Swayz- Agree... Reminds me of a VP I worked for many, many years go... His advice was make your deal going in then do the job or shut up & quit. Same here with a car deal. Do all the negotiating before a $1.00 changes hands... Make your deal going in, then just don't think about it... I had somewhat the same experience. Good overall, but the trust was not 100% reciprocal IMO... Happy to go into the details if anyone cares... Sorry to hear on the warranty side... I have had CPO BMW's in the 90's (ok experience with a 750iL) and great experiences with Mercedes Benz AMG's (05 E55, 08E63 and 12 E63 p30)... I would have expected similar from AM- Seems like the Auston dealer has a decent deal for service, free transport for up to 300 miles away. You use them for basic service at all or not so much given the experience thus far?


To the OP, let me know if you want to connect, and I'll go into more detail for you... Paying it forward....

 

Neither of my Aston's ever saw sunlight unless I was driving or washing them. I thought I was good on the Rapide for several years and then all of sudden the condensation started.

 

The service center has been superb. I've had a couple things fixed under warranty, and they were efficient with good communication. It was the sales side that has been difficult and a bit of a pain to get my issue with the warranty resolved.

 

FYI aston will cpo any car up to 10 years old. I had two dealers tell me that was not true so I contacted Aston corporate. I got a call back from head of North American pre-owned that verified AM will in fact certify card up to ten years. Just finishing up my 12 months on my 2015 V8 GT. Definitely was worth getting cpo. Replaced two wet tail lights, a couple of struts and recently a head light assembly. I am not renewing at the cost of 5600 for another year. But the cpo gave me great confidence for that first year as dealers will slide issues on to consumers, it is their DNA. But the cpo takes all the big worries away other than clutch, tires and brakes.

 

MSRP - what did you decide?

 

If these things go up any more and you'll end up paying MSRP.

Brighton - you washed you car, first mistake for taillights. Rain doesn't matter if you blast them with a downpour

I bought my 2010 with 5700 miles, it had a smoked clutch off the trailer.

I don't trust any dealers, factory or not, although it seems like there are a few good ones, a review from 5 years ago might not reflect their current management. Best advice, trust is earned, but not absolute. Although I've heard corporate is changing quite a bit and are less forgiving.

 

I also need help with buying a V8 Vantage and for that, I am searching for valuable information online and I am glad I found your post. I have earned a lot of money with the help of the www.igamblermi.com website because over there I found links to those sites through which I can make money. Now, I have enough money to buy Astin Martin Vantage.

 

I purchased a 23K mile, 2011 Vantage last year - my first Aston since 2007 NOT under a CPO or factory warranty. I purchased this from Fairfield Jaguar and as an owner of a 2007, 2009, three 2015's, and a 2017 V8 and V12 Vantages was specific on the pictures and items I wanted addressed and looked at. One tail light showed condensation and a video was made to show me that there were no leaks or seepages in fittings and the engine bay as well as a video showing switches all seemed to work. The interior from video and photos showed pristine - unusually good for Sahara Tan which tends to wear prematurely from my experience. The TPMS was not working so they took the car to Miller Aston to get all new TPMS (over $1,000) which was nice. All good and for $52K delivered tax and title to Minneapolis I thought it was more than fair deal, and I thought I covered all the basis. When the car was delivered and I walked into the trailer to help pull the car out I almost puked. A huge blemish under the right headlight, a quarter sized dent in the hood, and chips in the paint as well as head to toe car wash scratches that magically did not show in any of the pictures or video were instantly apparent. The front grill was obviously wavy. I had the car at Morries Aston Martin for a Quicksilver exhaust install (used-$1,500 total) with a quick look-see, and they pointed out seepages from the front timing cover and valve cover that somehow were 'missed' in the video of 'no-oil' sent. Morries said brakes were in good shape, plenty of life left. So, I had a choice. Demand a return which was not likely to be easy, or since I did get a good price, address the issues. Reselling the car in that condition was not an option.

I got someone to touch up many of the larger paint chips, and do a complete paint correction that got 90% of the scratches out leaving the deepest ones not as obvious for about $1K, including ceramic coating. The tires (fronts new) and sports wheels flawless, but I did change over to 20" front and 21" rear selling the stock wheels for $300 more than I paid the new wheels. The tires from Tire Rack with install at my warehouse was about $1,800. I got new glass buttons and a new Bamboo ski-slope from Aston Martin bits with install for about $2,500. Sold the old Ski Slope for $400. The 20,000 mile inspection from Morries was $2,100 and showed the clutch at about 1/2 life (phew). I also did the Velocity AP CAT delete at $1,200 installed. I also got an AMR grill from Aston Martin Bits and cut two holes in it and installed two LED motorcycle headlights inset in the grill with a professional wiring it to the headlights (about $1,500 total doing much of the work myself - by some miracle did not screw it up). Fake hood pins to hide the dent in the hood was $40. Xpel full front clip was $1,500. So with all the corrections, mods, etc, I have about $64K for a 2011 V8 Vantage that's worth what I have into it (maybe) and I'm OK with that. Seepages on the engine is not great but pretty typical. Never seen a drop of oil. I can live with that. The car won't see rain, and I hand clean the car, so the tail light condensation not likely a problem (for me). I have a C8 and Buick SUV for my daily drivers, this is my special occasion car and car show and 'Aston drives' car.

My one huge extravagance is it's at Vescio's Customizing as I write this, getting a Valiant-Ecosse V12 RS carbon fiber bonnet I ordered painted Midnight Blue, and installed tomorrow. V-E promised the hood would be an OEM replacement part and Bo Vescio verified that it seemed to fit perfectly. He also said the fit and finish was better than most carbon parts he see's at his exclusively custom shop. The bonnet was $4K which I thought more than fair, the shipping though was about $2K with the duties, and stuff, and the finishing in Midnight Blue, installed will be about $1,500. Not sure if I sell the car I'd recover that investment, but currently I'll have the second V-E bonnet in the USA.

Anyway, The prices people are asking for V8 Vantages are a bit on the absurd level - but with over 100 on Cars.com I seriously doubt any are getting the asking price, though BAT seems to be getting fair prices on them. When I started looking there was a 2012 Vantage-S British racing green with Sahara Tan interior absolutely pristine and CPO for $72K and like a moron, I tried to get a better price, and someone else grabbed it. I should have just bought it on the spot - no questions asked.

My biggest fear was that mechanically was to be as bad as the car was cosmetically. It seems to be somewhat solid mechanically. This is my first Vantage I've done more than just 20" wheels, so being imperfect anyways, I'm having fun. I think I've gone as far as one can go without destroying the elegance in the car - and having it be too much. Had I bought the 2012-S (or any perfect Vantage) I'd have kept it 100% original. So from that perspective, having some fun with it. Will post pictures when I get the car back. Done spending $$$$ (for now).

 

Prefurbia,

Interesting, and a lesson in how it's still risky to buy a car without seeing it first. When people tell me how "cheap" they can buy one of these, usually (not always) it turns out there is a reason. Or several. Sounds like you've taken a good approach, and you're "saving" a V8V in the process while hopefully having fun. About prices, they're all over the place. The asking prices for V8Vs may seem "absurd," but imo these cars remain hugely undervalued -- about BaT, look at the prices for Porsche 997s, and even 996s!