Disastrous start
Discussion
Well, I was hoping that by now I'd be typing to let you all know how the first 48 hours of V8 ownership had gone. Regaling you with tales of my wife's and my drive to Manchester this weekend, and back today via the Lake District. Oh dear...
My car arrived at the dealership on Wednesday, and was due to be PDIed on Thursday, with me collecting it on Friday at 8am. I was having sleepless nights all week.
I got the call on Thursday afternoon to say that all was not well. A coolant leak had been discovered, and the source couldn't be found. Car will not be ready on Friday morning. Very disappointed.
Friday lunchtime, the news arrived that the car had a faulty gasket. Aston Martin couldn't understand why, and therefore wanted the engine back (not the car, just the engine). A new engine would be dispatched to the dealership next week and fitted to my brand new car on its arrival.
I have declined the kind offer of a new engine, and decided to reject the entire car instead. I can't understand what Aston Martin are thinking of. Why would I want the dealership to fit an entire new engine to my brand new £90k car on day 0, before I'd even seen it! Imagine what that would do for the resale value when HP checked (yes, it had been registered on Thursday).
I'm therefore absolutely gutted. I'm going to see the dealer on Monday to find out what's next. I guess that if they reorder a new car, I'll be lucky to see it before June. However, there's no way I would accept the Aston Martin proposed solution. The car had been in test for at least a week before it arrived at the dealership... what on earth were they testing? The sun visors?
What would you do???
As an aside, saw a Carrera GT outside the hotel in Manchester. It was dirty, but still stunning. That cheared me up, until this morning when a Vanquish was parked outside and I almost cried.
My car arrived at the dealership on Wednesday, and was due to be PDIed on Thursday, with me collecting it on Friday at 8am. I was having sleepless nights all week.
I got the call on Thursday afternoon to say that all was not well. A coolant leak had been discovered, and the source couldn't be found. Car will not be ready on Friday morning. Very disappointed.
Friday lunchtime, the news arrived that the car had a faulty gasket. Aston Martin couldn't understand why, and therefore wanted the engine back (not the car, just the engine). A new engine would be dispatched to the dealership next week and fitted to my brand new car on its arrival.
I have declined the kind offer of a new engine, and decided to reject the entire car instead. I can't understand what Aston Martin are thinking of. Why would I want the dealership to fit an entire new engine to my brand new £90k car on day 0, before I'd even seen it! Imagine what that would do for the resale value when HP checked (yes, it had been registered on Thursday).
I'm therefore absolutely gutted. I'm going to see the dealer on Monday to find out what's next. I guess that if they reorder a new car, I'll be lucky to see it before June. However, there's no way I would accept the Aston Martin proposed solution. The car had been in test for at least a week before it arrived at the dealership... what on earth were they testing? The sun visors?
What would you do???
As an aside, saw a Carrera GT outside the hotel in Manchester. It was dirty, but still stunning. That cheared me up, until this morning when a Vanquish was parked outside and I almost cried.
los angeles said:
But what would be your reaction if AM had caught the faults while the car was still at the factory and had been candid about it? It's in the nature of car assembly that every-so-often bits don't fit or work properly but that doesn't mean the entire car gets deleted.
I would prefer the factory to be carrying out thorough checks before the cars are released and if necessary swapping engines rather than asking the dealer to do it (not that I don't think that the dealer could do it). This isn't an option at this stage though.
Because the car has already been registered, the log book / any HPI check would show an engine change. Not the most attractive thing to any future purchaser! Any changes prior to registration (i.e. during off-line testing at AM) wouldn't show up.
I do have my investment and future residual to consider!
>> Edited by nick ne on Sunday 19th March 14:20
williamp said:
I'm guessing that they were offering you a "new engine" temporarily, so yo can use yours while they check the fault. If this is the csse, I would insts on the new engine (matching numbers, etc) once it is ready.
Would this solution still show on the hpi check?
The new engine was a permanent solution, William. I don't know whether a temporary engine change would show up - you've got me there!
so we all went to the pub in the Aston 
los angeles said:
Saw a Cayman and AMV8 parked on the street block the other day, and the same dark grey, yards apart. Both looked terrific but the Cayman far more of a sports car. It took off minutes later like a startled hawk. Beautiful car, especially on the move.
What on earth have you been smoking, LA?
Granted, the Cayman works better in the flesh than on photo's... but it's still a rather awkward derivation of a car that wasn't too beautiful to begin with. Although now, at least there's no mistaking which way it's pointing...
900T-R said:
Saw a Cayman and AMV8 parked on the street block the other day, and the same dark grey, yards apart. Both looked terrific but the Cayman far more of a sports car. It took off minutes later like a startled hawk. Beautiful car, especially on the move.
What on earth have you been smoking, LA?
Although now, at least there's no mistaking which way it's pointing...
I actually prefer the look of the Cayman to the 911. Something to do with the rear wheel arches I think. Not as classy as the AMV8 though. Different league.
justinp1 said:
I actually prefer the look of the Cayman to the 911. Something to do with the rear wheel arches I think. Not as classy as the AMV8 though. Different league.
Me too!!! Different league due to £40K price difference me thinks!!!! I'm still aiming for the AMV8 once my house is sold but with all these engine issues I must admit I am considering a Cayman and pocketing the £40K difference!!!
Well, I've been talking to the dealer for the past 2 days, and no final resolution yet.
I suggested yesterday that they re-order my car in the same spec, and loan me a V8 in the meantime. That suggestion didn't get very far!
If I reorder today, the next build slot is July, which as we all know could slip, so the car could arrive just in time for winter - not ideal.
They have offered to get me into another car in the meantime with a guaranteed buy-back price when the V8 arrives, although I'm not keen on that idea really.
They're currently trying to source an unregistered car as close to my spec as possible, and I understand that they've asked Aston Martin to do the same. Should know by the end of this week whether there's anything available.
The only other option is to get my deposit back and walk away, which would be extremely disappointing after the three year wait.
I have to say that the dealership team have been very good. I genuinely believe that they're sympathetic, and are doing what they can. The only thing I disagree with them on is the fact that engine change isn't a problem. The overwhelming feedback I've had from family, friends, this site and the AMOC site has been that rejecting the car is the right thing to do. Only the dealership (and incidentally a prominent motoring journalist who's the fiance of a good friend of mine) have said the opposite.
Interestingly, the dealership is also de-registering the car now. This will take my number plate off it and put it back onto retention, but I think it'll also delete the engine change from the log book, so that won't appear for the next buyer. Not sure that's the case, but someone may buy my car and their log book will have the new engine number on it and no reference to the old one. Although that may not be the case as the chassis number may show up as being previously registered... anyway, it would be interesting to see what happens there.
Anyway, by the end of the week, I'll know whether I'm getting one, or have £90k burning a hole in my back pocket.
I suggested yesterday that they re-order my car in the same spec, and loan me a V8 in the meantime. That suggestion didn't get very far!
If I reorder today, the next build slot is July, which as we all know could slip, so the car could arrive just in time for winter - not ideal.
They have offered to get me into another car in the meantime with a guaranteed buy-back price when the V8 arrives, although I'm not keen on that idea really.
They're currently trying to source an unregistered car as close to my spec as possible, and I understand that they've asked Aston Martin to do the same. Should know by the end of this week whether there's anything available.
The only other option is to get my deposit back and walk away, which would be extremely disappointing after the three year wait.
I have to say that the dealership team have been very good. I genuinely believe that they're sympathetic, and are doing what they can. The only thing I disagree with them on is the fact that engine change isn't a problem. The overwhelming feedback I've had from family, friends, this site and the AMOC site has been that rejecting the car is the right thing to do. Only the dealership (and incidentally a prominent motoring journalist who's the fiance of a good friend of mine) have said the opposite.
Interestingly, the dealership is also de-registering the car now. This will take my number plate off it and put it back onto retention, but I think it'll also delete the engine change from the log book, so that won't appear for the next buyer. Not sure that's the case, but someone may buy my car and their log book will have the new engine number on it and no reference to the old one. Although that may not be the case as the chassis number may show up as being previously registered... anyway, it would be interesting to see what happens there.
Anyway, by the end of the week, I'll know whether I'm getting one, or have £90k burning a hole in my back pocket.
los angeles said:
I have declined the kind offer of a new engine, and decided to reject the entire car instead. I can't understand what Aston Martin are thinking of. Why would I want the dealership to fit an entire new engine to my brand new £90k car on day 0, before I'd even seen it!
No no no no no no Goddam no! It is not the bloody nature at all, it is poor process engineering. How many times do I have to nail this into your head for this concept to register?
In mitigation of Aston however, please consider the following. They are moving from traditional British Hero/guru based engineering to modern process engineering. It takes time and money to get it right or even to start getting close to getting it right. Their efforts in this regard will get better as their customer base and experience expands.
For all the frustrations this transitioning can cause, Im afraid I cant stress highly enough how massively important and imperative this change is. Any mass production, complex system engineering simply will not exist in this country without it. It is that simple. Ultimately consumers will benefit far more than the frustrations they feel, but for now there is no way to sugar coat the pill. It must be done.
Appalling story.
There is much in the ownsership experience of stoopid cars which leaves one contemplating the hanging tree at the bottom of the orchard.
Every time I experience/hear/read something like this I cannot help thinking that the poor sod stumping up would not have been better simply losing all sense of perspective, grabbing a 200% proof hit of EVO IX FQ400, whilst enjoying a lifelong subscription to Bitter, Fit Crack Monthly and beers of the Alsace.
Tell Aston Martin to stick it in their bottom.
There is much in the ownsership experience of stoopid cars which leaves one contemplating the hanging tree at the bottom of the orchard.
Every time I experience/hear/read something like this I cannot help thinking that the poor sod stumping up would not have been better simply losing all sense of perspective, grabbing a 200% proof hit of EVO IX FQ400, whilst enjoying a lifelong subscription to Bitter, Fit Crack Monthly and beers of the Alsace.
Tell Aston Martin to stick it in their bottom.
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