longms

I am currently looking into a 2004 Audi A8L with around 130,000 miles on the clock. I met this car in person but have not been able to drive or get inside yet. From what I could see on the outside the paint looked to be in great shape, all body panels matched up and nothing caught my eye as bad. The interior looked to be in mint shape for 130,000 from what I could see through the windows. The primary driver on this car was the owner's wife.

I spoke to the owner and immediately asked about the timing belt maintenance and I was told that the entire motor was swapped by a reputable shop around town (I will be calling the shop to get more information on the swap and general vehicle information if possible). Apparently he told me it was cheaper to install a new motor that to have the belt maintenance performed. Anyways, the motor was installed 10,000 miles ago and had 65,000 on the clock. The timing belt was replaced on the new motor before being installed into the vehicle.

The car has BOSE audio, Convenience package, 19" wheels, Cold weather package and front and rear Parktronic.

From what I could tell the guy sounded like a nice guy and didn't seem to be hiding anything.

As the market sits today knowing what I know now, assuming there aren't any surprises waiting for me what would you estimate this vehicle could sell for? Minimum? Maximum?

I have been a BMW guy for quite some time but am tired of the harsh ride I have been forced to deal with in recent years. I do not know what is going on in the Audi market right now.

Thanks everyone.

greenie

Make sure that you see ALL of the service records. 2004 was the launch of the model change and many of us suffered through the ownership of this vehicle. The lower the VIN# the greater the possibility of problems. My VIN was 6625. I would walk away from any car with a lower VIN

longms

Looks like the VIN is 6385. I am going to try to check it out in person and get the service records.

longms

Any idea on what kind of price I should be looking at?

ltooz_a6_a8_q7

Engine swapped is a No, No. It doesn't matter what price it is. All average A8 look nice.
Cheers,
Louis

longms

Care to elaborate!?

ltooz_a6_a8_q7

A well taken care of car, like Mr. Bally, his 2004 engine has over 250k miles. Why would anyone want to swap the original engine? Although there are good mechanics that can remove and replace engines, but when it's removed and put back together, can never be the same as the original, the seals, the bolts, wirings. What's the history of swapped engine? If something happens, you'll be up here asking why this and that? Again, you may be lucky and nothing happens, but if I spent thousands of dollars to swap a new engine, would I sell it or at least use it for many years since I love the car so much? Search for all the people who wanted cheap cars with Cancer problems that came up here to ask for help, spending tons of money and the car is still a "walking wounded one". The hardest part is to troubleshooting something intermittent, created due to "Operator Errors" by the mechanics.
Many people are over estimate themselves and underestimate the complexity of the A8 and found themselves in the hole. Spending more money for an old car which they can get a much better car if they buy one correctly.
Yes, the initial cost is higher which many people don't have or can't afford, but buying a cheap one, older year, higher miles, a few thousands cheaper, and when it's nickel and dime, slowly and surely, after all set and done, the credit card is filled up and still have an old car, high miles, tons of problems and the final cost sky rocketed.
Read my posts on how to find the best used Audi A8 D3. It took me months, I do like cheap cars like everyone else, but I'm fair, the price must be right for the best car. If something is too good to be true, it is. You can't steal good cars from good owners.
Read the forum posts, especially with people who bought 2004 cheap with tons of problems.
I paid a fair price for my car, I drove for 3 years, everything is still original from the first owner, haven't had to spend money to fix any problems besides maintenance which is cheaper than owning a Honda.

Cheers,

Louis

Jack88

+1

He's already lied to you. It's not cheaper to do replace the engine than to do the maintenance. There could be a number of reasons the engine was replaced but it would primarily be neglect, I suspect. I wouldn't count on a single word he says, and given that, I recommend not just walking, but running away from this one. How it looks is entirely irrelevant.

richard-tx

+1 Run away from this one.

the_duke

Cheaper to swap motor than timing service? That's a bunch of bull. No idea were you are located but my 2005 is now for sale.