My buddy purchased his 07 6 speed Vantage back in March/April of this past year. It had 17k miles with his warranty expiring in April. Within the first month and a half of ownership, he's done quite a few mods:

• 20" Modulare M14A
• N400 Sides skirts
• Painter calipers
• RSC Exhaust
• H&R Drop
• smoked lights/tint

He recently found a small oil drip and was quoted $2800 from the local AM dealer to get it fixed. Here's the breakdown of the service estimate:

"The following estimate is to remove and replace the gaskets for the front engine timing cover and valve covers as well as replacement of the front engine crankshaft seal.
Parts:
6G43-04-10420 GASKET/SEAL KIT 195.65
COOLANT 18.50
10 QUARTS ENGINE OIL 112.00
LABOR 20HRS 2400.00
MISC SUPPLIES 20.00
TAX 26.91
TOTAL $2773.06

The dealer mentioned that this is really the only thing that would go wrong on a Vantage (besides the normal clutch wear).

Has any Vantage owners experienced this same oil leak? Have you experienced any other issues during your ownership?

Edwin

 

THAT is highway robbery!!!!!!

 

seriously, that's some amazing rate....

I'd assume the work could be done by any experienced shop.

 

Are you guys saying the hourly rate is too high ($120/hr) or that the time spent (20 hours) is excessive? I think the hourly rate is within reason no?

Edwin

 

120 is pretty normal. what is actually involved to change the crankshaft seal? if it's external to the engine, it should be a half day. if engine needs to be disassembled, 20 hr makes sense

 

Honestly, I do not think it's THAT involved. I was just under a Vantage yesterday, and once you remove the lower-front cover, upper-front cover, dry-sump canister and radiator it's rather open. It is possible the engine must be removed, but I think it's possible with the engine in the car.

I'd pay $120.00 per hour for a good reliable shop. However, I'd ask for a printed procedure for what's involved in those 20 hours.

 

most dealerships simply follow the charts on what assignments take x hours, then I'd believe they round up to full hours before adding. My buddy did oil, air filter, brakes, cabin filter, clutch fluid, diff fluid all in 3 hours, even helped me wash my calipers too

 

Correct, most shops go off a system like AllDataPro, but Aston Martin uses their own data system from what I can tell.

I still think 20 hours is steep unless the engine's coming out.

 

I purchased my 07 V8V in February of this year and during the inspection proccess for the extended warrenty they found the same problem. The price quote was the same, the front suspension has to come off to access so is an involved proccess. AM has a kit for the fix and should not see the problem again, I have put 2K miles on the car since and have not had any other issues. BTW if you are thinking about purchasing the extended warrenty they may give you a break on the repairs. Hope this helps.

 

This a common problem with the V8. Yes the front sub assembly has to come down and the factory labor charge for this job is 14 hours. This problem is the achilles heel of the V8 but once repaired properly the rest of the engine is bulletproof.

 

My car did have this and was fixed under warranty. No issues since. The only reason I noticed it was because I was installing a RSC exhaust and noticed a small amount of oil under the engine block. I was told the new design is much better and once done the problem should never come back.

 

I think $2700 for the repair is about right. It's very involved..have to pull everything out. Any repair on the Aston is always expensive...1000-3000 is very common with clutch job around 6000. Hence, you need extended warranty for issues like oil leak. $120 per hour labor rate is correct. 10 quarts of oil is also correct. Aston uses a book for labor hours, not the actual hours spent on the repair which is usually less cause the tech is usually experienced and fast. So if book states 20 hours they will go by that even if tech can do in 15 hours or less.

 

Thanks for all your input guys. The owner just wanted to make sure 1) he wasnt' getting hosed on the repair bill and 2) that this is a common problem and a relatively easy fix

Edwin

 

It sounds like the same issue I had with my 07 a couple months ago (12K miles):

Fix front timing leaking/replace timing cover gasket
Mobil One Oil $106.15
Timing cover gasket kit $288.65
Shipping $45
Labor $1700
Total $2139.80

Work was done by a local sports car shop. They told me that they had to take a lot of the car apart to get to the problem area. Don't know what exactly that entailed.

As far as the labor, I don't recall what their hourly rate is. But, I was estimating that it was a lot more work for them than they had planned on based on our conversations while they were working on the car....but they kept to their original quote. They also wanted me to come in a week later once the part had settled in so they can make sure everything was still tight and not leaking (no charge). Everything checked out.

 

I had the same problem at about 13k miles. Thankfully it was fixed under warranty...3 months before the warranty expired.