RE: Shed of the Week: Audi A8

[Löyly]

I had a 4.2 D2 a couple of years ago. I absolutely loved it, it was just a magnificent car to drive. I sold it and bought a 106 Rallye, going from superior refinement and luxury to the best hot hatch I've ever driven. That was a good time.

[Smokey32]

That's pretty awesome for 600quid.......

[0a]

I had a very cheap and tatty 4.2 that I still lost lots of money on. It didn't need the v8 engine; it was perfect wafting about in awful weather and was supremely comfortable. My example was rubbish to drive handling wise though (it wasn't any kind of sports model), I was glad to be back in my old Merc for a more spirited drive!

I do remember paying the bill for discs and pads and it was 3 times the cost at my local mechanic that my old a124 has cost for the same!

[Tryke3]

Finally a shed proba ly worth buying. Petrol quattro for me

[Lord West]

Good shed.

[Sam.]

I recently chopped in my 2002 A8 2.8 V6

Apart from the terrible oil leak which everyone mentions, The breather system blocked. The interior lights filling up with water it was a BRILLIANT car.

Did a few trips of 500 miles in one sitting in it around the UK. Couldn't fault it. The recaro leather interior was brilliant.

[Vince70]

That looks like the best shed I've seen yet.. And I love an Audi but my only gripe is metallic green as I've had a two Mid 90s audi's now (both the same colour) and both fantastic cars from a time when the Germans were King of the road in terms of engineering but did Audi get a job lot of that colour in back then..

I'm amazed that lovely car hasnt sold already and it looks like the owner has lavished a bit of care on the old girl and knows his stuff... If I had driveway space I would of snapped it up at that price as it's a no brainer and a bucket list car for peanuts.

At worst if it all went pear shaped you would still have some comfy seats and a nice stereo.

[PSRG]

0a said:

I had a very cheap and tatty 4.2 that I still lost lots of money on. It didn't need the v8 engine; it was perfect wafting about in awful weather and was supremely comfortable. My example was rubbish to drive handling wise though (it wasn't any kind of sports model), I was glad to be back in my old Merc for a more spirited drivE

It wasn't that tatty, at least, not from about 3m

[wildatheart]

PSRG said:

It wasn't that tatty, at least, not from about 3m

Removing the stilts before setting off would have improved the handling no end.

[daytona111r]

A thing of genuine beauty, has that solid carved from granite look and feel. Though I preferred the pre face lift.

[numtumfutunch]

Ugh- sold

This was quite literally right up my street

Any previous sheds still FS or suggestions for the next candidate?

[0a]

PSRG said:

0a said:

I had a very cheap and tatty 4.2 that I still lost lots of money on. It didn't need the v8 engine; it was perfect wafting about in awful weather and was supremely comfortable. My example was rubbish to drive handling wise though (it wasn't any kind of sports model), I was glad to be back in my old Merc for a more spirited drivE

It wasn't that tatty, at least, not from about 3m

What happened to it?

I spent a lot on it - far more than I paid, which was more than you paid!

Even now I think that's a good looking car.

[pcvdriver]

lostkiwi said:

I had a 4.2 Quattro Sport (1995 version with teh 4 speed box so no worries about gearboxes on that one!) and it was lovely.
I had to check if that was mine because thats also a Sport (recaro seats, 7 spoke allots and slightly lower stance) and mine was the same colour.

At £620 I'm seriously tempted as the shed for the holiday home.....If only it was an estate (never made in A8 form).

If you fancy an estate shed (Ok - so it's a little over shed money £3500) for your holiday home - I may have the perfect solution.....

[PSRG]

0a said:

What happened to it?

I spent a lot on it - far more than I paid, which was more than you paid!

Even now I think that's a good looking car.

It needed a thermostat, a couple of tyres and a patch to the exhaust while I had it. The hole made it sound quite good, but I thought it limited its ability to pass an MOT

I did around 5k miles in it, from memory but decided to quit while I was ahead after it had passed the MOT, and sold it a few months later to a bunch of guys doing a charity / stag do run to the Nurburgring. It made it there, round the 'ring and back again so perhaps I was premature in getting rid of it

[0a]

PSRG said:

0a said:

What happened to it?

I spent a lot on it - far more than I paid, which was more than you paid!

Even now I think that's a good looking car.

It needed a thermostat, a couple of tyres and a patch to the exhaust while I had it. The hole made it sound quite good, but I thought it limited its ability to pass an MOT

I did around 5k miles in it, from memory but decided to quit while I was ahead after it had passed the MOT, and sold it a few months later to a bunch of guys doing a charity / stag do run to the Nurburgring. It made it there, round the 'ring and back again so perhaps I was premature in getting rid of it

Fantastic! Good old A8. I spent more than 20% of what I paid for the car on an exterior and interior clean!

Thanks PSRG!

Edited by 0a on Saturday 3rd September 23:52

[anonymous-user]

These are lovely things. Built with a solidity that is joyful: I was told when we bought ours, in early 2000, that Audi hand built them all and sold them at a loss, so keen were they to make some inroads into the S Class market.

Ours lasted 14 years. It was a car that the kids literally grew up in - a part of the family, that was much loved and much cried over when it eventually died of old age.

They have a lightness to them that modern cars find hard to imitate. Their size balances the weight of the engine nicely: there's no truffle snuffling through fast corners in these, and while they won't slip traction at the rear nearly as easily as the mule does in Ronin, you can still pretend you've just scored a stload of guns and have the gendarmes blaring two streets away.

Green is the only colour to have though. Seriously.

[T16OLE]

My dad has one as a kid, I loved it, the quality was outstanding good throughout, especially in the cabin, far superior to that of my 640d.

[Ianeldy]

Well I am the lucky Chappie who managed to ring up the vendor, whizz over to see the shed (sorry, the car), strike a deal .. and I now have a pretty darn good looking A8 in my possession !!


The waft-factor is 10/10 .. sublime and smooth
Seats are proper armchairs (infact more comfortable than my settee)
The car has real presence .. it still feels solid and special
Leather is creased (nicely) but not torn or cracked
Auto box works perfectly - and so do the paddles on the steering wheel .. nice slurry gearchanges (if that makes sense!)
The alloys are also in remarkably good condition
The wipers worked - it lashed down with rain on the journey home so these had plenty of use!

The previous owner (a real hobbyist - has lots of lovely motoring "toys"), has certainly looked after this well I feel - I have positive vibes about this purchase.


Bodywork is in surprisingly good condition - a few scuffs on the rear bumper in particular, one patch which has gone right down to the plastic about the size of 2x 50pence pieces .. may need filling and then a spot of paint .. but come on .. the car is 16 years old !

Issues noted on the drive home to wales


- pixels disappearing on the dash - It started off with around 97,000 miles on the mileometer as it set off ... when I got home it read more like morse code ... --.--0 !!
(does anyone have any contacts for people who you can recommend to rectify pixelated dashboard's like this??)
- drivers heated seat doesnt work - could be a loose wire - I shall investigate this
- it struggled to demist -- but even from the owners confession .. the car needs a bit of a clean and TLC inside - cobwebs and crumbs a plenty in there possibly blocking the vents

but the one that made my heart stop temporarily was ..

- as I came off the motorway, oil pressure warning light came on. Checked the oil - plenty in it and it looks reasonably fresh too .. Are there any suggestions on what I ought to check first?


Tomorrow, I shall lavish some hot, soapy water on it ... hoover and refresh the interior .. and see what I really have underneath

Thumbs-up so far though

Good shedding !!

[PSRG]

0a said:

Fantastic! Good old A8. I spent more than 20% of what I paid for the car on an exterior and interior clean!

Thanks PSRG!

Edited by 0a on Saturday 3rd September 23:52

You're welcome - I often wonder where some of my cars have ended up, so glad I could enlighten you!

I remember the slight trepidation driving from your office car park - what had I done; bought a 20 year old 4.2 litre automatic Audi sight unseen on pretty much a spur of the moment desire to own a V8. And a 500 mile journey home... Broke pretty much every used car buying rule

But We got home with no problems, and bar a flat battery (user error...a very well equipped car, but no, or faulty..., lights-on warning buzzer!!) it never let me down. It really was a great wafting machine - I became quite attached to it but the fear of a big suspension bill (there were a few in its history!!) meant that head overcame heart post MOT and I put it on eBay

[PSRG]

0a said:

Fantastic! Good old A8. I spent more than 20% of what I paid for the car on an exterior and interior clean!

Thanks PSRG!

Edited by 0a on Saturday 3rd September 23:52

Oh, and that picture was taken after a £6 clean at Homebase round the corner