2003 S8
09-22-2014, 07:29 PM
#1
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2003 S8
Hello,
I hope this is the right forum, there is no reference to the 2003 S8 platform.
I have a chance to purchase an S8 with 110K miles in impeccable condition. Any car with that mileage is a $5K+ deferred maintenance/repair car. Trust me.
I had a 1987 GT Coupe that I bought new and sold it eight years later with 120K miles, it was practically a trouble free car, I spent very little money in repairs.
However, the S8 is a very different car, I am not familiar with it and I do not know any anybody that owns one.
What are the weak points/cons to maintain this car? I plan to drive it approximately 3/4K miles a year no more.
Thanks much in advance,
Best regards,
I hope this is the right forum, there is no reference to the 2003 S8 platform.
I have a chance to purchase an S8 with 110K miles in impeccable condition. Any car with that mileage is a $5K+ deferred maintenance/repair car. Trust me.
I had a 1987 GT Coupe that I bought new and sold it eight years later with 120K miles, it was practically a trouble free car, I spent very little money in repairs.
However, the S8 is a very different car, I am not familiar with it and I do not know any anybody that owns one.
What are the weak points/cons to maintain this car? I plan to drive it approximately 3/4K miles a year no more.
Thanks much in advance,
Best regards,
09-23-2014, 08:54 AM
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Timing belt needs done about every 80k miles. If you do it yourself it's a few hundred in parts. If you have the dealer do it expect at least $1500. The transmissions are also a bit suspect. If it goes I think a rebuilt one installed is about $4000. New ones are around $8000 I think.
09-23-2014, 10:57 AM
#3
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Car has been serviced at Audi Westmont in Chicago from day one to 110.8K miles, it has 113K now.
Timing belt and tensioner replaced at 99K miles. Catalytic replaced at 71K, Decarbon at 80K, front and rear brake rotors and pads at 90K.
Says nothing about suspension and or transmission.
Timing belt and tensioner replaced at 99K miles. Catalytic replaced at 71K, Decarbon at 80K, front and rear brake rotors and pads at 90K.
Says nothing about suspension and or transmission.
09-23-2014, 04:35 PM
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Another bloke asked nearly the same questions last week!
Here's my reply from there (with mods in bold):
Like all modern Audi's, the D2 chassis uses Audi's excellent Quadlink front suspension.
This suspension utilises 4 individual control arms to locate and control front wheel positioning throughout its movement range. Dynamically it's brilliant. The downside is that the relatively small size of the bushes and ball joints on the individual arms leads to a high wear rate, and the control arms (especially the uppers) generally become suspect anywhere from around 60,000 miles on. So watch out for suspension rattles, poor handling and wheel drag during full-lock turning.
Gearbox.
The 5 speed ZF in these has a reputation for failing anywhere from 100-180,000 miles. Look for receipts or logbook entry indicating its had a rebuild. The milage wouldn't be such an issue if the gearbox didn't cost $000's for a rebuild.
There's much debate surrounding whether to replace the fluid as a service item (it's not in the Audi service schedule). Suffice to say that for my own reasons I do.
The engines are generally robust, but do suffer from oil leaks around the valve covers (an easy job). The lower sump seal is also below the oil level when full and mine is currently leaking there (will fix next service) which causes the oil to consistently sit down near min on the dipstick. Filling it makes it appear to have high oil consumption, letting it sit low gives me almost no oil consumption (though you should always expect some).
Also listen for rattles at start-up from around the cams as the cam tensioners seem to break adjustment pins and require pressurising each start. A small lifter type noise that goes away in a couple of secs is nothing to necessarily worry about, but if it has a louder rattle that takes longer to go away or requires some revs, it could lead to more expensive repairs.
I chased coolant leaks on mine for the first 6 months of ownership (mine has 120,000 miles right now). Ended up with all new hoses, a new radiator, and finally had to source new bleeder pipes which had cracked (took a while to find that leak). A real PITA, though its all good now!
The fuel pump...
Boy oh boy this was a fun job! It's quite common for the fuel pump to go on these around 150,000 miles-ish. The fuel pump comes as an assembly consisting of the fuel pump itself, plus a couple of hoses and wires all inside a large plastic housing. This mounts into another housing inside the tank (which I call the Suction Pump Housing) and also has the fuel level sender mounted to it.
Audi will only sell you a whole assembly for $1000! Fortunately you can buy the pump itself from after market suppliers for $250odd. No amount of reading about this assembly will give you a clear picture of what's required to replace it, but it is very DIYable if you have a bit of patience and can learn quickly. PM me if ever you need to do it...
Finally onto electrics. On this car the electrics are actually pretty good, but there are a couple of things that fail on most cars. Look out for clicking noises behind the centre dash. This will be the stepper motors controlling the HVAC air direction flaps. There's three in total I think. FL A/S8's had a voltage increase on these motors which ends up causing a gear failure, evidenced by the click.
The rear seat lumbar and headrest adjusters often stop working when the wires controlling them go out of adjustment (or something like that - haven't fixed mine yet) - It's more of a mechanical than an electrical issue and is apparently not a difficult fix, but a good negotiating tool!
Poor radio reception will be the diversity antenna switcher, located behind the rear seat backrest.
That's it for common issues I think. In good order these cars are fantastic - drive like a much smaller car, plenty of grunt. A bit rev happy at times, but then they are a sports model
The good news is that your 2003 model will be one of the coveted "Final Edition" models, which had final changes to the gearbox (with Normal and Sports mode plus Tiptronic - only available from 2002) and larger wheel options amongst other minor changes.
Here's my reply from there (with mods in bold):
Like all modern Audi's, the D2 chassis uses Audi's excellent Quadlink front suspension.
This suspension utilises 4 individual control arms to locate and control front wheel positioning throughout its movement range. Dynamically it's brilliant. The downside is that the relatively small size of the bushes and ball joints on the individual arms leads to a high wear rate, and the control arms (especially the uppers) generally become suspect anywhere from around 60,000 miles on. So watch out for suspension rattles, poor handling and wheel drag during full-lock turning.
Gearbox.
The 5 speed ZF in these has a reputation for failing anywhere from 100-180,000 miles. Look for receipts or logbook entry indicating its had a rebuild. The milage wouldn't be such an issue if the gearbox didn't cost $000's for a rebuild.
There's much debate surrounding whether to replace the fluid as a service item (it's not in the Audi service schedule). Suffice to say that for my own reasons I do.
The engines are generally robust, but do suffer from oil leaks around the valve covers (an easy job). The lower sump seal is also below the oil level when full and mine is currently leaking there (will fix next service) which causes the oil to consistently sit down near min on the dipstick. Filling it makes it appear to have high oil consumption, letting it sit low gives me almost no oil consumption (though you should always expect some).
Also listen for rattles at start-up from around the cams as the cam tensioners seem to break adjustment pins and require pressurising each start. A small lifter type noise that goes away in a couple of secs is nothing to necessarily worry about, but if it has a louder rattle that takes longer to go away or requires some revs, it could lead to more expensive repairs.
I chased coolant leaks on mine for the first 6 months of ownership (mine has 120,000 miles right now). Ended up with all new hoses, a new radiator, and finally had to source new bleeder pipes which had cracked (took a while to find that leak). A real PITA, though its all good now!
The fuel pump...
Boy oh boy this was a fun job! It's quite common for the fuel pump to go on these around 150,000 miles-ish. The fuel pump comes as an assembly consisting of the fuel pump itself, plus a couple of hoses and wires all inside a large plastic housing. This mounts into another housing inside the tank (which I call the Suction Pump Housing) and also has the fuel level sender mounted to it.
Audi will only sell you a whole assembly for $1000! Fortunately you can buy the pump itself from after market suppliers for $250odd. No amount of reading about this assembly will give you a clear picture of what's required to replace it, but it is very DIYable if you have a bit of patience and can learn quickly. PM me if ever you need to do it...
Finally onto electrics. On this car the electrics are actually pretty good, but there are a couple of things that fail on most cars. Look out for clicking noises behind the centre dash. This will be the stepper motors controlling the HVAC air direction flaps. There's three in total I think. FL A/S8's had a voltage increase on these motors which ends up causing a gear failure, evidenced by the click.
The rear seat lumbar and headrest adjusters often stop working when the wires controlling them go out of adjustment (or something like that - haven't fixed mine yet) - It's more of a mechanical than an electrical issue and is apparently not a difficult fix, but a good negotiating tool!
Poor radio reception will be the diversity antenna switcher, located behind the rear seat backrest.
That's it for common issues I think. In good order these cars are fantastic - drive like a much smaller car, plenty of grunt. A bit rev happy at times, but then they are a sports model
The good news is that your 2003 model will be one of the coveted "Final Edition" models, which had final changes to the gearbox (with Normal and Sports mode plus Tiptronic - only available from 2002) and larger wheel options amongst other minor changes.
Last edited by twentysevenlitres; 09-23-2014 at 04:39 PM.
09-24-2014, 05:29 AM
#5
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Everything sounds pretty good about it. I would assume it was serviced properly. The bigger question is what happened in those last 2000 miles that made someone want to get rid of it?
09-24-2014, 02:01 PM
#6
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Excellent question, the problem is that I do not know any indie shop for a PPI in Chicago. Here is the link:
2003 Audi S8 S8 Sport Sedan for sale | Hemmings Motor News
2003 Audi S8 S8 Sport Sedan for sale | Hemmings Motor News
09-24-2014, 02:36 PM
#7
AudiWorld Super User
Excellent question, the problem is that I do not know any indie shop for a PPI in Chicago. Here is the link:
2003 Audi S8 S8 Sport Sedan for sale | Hemmings Motor News
2003 Audi S8 S8 Sport Sedan for sale | Hemmings Motor News
I would, at the very least, be "cautious" of the seller and the car history...if the maintenance (T-belt, etc) isn't on paper, it didn't happen.
I notice right off that the car is missing both the lower foglight grills (pricey little pieces, NOT available used)...I wouldn't call that the appearance of tender loving care...plus the conspicuous lack of any engine photos.
Also noticed that a lotta the tech info is wrong or just made up:
0-60 in 5.5 secs ...No, it should be 6.3 secs.
Top speed 165 mph...Nope, try 155 mph electronically limited.
Power to weight ratio and HP per liter figures are way, WAY off...not even in the neighborhood....etc...
Cheers
Last edited by silverd2; 09-24-2014 at 02:42 PM.
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09-24-2014, 06:41 PM
#10
AudiWorld Senior Member
silvered: Good catch on the missing bits and pieces.
However, IMO the 2003 D2s have some the the worst exterior/interior color combinations I have ever seen; Black exterior with tannish/light brown interior and silver exterior and ox blood/red interior.
Happy shopping and good luck.