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Audi A8
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Comments
i've owned plenty of vehicles from different manufacturers
and dealers with no horror stories to tell. it is obvious
from your post that you have a personal grudge against
Audi. so "bubba" just try to keep in my that they are just
cars. if you don't like em...don't buy em! :P
High End European Luxury Cars
It's a good deal
Rick
This is an incredible vehicle from its aluminum construction to the absoloutely gorgeous interiors. This is truly a world class car, but most of the US doesn't know about it. If you have any specific questions, let me know.
I agree with your analysis. I've recently downgraded the price range I'm looking in so I'm afraid the A8 is out, but for the money it is a fantastic car and if I was picking a car in that range I'd get it, unless the new 7 really looks a lot better than the old.
I also did lot of research.I narrowed my choice to Audi 8L. But there are not that many posts with prices paid , lease rates etc. for A8. I test drove A8 couple of times. L & SWB. I did not find any difference in driving.Right now I am negotiating with dealer.
Did you get good deal? If you did, could you share your experience with us.
Thanks. :confuse:
Purchased a 2000 A8 in 2003 from a private party -- out of Audi's warranty period and no extended warranty. Six or seven months after purchase, the 'check engine' idiot light came on. Audi in San Antonio diagnosed it as nothing to worry about -- possibly a bad tank of gas. They reset it and sent me on my way. A month later the light comes back on, stays on, and so I'm back at the same San Antonio Audi dealer. This time though I want an actual diagnosis. After keeping the car for over a month and charging me over $4k in diagnostic time, their diagnosis: We don't know what's causing it, Audi USA suggests a new engine. The cost: $21,000. I declined.
A week later I leave Texas, moving to Virginia. I got as far as Texarkana on the Texas border and the 'low oil level' symbol comes up on my dash. I pull over, check the oil, and sure enough, it's at least 2 qts low. In an amazing bit of luck, I had 2qts of Mobil 1 in the trunk -- the movers wouldn't pack any petroleum products and left it in my garage. I pour those 2 qts in and wait 30 minutes looking for leaks. There were no leaks. I got on the cell with my San Antonio Audi dealer and explained. The service manager's response: "We may not have filled the oil when we were running those engine diagnostics. We wanted to see if it was related to oil pressure, so we changed the oil and left it a little low." Keep in mind this is an Audi dealer -- not a privately owned repair shop.
Now, all oil changes I had done at that Audi dealer. I had always specified synthetic oil. Just verifying, I asked if they'd used synthetic or mineral oil when they changed it. He replied they used mineral oil. ...And I just dumped in 2qts of synthetic on top of it. Service manager, hearing this, suggests I change the oil and filter at my very first opportunity. Keep in mind I'm in the middle of nowhere --otherwise known as the outskirts of Texarkana.
I find an Audi dealer in Little Rock but it's after-hours, so I take a hotel room for the night. Next morning I'm at the Little Rock Audi dealer bright and early. All I need is an oil and filter change. They perform the oil change, I'm finally back on the road. Before I get back to the interstate I notice the dashboard display is black. No radio display, etc. I turn around and head back to the dealer. His response: "If you can tell me how changing the oil and filter would make the dashboard display go out, I'll fix it for free." Well, I'm not an Audi mechanic, but I'm pretty sure they use some kind of tool or network connection to reset the service interval computer. After haggling with this guy for another hour, I'm so frustrated and pissed off that I can't see straight. I tell them to open the bay doors, I'm leaving. As the manager walks away, the young fellow who's been working on my car says, "You have to understand, we don't see many A8s around here."
Well, he's wrong. I most definitely do not have to understand. What I *do* understand is that both the San Antonio and Texarkana Audi dealers have a long way to go in the quality of their repair shops.
My dashboard display is back on, by the way -- courtesy of an Alexandria, VA Audi dealer who seems to know what they're doing. The Alexandria shop also diagnosed my 'check engine' light issue as a broken valve spring requiring the heads be removed for repair. And just this past week the steering column started making a grinding noise. That diagnosis: an irreplaceable bearing in the column is shot, the entire electronic steering column needs to be replaced. But I digress. I do trust this Alexandria dealer, but would warn anyone considering an A8 outside of an affluent metropolitan area to reconsider their vehicle choices.
I am not amused when the MMI lights up like a Xmas tree. The first time they replaced the board "as a goodwill gesture, the second time they nicked me 600 bucks (and I don't think they replaced the whole unit). Now its happened again, 3 times in 9 months. How many others have had this same experience?
I haven't seen one new Audi in the shop when I go there for a checkup on my car, by the way. That's more of Mercedes's frequent pose, and I recently saw an E-Class on the back of a tow truck.
PS: just started viewing this forum. Got $5000 off list and 1% financing. Many problems with MMI computer, but finally fixed when I went straight to service manager instead of write-up techs.
Thanks for any help.
The bluetooth works great. I had to order my car to get it. Early 2005's came with Onstar and not bluetooth. Vehicles manufactured after a date in December, I can't remember it, have bluetooth. If the car has Onstar it does not have bluetooth.
I've used the bluetooth for years, I have it in my BMW and it is great. Easy to use and much safer. As long as the bluetooth is activated on your cell phone, you can receive and dial calls using the steering wheel and voice commands.
It is very simple to sync up the cell phone (up to 4) with the vehicles bluetooth. Also, with the Audi there is a very quick way to import your existing telephone numbers to the car's bluetooth system. All you have to do is voice record the names and it's ready to go.
This answer sounded fishy, that's why I posted the questions.
I also have the warning light on in the dash telling me that the HID headliught auto adjustment is not functioning. Any ideas?
Stephen Ellis
Regarding battery life, I have had different experience with each phone. On the Sony Ericson the bluetooth can be left on with little impact on battery performance. On the Siemens, I find that I have to turn the bluetooth off when not in the vehicle because it drains the battery too much if the bluetooth is left on all of the time.
Don't have an ipod, so I can't comment on that feature.
I would be very cautious about buying a 97 A8 with 157k miles on it. Even if the car has been well maintained, that's a heck of a lot of miles on any German car.
Parts and repairs for the the A8 are extremely expensive, and if you're on a tight budget, looking at a 9 year old A8 w/ 157k miles is not the way to save money.
I wouldn't buy any Audi with over 100k on it unless it was a 1 owner car, or you at least had acesss to the service history on the car from the previous owner.
I agree with rjlaero, the A8 is a great car, but I don't think even the greatest Audi enthusiast would consider a '97 A8 with 152k miles as a safe buy for reliability, especially if you need something that is cheap. It would be a fun weekend car, or something that you could drive if you had a backup should something happen...
For reliability, get a car under warranty... perhaps a 1 or 2 yo A4 or A6? The A4's built after 2003 have had great reliability and the latest A6 (2005+) are doing well so far...
*On an another note, I only planning on having the car for the next 2-3 years.
$76,570 :MSRP
$70,570 ($1,000 Below invoice) : Agreed SALES PRICE
$2,000 :Down payment
Dealer is paying for Taxes
Dealer is paying $574 Destination
.0009 : Money Factor
56% : RSV
36 Months
12,000 Miles
MONTHLY PAYMENTS: $864.50 (I am trying to get them down to $850)
Do you think this is an ok Deal? Do you think if I wait till the end of the month I might get a better deal? The 2006 A8 has not hit the dealership yet.
I live in Texas for what it's worth
tHANKS
The A8's leases out pretty well, and that's not much more than you would pay to lease a 4.2 A6.
Do you think that's true about it not being covered under warranty? And I'm stuck on paying that to get it fixed?
Thank you in advance for any advice or input.
Yout nav system should be under warranty. Were the cupholders up top by the nav on the 2004 models? The only thing they could say is that you spilled something on it and it seeped through.
Then came the Granddaughter (I highly recommend this to all!!!)
I guess a *slightly* bigger car is now a necessity :-)
I am seeing about 2K off MSRP as the current price for the vehicle. Any comments?
Eric
I got the V60s/p/x cradle, my phone fits, the phone finds the cars cell antenna, but no charging power, and apparently it is not seen by the car. If I press the [Tel] or [Name] buttons the MMI displays:
The telephone is not installed.
Please visit your
Audi dealer to activate
your telephone.
hints?
As far as the changes, I am told the only real change is the nose update...and some color changes.
I have one dealer who will offer close to 3K off, but price is not the entire bottom line. The service reputation of one dealer over the other is well worth about 1K over the lifetime of the vehicle!
Anyway, I will roadtest the A8 and Phaeton on the same day when I return from abroad and make a decision then. So far the Audi is a bit ahead. Especially when I look at the resale value. Almost a 10K difference in the 2004's! (Guess which is more!)
(e)
As I mentioned earlier, I have a motorcycle for my "zoom-zoom".
(e)