Newish DB9 Owner and a newbie question

[anonymous-user]

Hi everyone,

I thought I should post something saying hello as I am becoming a serial lurker of this AM forum and cant stop drooling over some of your car pics and mods.

I was after a replacement 2+2, and one Saturday morning whilst watching an old TG episode featuring the DB9 trip the wife suggested I might get one. In all honesty I think she wanted me to shut up about my next car and get something sorted as ‘my next car’ had been a topic in our house for months... I did some man maths and about one day of research and decided on a DB9.2 ideally in exchange for some magic beans was a great idea: lowish depreciation, best of the 9s, 4 seats (lol), beautiful, sporty, classic, and just by chance my dream car.

Unseen and having not ever driven an aston I bought a 14 plate DB9 from Stratstone Cardiff at the end of August with ok miles. Black and black. I admit I was a little scared of the prospect of AM ownership due to the reliability horror stories but I liked the idea of the rather more analogue DB9 compared to the other more modern stuff about.

The last sports/GT car I had was an SL55 I had for 8 years from new, so this was my point of reference. I have done about 1500 miles so far. I find the AM so much better, lighter (maybe?), more responsive, and altogether more sports than GT. Overall I am very very happy with it. I like to drive my cars quite hard when the conditions are appropriate and get the performance out rather than just tootle. Had a couple of fantastic runs out over the NY moors and last week up to Cumbria/Middleton.

I have bikes too, one of which I do take to trackdays, and I am looking to get the aston on track at some point next year to give it the full beans.

So far the only issue has been the o2 sensors which is getting sorted next week.

I am probably going to be asking some dumb questions but please be gentle.

My first question: the bolts on the rear brake calipers are very rusty and unsightly on the car. Does anyone know a) how easy it is to replace them (torque values, anything else?) b) what size the bolts are? Im thinking some ti replacements from pro bolt to keep it looking tidy. Any advice welcome.

I will pop a car pic up from my phone.

[anonymous-user]

[anonymous-user]

Jockman said:

Congrats once fabulous car !!!!

Who is sorting your O2 sensors? Can you not get them to have a quick look? Any work I had done at a dealer was generally accompanied by a list of odds and bods, most of which they took care of foc.

Thanks. I will certainly ask, I am not familiar with AM dealer service levels but will give it a go.

[anonymous-user]

Loose_Cannon said:

A 14 reg DB9, wow not a bad start to Aston ownership. IMHO the last generation of DB9 is possible the best looking AM since the DB4.

Thankyou, 100% agree .

V8V Pete said:

Congratulations and welcome.

The handbrake calliper bolts can just be painted. Had mine done as part of the last service as, like you, it niggled me that they were rusty. If you do source titanium replacements please share the details with us as a permanent fix is obviously better.

Thankyou, had not thought of having them painted so will see what the dealer says about that and the specifications for replacement.

[anonymous-user]

Excellent, looking forward to it!

[anonymous-user]

The dealer stocks the bolts which are £2 each and your spec is spot on. I will wait to see your thread on the ti option as thats the way I think I will go.

Just out of interest, I am having an o2 sensor replaced on Thursday by my nearest AM dealer. The cost is £391.39. Now I understand that this is bend over and touch your toes territory because I have dared to buy a luxury car but it does seem rather steep for what is a straightforward job and a cheap part? Is that normal or am I being unnecessarily rodgered being a newbie?

[anonymous-user]

V8V Pete said:

Ouch! Have you tried just resetting the code and hoping it stays away with more regular use of the car.

Hi, yes I reset it the first time but it came back after 170 miles. Took it to the AM dealer who said it was on its way out, hence the replacement. Even better, the service chap explained that another 02 sensor is also looking like it is on its way out so I have another bill to look forward to in due course. I think i need to find an indy as the labour is £142.50+VAT ph.

[anonymous-user]

bogie said:

Congrats on the new car

The o2 sensors do sound a bit pricey, I did them on my old Vantage and they were £60 ish and an hours labour at local tyre/exhaust garage, about £130 fitted per sensor.

Thankyou. Yes i thought that was around the figure i would be expecting lol.

DB9VolanteDriver said:

krisdelta said:

It's not cheap - there are (if I recall) two pre and two post the cats, I think it's possible to take them out and clean them up, rather than just replace them. The same message popped up now and again on my vantage and even a full code read didn't show a problem beyond the sensors reading an unexpected value.

There are 10 sensors total, if things haven't changed since DB9.1
Pre and post for each of the 4 primary cats and 1 pre for each of the 2 secondary cats.

Sounds more involved than I thought, I had wrongly presumed there were 4.

I take it that not all the sensors are the same either?

[anonymous-user]

V8V Pete said:

The handbrake calliper bolts can just be painted. Had mine done as part of the last service as, like you, it niggled me that they were rusty.

Credit where credit is due. Car was at AM Leeds today and the service engineer very kindly offered to remove and paint the bolts black and refit whilst it was in, no extra charge. He said that the bolts used to be black years ago but the powers that be changed things.

Very happy with the service given.

Still would like to swap out for ti .

[anonymous-user]

Lol. The only pic I had to hand. I will use that pic for the classified if I ever sell it.

I do need to take some better pictures I agree.

[anonymous-user]

Had my detailer/repair chap round to get rid of some scratch marks that I have found since ownership began. Problem as always is he points out everything that I hadn’t spotted. A little concerned when he showed me the front number plate plinth was on upside down and a suspected front bumper respray at some point in the past, must have been done by a non franchise dealer I think? Can’t say I am overly impressed with Stratstone Cardiff, the bodywork has needed a lot of work to get it right. But now it’s near perfect.

[anonymous-user]

[anonymous-user]

Thanks for your post. Very interesting. When I went to collect the car I had a thorough look around it and the paintwork was perfect. Had it ceramic coated a few days later which showed up the problems. Wrongly, I didnt ask for paint correction at the time of getting it coated as I had presumed it was part of the service. The paint is now sorted but I know it is going to be a labour of love, I think mine is that black colour you mentioned.

I thought the biggest issue with vehicle paint has been the change from oil to water based, but I dont know much about it tbh.

[anonymous-user]

paddy328 said:

If you put a light like the one you have on your phone in the paint, does it have red flake or another colour?

No I dont believe so, just black with silver flecks in the paint.

[anonymous-user]

Stunning car. I would like to add some carbon bits like you have but the pricing is horrendous. Wheels look the biz too.