2003 Aston Martin Vanquish from North America

Summary:

Not worth the aggravation!

Faults:

Two clutches

Transmission replaced

Every time it rained or the car was washed, the electrical system would short out.

Check engine light would come on every 700 miles.

General Comments:

Magnificent car to look at with an incredible, mesmerizing engine sound. The most unreliable car I have ever driven.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 11th October, 2006

12th Oct 2006, 08:04

"The most unreliable car I have ever driven."

- Considering how much an Aston Martin costs, I am very surprised to read that remark.

3rd Jan 2007, 15:03

I can believe this. A work colleague's father actually returned his Vanquish for a full refund because it had three transmission failuress in as many months. There were also lots of other build quality niggles which I wouldn't expect on a £15k Ford, never mind an Aston.

Doing one three point in the office car park would have the clutch smoking and a terrible smell inside the car. I know it's not designed as a town car, but it should be able to cope with a one-off low speed manoeuvre.

The best thing to do with a Vanquish is to get a nice poster, pin it up on the wall, and just stare at it. It is truly gorgeous to behold, and the poor reliability isn't an issue.

11th Dec 2008, 21:37

For those who have never played the "how much can I spend on a car" game... Rule One is the MORE you spend on a car, the LESS RELIABLE it will be. I'm not joking. As hard as this is to believe, the more money you spend on a car the more problems you will have.

I think the expensive manufactures know that people who can afford to drop $100,000+ on a car will spend WHATEVER it takes to keep it running. So, they build unreliable cars that will have you blowing your inheritance faster than you can think. It's a massive SCAM on the wealthy which few take pity on.

No one is going to feel sorry for a guy who blows his life savings on a Ferrari that breaks down every other day.

Just buy a Porsche and know it will not let you down.

23rd Jun 2009, 03:06

To the October poster.

Spending well over $100,000 on an exotic is not a ticket for you to "get out of problems free."

The $10,000 Civic next door will be your best bet for that one.

A car of such calibre as an Aston Martin will be loaded with technology. The kind of technology that hasn't been around long enough for it to be fool proof. Things will go wrong almost regularly with those cars. If they were so reliable, then trust me, more people would buy them. It's not JUST the acquisition price that people consider, but also the maintenance costs. Those will be the deciding factor in whether or not a person will ever own such a car. To truly be able to afford to keep a car like this on the road is to be wealthy. A lottery winner would eventually run out of funds.

2003 Aston Martin Vanquish from UK and Ireland

Summary:

The most unreliable car I have ever owned

Faults:

3 weeks delivery purchase the battery went flat after 7 days idle.

2 months after delivery the airbag needed replacing.

3 months after purchase the car kept slipping into neutral and would not engage any other gear without disconnecting the battery for 30 seconds using the cut off switch in the boot. You can imagine the amusement to other drivers in the rush hour. This needed new gearbox sensors and new software to sure it.

At the same time the car occasionally sounded very strange on starting and would not go over 3000rpm. This happened on a trip to Le Mans and could only be rectified by killing the battery to reset the CPU.

On the same trip car started juddering badly at speed. which seemed to be caused by the brakes sticking. Still at least it meant I wasn't going at flat out when I got caught speeding.

Seven months after purchase the engine light came on and the car had to be towed away again. They told me they could not find a fault and disabled the light.

On its return the exhaust system was faulty and the valves which provide the extra silencing were not working so it had to go back for another 3 days.

Currently the interior trim is very noisy, but I can't be bothered to send it back just now.

General Comments:

When the car is running correctly it is incredible. But the disappointment and inconvience caused by all the faults far out way the pleasure.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 19th August, 2003

26th Feb 2004, 15:12

How unlucky for you. You must have bought the dodgy one of the pack. No Aston should behave like that.

4th May 2004, 23:36

The man has a valid point. However be informed, Aston Martin is now under the wing of Ford, so expect many more problems along the way. If I were you, I'd sell what you have, and go buy an Aston from before Ford bought out Aston Martin. Believe me you won't be disappointed!

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