RE: SOTW: Audi A8 2.8
Discussion
Looks to be in poverty SE spec and a pre-facelift interior which isn't as nice as the later ones, but hey at that money it's nothing to complain about!
Gearbox should be fine and is common to loads of other FWD Audis.
I suspect a lot of cars that suffered glitches when they were much younger will either have long since died or been sorted - my current experience is that if the car is already properly sorted they're not difficult to stay on top of. Apart from an F125 switch (gearbox range selector) and a duff front ABS sensor anything else needed has been routine. I stuck some new front upper arms as one was an advisory for the last MOT but it wasn't that bad when it came off and the others were only changed as it's less agro doing them all together and I won't have to touch them again for a decade or more!
My S8 gets mainly used in town and is genuinely the thirstiest car I have ever owned, bar a late 60s Cortina running twin Weber DCOEs!
Gearbox should be fine and is common to loads of other FWD Audis.
I suspect a lot of cars that suffered glitches when they were much younger will either have long since died or been sorted - my current experience is that if the car is already properly sorted they're not difficult to stay on top of. Apart from an F125 switch (gearbox range selector) and a duff front ABS sensor anything else needed has been routine. I stuck some new front upper arms as one was an advisory for the last MOT but it wasn't that bad when it came off and the others were only changed as it's less agro doing them all together and I won't have to touch them again for a decade or more!
My S8 gets mainly used in town and is genuinely the thirstiest car I have ever owned, bar a late 60s Cortina running twin Weber DCOEs!
Adrian E said:
Looks to be in poverty SE spec and a pre-facelift interior which isn't as nice as the later ones, but hey at that money it's nothing to complain about!
There is nothing particularly poverty about SE spec. They only ever did SE or Sport and the Sport only adds larger wheels (which make the ride worse) and different front seats. Everything else which varies from model to model is an option or changed with the model year.
confused_buyer said:
There is nothing particularly poverty about SE spec. They only ever did SE or Sport and the Sport only adds larger wheels (which make the ride worse) and different front seats. Everything else which varies from model to model is an option or changed with the model year.
I know - and as you say most things were options on either but you are more likely to find a high spec on a Sport or larger capacity SE. The description doesn't mention much of use in terms of spec, but the lack of GPS receiver on the bootlid indicates no nav. The pics are terrible so you can't even check it has memory function on the drivers seat. Doesn't have xenons either, which were pretty much fitted to everything post-facelift.It might have the rear blind pack but the pics are so bad it's difficult to tell
Hoofy said:
y2blade said:
Run it until it stops then strip and sell as parts.
There was a good market for spares when I had one.
I got back:
£1600 for the complete Engine/gearbox/transfer-box
£400 wheels (with four new tires)
£200 bodyshell (the scrap metal yard collected it)
£80 for the Exhaust with CATs
£50 headlights
£50 rearlights
£80 ABS ECU
£90 gearbox ECU
£100 Main ECU
£100 clocks
£300 complete black leather interior with doorcards
£50 complete front grill set
http://www.pistonheads.com/xforums/topic.asp?h=0&a...
There was a good market for spares when I had one.
I got back:
£1600 for the complete Engine/gearbox/transfer-box
£400 wheels (with four new tires)
£200 bodyshell (the scrap metal yard collected it)
£80 for the Exhaust with CATs
£50 headlights
£50 rearlights
£80 ABS ECU
£90 gearbox ECU
£100 Main ECU
£100 clocks
£300 complete black leather interior with doorcards
£50 complete front grill set
http://www.pistonheads.com/xforums/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Might as well buy it and strip it for parts as it is!Who bought all this?
I had custody of a mate's company example for a fortnight in 1999 while he was overseas. This one did not have leather, although it wanted for nothing else.
To this day the most beautifully finished car I think I have ever driven. Felt hewn from granite. Spectacularly comfortable, super smooth and although nothing close to fast, it was completely effortless.
To this day the most beautifully finished car I think I have ever driven. Felt hewn from granite. Spectacularly comfortable, super smooth and although nothing close to fast, it was completely effortless.
Would agree with most of what has been said here so far, ran one for a while before switching out to an A6 Allroad (for the quattro) and
my ex-FIL ran a similar 2.8 to this one from new for 3yrs.
Common faults were the gear selector switch (refuses to acknowledge park and hence won't release key! amongst other issues), can be quite heavy on front tyres (which were very expensive to source on the larger wheels, cheaper now due to market changes), other than those two and some minor warning light/ECU faults which I cleared a few times and they never re-occured it was fine. The ex-FIL on the other hand blew out the transmission trying to get his off the drive, but then he never had any mech. sympathy and I truly believe the A8 wasn't at fault and indeed sure they picked up the repair under warranty :-(
I'd concur that they are great all-rounders and consummate mileage cars ... the interiors (and the rest) on these early A8/S8's were effectively hand-built down a very restricted production line, hence I don't think I've ever travelled in such a solid (hewn-from-rock) quality car. Comparison to similar age BMW, leaves the BMW with a bloody nose for sure and Jag's of that era ... don't make me laugh!!
If it had a bit of MOT pending its worth a punt :-)
my ex-FIL ran a similar 2.8 to this one from new for 3yrs.
Common faults were the gear selector switch (refuses to acknowledge park and hence won't release key! amongst other issues), can be quite heavy on front tyres (which were very expensive to source on the larger wheels, cheaper now due to market changes), other than those two and some minor warning light/ECU faults which I cleared a few times and they never re-occured it was fine. The ex-FIL on the other hand blew out the transmission trying to get his off the drive, but then he never had any mech. sympathy and I truly believe the A8 wasn't at fault and indeed sure they picked up the repair under warranty :-(
I'd concur that they are great all-rounders and consummate mileage cars ... the interiors (and the rest) on these early A8/S8's were effectively hand-built down a very restricted production line, hence I don't think I've ever travelled in such a solid (hewn-from-rock) quality car. Comparison to similar age BMW, leaves the BMW with a bloody nose for sure and Jag's of that era ... don't make me laugh!!
If it had a bit of MOT pending its worth a punt :-)
Absolutely top shed! I never saw the point in shedding unless you bought something extravagant and potentially expensive to fix so that for a few months/weeks you can drive around like the ageing Lord of the Manr, knowing your car will only ever depreciate by a maximum of £995.
I looked for a nice Audi A8 9 months ago but couldn't find one at the right money - so ended up with a Volvo S80 which will probably live longer than me.
If I had a spare grand I would have this Audi in a heartbeat and run it alongside the Volvo. Two whole luxury saloons for the price of a set of new tyres on a 911 lol I have known kids spend more than two grand on a mountain bike!
I looked for a nice Audi A8 9 months ago but couldn't find one at the right money - so ended up with a Volvo S80 which will probably live longer than me.
If I had a spare grand I would have this Audi in a heartbeat and run it alongside the Volvo. Two whole luxury saloons for the price of a set of new tyres on a 911 lol I have known kids spend more than two grand on a mountain bike!
jamespink said:
Hoofy said:
y2blade said:
Run it until it stops then strip and sell as parts.
There was a good market for spares when I had one.
I got back:
£1600 for the complete Engine/gearbox/transfer-box
£400 wheels (with four new tires)
£200 bodyshell (the scrap metal yard collected it)
£80 for the Exhaust with CATs
£50 headlights
£50 rearlights
£80 ABS ECU
£90 gearbox ECU
£100 Main ECU
£100 clocks
£300 complete black leather interior with doorcards
£50 complete front grill set
http://www.pistonheads.com/xforums/topic.asp?h=0&a...
There was a good market for spares when I had one.
I got back:
£1600 for the complete Engine/gearbox/transfer-box
£400 wheels (with four new tires)
£200 bodyshell (the scrap metal yard collected it)
£80 for the Exhaust with CATs
£50 headlights
£50 rearlights
£80 ABS ECU
£90 gearbox ECU
£100 Main ECU
£100 clocks
£300 complete black leather interior with doorcards
£50 complete front grill set
http://www.pistonheads.com/xforums/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Might as well buy it and strip it for parts as it is!Who bought all this?
y2blade said:
Hoofy said:
y2blade said:
Do please note it was the Facelifted 2001 4.2 NOT the 2.8.
Mixture of Ebay, Adtrader, forum users and word of mouth.
Ah. I guess you had it on your drive a while and had to do a lot of spanner work to get bits off. Mixture of Ebay, Adtrader, forum users and word of mouth.
yes lots of spanner twiddling but it was fun (I'm ok with spanners) just be careful who you get to help you...they need to understand that everything has to come off intact and labeled as you go.Sold my 2002 S8 2 yrs ago for 5 bags with full spec and 95000 on the clock in mint condition and I mean mint. Gearbox oil replaced etc etc. Averaged 17 mpg and no more than 20mpg on a run. Truly savage consumption. Terrified of the gearbox going. Every time I started it, I was praying nothing would break.
During 2 years, I had front wish bones, two cats, replaced plus other consumables like discs etc. so not cheap to run but one cool car for sure. If i had the opportunity again, i would go for the longer geared 4.2 v8 for better economy.
Also, I could never get the perfect seat position no matter how I tried despite the multi adjustments.
Furthermore, the exhaust is too muted for a V8.
Lovely red light ambient interior at night though.
Finally, it would take a braver man than me to break the otherwise limpet like grip.
Great car!
During 2 years, I had front wish bones, two cats, replaced plus other consumables like discs etc. so not cheap to run but one cool car for sure. If i had the opportunity again, i would go for the longer geared 4.2 v8 for better economy.
Also, I could never get the perfect seat position no matter how I tried despite the multi adjustments.
Furthermore, the exhaust is too muted for a V8.
Lovely red light ambient interior at night though.
Finally, it would take a braver man than me to break the otherwise limpet like grip.
Great car!
Very nice waft-o-shed. Given the mileage there's a fair chance that some of those steering and suspension bits might need attention.
If it had a year's MoT I 'd rate it as a top buy. As it is it loses marks on that point. I guess if you know what you're doing this might be wonderful wafter.
If it had a year's MoT I 'd rate it as a top buy. As it is it loses marks on that point. I guess if you know what you're doing this might be wonderful wafter.
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