017/7/30/we1it4oxia2...
NealCS said:
You could look at it that way - but my impression was the Dealer hadn't the mechanical skills or felt it uneconomical to disassemble and clean ANY clutch - I did discuss this with them - so my take is "less than half the time and less than half the cost"
I think a main dealer has the technical know how to remove and inspect a clutch before spraying it with cleaner. They just wouldn't want to risk getting into an argument with a customer about who should foot the bill when the third party, unknown, secondhand and potentially damaged clutch starts slipping or juddering next month, so priced the job accordingly.Cold said:
I think a main dealer has the technical know how to remove and inspect a clutch before spraying it with cleaner. They just wouldn't want to risk getting into an argument with a customer about who should foot the bill when the third party, unknown, secondhand and potentially damaged clutch starts slipping or juddering next month, so priced the job accordingly.
Not what they told me. They were very clear that they don't clean up 'contaminated' clutches AM or otherwise. In this case I specifically asked would there have be a difference if I'd had an AM clutch and they said they'd still have replaced it and they were happy to put an AM one in for me or a BR one. I'm the first to give credit where credit is due but in this case their response was very very slow and far less helpful than the Indy. It has made me consider removing my car from the dealer network for future servicing too.
Edited by NealCS on Monday 2nd October 18:47
Sounds like that's exactly what they told you? 
How difficult do you think it is to squirt some cleaner around the clutch once it's on the bench? The main dealer just didn't want to do that and prefers a belt and braces approach of replacing the whole lot. I can understand why.
An independent might be more amenable to the prospect of potentially having to remove the clutch again in a few months if the contaminated plate decides to misbehave. Who settles that potential future bill might be up for discussion, but it's not a conversation that the main dealer would like to have hence their approach to the job.
Both ways of tackling the job have their merits but one is more expensive. Neither are wrong.
How difficult do you think it is to squirt some cleaner around the clutch once it's on the bench? The main dealer just didn't want to do that and prefers a belt and braces approach of replacing the whole lot. I can understand why.
An independent might be more amenable to the prospect of potentially having to remove the clutch again in a few months if the contaminated plate decides to misbehave. Who settles that potential future bill might be up for discussion, but it's not a conversation that the main dealer would like to have hence their approach to the job.
Both ways of tackling the job have their merits but one is more expensive. Neither are wrong.
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