Aston Martin Vantage review - Reliability and Safety

The Aston Martin Vantage is unlikely to be tested by Euro NCAP, but it goes without saying that the Vantage will have been designed and built to exacting standards. Standard safety equipment includes a set of huge brakes, a stability control system and emergency brake assist, along with driver, passenger and curtain airbags.

Aston Martin is a low-volume manufacturer and we didn’t receive enough responses from owners to include the company in our 2018 Driver Power survey. However, many of the car’s major components are shared with Mercedes-AMG models, and this should bode well for reliability. AMG’s engines are known for their durability, while the ZF eight-speed automatic transmission is one of the automotive industry’s most-used components, so it should be durable.

A large part of the Vantage’s new infotainment system has also been sourced from Mercedes, so that should prove reliable, too, especially as the system in the Vantage is the tried and tested Command system.

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Warranty

The standard Aston Martin warranty lasts for three years and has no mileage limit, which is impressive for a manufacturer of bespoke sports cars and matches Porsche’s warranty. It’s also better than the three-year, 60,000-mile warranty offered by Audi on its R8.

Once the three-year period is up, the Aston Martin warranty can be extended for a number of years. There are differing levels of cover at different prices, and as the policy doesn’t have a mileage limit or a claim limit, it could be a wise purchase.

Servicing

Aston Martin recommends that the Vantage is serviced either once a year or every 10,000 miles, whichever comes soonest. The use of a Mercedes engine should reduce the time in the workshop, but standard servicing will still be expensive, expect to pay over £500 for even the most routine service.

If you need to replace any consumable items – such as brake pads or tyres – then the costs will be high; a new set of tyres alone will cost over £1,000.