Hey guys,

So my 08 Vantage is prompting me with this message and I just wanted to clarify a few things.

The message only appears in the beginning when I turn the key to start position. After I start the car it disappears all together and even when I click 'read message' button nothing shows. Is this normal?

Second, we are on the cusp of winter here in Alberta (-5 C this morning) and I am thinking once it snows soon, I am not gonna drive it much if at all. I have a set of winter tires but I don't plan to throw them on. Is it okay, if it sits like this until Spring when I get the service done?

Third, the car is sitting at 22,800 miles - what servicing exactly does it need at this stage? Just the oil change? Anything else? I will look around for local shops and have one in mind but would like to give them the exact list of services needed when getting a quote.

Finally, I checked the dip stick a couple of months ago and the oil level was mid way between min and max. Should I top it up just to be on the safe side? Since it's my first service with the car, I am not sure what oil was used before, which oil should I top it up with?

Thanks very much gents.

 

Hey guys,

So my 08 Vantage is prompting me with this message and I just wanted to clarify a few things.

The message only appears in the beginning when I turn the key to start position. After I start the car it disappears all together and even when I click 'read message' button nothing shows. Is this normal? Yes, this is normal. It will go away after start up or read button.

Second, we are on the cusp of winter here in Alberta (-5 C this morning) and I am thinking once it snows soon, I am not gonna drive it much if at all. I have a set of winter tires but I don't plan to throw them on. Is it okay, if it sits like this until Spring when I get the service done? If you plan on letting the car sit until spring, put 55psi in tires to prevent flat spotting and get a battery tender!

Third, the car is sitting at 22,800 miles - what servicing exactly does it need at this stage? Just the oil change? Anything else? I will look around for local shops and have one in mind but would like to give them the exact list of services needed when getting a quote. If it was mine I would do, engine oil, brake fluid, and drive belt.

Finally, I checked the dip stick a couple of months ago and the oil level was mid way between min and max. Should I top it up just to be on the safe side? Since it's my first service with the car, I am not sure what oil was used before, which oil should I top it up with? As long as you are between the min & max mark you're good. There is a protocol for checking the oil on the Vantage since it is a sump pump system, refer to your owners manual to make sure you are properly inspecting oil level. If your'e doing it incorrectly you could have too much or too little oil in there!

Hope this helps!!!

Thanks very much gents

 

Do you have receipts for prior services? Brake fluid and oil changes are every year. I would change all fluids if you do not have a record of the service done. Buy are battery tender like from CTEK is quite popular. I would mount the winter tires. There are several days throughout the winter which you could drive.

When I told someone from Aston Martin Corporate that I drive the Rapide with winter tires, he gave me a high five and said "You're driving an Aston like it's meant to be driven".

 

Thank you for your reply.

If it does sit over winter I will definitely put it on a trickle charger. I will check with my local shop for the oil change, brake fluid change and drive belt. I did follow that protocol actually, says right on the engine so was easy enough. I guess I will do it again tomorrow to see where it's at now. So as long as it's not right on low, I don't need to top it up? But if I wanted to just for a peace of mind with a quart, what sort of oil should I be getting - not knowing what kind of oil is in there.

So I imagine if I don't want to get all the servicing done now that it will be winter stored mostly, there is no immediate rush to do the service now and can wait till spring? It's likely timed out anyway and not because of mileage so it'll likely be okay if I even kept driving it without getting the service right away I assume?

Thanks for your reply. I definitely wouldn't mind driving it in winter, but the issue is that the winter tires are located in a different city at my parents' place as I purchased the car from there. It'll be a lot of hassle to drive them over, even though doable. I do feel that I will miss driving it and there will be days I wish I could but with my other vehicles there no absolute necessity.

Part of the reason for not wanting to do the service right away is also because I've been negotiating with some dealer and contemplating trading it towards a new AMG GTS so I may not have it very long which would then make me feel dumb spending the $ on service. But then that deal may never happen so there's that as well.

Other than brake fluid and oil change, what other fluid services are there? Does Aston Martin have a prescribed servicing schedule somewhere that needs to be done at 22,700 miles?

 

Your best off to either do a full fluid service and filters to keep it current, but it sounds like you're going to unload it on the Merc. GL with figuring out your goal for your application.

 

Did you consider the new Vantage? Even though they share the same engine, the AM sounds much better.

 

They take Castrol 10w-60. If your're a little high with the sump pump system it isnt the end of the world but not ideal.

If you check your owners manual there will be a break down of maintenance per miles and years. Most Aston owners don't meet the mileage requirements. As for the AMG GTS, get the new Vantage. The handling is incredible.

 

Of the many issues I had buying a new/used 2017 V12S Vantage from Beverly Hills Aston Martin (the list is pages long) one of the worst buying experiences of any thing I've ever bought in my 67 years on this planet, they forgot to reset the service interval when they did the Timeless Certification and as such when the car was delivered to Minnesota after a few months after the certification inspection I got the Service Due message. Morries Aston Martin said the charge to reset the message is $200 - however, they charged me $66. The car has 160 total miles on it when delivered, and the glass keys were not programmed - after many irritating phone calls and Aston Martin not doing anything about the key reprogramming, Beverly Hills did agree to pay the $400 to reprogram the keys. In the days before Andy Palmer's reign, in the 32 years I've owned Aston's I've never seen the company being so **** on these issues.

 

So you guys have me double guessing my choice of moving towards an AMG GTS now. I've been looking at a 2019 Vantage now and watching/reading a lot of reviews. The more I am looking it, the more it's looking like a possibility. I guess I will spend some more time comparing the two and make up my mind.

 

I would waaaaaay rather have the new Vantage than the AMG

the ride quality of the vantage is much nicer and they aren't as common, obviously, and I think the Vantage looks a lot nicer as well

 

The AMG is pretty disappointing when it drives by. Ever go to an F1 race and hear the pace car go out on some recon laps? Not very impressed by the sound at all. Just about any other car that is a part of the weekend sounds better.

One could argue the biturbo MB V8 is the worst sounding V8 on the market. That makes what AM got out of it (sound wise) even more impressive.

 

That is true. I've been watching many videos of the sound clips and the Aston definitely made that exact same engine pop so much more. I have a RSC exhaust and 200 CEL cat and it sounds awesome, but from the videos the new Aston stock sounds better than that I feel.