I probably should not have taken the V8V to Firestone (SMH)...I've known the store manager of my local Firestone for a couple of years now and I've sent over my Range Rover, Porsche, and other cars over the years for misc service including brakes, tires, alignment...everything has been smooth. I really didn't suspect a tire swap would be a big deal...sigh!

This past Friday, I took the V8V over for a new set of tires and he had trouble determining the jacking points for his lift. He ended up jacking the car up using his 3 ton jack one side at a time (resting the jack on the tub and the other side on the wheels). Took the car high enough to allow both wheels to clear for dismount.

Well...the tubs are now bent and Galpin Aston Martin wants to do a full suspension check before addressing the repairs on the tubs. Store manager who caused the damage is cooperating with the process and I expect him to cover all associated repairs.

My questions are these:

1) can the suspension get damage from such an incident? Galpin thinks Chasis would "tweak"..
2) most likely these tubs will need replacing, what is the process/cost for such a repair? are these tubs welded on the chasis or bolted on?
3) has anyone else gone through this? if so, what happened?






I'm hoping things will go smooth with the shop manager. If not, I may need to contact my insurance and have them subrogate the claim back to Firestone.

 

All I know is this will not be cheap. I would get my insurance company involved now. Did they use any type of cushion material between the bottom of the car and the jack? Big blocks of wood come in handy for jobs like this -- spreading the weight out over a longer area. I could of sworn my DB9 owners manual listed the jack points and would think the Vantage would have the same thing. Did you check your owners manual for the correct jack points?

Good luck hope they get it fixed up for you.

 

Had they just checked where the load points are this could have been avoided? In the owners manual it's clear where to lift, I'm not sure how to fix it without replacing the tubs? If Aston agree a new bespoke T 6 (7 series alluminium) strut could be machined and bonded either side it will simply just hide the damage cosmetically and we hope you have suffered no damage structurly.

Please will you keep us in the loop on the repair (if any) is done, it will help us all understand these cars better

 

the pieces of the extrusions are glued together to form the tub, its the same way they do on the lotus and when that kind of damage happens to lotus, they declare the car a total loss

 

This kind of thing is why I keep a photocopy in my glovebox of the page in the workshop manual that shows the jack points, so I can easily produce it before any shop idiot bends my car trying to lift it. I trust no one, and always show them the diagram even if they have previously worked on my car. Even if it was just the day prior.

Sorry that happened to you. I would be steaming mad.

 

It is slightly bent and cosmetically, not appealing, but I highly doubt it is enough to put your suspension out of alignment or hurt the integrity of the car. Can't believe the guys wouldn't be more careful knowing how expensive these cars are. Keep us posted and good luck.

 

The geo can be checked, yes,cosmetically its a mess but can be fixed, we do it on high end aircraft every day, thing is to appoint the correct man and company for the work.

On certain Helicopters the outer mono-**** shell is its form integrity, and from these pics I doubt that the integrity has been compromised? OP Im sharing your disappointment please keep us in the loop

 

I think it more a cosmetic issue also. I saw on Supercar Building an Aston being built. See if it is on YouTube and you will see those parts being put on the chassis. It looks very expensive to replace. I would be pissed beyond pissed.

 

I guess I'd be concerned about what happens in a major crash now? Basically, you've introduced a weak point/crease now and so instead of those rails transferring energy in the way they were designed (say in a frontal impact), they could direct energy in a different way.

 

They just bought you a new car. Unacceptable!

 

Wow, I'm sorry to hear it... hopefully the resolution is an acceptable one. Or at least the least painful given the situation.

 

That is almost unbelievable. Hope it all works out for you.

 

This is pretty unbelievable to me. A repair facility that jacks a car ( any car) so far off the jacking point as to cause permanent damage to the cars frame. These guys jack up cars all the time. A large number of modern cars have specific jacking points and they are not hard to find.

 

Wow. Sorry to hear about your nightmare experience. I guess this will serve as a cautionary tale for all of us! I've not heard of such issues with Astons, but I've heard a few Lotus horror stories similar to the one mentioned above, and also one where the jack points were incorrectly chosen followed by the car tipping of the lift from considerable height (rearward weight bias) - you can guess the rest.

Here's hoping you get proper restitution from those jokers when all is said and done!

 

Wow sorry to hear, I hope it all works out between the insurance co and the shop