V12V Driving holiday - or maybe not
Discussion
Argh - my worst driving holiday scenario is in the process of playing out...
My wife and I left London this morning with a 2 week driving holiday taking in France, Switzerland, the mountain passes into Italy, Como, Monaco, Napoleon highway, etc etc...all in my pride and joy of 5 months V12 Vantage.
Well we've made it to a Chateau just outside Reims, and unfortunately she's losing oil badly (not my wife ;-)). There are significant amounts under the engine, the rear diffuser is covered in oil - maybe leaking from the oil cooler, or just blown back from the front. I've checked the dipstick and its hovering around min, whereas it was at max before we left.
Whatever, its certain that taking it any further is too risky, and I fear for the replacement car I'm going to be saddled with. In Feb I had an alternator failure (after 700 miles), and a diesel bluemotion E class merc estate was supplied. I feel sick.
Anyway - the point of this post is to see if anyone else has had any experience of big breakdowns like this and pushing for an equivalent replacement car - I'd prefer go home than chug down to monaco in an oil burner. (rather than an oil spiller)
My wife and I left London this morning with a 2 week driving holiday taking in France, Switzerland, the mountain passes into Italy, Como, Monaco, Napoleon highway, etc etc...all in my pride and joy of 5 months V12 Vantage.
Well we've made it to a Chateau just outside Reims, and unfortunately she's losing oil badly (not my wife ;-)). There are significant amounts under the engine, the rear diffuser is covered in oil - maybe leaking from the oil cooler, or just blown back from the front. I've checked the dipstick and its hovering around min, whereas it was at max before we left.
Whatever, its certain that taking it any further is too risky, and I fear for the replacement car I'm going to be saddled with. In Feb I had an alternator failure (after 700 miles), and a diesel bluemotion E class merc estate was supplied. I feel sick.
Anyway - the point of this post is to see if anyone else has had any experience of big breakdowns like this and pushing for an equivalent replacement car - I'd prefer go home than chug down to monaco in an oil burner. (rather than an oil spiller)
Aston Martin "assist" turned up - wouldn't even look at it. In fact they turned up with a recovery truck. Its going to be transferred to Paris on Monday and we are due in Switzerland tomorrow.
Have been offered a Merc C-class or BMW 3-series in replacement. I don't want to be ungrateful, but...
Have been offered a Merc C-class or BMW 3-series in replacement. I don't want to be ungrateful, but...
David W. said:
If it has died get it recovered and try to hire something nice.
What I'm worried about is getting the refund later on! I'm trying to work with Stratstone to agree something, but skeleton staff on a weekend only and nobody empowered to decide. If this wasn't the second serious breakdown in 2 months I wouldn't be quite so annoyed. I used to expect this from my 5 year old TVR Tuscan - the whole "will we make it?" lottery almost added an edge to a trip, but with an sub 1 year old AM I had my expectations set a little higher.
Grrrr....
johnxjsc1985 said:
If you still have oil then its not a catastrophic failure. did any warning lights come on? where was the majority of the oil found I can ask a friend of mine who has an Aston for some help he is also an expeirenced techincian on Jags /Astons.
Thanks for the offer but we've actually asked for it to be repatriated as we can't wait for it. It wasn't catastrophic, no warning lights or any mechanical indication that something was wrong, just the blue smoke and the smell of oil on the hot exhaust, a big mess on the rear diffuser, and a lot of oil dripping from the engine at the front. Its firmly under warranty so not the end of the world. Just hope AM will take pity on Monday and provide an upgrade to the 3-series currently sat outside!
MattE - really sorry to hear about your bad fortune. Hopefully it can be sorted quickly.
If you can get the recovery people to head south I can come up and collect you from La Manga in Southern Spain
I´ve just driven on the AP-92 through the Sierra Nevada to Seville, then back to Granada and the Alhambra Palace - 42 degrees celcius with snow on the mountains to the rear. Almost 1200 kms in total.
One key difference to your methodology - I left the DB9 at home and flicked the BDS.
I shall keep my fingers and toes crossed for you
If you can get the recovery people to head south I can come up and collect you from La Manga in Southern Spain
I´ve just driven on the AP-92 through the Sierra Nevada to Seville, then back to Granada and the Alhambra Palace - 42 degrees celcius with snow on the mountains to the rear. Almost 1200 kms in total.
One key difference to your methodology - I left the DB9 at home and flicked the BDS.
I shall keep my fingers and toes crossed for you
Gassing Station | Aston Martin | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff