Nope - going in on a flatbed wednesday and two regional reps are coming to look at the car on thursday. The biggest issue is having them replicate the problem. Even for me it doesn't always happen. It seems to happen more after driving the car for longer periods of time. The last time it wouldn't start it took me three times to lock and unlock the car with the ECU to finally get it to start - outside a local restaurant (this gets embarassing). That was a couple of weeks ago around the same time it stalled out on me at the intersection. Since then I've only been on short drives and haven't had the problem.

I will say this - my wife is livid. I try to explain to her that it's a handbuilt car, etc. and these things can sometimes happen. It's hard for her to get her head around $$ spent vs. lack of reliability (I'm there too, but a bit more understanding). She's not a fan of spending money on anything but the necessities (she won't even let me buy her jewelry) so this is way outside of her tolerance level.

I will say this, though - we're going to dinner at a restaurant about and hour and a half from my house at the end of june and there are some great driving roads around where we're going - so we're taking the car. You can be sure that if I get stranded with her...well, I'm sure you can figure it out.

Of course for the dealer to replicate the problem they may need to log some serious miles. This, plus the miles from when they diagnosed the bad transmission module and the miles from the last service appointment where they couldn't replicate the problem, is definitely becoming a concern of mine. Granted they are flatbedding the car to the dealership, but it kills me that so many miles are being logged just for diagnostic purposes - especially when it comes time to either sell the car or trade it in.

BTW, I apologize to black penguin for posting this in your thread, I just wanted to answer Karl's question.

 

+997 Love it

 

@Dr. G, no probs.

I would star a tumbr blog with a very catchy name like V12 Vantage No Work, Or something.

I would then upload every issue you have had an every conversation with Aston. I would video all the nonsense and upload it. Tweet it, post it to FB, Instagram photos of the stranded car with tow trucks, pictures of it in the shop, start a pinterest stream etc.

Pretty soon they will realize your car in your hands is a liability for the brand. ask for a replacement or something.

At the very worst you get to vent.

I on the other hand will just really enjoy mine

 

Damn Penguin....my wife is going to be soooo mad at you. You just cost her a lot of money...now I have to upgrade my 09 V-8.
Beautiful car!! Of course I am partial to black. Thanks for the write-up and ENJOY!

 

Hmmm...

Until AM has told you buzz off and refused to address your concerns any further, and you are ready to forever wash your hands of AM, you might want to hold off on anything like that. Because you would be basically saying publically to them 'f*ck off', and that can't be undone.

 

I agree. I have been treated very well by the dealer and the reps that have contacted me so far. I sincerely hope they can figure out what is wrong with the car, as I truly love it. That being said, if they can't figure it out, I am hoping they understand how difficult it is to continue to drive a car that has intermittent starting issues - especially when I've been stranded in the car before. I would gladly take another Vantage S if they can't resolve the issues with this one.

 

I agree with spinecho also. No need for the nuclear option just yet. While this problem is, well, problematic, it's not like the car is a true lemon, at least not how I think of the term. It's likely a very minor issue that's causing all this trouble. Trick is to figure out what it is. As long as Aston is actively working toward that and is giving you good customer service, I'd let them continue to work on it.

 

Actually, by definition, it is a true lemon if they can't fix a recurring problem after three attemps. I guess, theoretically, the first non-start issues could have been related to the transmission module but it has still been back multiple times for the non-start. For me, it is more than simply "problematic" in that getting stranded costs me my time. I have pretty much given up on taking the car to work for fear of getting stuck there - although I have been taking the car out more since the last non-start and stalling event to see if I could replicate the problem and record it on my gopro for AM to look at the messages on the dash and see if the key bezel is turning red on non-starts (I can't remember). As stated previously, I don't think I'm driving the car on long enough trips to get it to happen. The AM rep said he will be putting some miles on the car to try to reproduce the issue. Hopefully it will all be sorted out.

 

Sorry, i thought you weren't Being treated right and had to sue for lemon protection.

 

What about filming the stalled car event on your iphone? Can show your attempts to start it, etc...

Maybe also bring a data logger and plug it in when it wont start and have it record the output so that the shop can take a look.

 

Glad you love the V12 -- it's an awesome car. I've said this before, but... the TTRS is not as quick as the V12V (it launches harder with its AWD, but otherwise a 4.7 V8V is quicker on paper). Needless to say, the experience is on a different planet.