standupguy81

2007 A8L 20" sports package
118k miles




I love this car so much, it matches my personality and character so well. This car demands respect on the roads and everywhere you take it, but I'm relocating again from DC to the south and going to take a significant pay deduction. I'm not very mechanically inclined, did do the front brakes with a lot of help from my girlfriend's grandfather. I still owe 12k on it, hoping to get 10k for it. It's in great shape, a few scrapes but maintained very well.

Do you think you I'd get a better deal trading it in a an Audi dealer or other?

Before buying this Dream car of my 3 years ago. I had an 2006 A6 3.2 non-quattro for 5 year. The car was the definition of reliability. Bought it with 30k on the dash, I put an extra 110k miles on it, only replaced a air bag sensor and brake pads. Did I mention I could drive 9 hours on one tank? Traded it in towards the A8L.

Where do I go from here?

I have a serious girlfriend now (might be a family man soon) and i'm moving to an unstable IT job market it the south to be close to home and my girl. So low cost maintenance and reliability are major factors. Looking to spend under 30k.

I would really loved to get an 2012/13 A6, hoping to have the same experience, gas mileage and reliabilty as my 2006 A6.

I like the new Maxima, the new F150, GS Lexus are cool. A like a few of the Acuras and Infinitis, haven't done my homework on the maintenance and reliability yet. Might just grab a Accord and call it a day My girl needs a car too. She's cool with an Altima. We might as well get the minivan. My days of different women cruising thru DC are at an end.

What do you guys think?

Junius

Well if you stick it out with your A8, you'll only have to worry about things such as front air suspension struts, control arm bushings, trunk motor, tires and brakes, and the regular electronic quirks that usually can be taken care of through diy. That's if your car is in good and maintained shape already like you said it is. Besides that, if you want to stay with Audi, maybe a post-2010 S4 would do or a 2012 and beyond A6/A7 with the 3.0T (supercharged V6). I've heard that engine is pretty reliable, especially compared to the oil-burning 2.0T of yesteryear and cheaper than the far expensive but amazing 4.0T v8. You can definitely find a good C7 generation A6/A7 for under 30k, and should be reliable and manageable cost of ownership.

dvs_dave

Quality, performance, practicality, affordability.

Choose 3 and make a selection based on that as you can't have all 4.

Jack88

I'd keep it, as long as you keep up on the preventative maintenance, it'll be fine. Keep some money aside for surprises, as you should for anything. Buying anything else will cost you more money in the long term. Keep your drains clear, and find a good independent shop for your new homestead.

seamore2001

I'd say you have to be prepared for some expensive repairs. Like you, I'm not mechanically inclined when it comes to cars made this century. So I pay a very good indie to maintain my A8.

I keep on top of scheduled and unscheduled problems with my car and have them repaired as soon as I'm aware of them with new OEM parts. From about where you are currently, mileage-wise to where I am now (145K) I've had:

- right front suspension - $2K
- front air-con sensor and refresh aircon - $400
- timing belt and sundry parts - $2.2K
- rear brakes, spare-tire pressure sensor, alignment and other scheduled 30K maintenance - $1.1K
- a couple of tires (Maryland and Richmond VA have some horrific potholes - see alignment above) - $470
- a few oil changes at whatever that cost.

All in that's the better part of $7K. (BTW all prices are off the top of my head so may be off slightly). YMMV, but that's cheaper than buying some new cars, once you add in payments and depreciation, but it's a fair whack if you've not set some money aside for when the inevitable repairs come up. My wife drives a newish Toyota and shakes her head every time she drives me to the mechanic to pick up my car.

OTOH my '06 A8 is the finest car in its class I've ever owned or driven, so I'm willing to put up with the cost of ownership, despite wincing from time to time when I make another payment into my mechanics college fund for his kids.

milellie111

We almost mirror each other and a couple weeks ago I faced the same dilemma. I have an 07 A8L non sport 111k miles which I just paid off 6 months ago. She costs a bit to maintain even though it has been meticulously maintenanced by my German Indy mechanic.

Just last year I put $3500 into the car for all new control arms/sway links, air suspension compressor and ac blower motor.

2 weeks ago I was looking at another $3500 for two front air shocks(Arnott), replacement cracked passenger side window (acoustic double paned security glass more expensive), and mmi screen gear replacement.

Like you I thought about giving up and trading the car in even though it's in great shape and still a dream to drive. Then I thought to myself with the help of some fellas here, suppose you trade in this paid off car, you will be spending $30,000 to get something else used with monthly payments and will most likely have to sink money into repairing that car as well eventually. Even if I accumulate $10,000 in repairs on my A8, I've still got another $20,000 to get to $30,000. That's a whole lot of dough in repairs that most likely will never happen before the car dies.

And what does $30,000 buy you nowadays? Nothing brand new in that price range compares even to an older A8 driving wise and interior quality of materials and at that price used luxury vehicles, you are just most likely inheriting someone else's problems who didn't want to put money into fixing.

So, if you haven't figured out by now, my advice is to pay off and keep and stash away the $500 per month you would have spent on another $30,000 car.

the_duke

Keep it and spend the money to keep it running. Spending $30k on something that truthfully will be disappointing in comparison to the A8 is a bad idea financially. Find a good indie in the area you're moving to. When we decided to replace our D3 we drove a bunch of different cars. Keep in mind I was willing to spend around $50k. Other than a couple of Mercedes cars none were close to the D3. Except of course the D4 I ended up getting. I have a 2016 Q5 service loaner right now and compared to the D3 it's not nearly as good to drive or spend time in. The D3 is a tough act to follow.

Junius

It sure is a tough act to follow! Even at 10 years old, the D3 holds its own pretty well actually. Very few cars come close, with the exception of other newer flagships and the D4.

Jack88

$5700, by my math.

He doesn't have the timing belt to worry about and the timing chain, while expensive if it fails, is very reliable, with only a couple cases of failure. Your indy may be very good, but he's also quite an expensive indy! Those are dealer prices.

seamore2001

$5.7K excluding tires, oil changes and other (unlisted) misc wear items, but yeah, looks like I was off by a grand or so. Yeah, I sometimes wonder about the prices. Then I remember the time he spent a full day and a half troubleshooting a problem on my old 968 and ended up charging me two hours for the job. He basically said "I'm not going to charge you to learn what the problem was, just for the time it took me to do the repair." And no, those aren't dealer prices, at least for around here - trust me I know, as I checked with them a few times.