Audi A8 (D3) Buyer's Guide & Info?
Discussion
I'm looking at an Audi A8 currently, and wondered if there were any experts out there.
It's a 2004 3.0TDI Quattro with 180,000 miles on the clock.
1. Is this a really stupid idea? With the mileage, is it likely to cost a fortune to run?
2. What kit does it come with as standard?
3. What are the common problems? What's expensive to fix?
4. What else should I know?
I'm looking at one which is damaged (scraped down one side) but is (seemingly) very cheap.
It's a 2004 3.0TDI Quattro with 180,000 miles on the clock.
1. Is this a really stupid idea? With the mileage, is it likely to cost a fortune to run?
2. What kit does it come with as standard?
3. What are the common problems? What's expensive to fix?
4. What else should I know?
I'm looking at one which is damaged (scraped down one side) but is (seemingly) very cheap.
Injector problems on early ones, well documented on here.
Make sure all the electrics work, no noises from the MMI screenmasmit goes up and down.
Mine has done 210k and still going strong (4.2TDi). This ismmynsecond and hopefully my third will arrive this week, still keeping the other one as well though.
Beautiful cars, don't even bother looking at the rivals now.
Make sure all the electrics work, no noises from the MMI screenmasmit goes up and down.
Mine has done 210k and still going strong (4.2TDi). This ismmynsecond and hopefully my third will arrive this week, still keeping the other one as well though.
Beautiful cars, don't even bother looking at the rivals now.
dvs_dave said:
Check that all motors and electronics work
This, this, this and this again. Also make sure to check that EVERYTHING WORKS.Look for:
Timing chain rattle on cold start (in value terms this will write the car off)
Smoke when pulling away after hot idling (over a grand for parts alone)
Engine lights as manifold flap wear is very common (normally change from £500 to repair)
...and one more time; make sure everything works.
Thank you everyone – I appreciate it.
Is it likely the injector problems would have arisen if they were faulty by the time the car has reached 180k? If not, what’s the likely cost if that happens?
How can you check for leaks in the struts? Is this the same problem I’ve read about online with the compressor unit? I’ve had a quick look, and it seems a common(ish) problem, costing around £1400 to be fixed at Audi. Is that right?
Is the car driveable if/when the compressor unit cops out, with just harsh ride, or does it have to be fixed straight away?
Do either of you know of the typical problems and associated typical costs to fix? I could handle a £1000 bill every year, but not five of them! I know it’s all about luck, but worth thinking about.
Is it likely the injector problems would have arisen if they were faulty by the time the car has reached 180k? If not, what’s the likely cost if that happens?
How can you check for leaks in the struts? Is this the same problem I’ve read about online with the compressor unit? I’ve had a quick look, and it seems a common(ish) problem, costing around £1400 to be fixed at Audi. Is that right?
Is the car driveable if/when the compressor unit cops out, with just harsh ride, or does it have to be fixed straight away?
Do either of you know of the typical problems and associated typical costs to fix? I could handle a £1000 bill every year, but not five of them! I know it’s all about luck, but worth thinking about.
Dr G said:
dvs_dave said:
Check that all motors and electronics work
This, this, this and this again. Also make sure to check that EVERYTHING WORKS.Look for:
Timing chain rattle on cold start (in value terms this will write the car off)
Smoke when pulling away after hot idling (over a grand for parts alone)
Engine lights as manifold flap wear is very common (normally change from £500 to repair)
...and one more time; make sure everything works.
I couldn't drive it, but adjusted the suspension and it didn't groan or anything, though I couldn't feel anything change. No lights on the dash in error.
The only concern I have with the car is that the fluid on the right hand side of the engine (presumably the rad fluid) was below low. Is that necessarily a problem, or could it possibly just need a top up? It had pink fluid in it.
I checked the following:
- Suspension
- Screen
- Washer jets
- Heated seats
- Air con
- Stereo
- Windows
- Lights
- Handbrake (sounded fine, maybe a tad noisier than our brand new A3)
Not sure if I checked anything else.
Low coolant could be just that and it just needs a top up. Or it could be a pinhole leak somewhere. The rads are known to go in this way, on the 4.2s at least. Not sure if the same rad is used on the 3.0 tdi?
Easiest way to check for suspension leaks is to swing by and look at the car after it's been sat overnight. If its on its knees, there's a leak somewhere. New compressors are plentiful on eBay and a straightforward DIY job if you're handy. New struts can also be had off German eBay for sensible money but fitting is probably best left to a specialist. Couple of hours job. You can also get refurbed struts on the Internet for not a lot.
At this mileage I'd be most concerned about the gearbox and wether or not its ever had a fluid change. If it has Audi service history it's unlikely as it's not on the service schedule due to it being a "sealed for life" unit. Whilst the ZF 6HP is a robust box, it doesn't defy the laws if physics. It should shift very smoothly and quickly with no undue noises (a hoot noise is the giveaway) when shifting between the first 3 gears. A new box will write the car off value wise.
Easiest way to check for suspension leaks is to swing by and look at the car after it's been sat overnight. If its on its knees, there's a leak somewhere. New compressors are plentiful on eBay and a straightforward DIY job if you're handy. New struts can also be had off German eBay for sensible money but fitting is probably best left to a specialist. Couple of hours job. You can also get refurbed struts on the Internet for not a lot.
At this mileage I'd be most concerned about the gearbox and wether or not its ever had a fluid change. If it has Audi service history it's unlikely as it's not on the service schedule due to it being a "sealed for life" unit. Whilst the ZF 6HP is a robust box, it doesn't defy the laws if physics. It should shift very smoothly and quickly with no undue noises (a hoot noise is the giveaway) when shifting between the first 3 gears. A new box will write the car off value wise.
dvs_dave said:
Low coolant could be just that and it just needs a top up. Or it could be a pinhole leak somewhere. The rads are known to go in this way, on the 4.2s at least. Not sure if the same rad is used on the 3.0 tdi?
Easiest way to check for suspension leaks is to swing by and look at the car after it's been sat overnight. If its on its knees, there's a leak somewhere. New compressors are plentiful on eBay and a straightforward DIY job if you're handy. New struts can also be had off German eBay for sensible money but fitting is probably best left to a specialist. Couple of hours job. You can also get refurbed struts on the Internet for not a lot.
At this mileage I'd be most concerned about the gearbox and wether or not its ever had a fluid change. If it has Audi service history it's unlikely as it's not on the service schedule due to it being a "sealed for life" unit. Whilst the ZF 6HP is a robust box, it doesn't defy the laws if physics. It should shift very smoothly and quickly with no undue noises (a hoot noise is the giveaway) when shifting between the first 3 gears. A new box will write the car off value wise.
If it had a leak, would it have fluid underneath the car? If so, nothing there, and the car has been sat for around a month. So it could just be that it needs a top up?Easiest way to check for suspension leaks is to swing by and look at the car after it's been sat overnight. If its on its knees, there's a leak somewhere. New compressors are plentiful on eBay and a straightforward DIY job if you're handy. New struts can also be had off German eBay for sensible money but fitting is probably best left to a specialist. Couple of hours job. You can also get refurbed struts on the Internet for not a lot.
At this mileage I'd be most concerned about the gearbox and wether or not its ever had a fluid change. If it has Audi service history it's unlikely as it's not on the service schedule due to it being a "sealed for life" unit. Whilst the ZF 6HP is a robust box, it doesn't defy the laws if physics. It should shift very smoothly and quickly with no undue noises (a hoot noise is the giveaway) when shifting between the first 3 gears. A new box will write the car off value wise.
The suspension also looked fine, and no options seemed to be greyed out in the MMI. Can you still drive the car if the air system fails?
It's recently had the check in the book which says 'every 40,000 miles' I believe, which was something to do with the gearbox. I thought it said fluid.
Unfortunately I can't drive it. It's a trade-in at my partner's work, and I'm not insured to drive it (and neither is my partner) - those are just the rules unfortunately.
It's the risk you take with a trade-in I guess (Audi dealership). It is £2000 though.
What will it cost to repair the bodywork? Add that to the equation, assuming at some point you will want to sell on, and I suspect there's other cars out there that whilst more expensive are less likely to cause issues.
I suspect the first thing to drop off the car will be a big enough bill to consider stripping it for spares, but at that mileage it depends as much on condition of components as to whether it's worth it?
There's a few on AT for around £5k at that mileage, but no idea if they sell for anything like that amount?
I suspect the first thing to drop off the car will be a big enough bill to consider stripping it for spares, but at that mileage it depends as much on condition of components as to whether it's worth it?
There's a few on AT for around £5k at that mileage, but no idea if they sell for anything like that amount?
Pulse said:
If it had a leak, would it have fluid underneath the car? If so, nothing there, and the car has been sat for around a month. So it could just be that it needs a top up?
The suspension also looked fine, and no options seemed to be greyed out in the MMI. Can you still drive the car if the air system fails?
It's recently had the check in the book which says 'every 40,000 miles' I believe, which was something to do with the gearbox. I thought it said fluid.
Unfortunately I can't drive it. It's a trade-in at my partner's work, and I'm not insured to drive it (and neither is my partner) - those are just the rules unfortunately.
It's the risk you take with a trade-in I guess (Audi dealership). It is £2000 though.
At 2 grand it's pretty much disposable. Just drive it till it dies (assuming you don't mind driving round in a scruffy car) then weigh it in. At this point it's not worth fixing unless you can do it yourself with used parts. Any trip to the stealer will manifest a bill far more than it's worth.The suspension also looked fine, and no options seemed to be greyed out in the MMI. Can you still drive the car if the air system fails?
It's recently had the check in the book which says 'every 40,000 miles' I believe, which was something to do with the gearbox. I thought it said fluid.
Unfortunately I can't drive it. It's a trade-in at my partner's work, and I'm not insured to drive it (and neither is my partner) - those are just the rules unfortunately.
It's the risk you take with a trade-in I guess (Audi dealership). It is £2000 though.
And if the air suspension packs up you can't continue to drive it as the car ends up on the bump stops with no suspension.
Cheers Dave.
I've had the paperwork through for the car today.
- Same owner for 5 years (at least)
- 10k miles ago, Audi said "timing chain clatter on start up"
- It's got brand new tyres
- Front discs and pads 30k miles ago
- Rear discs and pads 20k miles ago
- MMI screen fixed at 110k miles
- Water pump just replaced 1k miles ago
- Never had the suspension compressor or anything associated worked on
Is there any point going further when it has a timing chain clatter, noted by Audi themselves?
I've had the paperwork through for the car today.
- Same owner for 5 years (at least)
- 10k miles ago, Audi said "timing chain clatter on start up"
- It's got brand new tyres
- Front discs and pads 30k miles ago
- Rear discs and pads 20k miles ago
- MMI screen fixed at 110k miles
- Water pump just replaced 1k miles ago
- Never had the suspension compressor or anything associated worked on
Is there any point going further when it has a timing chain clatter, noted by Audi themselves?
Pulse said:
Cheers Dave.
I've had the paperwork through for the car today.
- Same owner for 5 years (at least)
- 10k miles ago, Audi said "timing chain clatter on start up"
- It's got brand new tyres
- Front discs and pads 30k miles ago
- Rear discs and pads 20k miles ago
- MMI screen fixed at 110k miles
- Water pump just replaced 1k miles ago
- Never had the suspension compressor or anything associated worked on
Is there any point going further when it has a timing chain clatter, noted by Audi themselves?
Fixing the timing chain clatter will write the car off on value as the chain is at the back of the engine so it's an engine out job.I've had the paperwork through for the car today.
- Same owner for 5 years (at least)
- 10k miles ago, Audi said "timing chain clatter on start up"
- It's got brand new tyres
- Front discs and pads 30k miles ago
- Rear discs and pads 20k miles ago
- MMI screen fixed at 110k miles
- Water pump just replaced 1k miles ago
- Never had the suspension compressor or anything associated worked on
Is there any point going further when it has a timing chain clatter, noted by Audi themselves?
This is a banger of a car so the only justifiable thing to if I were in your position would be to run it into the ground and watch it slowly die in your hands, or just walk away if you can't bothered with the hassle. There are a lot of very expensive things that can go wrong with them and render them useless, and the timing chain is up there with the worst of them.
At best the only realistic buyer for this is a scrapyard, someone looking for a project car, or someone buying it for export where it'll be fixed for cheap and sold on.
That's my view too, sadly. The car has had lots spent on it, and has clearly been maintained regardless of cost, but the timing chain rattling means it's just one step too far I think.
It's even had around £1500 spent on it in the last few thousand miles, yet it was traded in for £1650!
It's even had around £1500 spent on it in the last few thousand miles, yet it was traded in for £1650!
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