Audi A8 4.2 Quattro 2003
Discussion
Time for an update, prompted by some banter from BC on another thread we were hijacking! 
The A8 continued to run so well that instead of upgrading it I treated myself to a TVR Chimaera 500. The best thing to replace the A8 with would have been another one, so why bother when there's nothing wrong with the one I've got?
Mileage is right down over the last few months, I've not even hit 100k yet and probably won't until December. Must get four new tyres this month and will have to get the creaky suspension sorted next time it goes in for a service. Other than that, sod all to report I'm afraid, not even a light bulb!
The A8 continued to run so well that instead of upgrading it I treated myself to a TVR Chimaera 500. The best thing to replace the A8 with would have been another one, so why bother when there's nothing wrong with the one I've got?Mileage is right down over the last few months, I've not even hit 100k yet and probably won't until December. Must get four new tyres this month and will have to get the creaky suspension sorted next time it goes in for a service. Other than that, sod all to report I'm afraid, not even a light bulb!
B'stard Child said:
I was expecting to buy it with 200K miles........
It's all good news in this thread
It's all good news in this thread
It's not quite all good news. The window surrounds are looking a bit milky and the driver's door needs a firmer slam since the repair. They told me it was because of the new rubber seal they have fitted, but I think they lie like a cheap watch! It was the main dealer, say no more!
Managed to reverse into the ML on my own driveway a few weeks back, after it was parked somewhere it usually isn't and I was on early morning auto pilot! 
Not much of a scrape (I just took a photo of it and it's not even worth posting, as it doesn't show up), so PHer Kidders (top paint man) gets two jobs from me, with the A8 going in at the end of this week.
Tax reminder just came through and I had a long hard think about whether to go for six or twelve months.
I ticked the twelve box, as I'm going to be spending a four figure sum at the next service on the jobs that need doing to make it dead right again and I still feel like the car is worth more to me, than it would be to anybody else. The trouble is, I have been getting slightly itchy feet for an S8, but I'm in the process of moving house which is never cheap and so it's another good reason to stick with the devil I know for a while longer.
Not much of a scrape (I just took a photo of it and it's not even worth posting, as it doesn't show up), so PHer Kidders (top paint man) gets two jobs from me, with the A8 going in at the end of this week.
Tax reminder just came through and I had a long hard think about whether to go for six or twelve months.
I ticked the twelve box, as I'm going to be spending a four figure sum at the next service on the jobs that need doing to make it dead right again and I still feel like the car is worth more to me, than it would be to anybody else. The trouble is, I have been getting slightly itchy feet for an S8, but I'm in the process of moving house which is never cheap and so it's another good reason to stick with the devil I know for a while longer.
Well the service indicator said it was that time again, so with just shy of 106k on the clock, I dropped the A8 off at my excellent local VAG specialist. As well as the service, I have asked them to attend to the creaks and knocks from the suspension, a faulty parking sensor, swap the front tyres to the rear and replace the tool box that's in the lid of the boot that has got a broken catch and keeps falling down. I emptied the tools out of it long ago to make it a bit lighter, but it still does it, so I'm having a new one fitted. I won't bother replacing the tools in it, because I don't know how to use them anyway! 
While the car was there, I received a telephone call asking me if I'd ever had a problem with the electronic parking brake, to which I replied I hadn't. To be honest, the only time it ever gets used is when a mechanic or valeter drives the car, as I always just leave it in park. It turns out it was stuck on and so they have had to deal with that too. Apparently a new calliper is required and while it was stripped off they noted that although the rear pads still had about 5000 miles left in them, the rear discs weren't looking too clever and it would be less labour in the long run to have them all renewed now. So I did.
I guess that this will be a fairly chunky bill and will encourage me to get at least a few more months worth of motoring out of the old girl, to achieve some sort of justification for a disproportionate level of spending, in comparison to the car's worth. I could have ignored pretty much all of it, but I just want things to be right and it's still cheaper than spending £30k+ replacing it on what I have got my eye on next.
In the meantime, I will try not to have too many sleepless nights about the fading floor mats, milky window surrounds, kerbed alloys and poor quality main dealer accident repair that has left a bonnet that's a pain to open and close with a shut line that upsets my karma every time I look at it, because even I have to stop somewhere!
While the car was there, I received a telephone call asking me if I'd ever had a problem with the electronic parking brake, to which I replied I hadn't. To be honest, the only time it ever gets used is when a mechanic or valeter drives the car, as I always just leave it in park. It turns out it was stuck on and so they have had to deal with that too. Apparently a new calliper is required and while it was stripped off they noted that although the rear pads still had about 5000 miles left in them, the rear discs weren't looking too clever and it would be less labour in the long run to have them all renewed now. So I did.
I guess that this will be a fairly chunky bill and will encourage me to get at least a few more months worth of motoring out of the old girl, to achieve some sort of justification for a disproportionate level of spending, in comparison to the car's worth. I could have ignored pretty much all of it, but I just want things to be right and it's still cheaper than spending £30k+ replacing it on what I have got my eye on next.
In the meantime, I will try not to have too many sleepless nights about the fading floor mats, milky window surrounds, kerbed alloys and poor quality main dealer accident repair that has left a bonnet that's a pain to open and close with a shut line that upsets my karma every time I look at it, because even I have to stop somewhere!
JakeT said:
Parking brake stuck on and you haev no clue. That is the sort of power a true barge should have!
Fading floormats upset me, too. Don't know what it is.
Fading floormats upset me, too. Don't know what it is.
Not quite, I didn't make myself clear. I left it in park. They moved it and put the parking brake on, then when they tried to move it into the workshop, they couldn't as it was stuck. carreauchompeur said:
I saw a Ming Blue D2 2.8 today. Utterly stunning cars still. I just really don't like the looks of the new one though!
They really are aren't they? 
I can't bring myself to love the look of the new one either, although I think a 4.2 TDI would be highly impressive. Hopefully I'll be getting the call to say that it's all done and ready to collect soon. As the weather has been nice, I've left the old Passat courtesy car on the drive and have been smoking around in this instead. It's a handsome thing (to my eyes anyway), but the A8 shows quite how far the game moved on over a couple of decades and feels like an absolute rocket in comparison. 
Well I've picked it up and it's driving beautifully, which is just as well because as predicted, it wasn't a cheap one!
Labour for service was £80.00.
Parts for service were £192.49
VAT for service was £54.50
Total service bill was £326.99
Then there was.....
Labour to investigate parking brake warning lamp on, remove and replace both faulty rear callipers, rear pads and discs, investigate parking aid fault, paint and prepare parking aid sensor, remove front bumper and replace offside front inner sensor, investigate tool kit lid fault, replace complete tool kit, investigate suspension noise £157.50
Tool kit £47.77
5x caps for fixing tool kit £4.35
o/s/f inner parking aid sensor £102.53
Rear brake pads £36.95
Rear brake discs £88.95
Paint kit £14.21
2x Anti-Roll bar links £40.50
2x Calipers £500
VAT £198.55
Total £1191.31
So all up, I've just parted with £1518.30, which is a little eye watering but at the car does feel much better for it and I don't think I'll be selling it next week. Strange how a car that I thought I was buying as a stop gap, has now reached the point where it's the car I've owned the longest, so I guess I must like it.
Labour for service was £80.00.
Parts for service were £192.49
VAT for service was £54.50
Total service bill was £326.99
Then there was.....
Labour to investigate parking brake warning lamp on, remove and replace both faulty rear callipers, rear pads and discs, investigate parking aid fault, paint and prepare parking aid sensor, remove front bumper and replace offside front inner sensor, investigate tool kit lid fault, replace complete tool kit, investigate suspension noise £157.50
Tool kit £47.77
5x caps for fixing tool kit £4.35
o/s/f inner parking aid sensor £102.53
Rear brake pads £36.95
Rear brake discs £88.95
Paint kit £14.21
2x Anti-Roll bar links £40.50
2x Calipers £500
VAT £198.55
Total £1191.31
So all up, I've just parted with £1518.30, which is a little eye watering but at the car does feel much better for it and I don't think I'll be selling it next week. Strange how a car that I thought I was buying as a stop gap, has now reached the point where it's the car I've owned the longest, so I guess I must like it.
Just a little update, in case anyone is still following this! It was quite chilly first thing this morning and the creaking noise was present once more. It stops doing this when the weather and the car warm up, so I booked it back in for the 1st of July with the strict instructions that they are to road test it as early in the morning as possible, after it has stood in the cold all night. I will get this sorted!
Hopefully it is just something silly.
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