Hello all, I'm going to look at a 2007 Vantage tomorrow. The car has new tires, newish brakes and a brand new AMR clutch. Besides bodywork (which I'm going to check out with a paint thickness meter), the other issue I'm most concerned about is the timing cover oil leak. Is there a way to check and see if this is a current issue from the top? On this visit I won't have access to a lift.

I searched old threads and didn't see any mention of this, perhaps I missed something though.

Thank you!
Travis

 

You'll need to look underneath the car to check for the leak.

 

That's what I was afraid of, thank you Rich.
I was hoping to be able to tell from a cursory inspection...if the car is really leaking then I could rule this car out and avoid spending $600 on a PPI.
I've called my local dealers and they quote $7-8K in labor for the reseal job(!)

Speaking of which...can anybody recommend an independent shop near San Francisco?

 

Get on your knees and look underneath the car. You can see the bottom of the timing cover.
Any leak should be readily apparent. Also check the vin with a dealer, they should be able to tell you if and when the timing cover gasket was changed.

 

Had my timing cover gasket replaced at the dealer about a year ago. Cost was about $3K.
You are dealing with the wrong dealer

 

You could always buy an inspection mirror at auto parts store, sears, harbor freight. They use to be the go-to before fancy cameras.

 

I owned a 2007 Vantage Coupe for 3 years. I bought it used in 2014 from my local Aston Martin dealer. It came with a 1 year preowned warranty. I know a 2007 is beyond the preowned warranty now. I would still have a dealer look the car over, and have them run the vin# for the service records (has others have said). My car was a stick and had 2800 miles on it when I bought it. And had 7000 on it when I traded it in. It was a very reliable car. I had the door struts replaced, and the seat heater and goes filler door release replaced under warranty. Has well as the rear shocks, pluse the Nav door gear replacement.
And that was it. These are great cars. Just make sure you purchase a good one with history, if you can.
Ron

 

Thanks, all! This will be my first time inspecting one this closely, I called the seller and he's arranged to have a lift available so we should be set.
The car has a pretty good service history and I've got calls in to both of the service centers listed on the carfax to try and fill in any gaps.
Fingers crossed, thanks for the advice!

 

YES! I plan to do routine maintenance myself, but I need to find a good independent shop!

 

I'm pretty sure you need to drop the undrtray

Make sure you have the right torx bits with you

And good luck

Graze

 

Great tip, thanks! I'll take a set of bits along just in case.

 

My dealer quoted me 4K for that service.

 

If it's on a lift you can see the cover clearly without removing the tray. If it's leaking it'll be all over the bottom of the cover.

 

Thank you for the responses, everybody. We put the car on a lift after a test drive and there was zero indication of an oil leak...no need to remove the cover to see it.

Anyhow, everything checked out so there’s a white 2007 Vantage headed my way!

 

Cool, good for you. What are the colors and options? Is is a solid white or metallic?
Ron