Quick DB9 cruise and wheel hub question

[Simpo Two]

Hi all.

I went to see a very low mileage 2007 DB9 yesterday and took a test drive. All very good but he cruise control wouldn't set at 30mph; the dealer said that was normal. Is it? All my other cars with cruise dating back to 2001 have managed it.

Wheel hubs (ie bit between wheel and disk) had noticable surface rust - do they all do that? And what's the fix, as it looks a bit unsightly on an otherwise excellent car.

Finally, it comes with a 12 month Autoguard warranty. 'Mechanical failure insurance'. Is that about as good as I can expect on a 2007 car? Anyone have experience of them?

Many thanks - much to think about!

[BiggaJ]

Simpo Two said:

Hi all.

I went to see a very low mileage 2007 DB9 yesterday and took a test drive. All very good but he cruise control wouldn't set at 30mph; the dealer said that was normal. Is it? All my other cars with cruise dating back to 2001 have managed it.

Wheel hubs (ie bit between wheel and disk) had noticable surface rust - do they all do that? And what's the fix, as it looks a bit unsightly on an otherwise excellent car.

Finally, it comes with a 12 month Autoguard warranty. 'Mechanical failure insurance'. Is that about as good as I can expect on a 2007 car? Anyone have experience of them?

Many thanks - much to think about!

I would agree with you on the Cruise as all my cars have set from approx. 10mph but maybe the Aston system is different, I dont have it on my Vantage so cant comment.

Wheel hubs can be painted with some silver heat resistant paint much like you would use on an engine block, I did mine a few weeks back and it certainly freshens them up and seems to last.

You could take out your own warranty such as 'Warranty Wise' or some similar one but this would obviously be an additional cost.

https://www.warrantywise.co.uk/?--&gclid=CjwKC...

[Simpo Two]

Thanks - whilst the car has cruise buttons fitted to the steering wheel, the servicing dealer has confirmed cruise is not installed on that particular car. One of those Aston things apparently.

I now have to find out how much it will be to fix the TPM warning. Could be all four wheels off and £1,000, according to an AM dealer, if the codes haven't been written down. I would have expected the dealer to have sorted this out; most queries are met with 'It comes with a really good warranty'.

[LTP]

Simpo Two said:

Thanks - whilst the car has cruise buttons fitted to the steering wheel, the servicing dealer has confirmed cruise is not installed on that particular car. One of those Aston things apparently.

That sounds a little suspicious to me. As far as I know if they don't fit cruise then AML don't fit the switches - but I could be wrong. Is there the little rocker on the RH side on the back of the steering wheel to turn the system on? And I guess another possibility is somebody replaced the wheel at some time and fitted a cruise control one.

[bullet7]

As I understand it, Cruise is definitely there, all is needed is for it to be programmed to see the switch is there using AMDS

[BiggaJ]

LTP said:

Simpo Two said:

Thanks - whilst the car has cruise buttons fitted to the steering wheel, the servicing dealer has confirmed cruise is not installed on that particular car. One of those Aston things apparently.

That sounds a little suspicious to me. As far as I know if they don't fit cruise then AML don't fit the switches - but I could be wrong. Is there the little rocker on the RH side on the back of the steering wheel to turn the system on? And I guess another possibility is somebody replaced the wheel at some time and fitted a cruise control one.

Hmmm, I would be suspicious of this also, my car doesn't have it and didn't come with the buttons fitted just in case I wanted to activate it! I think you are right in it having a different steering wheel fitted in its time.

[LTP]

Simpo Two said:

... but he cruise control wouldn't set at 30mph; the dealer said that was normal. Is it?

Just picked my V8V up from its annual service and MOT and I can confirm that the cruise control will work at 30mph. Didn't have the opportunity/inclination to comprehensively mess about with it (who wants to drive a Vantage at less than 30 mph on open roads? ) but it looks like the threshold for engagement of the system is somewhere around 20 mph.

edited to add
Not trying to teach you to suck eggs here, but you do know about the small rocker switch on the back of the little pod that houses the cruse control buttons on the steering wheel? It's not particularly intuitive, but you need to use this first to activate the system. if you've just been jabbing at the "Res", "Set" and "Can" buttons without touching the rocker first then the system will not be on and it'll do nothing.

If you put your fingers behind the pod on the wheel you'll feel it with your fingertips; activate it with the engine running and you should get an acknowledgement in the driver display screen saying something like "Cruise on"

Edited by LTP on Friday 8th October 17:12

[Simpo Two]

Thanks - I didn't know about the rocker switch until today and the car is 100 miles away. But I've heard from two AM dealers that it's quite possible for the car to have the switch but no cruise. The dealer who's serviced it before looked at the original spec sheet and said 'no cruise' so that seems pretty definite. Which is a pity but I'll have to live with it. Anyone know how easy it is to retrofit?

The dealer is going to sort out the rust and put some lacquer on, which is good

[LTP]

Simpo Two said:

Thanks - I didn't know about the rocker switch until today and the car is 100 miles away. But I've heard from two AM dealers that it's quite possible for the car to have the switch but no cruise. The dealer who's serviced it before looked at the original spec sheet and said 'no cruise' so that seems pretty definite. Which is a pity but I'll have to live with it. Anyone know how easy it is to retrofit?

I wouldn't give up yet. As BiggaJ says above, if it didn't have cruise then it doesn't get buttons - Aston are not going to waste money giving stuff away if they can avoid it. if I were you I'd want to press (or have someone who knows what he's doing) press the rocker with engine running and see what happens; it's always possible a previous owner had it retrofitted.

If you have a wheel with buttons then you're 95% of the way there. Have a read of these:
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=14...

[Simpo Two]

Events have overtaken us somewhat as I've just sent the deposit

Due to collect next week, so I'll think about the cruise and possible presence/absence/options after that!

[LTP]

Simpo Two said:

Events have overtaken us somewhat as I've just sent the deposit

Due to collect next week, so I'll think about the cruise and possible presence/absence/options after that!

Congratulations! You can find out about the cruise on the return journey, especially as you now know about the rocker switch (there's another on the other side that acts as a zoom for the nav screen maps - a lot of people don't know about that one either)

We will, of course, require pictures (and confirmation on whether the cruise system works )

Edited by LTP on Friday 8th October 19:06

[dwell]

When I purchased an 18 month old Aston, it didn’t have cruise and that was a must for me. The dealer explained it was no problem, would require a steering wheel change to one with buttons (which you already have) and a simple software change to enable it -all done as part of the deal. Regards, DaveW

[Simpo Two]

LTP said:

Congratulations! You can find out about the cruise on the return journey, especially as you now know about the rocker switch (there's another on the other side that acts as a zoom for the nav screen maps - a lot of people don't know about that one either)

We will, of course, require pictures (and confirmation on whether the cruise system works )

Thank you Yes, there will be much to learn about this prestige but quirky brand - 'TVR for Rich People' perhaps, and on that point the boating adage of 'break out another thousand' is suddenly looking real

The delightfully infuriating thing is that any comment on its deficiencies can be met by 'Yes but it's an Aston'. The automotive equivalent of 'A Smith & Wesson beats four aces.

On the satnav, the dealer got one thing right. I asked him what it was like. He said 'Prehistoric!' Is it worth trying to upgrade with a bootleg Volvo disk or has anyone tried fitting a modern Garmin/TomTom in its place?


@DaveW - cheers - that simple software change, that's a thousand, right?

[LTP]

Simpo Two said:

On the satnav, the dealer got one thing right. I asked him what it was like. He said 'Prehistoric!' Is it worth trying to upgrade with a bootleg Volvo disk or has anyone tried fitting a modern Garmin/TomTom in its place?

My V8V is a 15MY with the Garmin SD card nav system: is it as good as the one in my new V60? No. Does it get me where I need to go, as well as display speed cameras and limits on the roads? Yes.

For your older, Volvo-based CD system there’s a company called Aston Installations that many owners on here rate highly. From memory they can do things like uprate the screen to a better resolution, give you Apple play (and hence Waze or similar) add front and rear cameras - you just have to cross their palms with silver (lots of it). As far as I remember the latest Volvo maps you can get for the CD/DVD system I had in my V70, which I think is the same one, is something like 2018

Edited by LTP on Saturday 9th October 01:31

[Astontony]

bullet7 said:

As I understand it, Cruise is definitely there, all is needed is for it to be programmed to see the switch is there using AMDS

Don't forget that you can't set cruise without first pressing the toggle button on the back of the wheel behind the front buttons. This toggle button turns the cruise on and off.

[BiggaJ]

LTP said:

My V8V is a 15MY with the Garmin SD card nav system: is it as good as the one in my new V60? No. Does it get me where I need to go, as well as display speed cameras and limits on the roads? Yes.

For your older, Volvo-based CD system there’s a company called Aston Installations that many owners on here rate highly. From memory they can do things like uprate the screen to a better resolution, give you Apple play (and hence Waze or similar) add front and rear cameras - you just have to cross their palms with silver (lots of it). As far as I remember the latest Volvo maps you can get for the CD/DVD system I had in my V70, which I think is the same one, is something like 2018

Edited by LTP on Saturday 9th October 01:31

As LTP has stated, you can buy upgraded maps using a Volvo disc, I did this and it's marginally better but no substitute for Google maps or Waze.
You will most likely find as I did, you will not open the screen and instead use your phone.

Aston Installations is the route I will eventually go as they now offer a higher resolution screen with front camera (for me, I'm not bothered about rear camera).

About £1200 for the standard install but add another £500 ish for the better screen.

They do have approved fitters so depending on where you are, you could maybe find one more local to you.

For instance I know Phoenix in Basingstoke are an approved fitter. I wish Aston Inst. Would highlight this more on their website.

[Trahison]

Simpo Two said:

Thank you Yes, there will be much to learn about this prestige but quirky brand - 'TVR for Rich People' perhaps, and on that point the boating adage of 'break out another thousand' is suddenly looking real

The delightfully infuriating thing is that any comment on its deficiencies can be met by 'Yes but it's an Aston'. The automotive equivalent of 'A Smith & Wesson beats four aces.

Simpo Two said:

On the satnav, the dealer got one thing right. I asked him what it was like. He said 'Prehistoric!' Is it worth trying to upgrade with a bootleg Volvo disk or has anyone tried fitting a modern Garmin/TomTom in its place?


@DaveW - cheers - that simple software change, that's a thousand, right?

I hummed and hawed about upgrading the nav and in the interim decided to use a £10 dash air vent cradle and Google maps on my phone. Can’t see myself ever changing from that set up tbh, screen stays down all the time now. Try living with that sort of set up before you shed £££ on a nav/infotainment revamp.

[Simpo Two]

LTP said:

For your older, Volvo-based CD system there’s a company called Aston Installations that many owners on here rate highly. From memory they can do things like uprate the screen to a better resolution, give you Apple play (and hence Waze or similar) add front and rear cameras - you just have to cross their palms with silver (lots of it). As far as I remember the latest Volvo maps you can get for the CD/DVD system I had in my V70, which I think is the same one, is something like 2018

I was thinking more of removing the old unit until there's just a mounting bracket left, then getting a standalone satnav from Amazon, Halfords etc that would physically fit and running the wire to the nearest power. Old school!

Talking of old school my phone is not very smart and data is for emergencies - and I'd prefer to avoid brackets and wires on the dash unless essential. It's a another example of 'But it's an Aston, I'm going to buy it anyway' - and sort out the Victorian plumbing later