DB9 Alloy Wheels - ?Warranty
Discussion
Hi guys,
My Dad's DB9 is suffering from some severe lacuer peel on the alloys.
It's an "05" reg car with the 18k miles and the 10-spoke design alloys.
When he purchased the car, I noticed a slight flaking of the lacquer inbetween the spokes around the centre of the wheel.
As I'm the one who cleans his car, I've been keeping an eye on this flaking over the 13 months of ownership. It's not dragistically changed....until the other day.
After a track day (the car's second), the lacquer had severely cracked all over the spokes and centre of the wheels - on all alloys to varying degrees.
I can only assume the high braking temperatures has done this.
Both the car's track days have been on the same circuit and we had no such problems before.
As me, and my Dad, think this is awful for a 4 year old car, we'll be taking it up with Aston Martin.
So now to my questions.
First of all, can someone tell me if these 10-spoke wheels have a specific name please?
Has anyone else had this flaking happen to their wheels?
Is this a common problem that Aston are aware of? I'm assuming this cracking is the result of poor quality wheel lacquer and/or paint, so would any refurb give a better quality paint or lacquer?
Are AM likely to replace/refurb the wheel under any kind of warranty? Or will they, at least, contribute to a refurb?
When taking it up, should we mention it's occurred during a track day?
If we have the wheels refurb'ed and track the car again, will the cracking return?
I look forward to reading some replies
Many thanks in advance,
Darren
My Dad's DB9 is suffering from some severe lacuer peel on the alloys.
It's an "05" reg car with the 18k miles and the 10-spoke design alloys.
When he purchased the car, I noticed a slight flaking of the lacquer inbetween the spokes around the centre of the wheel.
As I'm the one who cleans his car, I've been keeping an eye on this flaking over the 13 months of ownership. It's not dragistically changed....until the other day.
After a track day (the car's second), the lacquer had severely cracked all over the spokes and centre of the wheels - on all alloys to varying degrees.
I can only assume the high braking temperatures has done this.
Both the car's track days have been on the same circuit and we had no such problems before.
As me, and my Dad, think this is awful for a 4 year old car, we'll be taking it up with Aston Martin.
So now to my questions.
First of all, can someone tell me if these 10-spoke wheels have a specific name please?
Has anyone else had this flaking happen to their wheels?
Is this a common problem that Aston are aware of? I'm assuming this cracking is the result of poor quality wheel lacquer and/or paint, so would any refurb give a better quality paint or lacquer?
Are AM likely to replace/refurb the wheel under any kind of warranty? Or will they, at least, contribute to a refurb?
When taking it up, should we mention it's occurred during a track day?
If we have the wheels refurb'ed and track the car again, will the cracking return?
I look forward to reading some replies
Many thanks in advance,
Darren
There were only two wheel options on 05s - the standard ones (10 spoke, IIRC) and optional ones (12 spoke, again IIRC). Sounds like you have the standard ones.
Have you raised it with your dealer? Shown then the deterioration?
Aston may help you - but it is not an issue that I have heard much of (in fact, I can't ever recall peeling laquer being raised) on this or the AMOC forum. So it may be a one off. However, if it is unusual, then I guess they are going to want to know what you are using to clean the wheels. Acidic wheel cleaner? How quicly are you washing it off (they recommend within one minute)? Not to say that they won't help you but they may want to know if you have inadvertently caused or contributed to it. That will be annoying but there are sensible reasons for it both from a product liability point of view and an educational view point.
As far as cost goes, I'd say a quality refurb of each wheel is prob £65 per wheel (probably a bit less than that if done for a trade buyer like your dealer). So it isn't the end of the world even if Aston blank you on the issue.
I have a set of mint standard wheels in my garage if you want to buy another set. I put the SDP on my '05 a couple of years ago and never got round to selling it.
Have you raised it with your dealer? Shown then the deterioration?
Aston may help you - but it is not an issue that I have heard much of (in fact, I can't ever recall peeling laquer being raised) on this or the AMOC forum. So it may be a one off. However, if it is unusual, then I guess they are going to want to know what you are using to clean the wheels. Acidic wheel cleaner? How quicly are you washing it off (they recommend within one minute)? Not to say that they won't help you but they may want to know if you have inadvertently caused or contributed to it. That will be annoying but there are sensible reasons for it both from a product liability point of view and an educational view point.
As far as cost goes, I'd say a quality refurb of each wheel is prob £65 per wheel (probably a bit less than that if done for a trade buyer like your dealer). So it isn't the end of the world even if Aston blank you on the issue.
I have a set of mint standard wheels in my garage if you want to buy another set. I put the SDP on my '05 a couple of years ago and never got round to selling it.
Thanks for your replies, guys.
The wheel cleaner I use is a product by the American company Mother's. I've been using it for a over two years and have been using it on 5 other cars during that time, with no problems whatsoever.
The technique used for all the cars is spray on the product, aggitate using brushes, then rinse straight away. That's followed by a wash over using car shampoo and a final rinse.
Sorry, by Aston Martin, I meant our dealer
If it's a one off problem, hopefully that could work in our favour
I don't think Dad will want to go ahead with a 2nd set, but thank you for your offer
Darren
The wheel cleaner I use is a product by the American company Mother's. I've been using it for a over two years and have been using it on 5 other cars during that time, with no problems whatsoever.
The technique used for all the cars is spray on the product, aggitate using brushes, then rinse straight away. That's followed by a wash over using car shampoo and a final rinse.
Sorry, by Aston Martin, I meant our dealer
If it's a one off problem, hopefully that could work in our favour
I don't think Dad will want to go ahead with a 2nd set, but thank you for your offer
Darren
most Aston wheels get kerbed at some point in there life, and before selling the car to the next owner it is normal for private sellers and dealers to repair and repaint alloys......i suspect this is the case with yours......ask your local Aston/BMW/Merc ect dealer who they use to refurbish alloys and cough up the £200-£250 its will cost you......its not the end of the world.....I doubt if you will get them refurbished under warranty
michael gould said:
most Aston wheels get kerbed at some point in there life, and before selling the car to the next owner it is normal for private sellers and dealers to repair and repaint alloys......i suspect this is the case with yours......ask your local Aston/BMW/Merc ect dealer who they use to refurbish alloys and cough up the £200-£250 its will cost you......its not the end of the world.....I doubt if you will get them refurbished under warranty
Spot on , and no you will not get them under warranty.or track down who done them last , but if they have been kerbed since you have no chance.
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