This is what I know so far: The previous owner was Aston Martin using the car for 'testing and calibration' which could be good or bad. Buying a 'used' Aston Martin in itself - was it used for track days, in heavy traffic, driven too aggressively... any car could be abused, but what is defined by testing and calibration? Could be good or bad, depending what that meant. But what is the real problem is how in the world could an Aston Martin 'Certified' car miss that every single surface of the car was missing critical labels, plaques, and stickers? If the mechanic missed that - they could have easily glossed over everything else, especially critical given the cars past use, and the high cost of 'wear' items on a V12S! Had I not caught this, there is no way I could have traded this car in for any other at a future date.

So I've asked Aston Martin Corporate in Graydon at a minimum, if there are service records, make them available, and have Morries AM redo the Napleton Certification inspection to make sure no wear items are worn and should have been addressed at the previous inspection... I feel given this situation I'm being extremely reasonable. Should know soon.

The ONLY label ANYWHERE on the car was the hand built Plaque...

 

How many miles were they "testing and calibrating" this car??

The question still remains, how any Aston left the factory without all it's proper stickers installed, no matter who the owner was going to be.

 

Surprised the Mechanic didn't see the missing label since don't those tell you what tire pressure you need and other critical info?
I don't remember off the top of my head and haven't looked in a while...


But that picture of the V12 shoehorned in there will never get old!
Man I want one so bad

 

It would be cool to have a black slightly see-though plastic hood (bonnet) that shows the engine!

It blows me away that the mechanic during a certification inspection missed something as obvious as the labels! By the way, Napleton Aston Martin (otherwise) has been one of the most pleasant and knowledgeable and passionate dealers I've dealt with and other than a mechanic missing this - which was a major screw up (if they had ordered stickers that were missing, I wouldn't have questioned anything) extremely happy with their sales and followup and Norbert there is a pleasure to converse with.

You don't buy a used V12 and expect a little old lady to have driven to church - but this situation is outside the box in a big way.

Let's see if Aston does the right thing and gets me a second inspection in addition to the badges that they said they would ship out.

 

It could be turned around since this is your 4th? Aston, how could you miss there were no stickers anywhere?!

 

Aston can easily reproduce the missing stickers but I'm not sure I would stay with that car.
Too many questions.

 

The car seems pretty solid - I'll not be too quick to change assuming Aston will provide some history - the dealers I shared the story locally think it's likely no big deal. As far as 4th Aston, no its my 7th, and I've had at least 50 cars along the way. I think if I was 40 instead of 65 I'd be sharp enough to have caught it - lots of things you miss - but I'm no mechanic and do zero work on cars, other than clean, so sales people, and mechanics should have caught this first.

 

We all can miss the obvious regardless of age.
Hopefully it works out positively for you.

 

I was going to say "ahhh, the old age excuse, now that one I get!"

I had planned on this V8 being my last car. I guess we'll find out who lives longer, I can kill cars

 

Here is what I know so far: Missing labels, plaques, and stickers were supposed to have been sent. I had a nice conversation with the head of the dealer network based in the same location as the previous AM owner, (that office owned the car) so they should know the history and have the records which they agreed - will gather and forward to my local AM dealer (Morries) who will also perform a re-inspection. When the car was delivered (after being 'certified'), other problems I did not mention showed up: A stuck fuel door that even the manual over-ride did not work, the cruise control module was bad, and a fault showed up with the Nav system... which I think a 'proper' certification inspection should have caught.

As long as there is no accident history, and I get records and critical items re-inspected, I'm OK to go and enjoy this car.

 

Prefurbia, I'm sorry you're having to go thought this bull****. I'm sure the car is OK, but things like this are always irritating.

 

Pull off that water seal around the door to check the welding spots.
If the welding spots on the outside matches with the inside ones, then you are good.
If they don't match, most likely the whole quarter panel was replaced.
No way the car was landed here without those sticker. It's either the previous owner remove them for the clean look, or it was involved in a side impact that the quarter panel had to be replaced.

 

"A stuck fuel door that even the manual over-ride did not work"
If the quarter panel has been replaced, then that explains why the fuel door would get stuck.
Also, keep in mind that all labels and stickers can be ordered directly from any AM dealership.

 

The labels and stickers are supposed to be on their way from Graydon, and good advice on the welds, assuming I get the records showing no accident history and I have that re-inspection, while they are looking at the welds as you mentioned - good advice.

 

What I found out so far - The car was completely repainted and some interior upgrades as I expected done by Aston Martin who removed all labels everywhere before painting which is why the car was flawless, except the Ski-slope Piano Black and pitted windscreen. They said it was because of excess wear from Aston Martin use - no accidents. They will also authorize Morries Aston Martin to re-certify the car... so I'm pretty satisfied it's a keeper!!