Folks, I'll be looking at an 07 DB9 that spent its life in Florida. Are there any corrosion hot spots to look for before I send it off for a pre-buy? Also, does anyone have any experiences when contacting the AM dealers regarding the service history of the cars formerly in their care? Thanks much.

 

yeah, its easy you simply call and give em a VIN and ask em if they remember that car as it is now for sale. Most will if the car was regularly in their shop etc...Ask for service advisors.

Be cautious of cars in FL, lots of shady dealers in smaller high line business. Can you list who the dealer is, i know many of them really well.

 

In general FL cars have virtually no corrosion. Even my '94 968, which has been a FL car all it's life, has not even a hint of corrosion. The AM dealer in Naples seems particularly reliable from what I've heard.

 

I got my Vantage from Miami and its nearly perfect. Shouldn't have any issues.

 

There are two possible climate-related issues that can affect FL cars:

1) Pitting of the external chrome if it has spent lots of time near the shore.

2) Interior sun damage to the leather.

 

Cars parked near the ocean can develop surface corrosion underneath and engine parts.. but typically just cosmetic. i.e. aluminum engine bits oxidizing.

If the can has an actual AM service history, the stamps will be in the owners manual. If all the stamps are current, the car has basically had 'everything' it would need to date and is 100%. (my car had all the stamps) With that said you will know the dealership name, but I had zero luck with getting actual history records when calling the dealership. Somewhat makes sense they won't give out someone elses service history. Conversely too bad its not moreso tied to the car than the prior owner.

On my vantage however the door sill plaque had been updated with the prior owners name, and the original owner was on the flip side. I was able to connect with the prior owner thru LinkedIn, knowing what part of the country the car was from. (maybe not so easy if 'John Smith' had owned the car) I had already bought the car but the prior owner was very nice about telling me more and how well kept the car was.

I would personally be careful with dealerships south of FtLauderdale on the east coast side... Could be good could be bad. IMO. If the car is close to West Palm I may be able to help you out.

 

There is actually a black 07 Vantage on Craigslist for $27,000 firm in Florida.... just a little severe flood damage, that's all.

 

FWIW this shop http://www.naplesmotorsports.com/exo...e=Aston+Martin is highly regarded. I've been in their shop and workspace, the latter is the cleanest, most professional repair facility I've seen. I was quite impressed (no affiliation). They did mention that they take orders for cars then source them, might be worth a shot.

 

Thanks for the help. The car now is at Global Motorsports near Houston, TX but was serviced regularly at AM Naples. Lots of reported services on Carfax so it's concerning me. Tried to connect with the service manager today but he was busy with visitors. Originally came to The Collection and almost immediately went up to Select Luxury in Marietta (where I'm looking at another one). Appreciate the feedback.

 

As an update, made the 4 hour (one way) drive to Houston have a look at this "excellent" 07 DB9. Only needed to see it for 2 minutes. I asked the dealer if there was any scuffing of the top and he said it was perfect. Well, I only counted 7 of them. They weren't clean through, so I guess they didn't count. Wood wasn't cracked, but it was sure warped, discolored and lifting around the NAV panel. Looked like an antique tabletop. And I guess it wasn't important to mention that the ceiling looked like a shaken (not stirred) Coke was opened up. Front had a thin respray and on and on. My opinion of the independent luxury car dealer is quickly falling into the toilet. Oh well, the search continues. - - - - -

 

Sorry about your long drive. I feel your pain as that sort of thing really pi$$is me off; traveling across country to see cars in "excellent" condition that with faults that really should have been disclosed in discussions beforehand. That being said though there are some observations that I would like to share with you:

I seem to see some sort of sun damage on a lot of southern cars. Wood fading or trim distortion on a vehicle parked in the sun does not seem uncommon to me. I had the A-pillar interior trim change on my own 9 due to distortion from sun damage. The dealer changed it without hesitation under the factory warranty. My center stack trim also discolored a little compared to the door cappings but no distortion.

Cars at independent dealers will generally be in a worse condition than main dealers, although generally cheaper. They are out of the main dealer circle for a reason. Many times because a main dealer didn't consider the trade-in good enough condition for retail and sent the car to auction, where the Indy picked it up.

Lots of these cars have "light" resprays for stone damage. At my 2 year service my car went in with stone hips on the hood, and came out without them.

If looking for an earlier car, that is likely to be out of main dealer circles anyway because of its age, I personally would recommend trying to find a car from a private seller that can tell you everything about the car. It is a trap we all fall into asking an Indy dealer the most intimate details about a cars history when he may even have bought it blind or had it passed on to him from another dealer that couldn't shift it...

Only my tuppence

FF

 

You will find that pretty much all Volantes have scuffed/wrinkled tops, especially around the C-pillars. So, when a dealer tells you it is 'perfect', I suppose it's all relative to what is 'normal' for these cars. The earlier DB7, with its Jag-derived convertible top, does not suffer from this problem.

One of the reasons I stepped away from my DB9 convt into a DB7 convt was because I couldn't stand looking at the lousy condition of the top. It is quite amazing how 12 year old DB7 tops are in better condition than 2 year old DB9 tops.

 

I have had good luck with buying cars remotely... Not always 'perfect' reporting as you are seeing. Typically if the salesman wants to sell a car he will take a few minutes to help you. Ask for a 'boat load' of good high res picts showing small details. I know thats a technical quantity but somewhere more than 50 less than 500 that show ALL wear areas of the car... zip up the file and get it emailed to you. I am amazed at what supposed car experts do not see.

The right upper dash leather was pulling up on my V8V (easy fix later) but neither sales guy had noticed what I saw in 3 seconds. Many car salesmen really do figure the average buyer is blind!

Convertile top wise... I saw a newer DB9 convertible recently and the conidition of the top made me happy I bought a hardtop!