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
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
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
richardracer said:
I bought 2 years worth from Warrantywise, top of their range. They covered most things but process was sometimes a little beuracratic, but I guess they get all sorts of claims. They allowed up to 8 years and 80,000 miles, subject to having proper service history.
Good luck with your search. Don't be afraid of mileage and buy on condition and service history/evidence is my advice. If you are down in Thames Valley your welcome to look mine over. I live near Bracknell.
I'm "oop North" - thank you for the offer though. IIRC, the 2 year Warrantywise cover is about £3000, is that right? Audi want £2300 per year. Good to know they stand behind their solid German engineering Good luck with your search. Don't be afraid of mileage and buy on condition and service history/evidence is my advice. If you are down in Thames Valley your welcome to look mine over. I live near Bracknell.
Edited by Witchfinder on Monday 9th March 21:23
Went and had a look at a car in Leeds today. I liked it a lot. The specific car was a little tatty in places (the gloss black on the rear doors was bubbling, a couple of scrapes, a kerbed wheel, and the interior aluminium had a few divots), but nothing worse than I'd expect from an 8-year-old car. Took it for a test drive, the engine was sweet as a nut, and I really like it. I'm pretty much set on getting an S8 now, it's just a matter of getting the right deal.
I was offered a pretty derisory amount for my S-Max, which is a clean, very high spec 2.5T, and a highly confusing finance deal, but a decent price on a 12 month warranty.
I was offered a pretty derisory amount for my S-Max, which is a clean, very high spec 2.5T, and a highly confusing finance deal, but a decent price on a 12 month warranty.
richardracer said:
Hi Whichfinder,
With some competitive negotiation, you should get ww down a bit, but if Audi do it for £2300, I would favor that. What mileage is that for and 1 year or 2?
It's from a Jag dealer - this is the car, actually: http://www.inchcapesignature.co.uk/used-cars/audi-...With some competitive negotiation, you should get ww down a bit, but if Audi do it for £2300, I would favor that. What mileage is that for and 1 year or 2?
They took it in PX for an ex-demonstrator XJR
I fiddled with as many of the doo-dads as possible, and everything seemed to work except the soft close on the drivers door. I can live with that to be honest, and could potentially even fix it myself.
Apparently the warranty is the one they supply with their used Jags, and they claim a 80-90% payout rate, with up to £16k of work covered. EDIT: They emailed me back and said "...warranty, it is very comprehensive cover as to even covering catalytic converters and infotainment systems" - that was itemised at £895 for 12 months. Seems like pretty good value.
In the end, they've offered me what looks like a decent deal with 2 years of warranty. I guess once it hits 10 years old, I can start to assess my options. I plan on keeping it 3 or 4 years anyway.
Anyone know a good Audi specialist in Manchester for servicing and whatnot?
Edited by Witchfinder on Wednesday 11th March 14:55
popeyewhite said:
I also know someone very good with Audi entertainment systems - he's used by the dealerships themselves to sort MMI gremlins. I hope you don't need his services but if you do PM me.
Thanks for the reference. Any others in the area?If the warranty is as good as their word, the MMI should be covered. Anyone know a good place to get updated navigation discs? Is this what I need? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AUDI-A6-A8-Q7-MMI-UPDATE...
Edited by Witchfinder on Wednesday 11th March 14:23
Adrian E said:
Hiya
most of those are firmware update discs. You can download them for free or TPS will sell you a set for peanuts (get friendly with your local branch!)
Assuming it's DVD based you can either burn one yourself or I can supply you one for beer tokens. That link may well be genuine firmware, but the nav media is studiously not described as genuine.
They also don't mention in the advert that your MMI can go into component protection doing the firmware updates, although it's unlikely.
Sign up to the A8parts forum - lots of experience of running D2 and D3 '8s and a number of D3 S8 owners not afraid to DIY
Adrian E, YHM most of those are firmware update discs. You can download them for free or TPS will sell you a set for peanuts (get friendly with your local branch!)
Assuming it's DVD based you can either burn one yourself or I can supply you one for beer tokens. That link may well be genuine firmware, but the nav media is studiously not described as genuine.
They also don't mention in the advert that your MMI can go into component protection doing the firmware updates, although it's unlikely.
Sign up to the A8parts forum - lots of experience of running D2 and D3 '8s and a number of D3 S8 owners not afraid to DIY
rufmeister said:
Sat Nav discs are available on ebay, both genuine and non-genuine, I've used both and never had issues with either, you pays your money and all that...
My MMI version seems to be D3-HU 55.7.0 0835 - I assume this is the "5570" which is the latest version. The Audi stealer wants £185 for navigation discs. I wouldn't actually mind paying in the region of a hundred notes, but nearly 200 just seems churlish to me.In any case, I don't fancy risking bricking my MMI.
Gassing Station | Audi, Seat, Skoda & VW | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff