Discussion
It's been a long time since I posted on PH. I bought an S-Max about 3 years ago because my then O/H had a little boy - three children in a row does not make for good motoring, so I needed the 7 seats. Naturally, I ended up in the 2.5 litre 5-cylinder turbo, but that's another story.
I'm getting the itch. I've just got my 2 kids to ferry about now. I work from home, so I hardly do any miles. I could conceivably do without a car entirely. Orrrrrrrr I could go completely mental and buy a V10 engined supersaloon.
I've been looking around, and even 8-9 year old cars with 80+k on the clock are going for £16,000 ish. It's a far far cry from the glory days of the 8-grand D2 S8.
So really, the questions is whether or not one of these would make a good buy. On the surface, it looks like a nightmare waiting to happen. A nearly-10-year-old car of immense complexity, which has likely to have been driven enthusiastically, and costs more than a brand new Kia Ce'ed. £500 a year in tax, £1600 a year for a warranty, 18 MPG (if you're light footed), although surprisingly CHEAPER to insure than the people-carrier! By the time I'm done with it in, say, three years, it'll be worth tuppence.
Come on people, talk me out of this please.
I'm getting the itch. I've just got my 2 kids to ferry about now. I work from home, so I hardly do any miles. I could conceivably do without a car entirely. Orrrrrrrr I could go completely mental and buy a V10 engined supersaloon.
I've been looking around, and even 8-9 year old cars with 80+k on the clock are going for £16,000 ish. It's a far far cry from the glory days of the 8-grand D2 S8.
So really, the questions is whether or not one of these would make a good buy. On the surface, it looks like a nightmare waiting to happen. A nearly-10-year-old car of immense complexity, which has likely to have been driven enthusiastically, and costs more than a brand new Kia Ce'ed. £500 a year in tax, £1600 a year for a warranty, 18 MPG (if you're light footed), although surprisingly CHEAPER to insure than the people-carrier! By the time I'm done with it in, say, three years, it'll be worth tuppence.
Come on people, talk me out of this please.
Edited by Witchfinder on Thursday 5th March 15:29
king awesome. Buy one.You're not helping, you know! Dissuade me!
Do the costs I've covered above cover the majority of bills I can expect (other than tyres, which I understand should be about £190 each)? Is £16K a reasonable price for a 56-plate example with about 80,000 miles on it? Have the values been firm recently, or should I expect them to drop any time soon?
Do the costs I've covered above cover the majority of bills I can expect (other than tyres, which I understand should be about £190 each)? Is £16K a reasonable price for a 56-plate example with about 80,000 miles on it? Have the values been firm recently, or should I expect them to drop any time soon?
Edited by Witchfinder on Thursday 5th March 18:48
popeyewhite said:
More like 13-17 mpg. Alarming costs if internal electronics go wrong, which they do: Problems with the MMI not opening/closing, no noise, amplifier failing etc.
Brilliant car though, very comfy, handles as well..but it's BIG.
Meh.Brilliant car though, very comfy, handles as well..but it's BIG.
Just do it.
I'm getting one after my S6 for sure, unless RS6 drop in value in the meantime.
rufmeister said:
popeyewhite said:
More like 13-17 mpg. Alarming costs if internal electronics go wrong, which they do: Problems with the MMI not opening/closing, no noise, amplifier failing etc.
Brilliant car though, very comfy, handles as well..but it's BIG.
Meh.Brilliant car though, very comfy, handles as well..but it's BIG.
Just do it.
I'm getting one after my S6 for sure, unless RS6 drop in value in the meantime.
KungFuPanda said:
They're pretty well specced from the factory although it's nice to have the B&O sound upgrade pack with the tweeters that rise from the dashboard and perhaps soft close doors.
Soft close is standard, B+O not that much better (if at all, unless you really like your treble) than the standard stereo.Hi Witchfinder,
I have had my 2006 (56 plate) s8 for nearly 3 years and have done 85,000 miles on top of 60,000 it had already. In my mind, fabulous car ( see my other posts here on piston heads for s8) with Jekyll and Hyde performance ( normal vs. sport mode), comfortable for long distances and superb music with dab and B&O. I went for steel brakes on cost grounds to avoid £5k plus replacement costs and normal response on road use. Never planned any track use.
Like some others, I have suffered the power steering pump issues which require engine out to replace, suspension compressor and electronic handbrake motor failures. A good warranty highly recommended. Otherwise running costs are £250 for small service every 16k and £500 for big service every 60k using my local Indy. Tyres last 12,000 miles and cost around £250 a corner. Very sensitive to tracking, if out, tyres wasted in 1,000 miles inside edges on fronts. Brakes have lasted over 60,000 miles, now using yellow stuff pads. Various minor electrical items fail, but learn to live with most.
On motorway at 80 leptons, I get 22mpg, around town, more like 17 mpg.
My logic was you only live once, so get a V10 whilst you still can. Put it in sport mode and enjoy. You will surprise most road users, because it is very discreet.
Cheers
Richardracer
Ps joint forum on a8parts.co.uk and buy a vcds diagnostic cable, it will save you a fortune.
I have had my 2006 (56 plate) s8 for nearly 3 years and have done 85,000 miles on top of 60,000 it had already. In my mind, fabulous car ( see my other posts here on piston heads for s8) with Jekyll and Hyde performance ( normal vs. sport mode), comfortable for long distances and superb music with dab and B&O. I went for steel brakes on cost grounds to avoid £5k plus replacement costs and normal response on road use. Never planned any track use.
Like some others, I have suffered the power steering pump issues which require engine out to replace, suspension compressor and electronic handbrake motor failures. A good warranty highly recommended. Otherwise running costs are £250 for small service every 16k and £500 for big service every 60k using my local Indy. Tyres last 12,000 miles and cost around £250 a corner. Very sensitive to tracking, if out, tyres wasted in 1,000 miles inside edges on fronts. Brakes have lasted over 60,000 miles, now using yellow stuff pads. Various minor electrical items fail, but learn to live with most.
On motorway at 80 leptons, I get 22mpg, around town, more like 17 mpg.
My logic was you only live once, so get a V10 whilst you still can. Put it in sport mode and enjoy. You will surprise most road users, because it is very discreet.
Cheers
Richardracer
Ps joint forum on a8parts.co.uk and buy a vcds diagnostic cable, it will save you a fortune.
Personally I think you're wasting your time with a warranty. I had one and it is utterly useless as, what can't be called wear and tear? Save the aggro and put the cash away and if it goes wrong fix it yourself. With a warranty it can take ages before the car is fixed as you wait for approvals and then they most likely won't cover it anyway.
rufmeister said:
How did it go?
Did my back in on Saturday morning, so I've been largely housebound all weekend.:/richardracer said:
Like some others, I have suffered the power steering pump issues which require engine out to replace, suspension compressor and electronic handbrake motor failures. A good warranty highly recommended. Otherwise running costs are £250 for small service every 16k and £500 for big service every 60k using my local Indy. Tyres last 12,000 miles and cost around £250 a corner. Very sensitive to tracking, if out, tyres wasted in 1,000 miles inside edges on fronts. Brakes have lasted over 60,000 miles, now using yellow stuff pads. Various minor electrical items fail, but learn to live with most.
<snip>
Ps joint forum on a8parts.co.uk and buy a vcds diagnostic cable, it will save you a fortune.
Did you buy your warranty from Audi, or a third party like Warrantywise? I know the latter will only cover cars up to 10 years old.<snip>
Ps joint forum on a8parts.co.uk and buy a vcds diagnostic cable, it will save you a fortune.
What do you do about the electrical items? Ignore them, or get them fixed? Stuff like that shouldn't really fail at 8 years old on a solid piece of engineering, should it?
Servicing, tyres, and fuel all sound affordable, and the insurance is paradoxically cheaper than the S-Max (perhaps because there are fewer seats). £500 a year on tax is a bit steep, but again affordable (they should abolish that nonsense and load it onto fuel, IMHO).
Does the diagnostic cable require specific software, and does it just let you read the fault codes?
Edited by Witchfinder on Monday 9th March 10:48
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