Last December, I purchased a 2019 Vantage for ~$90k subject to a PPI which came back with some issues, mostly related to apparent paint & body work that hadn't been disclosed. I asked for comments here Request for Comments on PPI Report - 6SpeedOnline - Porsche Forum and Luxury Car Resource and subsequently cancelled the sale. Since that time, I've been looking for another AM to purchase, but I've been concentrating on late model DB9s & early DB11s instead of Vantages because I now believe that they would be slightly more practical. I also have been concentrating on cars that were covered under AM's Timeless certification process.

It's taken me awhile, but I think I found the right car. It is a 2014 DB9 at an Aston Martin dealership in Orlando, Florida. Coincidentally, I saw this car advertised last December when I almost bought the 2019 Vantage in Jacksonville. At the time, the Vantage was listed at $94,500, and the DB9 in Orlando was ~$80k. Since that time, the AM dealership has lowered the price of the DB9 in drips and drabs until it recently dropped just below $64k. Although the car is eligible to be certified, the dealership wasn't selling it that way. I made a full-price offer of $64k earlier this week, but only if the dealership would have it certified under the Timeless program. As you might expect, the dealership wants to split the cost of the certification, which the salesman says costs ~$5k. Here's the vehicle: https://www.astonmartinorlando.com/used-Orlando-2014-Aston+Martin-DB9-+-SCFFDAAM5EGA15960]2014 Aston Martin DB9 Base | Orlando, FL (astonmartinorlando.com)

At this price point and with a 10-year-old vehicle, I'm not as concerned with any paintwork that might have been done. (FWIW, the Carfax is clean & the vehicle looks great to my untrained eyes.) And the 1-year warranty gives me some assurance that I won't run into any exorbitantly priced mechanical issues to repair, at least for one year.

I am interested in any comments anyone might have about this particular car, and/or my price negotiation to this point. Also, is anybody familiar with the Timeless certification process itself? Is the $5k certification cost simply purchasing a 1-yr warranty from AM, or is there actually an additional inspection that the car is going to go through in order to ensure that it meets AM's standards for placement into the program?

Once again, any and all comments will be appreciated. Thanks.[/url]

 

This is my dealership. I get my dealer service here. They are generally decent folks.

 

Make doubly sure that the vehicle has received the 30k coil pack service. At dealer prices, that’s a $5000 maintenance bill you shouldn’t have to pay,.

 

Good to know! Being from that area, do you know anyone local who could do a PPI for me? When I almost bought a Vantage in Jacksonville back in December, I used Lemon Squad. The report was pretty good, but it took them 4 days before they got out to the dealership to inspect the vehicle and another 2 days to get me the report.

 

Thanks for that info. Since the car has been serviced since inception at the same dealership that is now selling the car, I'll see if I can get the service records to find out exactly what was done. That said, I thought that I had read that the coil packs on the V12s were to be serviced at 70k miles, not 30k. But I'm still learning about these cars, so I could have that wrong.

 

I picked up a friend there last week. Paulo knows I like DB 9's so he showed it to me. It looks like it was well cared for. I can't remember if it had PPF? Get the service records..... better yet fly into Orlando and drive it. MCO is 30 min from the dealership and my guess is they'll pick you up. With advance planning you could have a PPI done with you present. The mileage shows that the car was enjoyed. To me, that's better than sitting in the garage. I would research the coil pack question. The earlier models (pre 2009) for sure, needed attention after 25/30K miles. Good luck.

 

don byrd is thy service manager. He did the PPI on my vantage and i was able to join the tech on a walk around

 

Wait a minute. Are you suggesting that I should get a PPI from the same dealership that is selling the car? That's something I hadn't even thought to do. (BTW, as an added twist, my sales person's last name is also Byrd.)

 

What's interesting (and perhaps a little concerning) is how the mileage was added. Only 6k miles over the first six years and then 30k miles in the final two before the car was traded in. I have asked for the service records to see what, if anything, was addressed during or after this two-year period besides the usual fluid changes.and new tires.

 

I went through much the same thought process last year when I purchased my 2015 DB9 from a dealership in California. It was advertised as a Timeless certified car but I ended up buying it for about $6k less without the certification. The reality is that there isn’t a lot that the dealers do to get a car certified. Their cost is the cost of the 1 year warranty (which my dealer was willing to sell me separately for about $4.5k) plus all officially required maintenance* up to the point of the sale AND anything coming up in the next 3 months. The car must be less than 10 years old** and the dealers generally bring it up to an acceptable cosmetic standard***, although this does vary by dealer.

A few footnotes:

*Keep in mind that officially required maintenance is not the same as what a diligent owner might want to do. Specifically about coils, as this has come up in the thread - you are correct that the official recommendation is 70k miles with no time specified, and for this reason it’s highly unlikely that the dealer would have done this for this car and a virtual certainty that they won’t do it for the certification. But it’s commonly stated in the forums that about 40k miles is when a proactive owner should start thinking about this. So it’s coming up for this car but unless the previous owner asked to have it done on their nickel, it’s probably not happened yet.

**Age of car. You should double check that this car still qualifies. It may do so - but just barely.

***Cosmetics. This is not covered by the certified warranty at all, so you should be absolutely sure that the car meets your own standards. It’s more of a risk when a car is being sold out of state as the dealer knows that the customer won’t be around to harangue them in case something was found after the sale, and also that they likely do not represent repeat business.

A final point is that AM state that a car needs to be “properly maintained” for them to honor anything under the certified warranty. To me that was the tipping point in not paying for the certification as I plan to DIY maintain my car.

Hope you find these observations helpful and good luck with your search!

 

i think it's Don Byrds son

Sure. Go thru the PPI the dealer is the best place because they know the car and should give you a fair representation of the car... it's not like you're dealing with CarMax or other used car lot

 

If they were ever planning to sell the car as certified they would have already performed an inspection and should be prepared and able to give that to you. IMHO you’re not going to get any better than that from a PPI at the same dealer - for sure they’re not going to point out any more flaws than what they’ve already recorded as part of their certification inspection!

 

Yes, thank you very much!

Your observation about the cost is pretty much what my experience has been. Initially, when I asked to have it certified as part of the sale, I assumed that it would go under an additional inspection process, but the salesman disabused me of that notion and confirmed that the car had already been inspected and that all that was involved was to purchase the Timeless warranty from AM. He stated that the cost was ~$6k (as you noted as well). He then added that the dealership's cost was $5k, and he offered to "split" the cost with the dealership paying $3k and me upping my offer by $2k.

I've asked for all the service records and have asked what I can expect to pay as part of the 40k service if it won't be within the ambit of the Timeless 3month/3k future service coverage period. (currently 36k on the clock) I've also inquired about the cost of airbag and seat tensioners replacement since that is recommended at the 10-year mark. BTW, I keep bringing up the cost of serving to my salesperson to emphasize that I will be a continuing customer there. Even though they are out-of-state, they are about equidistant to my home as the in-state AM dealership in Atlanta (~290 miles). And actually, the AM dealership in Charlotte, NC is even a few miles closer, but we have relatives in Orlando so I'd probably go there anyway.

Thanks again for all your comments.

 

I'd want an B&O in my DB9, but other than that it looks cool. The certification process does not cost the dealer, the warranty does. For a 2K or less you could get the car up to date on service if you are not confident on what has or hasn't been done.

 

“. . . the cost of airbag and seat tensioners replacement since that is recommended at the 10-year mark . . .”
Just curious as to where you got that info, as it’s not in the shop manual for my older DB-9 and this is the first time I’ve heard it?