thanks to Pistonheads AM Forum

[steve simmance]

I wanted to share my happy news with those who saw my forum post last week (DB9 cutting out in mid-drive).

It is thanks to one of the PH forum responses that I took the car to Phoenix in Basingstoke after a costly and futile attempt by another so-called AM Specialist team failed to find the solution. Phoenix knew instinctively where to look, having listened to my story. They did what they needed to, and the problem is sorted. True experts in the modern AM range (2008 onwards) and having AMDS technology as part of their MO certainly helped; while 'the others' say they have AMDS but obviously don't, as they would have seen the multiple fault codes and been given a good steer. £1700 down the drain using the wrong people.

So far, so good. The car needs to be tested, yet I have every confidence in Phoeonix.

Thank you to those who tried to help, especially Phil, who recommended Phoenix AM!

[Phil _L]

Hi,

No worries, so glad you got that sorted. Those guys really know their stuff.

[BiggaJ]

Great news, glad you got it sorted finally. I concur with your appraisal of Phoenix, they really do a good job. My former Vantage was looked after by them for service, MOT and any oddities that sometimes raised their head.

[Simpo Two]

I'm glad that you took the advice, stopped throwing good money after bad, and got it swiftly fixed.

steve simmance said:

Pheonx would prefer that I do not share their diagnosis and knowledge with Chicane. Chicane needs to understand that they cannot be an expert at the AM range. I fear any request for a refund will fall on deaf ears... i will try and see if there is any goodwill in their values!!

If you paid Chicane by credit card... my view is that you paid them - ie contracted with them - to find and fix a fault, but they failed to do so, even after 28 hours' work. That tells you how incompetent they are. Now that you have the actual diagnosis and fix from Phoenix, which it seems they did very easily, you can compare what each company did. Without divulging too much, as Phoenix asked you not to, I would present the comparison to Chicane and ask for a large chunk if not all of the money back. They didn't do what you asked them to do. They will say 'bugger off', so then you open a Section 75 dispute with your CC company and make a case to recover it that way. I've had to do this twice and it's worked very well. One was against another so-called Aston expert.

If you didn't pay by CC then you'll have to try Small Claims, which is much harder and more time-consuming. But 28 hours at (say) £200ph might be worth a scrap.

One thing to remember - AMDS is only as good as the person using it.

ETA Just saw you paid £1,700 for 28 hours. That's only £60ph which is monkey rate. No self-respecting Aston expert would be that cheap.

Edited by Simpo Two on Friday 12th September 20:25

[paulrog1]

steve simmance said:

I wanted to share my happy news with those who saw my forum post last week (DB9 cutting out in mid-drive).

It is thanks to one of the PH forum responses that I took the car to Phoenix in Basingstoke after a costly and futile attempt by another so-called AM Specialist team failed to find the solution. Phoenix knew instinctively where to look, having listened to my story. They did what they needed to, and the problem is sorted. True experts in the modern AM range (2008 onwards) and having AMDS technology as part of their MO certainly helped; while 'the others' say they have AMDS but obviously don't, as they would have seen the multiple fault codes and been given a good steer. £1700 down the drain using the wrong people.

So far, so good. The car needs to be tested, yet I have every confidence in Phoeonix.

Thank you to those who tried to help, especially Phil, who recommended Phoenix AM!

What was the fault with the car??