2003 Aston Martin Vanquish from UK and Ireland - Comments

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.

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

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

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!

I too own a 2003 Vanquish with 3000 miles. Truly a beautiful car to look at that is awe inspiring to drive. However, the car is plagued with numerous problems relating to the electrical system, clutch and transmission. The car has multiple faults that requires constant visits to the dealership. Do yourself a favor and consider an alternative vehicle.

Poor residuals highlight the unreliability of this vehicle. I hope you manage to get back half your outlay from the dealer. It was a nightmare trying to sell my 2001 db7 vantage. Main agents will be able to rob you, as the phone will never ring. The vanquish and db9 are beautiful, but I couldn't trust another Aston.

Thanks for ruining my dream.

I think Ford has a big reason why Astons doesn't come out good anymore... Even with Land Rovers specifically the Discovery 3 has lots of electrical problems... considering its computers... Ford just bought other companies for them to ruin it!

I agree completely! I remember fondly the Jaguars my father owned when I was a child and it was always my dream to own one of my own. I currently own a 2001 Jaguar S-Type V8 SE which I bought as a dealer's demo. What a pile of rubbish... Back to Audis for me!

Wow you had one bad '86 ford escort and that's it? You cut yourself off from ford?

You have to learn to do research first then buy the car that will have the least problems. All makes have problems.

And I honestly don't think ford had anything to do with AM's problems...

Whenever you do a major redesign of a car or bring out a new model, like the vaquish, then its bound to have problems, all first time models do.

So your theory is that even if you spend $200K+ for a car you should still expect to be a beta tester for the company's product.

Got it.

Funny my friend's first year Scion xB model had TWO minor problems in the three years he owned it, and the bigger of the problems was due to the radio that wasn't even made by Toyota.

I guess we know what the smart money is buying these days.

Well, yea, considering that there are very few Vanquishes in production and on the road, its pretty easy to get problems when you're say 1 of 100 as compared to driving say an explorer where you're driving 1 of 250,000 or so. (#s may be screwy I know)

The scion stuff is just a different body/bunch of sheetmeal on corolla underpinnings. Not much change there.

For instance, a REAL model change is the 96 to 97 ford f150s, the GTO, the dodge magnum/charger...

I agree completely, can we please get back to the Aston again... Mine has been in the garage more than me driving it. I mean the dealers garage, not mine. The last time it broke down on the 605 freeway in the middle of rush hour, I was ready to give away the keys to the car, so someone would take it out of my life... the last comment I got was "I don't want that piece of crap." Looks very nice though...

Hmmm.....What would James Bond say?

Lol I think that question is irrelevant.

These supercar reviews all have similar salient points:

- Lousy standard of written English

- No mention of facts not already in the public domain

- Highly polarised views on reliability and performance (usually either "the car is near perfect and nothing's ever gone wrong with it, despite the fact that I regularly drive at over 200mph in it" or "the car breaks down daily, has had 4 gearboxes and 2 transmissions in 1000 miles, and my wife hates it and would rather have a ** insert name of another supercar here **"

Ford isn't Aston Martin's problem, nor is it Jaguar's or Land Rovers. When you buy expensive luxury cars loaded with electronics and new kinds of technology, it should be common sense before buying to take into account the high chance that something will go wrong. Aston Martin's paddle shift semi-auto tranny was the first they'd made and therefore cannot be expected to be perfect. Also, just because a car is over $100,000 does not mean that you are buying yourself reliability, but rather exclusivity. They are two different things. Nothing is free and everything comes at a price. When you spend those kind of dollars, you are paying to stand out and you don't give two damns about the great fuel economy that the guy in the '01 Golf TDI behind you is getting. Comparing a Scion XB with a Vanquish is one of the most idiotic things I have ever read in my life. Of course a Toyota is going to be more reliable than an Aston martin. Its got 3 times less cylinders for crying out loud, not to mention 1/8 of the sophistication worth of technology. The less you have in a car, the less there is to go wrong. People, please stop and think before you come up with these bogus statements and reasons-that sound like you've pulled them out of your butts-to answer things you have no clue about.