This is exactly how I felt after I bought my 2007 Vantage from him...the 2010 purchase made me do a complete 180.

 

I've had stellar experiences with James Pea**** and Gary over there. I leased one and bought another (07 and 09). When I leased, all the paperwork was all done for me prior to me arriving and it took only 10 minutes to complete my purchase.

They've just been good to me overall and very honest about market, cars, pricing, etc.

I can't speak for their finance person of course and I can say that their service department doesn't always return my calls right away (which is annoying). At least the cars only need service every 10k miles.

As with every business, you can't always be perfect but how you respond to the situation is what separates the businesses that value their customers from the ones that don't.

I'll ping James to see what's going on with this situation.

 

How did you manage a lease? I thought that Aston did not offer one, and the leasing companies would not do an Aston?

 

Don't think that's true. Got an email from the local dealer here advertising leasing deals.

 

Recently?

 

Within the month.
http://www.parkplaceastonmartin.com/...-special-lease

 

I had no idea I had accomplished anything special. It was back in 2006 for a 2007 model. The lease was a very low % rate and it was my daily driver/company car. A beautiful Morning Frost White Vantage with an Iron Ore/Black interior. At the time, MFW was a custom order.

 

Agreed! I've known James for almost 20 years, back from his days at Symbolic on La Cienega. He's always been a great guy with integrity and excellent customer service

 

I recently purchased an 09 Aston Vantage from Newport Beach Aston Martin and so far have a very god experience. I was told that the title work could take two to three weeks before I could license and drive the car. Today is the end of the second week since I purchased the car. So far no title - thus the delivered car still sits there waiting to be driven.

First the good:

Financing: They got me an incredible interest rate in a single day through US Bank. I bank at Wells Fargo who are not the best for a used car loan and the rate was 3 percentage points less.

Price: Too good to be passed up. I was looking for a used 06 or 07 fully optioned, but decided just a little more for the 'certified' 09 which I paid a reasonable amount for an extended 2 year Aston factory (not a 3rd party) warranty. In the priced they agreed to ship to Minneapolis the car, and they paid the extra (out of their funds) for a quality covered shipper.

Condition. No surprises, they clearly represented the car and it's few cosmetic (very minor) flaws. The small dent, hardly noticeable when delivered above the drivers window I already fixed by Dent Kraft 95%, so they did it for free because it was not absolutely perfect. To the naked eye, you'd now have to know exactly where to look to notice the flaw. The car was dusty and interior not exactly clean, but I got VIP Detailing to get both interior and exterior looking factory new, for only $300.

Servicing: I needed an extra key (I lose keys) and the owners manual, and was able to order them at a reasonable price as a customer.

Sounds wonderful so far, and in Part Two I hope to keep up this story. However, I have my doubts that I'll get to license the car within their promise of two to three weeks. Talking to many other dealers who import and export exotic cars, I should have had my temporary tags 1 to 3 days after doing the paperwork. These dealers use a 3rd party title agent who is supposed to handle the transfer (I paid $201.50 extra in the sales for this service, a normal part of buying a car from a dealer). Due to what I feel is a screw up, there was about a 10 day delay to apply for the title work because Newport Beach Aston Martin had a long delay asking for information I could have supplied easily and instantly day one. As an individual I cannot get a temporary tag, but a dealer or the title agent can virtually instantly. At this beginning of the third week, I have no clue as to where we are in the process, and only just now getting an indication that they will attempt to find this information out. Frustrating - YOU BETCHA as they say in Minnesota, a State where I have a very limited time to enjoy this car until the weather is too bad.

Again, I was told it would be two to three weeks, yet EVERY other dealer in the industry I've talked to say I should have not waited but 1 to 3 days for the dealer or title agent to get me temporary tags. I suspect the main problem is in the agency they contract with - and why no communication?

Within the next 7 days, if I do get the license as promised I will report in Part 2, that everything went as promised... otherwise...

 

Wow- Good to know about your experiences... FYI- I am servicing my car at BH AM and I cant say enough good things.. john Zarrilli the service manager- Great communication, great customer service and the nicest guy!!!

 

It's not YET been three weeks of the time promised to get the car registered, however I did get a call from NBAM that said I should have the plates by mid week, which will be the end of the 2 to 3 weeks they quoted.

Again, I don't think the problem is with the dealer, but the agency they use when delivering cars outside California. I keep y'all posted if I get the plates and registration, or if I will have the nightmare others have had.

Still, ALL of the dealers here in Minnesota tell me this long of a wait is highly unusual.

 

Tomorrow it will be 4 weeks since i bought my sculpture of an Aston Vantage, as i have yet to get my plates to drive it and thus make the sculpture a car, from Aston Martin Of Newport Beach. Worse yet is their complete lack of caring about this situation, making matters much worse.

The GM told me that a Florida customer got his plates in a week, as if that would somehow make my situation better! Im pretty certain in General Management school they don't teach you to calm a pissed off customer by boasting about the one that did not get screwed.

My requests to talk directly to the contractor they hired to see what the hold up has been has been ignored.

An attorney gave me advice on which state agencies in California to lodge complaints.

More on this as this nightmare continues...

 

I just had some work done on my DB9 there, BH is definitely the way to go.

 

The staff at Aston Martin Newport Beach stopped answering my E-Mails and texts requests Thursday and it seemed as if they just did not give a damn, and I pretty much had it. In talking to an attorney in Newport Beach she gave me the State agencies to lodge format complaints. Yesterday morning I called Aston Martin in England to lodge a complaint which seemed to spark some interest on their part, which they forwarded to the States. By afternoon, with still no communication from Newport Beach, and while I was on the State Consumer protection Agency website to fill out their forms, I got a call back from Aston Martin which I repeated my story. Within a few hours I got an E-Mail from Newport Beach saying the plates will arrive at my home on Tuesday, keeping in mind they made prior promises I'd have the plates this week. Why they did not arrange the plates to be sent next day from an unsatisfied customer I simply do not understand.

Tuesday will be over a month since I purchased the car. Had I thought they cared and would take action I would have been satisfied, but there was little apparent action on their part, in communication they seemed irritated that I was complaining about not having plates especially when talking to other dealers in Minnesota who could not imagine why I could not get this solved within days.

I'll report if I actually get the plates delivered.

I guess all I can say is that if I was local to Newport Beach I'd be completely satisfied, but looking at this post nightmares and the way I was treated in communications, I might not have bought this car, even though the price was pretty good. The time taken away from earning money, and the aggravation, and stress would have been worthy me paying an extra $5K or $10K.

 

Wow. Glad I have a great dealership here in the Wash DC area. Pieter and the staff are top flight.