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I've had a most of the luxury cars in the past few years but never had the chance to get an Audi A8.
I've had an A6 for a couple of months and hated the quality of leather and plastic. Had the same worn out buttons and broken cup holders on my toureg, passat and now the A8
I promised myself I would never buy from a used car dealer in north Hollywood with a middle eastern accent, but I did it again. My purchase experience was awful but i knew what i was going for.
My problem is that i had a mercedes with a defective transmission and it would not shift below 5k rpm when warm. SRS light was on, CEL, ABS and i was just hoping i would find a dealer that will take it.
As i was leaving the dealer, it ran out of gas and they were closed. The car stalled in the middle of the street at 9pm in north hollywood so i had to run to the gas station and get gas. Next day check engine light came on, i learned there's a motor that moves the wind deflector and it sounds as if a jet plane wants to land on the roof. Rear tires were worn to the threads. Front tires were inside out. TPMS system is defective. Driver side window sounds like the wind deflector motor, only when going down. Trunk motor is too tired to lift the trunk lid. Mirror switch turned into a nintendo joystick that has no determined position (bought a new one). Soft close or door assist only works on one rear passenger door.
With that being said... the car is a dream to drive. I've owned the w140 and w220 mercedes s class, bmw e38 and e60 series, lexus ls430 and a couple of jags.
I'm **** about gas mileage and this give the best of the luxury vehicles in the affordable price range. And has plenty of power.
I was able to give them a trade in worth 900$ on kbb plus 12k and got a post lift A8 with 120k miles.
I know the mileage is on the high side, but I've worked on cars all my life and can do most of the work myself.
I was about to pull the trigger on a 2007 S550 W221 but that engine is just too big for my ego and i would have to spend another 5k to get it, more on insurance and maintenance.
I will have a bunch of questions to ask.
1. I gave up on the trunk motor. Took it apart, lubed it, read about it and i just need the one in the metal casing.
At that price, it's just not worth it. I can lift an aluminum trunk lid and so can my wife.
2. Driver side window motor is noisy and i would want that fixed. I just don't know if i need the motor or the hardware adjusted. Since I also need to replace the mirror switch i may have to take the door panel out
3. Dealer already replaced the tires ( wrong load index, had nothing better)
4. My check engine light is ON. Came on the next day and i would hear a noise that sound like power steering when the car was idling. Nothing else changed in the way it drives.
I'm debating if i should get the ross tech CAN for abiut 500$ or just pay someone on CL to scan it and tell me the codes.
I used to work as a car diagnostic at BOSCH and I'm very familiar with these systems. I've had the STAR when i had the mercedese, ICOM when i had my BMWs and it's just a lot of cash to pay for the right system. Though i think they all paid for themselves.
Just thought I'd share my experience and start a log on my car.
Pictures will follow when i figure out how to post them from my phone
If you asked me earlier, I could have sold you my everything working 06 with 95k miles for $13k... :-)
Well, the trunk needs some help to lift up... or $500 for a new and improved motor.
Sometimes knowing how to work on cars not really helps when purchasing a used car. You think everything is easy to fix, but it may not. I know how to work on cars, but I don't buy cars that don't work so I can fix.
Anyhow, my driver side windows does make some sound on the way down also, never open it up to check, as long as it's not busted, I'm fine with it. If you open it up, fix it, let us know how to fix it.
Check engine light may caused by being out of gas and the gas cap wasn't closed completely.
Check to see if someone in the forum close to you that have VCDS to help with scanning codes.
Did you look at any other D3s? I'm sure you could've found others with less issues. If you spent any time on here, you'd know a used D3 with issues can be a real money pit.
That check engine light could be simple or it could be a major issue. Any chance bringing back to the dealer you bought it from? Seeing that it came on right when you left there's got to be a warranty, no? I wish you the best of luck, but I would be going right back to that dealer for the CEL.
She's a beauty !
I rushed into the deal because the dealer was able to take paypal and put some on my credit card and some cash. A 2006 with 125k miles is about 13k and that's pretty much how much I paid.
My W124 was with 2 wheels under the crusher and it was hard to imagine driving that car back that night.
My only other option was one with 95k miles for 15k with the espresso interior, when you add taxes and fees, it becomes a 17K car and they did not want to hear anything about a 1995 mercedes trade in.
I daily drive a Nissan Leaf that is 100% electric So the Audi is just a weekend project that seems like i've been enjoying so far.
I'll source someone with VCSD in orange county and have it checked.
I'm pretty sure the fault is related to the EVAP system or some air/idle controller. I heard this noise that seemed like the power steering but i was just sitting in traffic. It comes on when the car gets hotter and switched to idle mode.
The CEL went off the next day and i got a little excited, but it came back on a few days later and stayed on since then
08-26-2014, 08:46 PM
New owner 2006 4.2
So the Audi is just a weekend project that seems like i've been enjoying so far.
