Vantage clutch
Discussion
I bought a 2009 V8V with 6,000 miles from a main dealer. 1,000 miles later the clutch has gone. Neither AM or the dealer has any interest in contributing to the £3,000+ bill. Without any discussion the damage is clearly my fault. Am I being unreasonable in being extremely hacked off or is this part of the ownership experience? For the avoidance of doubt, I still love the car, and after 12 years of TVR ownership am used to paying eye watering bills!
Sorry to hear. IMHO 7,000mls for a clutch to go is ridiculous.
How exactly are they saying you are to blame? When you purchased, was there no warranty on the car, and if so what does it cover?
Have they actually diagnosed the problem to be able to say categorically its your fault?
If all other routes fail I would be inclined to get the car up to Rick at DMS, he will probably do a better deal and a better job.
I would, however be making a lot of noise at the dealers 1st.
Good luck
Di
How exactly are they saying you are to blame? When you purchased, was there no warranty on the car, and if so what does it cover?
Have they actually diagnosed the problem to be able to say categorically its your fault?
If all other routes fail I would be inclined to get the car up to Rick at DMS, he will probably do a better deal and a better job.
I would, however be making a lot of noise at the dealers 1st.
Good luck
Di
shocking...they should least offer some goodwill with such a short space of time ....
did you do the 1K miles in 1 month though or 6 months? ..is it sportshift? ...heard of a few sporthift ones on here and AMOC having issues
maybe do some research on here/AMOC forum, find some more examples of when its gone sub 10K miles and what their dealers did for them...Im sure precedence has been set somewhere else when this happened...print off the threads, build a case and send to customer services
... regardless, something is not right, if its gone in 7K miles...as comparison, Im near 60K miles on my original clutch in my Jan 06 Vantage ...and hoping to see 70K (touch wood!)
did you do the 1K miles in 1 month though or 6 months? ..is it sportshift? ...heard of a few sporthift ones on here and AMOC having issues
maybe do some research on here/AMOC forum, find some more examples of when its gone sub 10K miles and what their dealers did for them...Im sure precedence has been set somewhere else when this happened...print off the threads, build a case and send to customer services
... regardless, something is not right, if its gone in 7K miles...as comparison, Im near 60K miles on my original clutch in my Jan 06 Vantage ...and hoping to see 70K (touch wood!)
REM2112 said:
I bought a 2009 V8V with 6,000 miles from a main dealer. 1,000 miles later the clutch has gone. Neither AM or the dealer has any interest in contributing to the £3,000+ bill. Without any discussion the damage is clearly my fault. Am I being unreasonable in being extremely hacked off or is this part of the ownership experience? For the avoidance of doubt, I still love the car, and after 12 years of TVR ownership am used to paying eye watering bills!
Few things:1. Does the dealer know you? I mean - does he know how you drive?
2. Sportshift or manual?
3. On the 140 point check was the car in good shape?
4. Have you spoken to the previous keeper(s)? Logbook/V5 stalking ain't cool but what the hell?
5. Have you put this complaint in writing to the dealer principal?
6. Ditto to Chris Baker at Gaydon - General Manager - After Sales Operations
7. Ditto to Andy Hopkins at Gaydon - Customer Service and Field Support Manager
If the dealer knows you and knows what sort of driver you are then they have probably taken a decision based on that knowledge. If you are not known to the dealer then can you show that you are a "moderate" driver? If - for example - you had an early Gallardo and were on one clutch after 30,000 miles then that would be in your favour.
Edited by JohnG1 on Friday 13th May 08:43
First off sorry to hear about your issue. No that is not normal lifespan for a clutch. However, they are not the beefiest clutch ever designed for a car. If the previous owner liked doing F1 style starts from every traffic light then it could cause the clutch to only last that length of time.
I would right a letter to the Dealer Principle outlining your issue, lack of help from his staff etc. Without threatening him suggest that as they sold you the car a clutch only lasting for 100 miles means it is not fit for purpose.
If all else fails to get a response then take it to DMS, it will save on labour costs and you are guaranteed to get a fantastic job done .
I would right a letter to the Dealer Principle outlining your issue, lack of help from his staff etc. Without threatening him suggest that as they sold you the car a clutch only lasting for 100 miles means it is not fit for purpose.
If all else fails to get a response then take it to DMS, it will save on labour costs and you are guaranteed to get a fantastic job done .
Neil1300R said:
If the previous owner liked doing F1 style starts from every traffic light then it could cause the clutch to only last that length of time.
Or perhaps, a few too many Track Days.A few weeks back we had a bit of banter against Michael Gould regarding him advising people not to buy tracked cars....
Hmmmm. Maybe he had a point ????
mikey k said:
On an 09 car there ought to be some discussion about warranty as well.
Disagree. If you bought the car new and the clutch was gone within a few months you could say it was not of "merchantable quality" but it's a two year old car. So the car was of merchantable quality.I think the OP is really reliant on AM showing goodwill and that depends on the points in my earlier post.
I had some mechanical issues with my V8 and I found AM to be very hard to deal with but they did the right thing eventually....
Jockman said:
Or perhaps, a few too many Track Days.
A few weeks back we had a bit of banter against Michael Gould regarding him advising people not to buy tracked cars....
Hmmmm. Maybe he had a point ????
No no no Jockman!!!A few weeks back we had a bit of banter against Michael Gould regarding him advising people not to buy tracked cars....
Hmmmm. Maybe he had a point ????
You can't write Micheal Gould was right!
We will never hear the end of it
7K sounds bonkers. We're at 36k on original item and I know other PHers have done moer than that.
As well as Rick/DMS it might also be worth mentioning that apparently Bamford Rose do a different (lighter=improved?) clutch/flywheel assembly as detailed here:-
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
If you do end up having to stump up for a clutch, might be worth weighing up the options.
Anyone sampled one of these yet?
disclaimer... I've nothing to do with Aston, DMS or Bamford Rose!
You pays yer money.
Pete
As well as Rick/DMS it might also be worth mentioning that apparently Bamford Rose do a different (lighter=improved?) clutch/flywheel assembly as detailed here:-
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
If you do end up having to stump up for a clutch, might be worth weighing up the options.
Anyone sampled one of these yet?
disclaimer... I've nothing to do with Aston, DMS or Bamford Rose!
You pays yer money.
Pete
I have seen lorry drivers that have burnt out clutches just by taken them off the lorry.
It all depends on how it is driven.
Get the dealer to take the clutch out for inspection , as the as been some issue's with clutches (Warranty), but if it is down to wear and tear speak to the DP , as its is clearly not all your fault, and you are a new customer , and i am sure the service department will want your furture work.
Ask them to measure the tyres and brake pads , as they should have the depths of these when you brought it , they can then see if the miles you have covered have been hard miles.
TO everyone else that keeps going on about taking to an indy , why ,most of the cost is the parts , they can not get them any cheaper.
Labour is about 6 hours for a V8.(again ask for discount)
And to the comment about , they will do a better Job , come on really.
Its not a hard job , how can someone how has been trained by aston martin do a worse job than someone who isnt.
At the end of the day as i said it isnt a hard job.
It all depends on how it is driven.
Get the dealer to take the clutch out for inspection , as the as been some issue's with clutches (Warranty), but if it is down to wear and tear speak to the DP , as its is clearly not all your fault, and you are a new customer , and i am sure the service department will want your furture work.
Ask them to measure the tyres and brake pads , as they should have the depths of these when you brought it , they can then see if the miles you have covered have been hard miles.
TO everyone else that keeps going on about taking to an indy , why ,most of the cost is the parts , they can not get them any cheaper.
Labour is about 6 hours for a V8.(again ask for discount)
And to the comment about , they will do a better Job , come on really.
Its not a hard job , how can someone how has been trained by aston martin do a worse job than someone who isnt.
At the end of the day as i said it isnt a hard job.
Clutches are never covered on warranties on used cars (they're even excluded on new ones). They are consumable items, the life of which is more or less totally dependent on how the car has been driven.
Was the dealer an AM main dealer? And as someone else mentioned, are you known to them? You will have more chance at "good will" if the answers are yes.
In all comms to them, be very polite, but firm. Being anything other will get you in the opposite direction to where you want to be.
blackice and John give some good suggestions (though tbh blackice, you might want to phone up an indie for a quote...main dealer hourly rates can be 100 quid an hour or more over indie's...and 600 quid is better in the customer's pocket frankly. Especially for a simple job!).
Was the dealer an AM main dealer? And as someone else mentioned, are you known to them? You will have more chance at "good will" if the answers are yes.
In all comms to them, be very polite, but firm. Being anything other will get you in the opposite direction to where you want to be.
blackice and John give some good suggestions (though tbh blackice, you might want to phone up an indie for a quote...main dealer hourly rates can be 100 quid an hour or more over indie's...and 600 quid is better in the customer's pocket frankly. Especially for a simple job!).
Murph7355 said:
Clutches are never covered on warranties on used cars (they're even excluded on new ones). They are consumable items, the life of which is more or less totally dependent on how the car has been driven.
Was the dealer an AM main dealer? And as someone else mentioned, are you known to them? You will have more chance at "good will" if the answers are yes.
In all comms to them, be very polite, but firm. Being anything other will get you in the opposite direction to where you want to be.
blackice and John give some good suggestions (though tbh blackice, you might want to phone up an indie for a quote...main dealer hourly rates can be 100 quid an hour or more over indie's...and 600 quid is better in the customer's pocket frankly. Especially for a simple job!).
Respect what you are saying , but we have changed clutches under warratny , in fact did one last week,Clutches can failWas the dealer an AM main dealer? And as someone else mentioned, are you known to them? You will have more chance at "good will" if the answers are yes.
In all comms to them, be very polite, but firm. Being anything other will get you in the opposite direction to where you want to be.
blackice and John give some good suggestions (though tbh blackice, you might want to phone up an indie for a quote...main dealer hourly rates can be 100 quid an hour or more over indie's...and 600 quid is better in the customer's pocket frankly. Especially for a simple job!).
I am aware of indie prices , and my hourly rate , but i would much prefer to have the work than not , and will accomadate as much as i can , to make owning an aston less painful, in terms of cost etc ;-)
JohnG1 said:
Disagree. If you bought the car new and the clutch was gone within a few months you could say it was not of "merchantable quality" but it's a two year old car. So the car was of merchantable quality.
I think the OP is really reliant on AM showing goodwill and that depends on the points in my earlier post.
I had some mechanical issues with my V8 and I found AM to be very hard to deal with but they did the right thing eventually....
Your entitled I think the OP is really reliant on AM showing goodwill and that depends on the points in my earlier post.
I had some mechanical issues with my V8 and I found AM to be very hard to deal with but they did the right thing eventually....
However 7k miles on a 2 year old car seems premature
Yes it could have been abused
Either way I still maintain AM ought to be a bit more proactive in preventing this sort of thread
Ice's suggestion is good, but the dealer ought to have stated they will negotiate with AM if it is found to be a component failure NOT caused by abuse.
blackice1 said:
Respect what you are saying , but we have changed clutches under warratny , in fact did one last week,Clutches can fail
I am aware of indie prices , and my hourly rate , but i would much prefer to have the work than not , and will accomadate as much as i can , to make owning an aston less painful, in terms of cost etc ;-)
That would be mine. It actually feels better than new now.I am aware of indie prices , and my hourly rate , but i would much prefer to have the work than not , and will accomadate as much as i can , to make owning an aston less painful, in terms of cost etc ;-)
Richard
Edited by revs88 on Friday 13th May 12:47
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