Owners have filed 9 complaints on the Aston Martin DB9, covering 2007–2015. The system named most often is Electrical System (3 reports). Worst years by volume: 2007, 2015, 2009; cleanest: 2014, 2009, 2015. 0 reports describe a crash, 1 a fire. On average the car was 4.1 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Aston Martin DB9
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 9 DB9 complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Electrical System 3 Read
This car has a spring compression chamber where the key goes in the dashboard . Twice over the last 6 yrs the chamber has spit the key out like a bullet and shut the car off. Once while I was driving on a highway in 2017 and at a gas station in 2023. The chamber smokes up and if someone was in the back seat they c/h/b…
Both rear tail light covers are fogging and holding moisture droplets. Right side break light fails intermittently and before long may lead to electrical problems or loss of break light function. Car is just recently out of warranty so I don't anticipate any help from the dealer. The problem is consistent with other…
Headlights, not bulbs, failed in both. It is available for inspection. Creates driving hazard for all.The defect has been confirmed by shop and no other inspections at this time. I did communicate with dealer who said they are not covered under any warranty or recall, and acknowledged it is a factory defect. No…
Engine And Engine Cooling 2 Read
I bought an aston martin db9 from bauer jaguar/ aston martin (1455 s. Auto mall dr, santa ana, ca 92705) on july 7 2007. The car stopped in the middle of a major intersection in los angeles on august 17, 2007 (2,319 miles). Dealer completed the repairs and returned the car on august 20, 2007. The car continues to have…
All the time when I drive the car spacey when I accelerate there is a strong smell of fumes. I went to the dealer and they agree that there is a strong smell but they say its the clutch and there is nothing to do about it . In those car that's the smell. I told them that in such an expensive car first I don't suppose…
Parking Brake 1 Read
I had my 2009 db9 aston martin parked at the top of my driveway while retrieving my mail. As I walked back to the car (very short distance) it began rolling down the driveway. I watched as it rolled off the paved area &down a ravine crashing into a tree. The parking lite was clearly lit after the crash. My son took…
Fuel System 1 Read
The car stalled at a few mph and would not restart for several minutes. This had happened once before. The instrumentation lights remained on. The engine would not turn over. The car was towed to palm beach motors. The computer did not show a fault and they could not replicate the incident. They refused to diagnose…
Visibility 1 Read
Since july 2010 I had complaints about an intermittent rattle near the drivers outside mirror. I made at least ten trips to the dealer for repairs and nothing seemed to remedy this issue. During the last time the door panel was removed, another fix made and a subsequent road test, the noise was heard by the dealers…
Structure 1 Read
Test drive customers car home to evaluate engine missfire. Left shop at 5pm, drove approx 20 miles to my house. No problem noted, next morning start the car, drove 1.5 miles turned right onto santiago canyon road in orange county calif. From modjeska canyon road, mildy accellerated to 45 mph and the hood flew straight…
DB9 years to avoid — and the clean ones
Complaints per model year. More reports usually means more cars on the road as well as more trouble, so read the crash and fire columns alongside the count.
| Model year | Complaints | Top system | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Electrical System,exterior Lighting | — | — | |
| 2014 | Electrical System | — | 1 | |
| 2009 | Fuel System, Gasoline,electrical System | — | — | |
| 2007 | Engine And Engine Cooling | — | — |
The same model year, different builds
Every complaint carries the first 11 characters of the VIN — plant, year, body and engine. That is a production series, and complaints are spread across them very unevenly.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Distinct production series | 9 |
| Average complaints per series | 1 |
| Worst single series | 1 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 4.1 years |
A model average of 1 hides a worst series at 1. Enter a VIN above to see the numbers for that exact build instead of the model as a whole.
Owners reported these. Find out if yours is one of them.
- Complaints matched to the exact production run, not just the model
- What the car is worth given what tends to fail on it
- The original window sticker and factory options
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How we count
Every figure here comes from complaints owners filed with NHTSA — 1,100,006 of them, covering 1,982 models built between 1981 and 2026.
A complaint is an unverified report: someone wrote down what happened to their car. It is not a confirmed defect and not a recall. What makes the volume useful is the pattern — when thousands of owners of the same build describe the same failure, that is a signal no marketing brochure will give you.
Two things we do that the source does not. First, we compute the age of the car at the moment of failure from the incident date and the model year. Second, we group complaints by the first 11 characters of the VIN — the production series — so a bad plant run does not disappear into a model-wide average.
Frequently asked questions
What are the worst years for the DB9?
By complaint volume, 2007, 2015, 2009 drew the most owner reports. Bear in mind that popular years put more cars on the road, so check the crash and fire columns too.
Which DB9 years are the cleanest?
2014, 2009, 2015 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Aston Martin DB9 have?
9 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 2007–2015. Of those, 0 describe a crash and 1 a fire.
Are these complaints verified?
No. They are unverified reports from owners. NHTSA publishes them as filed and investigates only a fraction. The value is in the pattern, not in any single report.
Can I check complaints for one specific car?
Yes — enter its VIN above. We match the first 11 characters, which identify the plant, year, body and engine, so you get complaints on that exact production series rather than the whole model.