Last week was pretty interesting - first I filled up with gas and like an idiot left the fuel cap hanging as I drove through the high pressure touch free car wash right afterwards - almost $500 for that stupid move by the time they flushed a full tank of gas and cleaned out the system. Luckily the Aston dealer is just a few miles away (it did throw an emissions code).

Then I noticed condensation on the right rear lamp - quite a bit of it. This is a known problem since they started making the Vantages in 06! The internals are made here in Lakeville, Minnesota and then shipped to be assembled in Canada. The dealer said about 1/2 the new cars they sell seem to have the same problem, and they don't even question if someone calls with the problem - they immediately just order the new light, which probably has the same problem potential. I simply cannot understand why Aston would put up with this supplier for a decade. The LED company in Minnesota was not even aware of the problem, and they actually benefit from more orders. Anyhow since this is a known problem that was never fixed and continues to be a known problem, I think Aston has a responsibility to pay for the fix far outside the scope of warranty (mine is still under warranty).

 

I'm not sure when they updated them, but a couple months ago I ordered some new tail lights for a customer. The part numbers that came back from my supplier were different than the ones I had sent in, and they explained that Aston has updated the sealing in the units. Everything else is the same, so you don't have to replace both at the same time, but supposedly the new design will prevent condensation.

 

Seems to be a common british car problem, over at the mclaren forums half the problems they complained about are how the tail lights have condensation from the 12C to 650s

 

are the tails covered by the factory warranty?

 

Yes. I had two replaced under warranty. One of which is leaking again/showing condensation.