Fellow Forum Members,

I would very much appreciate the opinions of this forum on a 2011 Vantage V8 S I am considering for purchase at the Cars.com site as follows:

https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/d...4897/overview/

The price is towards the lower end I have seen lately for this model year. I viewed and drove the car last month. I had not driven a Vantage before so I have nothing to compare it too but the car seemed to drive very well. I used The Definitive Guide to develop a checklist of what to look for which was very helpful. There were no obvious signs of clutch slip in normal driving in both D and using the paddles. The car sounded great and while the brakes squeeked a bit at first it went away after a few minutes of driving.

Cosmetically the car exterior was excellent with no major scratches or pitting and appears to have recently been detailed. The interior was overall good but I noticed two items. The black piano waterfall dash was cracked on the upper left hand side at the corner adjacent to the nav screen. The drivers seat had a dime-sized abrasion where the upper layer of leather had been "scraped off" and the underlying material exposed. Overall the car presented well.

My Concerns:

- The miles at 35K are a little higher than most cars I see for sale in the model year.

- I asked the dealer to obtain the service records for the car to see if the clutch had been replaced and the actual services performed. I was told they contacted the Aston Martin dealer in St. Louis who refused to provide them. I understand privacy issues but they are the owner of the car now. Is that the usual? When I recently bought a CPO Mercedes from a Mercedes dealer they printed out the entire service history for me.

- I reviewed the Carfax and noticed several services had bene done including the 30k and 40k service. However, I also noted that the front and rear brake pads had each been replaced 3 times each and the rotors once. That seems excessive to me. That seems to indicate the car has been driven very hard or tracked. Am I off base here, is that level of brake wear the usual under normal driving conditions?

Thank you in advance for your advice and I would appreciate your thoughts.

 

Something doesn’t sit right with me with this car. I would never buy a car like this without comprehensive service records. Plus, there shouldn’t be an issue with you obtaining records if they exist. Aston’s come with a really nice leather bound service booklet that should be stamped at every service. Plus, the bodywork inspections should be stamped in the service booklet too.
It’s had the brake pads replaced 3 times over 23k miles! If the cars been driven hard enough for multiple brake pad changes then what condition is the clutch likely to be in? I’m not sure what that’s all about. I have a 2012 V8VS with 17k miles and there’s still a ton of life left in the brake pads.
Three owners and listed at auctions multiple times.
It also has the lowest grade stereo fitted. I would be looking for the premium sound system at least.
Sorry, I would walk away. If you are still going to move forward you should have a PPI at an Aton dealership.
I would pay more for a better maintained car.

 

I own that year and model. Great car! Don't worry about the stereo, I drive with the top down 95% of the time and you can't hear the stereo anyway. It does have some miles on it and the brake wear may be an issue. I have 15k on mine and brakes are still great.

 

Brake changes could have been done because they squeak and the owner wanted them "fixed" but there really is no fix unless you install some porterfield aftermarket pads apparently

I wouldn't worry about the 35k miles, you aren't going to start seeing too many problems at that point I would think. My car has 27k and it is practically like new still.

Just be aware that a warranty will not replace the clutch as it is a wear item... so keep 4-5k layin around if that needs to be addressed and keep that in mind if you go the warranty route

 

Getting service history is always a challenge with PII laws. You're best bet (which I need to do on my Rapide) is contact the previous owner listed on the Title. Even if you have to send them a letter in the mail. I would not let the miles scare you. You can do all the previous services for like 3K (fluids, filters) at the dealer. Squeaky brakes are par for the course on any cars with big calipers like this IMO. Some are more squeaky than others.

I seriously doubt the car has much if any track time and it seems like pads at 10-12K miles is normal. I would be concerned with the rotors if they'll need replacing.

My first opinion looking at the car is that is pretty hot! Beautiful color combo and I don't feel the price is out of line either. If you work them for replacing all the fluids then you got a good deal. Not sure if they can measure the clutch like on a Ferrari or Maserati?

 

pretty sure if its ASM they can measure clutch life

 

AM can measure clutch life on the sportshifts

Honestly that car doesnt seem like too much of a worry tbh, maybe swap in new pads with Porterfields and have the current dealer throw in a full fluids change and I'd be pretty happy with that

Love the color, I bought mine with 24k miles in Aug and am about to pass 30k miles - only issue I've had is TPMS sensors which I'll just purchase redpants tpms delete

 

FWIW my car had all the dealer stamps for service up to about 40k miles when I bought it... but when I called that particular AM dealer, they refused to tell me anything since I was not the owner at the time of those services. Couldn't even get yes/no answers to basic questions like the clutch service. So not unusual to get the cold shoulder. My local dealer had no access to the other dealership records. Seems ridiculous for info of this value to the car.

 

I just wrote the previous owner of my Rapide a letter. This thread kick my rears to get it done. I hope he responds as it will save me a lot of doe or confirm he did nothing beyond oil changes.

 

Luckily the previous owner had re-engraved the door sills.. So I knew both of the previous owner's names. (both sides of the plate had names) Prior owner was very nice in telling me the history.. I didn't bother to go back to the first owner.

 

I had 5 Vantages - first one (2007) driven hard 25,000 miles brakes still good. Second one I drove 20,000 miles - brakes still good. So not sure what's going on. maybe it was driven aggressively with the nanny's on and the brakes will be used to control wheel spin. I had a buddy buy a DB9 with a seemingly premature break wear, and the Aston dealer told me if the nanny's are on it wears brakes faster if driven aggressively. Some Aston dealers will disclose past owner(s) some don't.

 

Not buying cars without stamps in books? These are not Ferrari's that never depreciate. Most of these cars are depreciated to a level that individuals like myself perform all of the maintenance. It is how some of us justify even owning these cars. I do keep records on what was performed, just as the last owners had done.

Get a PPI and make a final decision. Current condition means more to me than any stamps in a book.

 

According to car fax looks like dealer service until 2016 and over 30k miles... all in Florida at quality dealers...

these are durable cars and i would, like others, get PPI and use results and 'lack of records' to negotiate.

get it and drive it

 

The number of pad changes does seem odd. I doubt the car has been tracked that much, but could be something else going on. Or, as someone said, they did it to try and get rid of the squeal. If you get a PPI done I'd have them check the brakes closely.

You have to decide how much risk you're willing to take with the service records. My expectation is that most of these cars have been well maintained either by the owner or at a dealer. As you've discovered, you can't get maintenance records from a dealer, so you can go by stamps in the book or receipts if possible. Or not worry about it and get a PPI done and just go by the current state of the car.

I did not have a service history on the car I bought other than what was shown in Carfax. That showed enough to me that I knew it was at least getting the oil changed and other basic maintenance done. I did have a PPI done, which did not turn up anything major. I called the dealer listed in Carfax where the car had been maintained and while they wouldn't discuss specifics they would discuss the general condition of the car. So if you called the dealer and told them you were considering purchasing the car they may be more willing to talk to you than a dealer.

The price actually seems a little high to me for the miles and year. I guess it's an S, but somebody else said it doesn't have the premium stereo and you want to check what other options it has/doesn't have as well. If you are serious about the car then you can email Aston and they will send you the build sheet for it.

In the end it's whether you think the car is worth it. I think I'd look around some more and wait. Or if you really like it make them a lower offer.

David

 

Totally agree +1