Aston Martin approved warranty - WEAK
Discussion
I bought my 2005 DB9 approved used from Aston Martin (un-named dealer) 6 months ago.
One of the main reasons for this was to make sure I managed the risk, and potential cost of repairs, that the official AM warranty should provide.
The other day, some of the LEDS in my passenger side rear light cluster failed (with no error on the dashboard strangley enough), basically the "outer" part. The result was that I have no brake light on the passenger side.
I was amazed that the dealer told me this wouldnt be covered under the warranty, though to their credit they are going to pay for the part, with me paying the labour to fit (half an hour).
Does this sound right? Surely this rear light should be covered? I thought it was only the ICE system and wear and tear items that would not be covered?
Thanks!
Ollie
One of the main reasons for this was to make sure I managed the risk, and potential cost of repairs, that the official AM warranty should provide.
The other day, some of the LEDS in my passenger side rear light cluster failed (with no error on the dashboard strangley enough), basically the "outer" part. The result was that I have no brake light on the passenger side.
I was amazed that the dealer told me this wouldnt be covered under the warranty, though to their credit they are going to pay for the part, with me paying the labour to fit (half an hour).
Does this sound right? Surely this rear light should be covered? I thought it was only the ICE system and wear and tear items that would not be covered?
Thanks!
Ollie
AFAIK they aren't covered by any warranty just as bulbs on any other car wouldn't be. It's unfortunate, and costly, when they go particularly as in theory they should last a lot longer than standard bulbs.
Hard to swallow, I know.
Edited to add that you've done particularly well to get the cluster FOC.
Hard to swallow, I know.
Edited to add that you've done particularly well to get the cluster FOC.
Edited by Steve*B on Saturday 1st January 18:57
Interesting...
What's actually written in the terms regarding Bulbs, Lamps, Headlights and Tail lights ?????
LED's as you may well know are not Bulbs or Lamps.. they are DIODES.. technically an electronic component.
Although the LED's make up a complete Tail Light Unit.. if the wording only covers Lamps and/or Bulbs then technically the LED's not being either "should" be covered.
Certainly worth checking.
also.. as to the actual fault... Try to retain your old one. After all it wasn't part of the offer if they didn't put it in writing or agree to keep it before hand ;-)
I am unsure how these things are built or wired.. but I can't see a lot of LED's all going faulty at once, unless they are fed through a common resistor which has shorted out and burnt them all out in one go.
It could well be a very simple fix.. maybe the dealer knows this, hence their offer to replace the part FOC. They may wish to re-work the old one and refit somewhere.
What's actually written in the terms regarding Bulbs, Lamps, Headlights and Tail lights ?????
LED's as you may well know are not Bulbs or Lamps.. they are DIODES.. technically an electronic component.
Although the LED's make up a complete Tail Light Unit.. if the wording only covers Lamps and/or Bulbs then technically the LED's not being either "should" be covered.
Certainly worth checking.
also.. as to the actual fault... Try to retain your old one. After all it wasn't part of the offer if they didn't put it in writing or agree to keep it before hand ;-)
I am unsure how these things are built or wired.. but I can't see a lot of LED's all going faulty at once, unless they are fed through a common resistor which has shorted out and burnt them all out in one go.
It could well be a very simple fix.. maybe the dealer knows this, hence their offer to replace the part FOC. They may wish to re-work the old one and refit somewhere.
the issue is not normally the leds but the electronic circuit board, having stripped a few it seems water ingress into the lamp shorts components on the board causing the failure in all i have tested the leds work perfectly, and currently the circuit boards are not available separately,
Thanks for the replies guys. I will have to check the warranty wording here I think, as I (perhaps naively) trusted the AM dealer.
Its only going to cost me £70 odd to fix, but its more about the principle here.
It is disappointing that I have a failure, as one previous poster alluded to - the manual pretty much suggests they should never fail!
Its only going to cost me £70 odd to fix, but its more about the principle here.
It is disappointing that I have a failure, as one previous poster alluded to - the manual pretty much suggests they should never fail!
rick-derby- said:
having stripped a few it seems water ingress into the lamp shorts components on the board causing the failure
Rick, any idea as to where on the cluster the water is getting in, top, bottom, etc? I'd like to try and avoid this area in future when cleaning as I've also just had one replaced.Cheers
Steve
rick-derby- said:
the issue is not normally the leds but the electronic circuit board, having stripped a few it seems water ingress into the lamp shorts components on the board causing the failure in all i have tested the leds work perfectly, and currently the circuit boards are not available separately,
Its not just an AM problem, my Audi A8 had some condensation in one of the taillights, and it was the board that had failed. I resoldered some of the LEDs and that brought them back to life, unfortunately I'm really crap at soldering, so melted some of the LEDS. They didn't work at all after that!Fortunately, there is a very well organised secondhand parts set-up for Audi, so I was able to replace the whole unit, but its probably the same for red AM taillights, as people upgrade to clear, the red ones pop up on ebay fairly often.
Gassing Station | Aston Martin | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff