Its hard to deny that is one very very very beautiful looking car. I think as far as reliability goes i have heard of some horror stories where Astons are concerned, but that said Porsche is no cleanskin either, although the stories aren't nearly as horrible. Perhaps the OP can elaborate on the dash rings and what was done to correct the particular problem? I trust he didn't just superglue them back on?

 

I would actually agree with the german build quality bit. My 997.2 Targa 4 burned oil like no other (1 qt/600 miles), and the Porsche dealership refused to look into it, claiming it was within "Porsche approved limits." I was pissed, considering I had to fill my car with oil every other time I visited the gas station, and finally pushed them to run a test of oil consumption. After a 2 week long, 1500 mile test, they still claimed this was "normal." I pushed them to look at the engine, and they found out one of the cylinders was cracked and leaking air. Ended up having to replace the whole engine. Since then, it's been 4000 break in miles on the new engine, not a single drop in oil level. Note, I bought this car brand new from the dealership, no accidents, not been tracked, nothing.

As for the Aston dials, I will admit, to get this to happen I had to park it outside in Tahoe in the snow overnight. I'd imagine not many Aston owners do this, but I've parked my Targa out in the snow overnight before and its dials didn't fall off.

 

I didn't superglue them on, the dealer did:P Literally, there was glue involved...

Apparently the low temperature had caused some internal plastic part to contract enough to detach it from the bit that holds the dial in place. When I fiddled with it in the morning, it hadn't warmed back up/expanded yet and it just came off in my hand.

Considering I go to tahoe a lot, this has happened with other cars (roof open/close rocker on the Targa for one) so it's not a huge ding on AM, but it doesn't make me feel like it's substantially better than anybody else either.

 

 

Jasper,

That is nothing but irrefutable proof of a conspiracy. Astons's CEO, ex-Porsche engineer Ulrich Bez, is deliberately attempting to sabotage Aston Martin -- there can be no other reason for such an utter atrocity.

 

Obviously, dials shouldn't fall off of any car, but thank you, droppedclutch, for clarifying the circumstances under which the dial came off. FWIW, I live in the New York area, and while I have never driven my V8 Vantage in the salt (nor my 993), it has been out in bitterly cold weather numerous times, and nothing has fallen off. On some of the Aston forums there are a couple of Aston owners from Scandinavia (where the temp has been known to get pretty low from time to time ) who, to the best of my knowledge, have never reported this problem either.

As far as horror stories are concerned, I have to say that I’d greatly prefer the risk of an occasional electrical glitch or door lock module failure on an Aston to the intermediate shaft failure and consequent catastrophically grenading M96 and M97 Porsche engines, along with the porous and/or structural engine block issues and failures, not to mention oval rear main seals. As a long-term Porsche fan and owner, I have to say Porsche should be severely embarrassed by these things. I know that most M96/97 engines won’t go BANG, but far too many of them have, and will. Hopefully, the new engine (997.2 - on) will prove to be a lot more worthy. I wonder if it will be raced, now that the Metzger engine is no more.

For anyone concerned about the reliability or durability of the current generation Astons, have a look at the AMOC forum and the Pistonheads forum – there is a lot of information there about the good and the bad. Overall, I think you’ll find that the vast majority have had excellent service from our Astons, and many are used daily in all kinds of weather. My car has been nearly flawless so far after almost 2.5 years, and the build quality appears to be truly superb.

 

Manifold: I suggest your Porsche would make this stretch of road, with no traffic, a great bit of fun as well. We have to look for the opportunities to release the beast.

 

Thanks for your input on your experiences with owning an Aston. I will definitely be lurking on those forums in order to further my research. Everyone may have been dreaming of Ferraris Lambos and Porsches when they were younger, but I have always had my eye on Astons. I even used to imagine going on a spirited drive in an Aston with the James Bond sound track playing in the background. Love the marque.

@Jasper I often forget about that lil aston.

 

We should all be so lucky.

 

 

Italia is a better car no matter what..... I just don't like the fact that it doesn't come in manual.....

 

Every car has its cons. For example, the Italia doesn't come in manual:P

 

Your cons might be a pro for someone else.

Personal preference. I prefer the dual clutch manual, to a single clutch manual.

 

Me too actually, I was just pointing it out to the other poster. I always am curious when people say that one car is better than the other "no matter what." If that were the case, then everybody would just own one car:P