At 115k miles I have experienced the first major expense in ownership. The secondary air pump finally quit entirely and faulted the car in to a type of limp mode upon start. The limp mode abated upon restart after warmup. Living in the NE USA, the car would be stored in a heated garage in the main house in Winter. The same garage was used regularly during the Winter and a family member would often neglect to shut the door when entering the home, (this problem solved, said family member no longer family, and garage closes automatically now with in 4 min of entry unless motion detector on the floor detects movement of any kind on that surface and sounds an alarm). Living in a forest preserve, there is abundant wildlife. Took the car to "Steel Wings" a great independent Aston shop in SE Pennsylvania, and it was discovered that during a winter sojourn a few critters took up residence in the space under the plenum where the secondary air pump resides. I think you can guess the rest. Replacement of all connectors as mouse urine had worked it's magic, and replacement of the unit and it's ancillaries was done. Needless to say, a lot of time was required to complete the task. Picking up car Saturday, Will post further report or edit this. One costly mouse family... Take precautions, then double them if you live in similar environs and store your car over the winter. BTW, my car was covered, had set traps, no food or water anywhere in the garage and it was very clean.

 

 

Have had not so good results with the ultrasonic devices previously, perhaps they have changed.


I have two of these and several other mechanical. I have yet to have the alarm sound on detector for rodent, leaves blowing in yes. If a rodent does enter and survive it will be god mouse.

 

 

Wow.. I've seen my share of rodent issues. Surprisingly, it's a common issue for the underside intake area on the V8 Vantage for rodents. LOL.. I've seen a LOT worse!!

Regardless, glad the boys at Steel Wings got this resolved!

 

 

 

I just start the car and drive it every day, seems to keep them away

115k miles is amazing. I've had nothing but majors in 20k!

 

I put my Vantage, Porsche and E-Type in car storage bags for the long northeast winter. They are in in an unheated garage I only access the occasionally so rodents are a concern. Years ago, I used mothballs, cedar chips, dryer sheets, and electronic repellants with little confidence. I once caught a mouse in a trap I put right next to an electronic rodent repeller. Go figure.

The storage bags I use are from Permabag and California Car Cover. My E-Type and 911 have been stored in these bags for over 15 years. The Vantage has been stored this way for the past 3 years. Never a problem. You simply drive the car over the bottom panel of the bag, put the car cover on and lift the storage bag cover over the car and zip it up. Before closing the bag, I also place desiccant containers at several points inside and under the car to absorb any moisture. When I take the cars out In the Spring, the rotors are still shiny. Never had had a mouse problem.

 

Over the years, I make sure the garage/man door(s) are sealed properly with no openings, leave no food or open water inside. I do use peppermint oil, fox urine powder, and baited mouse traps. Also seal off any opening, including exhaust pipes. Do place dryer sheets inside the car. Dryer sheets do lose their effectiveness after a couple of months, and not 100% deterrent. Then a fitted car cover. My cars do sit for months but do look for any mouse dropping while in storage.

 

Car is running and performing flawlessly.
Aside note; The v8v was my daily driver for the past several years, drove a porsche when it rained, and did not realize how good a car it really is until recently, due to recent driving experiences. In the course of looking for a winter car, I had the opportunity to drive various cars for extended periods to decide. The dated vantage is as good as it gets on dry roads when all aspects are combined. It's shortcomings are overcome by clear superiority in areas that are only addressed in the earliest and most basic design and engineering phases. Perhaps it is because I have logged so many miles in the v8v and have a familiarity bias, however I encourage anyone considering to trade or sell to drive a late model similar car of any marque for a month or so and see how you like the v8v when you get behind the wheel again.