A8 2005 tdi advice....

[biggbn]

Good afternoon all. I have spied a big miles 2005 A8 3.O tdi. Its up past 220k miles, is being sold by its only owner, has a full service history...they provided the following info after I asked some questions...

'had the car since new. I have most of the service history from the last 20 years. Recent service activity: Lower front suspension arms and track rod was changed a month ago. The suspension does go down if you don’t start the car for a couple of weeks. It had new injector seals a year ago and a second hand gearbox at 210,000 miles. Donor car had done 95,000 miles. New gear box is very smooth and changes gear perfectly. Ie both automatically and with paddles. It had a new battery in January this year'

The car is on AT. Clearly there is an issue with suspension, is this a deal breaker to add to all of the other issues these cars can have. Car likely a couple of grand, give or take...opinions from Audi beards welcome...

[Landlubber]

It's fine, these things do intergalactic miles, dont worry about the suspension, they all do that. Great find you lucky so and so. What's the interior like?

[biggbn]

Landlubber said:

It's fine, these things do intergalactic miles, dont worry about the suspension, they all do that. Great find you lucky so and so. What's the interior like?

Thanks for your reply. Worn driver seat bolster. Spoke to owner today and he seems utterly genuine. Has recently retired and bought...a newer a8... I'm going to try and view it on Tuesday. No warning lights on dash, owner ran me through everything that has been done to car and offered to take me to meet the guy who has looked after it as he still works with him in his retirement

Edited by biggbn on Sunday 12th July 22:56

[biggbn]

Landlubber said:

It's fine, these things do intergalactic miles, dont worry about the suspension, they all do that. Great find you lucky so and so. What's the interior like?

Picked it up today. Seems decent. Time will tell. Lovely looking car.

Edited by biggbn on Friday 17th July 08:48

[Dr G]

Cool. An awful lot of car for very little money.

Probably has a slightly leaky airbag, but the repair kits are only 200 Euros:

https://www.miessler-automotive.com/Audi-A8-D3-4E-...

[Landlubber]

What would Marx think.

[biggbn]

Dr G said:

Cool. An awful lot of car for very little money.

Probably has a slightly leaky airbag, but the repair kits are only 200 Euros:

https://www.miessler-automotive.com/Audi-A8-D3-4E-...

Thanks for this. Suspension has not budged since I got it, so hopefully worrying over nothing...

[biggbn]

Landlubber said:

What would Marx think.

I have called Ze German Karl Marx because it is a big, charismatic bluff German full of innovative ideas that will bankrupt you if not handled very, very carefully....

[Dr G]

biggbn said:

Thanks for this. Suspension has not budged since I got it, so hopefully worrying over nothing...

I had an A6 in last year - front would drop ever so slightly if left for a week. Was an almost undetectable leak from one of the front airbags. Worked perfectly and took no time at all to come back to level when the car was started. Most people I think would have left it alone and repaired if it got worse.

[Landlubber]

If you get a problem with the suspension this guy is the answer.

https://www.bagpipingandy.com/

[Dr G]

I'm unsure what they charge or how you'd buy their version of the kit (the ebay shop is empty) but it's ~15 quid from Miessler. Have fitted a couple here without issue.

Sagging doesn't tend to indicate a compressor fault, however. That's typically a leak.

[biggbn]

Dr G said:

I'm unsure what they charge or how you'd buy their version of the kit (the ebay shop is empty) but it's ~15 quid from Miessler. Have fitted a couple here without issue.

Sagging doesn't tend to indicate a compressor fault, however. That's typically a leak.

Owner said it goes down a little if not started for over two weeks...its been sitting for days since I got it and doesn't sink so fingers crossed...

[Dr G]

I'd leave it alone for the time being.

If it becomes any more pronounced get it looked at. A leak left unchecked can ultimately hurt the compressor.

[biggbn]

Dr G said:

I'd leave it alone for the time being.

If it becomes any more pronounced get it looked at. A leak left unchecked can ultimately hurt the compressor.

Indeed. Tactical head in the sand, fingers in the ears, full 'rhubarb, rhubarb' scenario... I guess I bought it cheap enough that I could do a coil over conversion, slam it right down and bounce along the road shaking my fillings out if the worst came to the worst...couldn't I?

Please note, this post was not to be taken seriously

Edited by biggbn on Saturday 25th July 16:46