Aston Martin 
Vanquish
THE STORY

Winter Presents Time For Quality Work Projects

 while salts are on the roads

Project "Baseline" Winter 2021/22

The Vanquish was purchased in truly excellent condition, way way better than the many others I had visited all of which were described as "exceptional condition" and now having used the Vanquish a little through to winter 2021, I was pleased to have found no areas of concern whatsoever, though my ethos is that there is always some scope for moving any Aston further forward.

The Aston Timeless Warranty, expired at the end of March 2022 and despite both myself and Local Aston Martin Indipendedent A.H.M actively searching for any possible area to instigate as a warranty claim / repair, the Vanquish had no warranty claims made at all in its period of Timeless Warranty cover.

There were some areas however, that I wish to move forward by a project during the winter months that would enhance the general wellbeing of the Vanquish.

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The Project Scope Would Cover The Following Elements

 

1. Establish the Aston Martin Service History detail beyond the full set of Aston Martin Bristol Service Stamps in the book:

I made an appointment for Margaret and myself to sit down with Phil Sterry the Deputy Service Manager at Aston Martin Bristol and his assistant, we did this on February 2nd 2022, stepping through the service history and establishing observations.

I think they felt somewhat uncomfortable with this process, however the meeting lasted about 45 minutes and did confirm for me the following background.

They knew the car very well and from the time the first owner traded it in for the newly announced Vanquish S, its been resold exclusively by A.M Bristol.

Most servicing had taken place as part of resale as its policy to do this and its also carried out at A.M Bristols convenience.

All servicing was completed to schedule, though Pollen and Air Filters were not changed, given the cars sub 7000 miles at last service and the change out mileage for these items is 20,000 and 30,000 respectively. 

I was dissopointed that the filters were not changed on a time basis by A.M Bristol and as part of instigating this project I had inspected them, the engineer in me believed they were in need of changing. I decided that the next service in the book would be with local Aston Martin Independent AHM, where I could share in decisions and agree the best solutions one to one with the guys there. (they confirmed that they always do an actual inspection of the air filters and validated my decision that they needed changing). We agreed the philisophy for the sevice should be to do everything in the schedule and some other elements too, such as changing the gearbox oil.  

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2. Change out all "Limited Life" Items that are outside of the Aston Martin service schedule but really should be checked or ideally changed regularly.

• ​The Battery was replaced with an increased capacity (95AH)  premium battery

• Batteries in all keyfobs were replaced

• Wiper Blades replaced

• Tyre Puncture Repair Solution replaced

• Air Con Fluid Replaced and system Re-Pressurised

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3. Enhance the appearance of the Vanquish in areas not usually seen. 

• Underside accumulated dirt and cleaned off

• Underpanels pressure washed, cleaned and polished 

• Any rusting or tired  nuts bolts etc replaced with original Aston items

• Brake Calipers removed cleaned and all springs / securing bolts replaced

• Sills cleaned off on the underside and ceramic polished to provide ongoing protection

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4. Spray protection on the underside to impede any potential for corrosion ​

• Lear ACF 50 Anti Corrosion Fluid was sprayed across the under side, suspension, rear subframe,, brake pipes etc, this is a product from the Aircraft manufacturer Lear and delivers aviation protection standards for anti corrosion.

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The intention of this project was to zero the Vanquish to a known baseline in terms of both its service history and general well being. The intent being to create a baseline for ongoing servicing from point zero in the service schedule combined with delivering the assurance of total reliability into the future.

This was to be acheived by completing the following:

 

• All Items on all service schedules were completed regardless of time or current need

• All components with limited life or potential to wear or age were also changed out.

• All items with date related life were changed out