acheap8

Hi, I'm considering buying a 1997 A8 with 135,000 miles in reasonably good shape, one-owner, mix of highway/city miles.

I'm looking for feedback as to what I might expect as to maintenance costs and/or "disasters" :-)

The transmission was replaced at 95,000 miles which was a $4000+ expense. Any other "biggies" that might be coming up?

If I budget for $2000/year for typical maintenance does that sound reasonable?

With above (or corrected) maintenance costs how realistic would it be to get another 5 years of use out of the car (to bring it to 10 years old and 200,000 miles) without major problems?

Finally, any idea as to residual value of the car might be at that point (200,000 miles and 10 years old)?

Thanks very much in advance... my previous "Audi" experience consists mostly of a sport version of a VW Jetta. I'm trying to extrapolate the maintenance costs of that car (higher than Japanese) to the A8 but am out of my league.

Note: I'm trying to justify buying this used car to my wife instead of, for example, a new Camry (aagh!) but give me the brutal honest truth. I'll soft-pedal it to her as needed!

wws03

You may go over the $2k/yr, but the average may be close. I found out that each oil change is closer to $70, because oil filter itself is $35. Everything else on the car is about the same. Also, each leak, which Audi are prong to get at various spots, are very costly to repair. Just look at the previous posts for different leak spots. Search through the previous posts on various quirks. I think the maintenance cost correlates with the initial cost of the car quite well. Often I find the mentality of the mechanic and parts suppliers are "if you can afford a $70k car, you can afford to pay MUCH more for the maintenance." Does your ownership cost include insurance? Because insurance is a big chunk of it. Unfortunately Audi A8 is on the top list for insurance claim, likely because of its aluminum body and 300HP engine. All in all, it probably feeds into the resale value of the car-- the resale value are quite low compared to other luxury cars. This may not be a good example, but my 1992 Jaguar XJ6 sold for as much as my friend's 1990 Subaru... probably because the cost of ownership for the Jaguar is 10x higher than the subaru. Heck, I enjoyed the jag, and I paid for it too. I'm enjoying the A8, but I'm sure paying for the maintenance too. Compared to my previous Lexus LS400, my cost of ownership is 2-3x as much, mainly because not too many mechanics that work on Japanese cars will work on German cars, and that the Lexus served me flawlessly for 7 years.. yes, I only replaced oil, fluid, brakes. Don't expect this to happen with the A8. The cost compared to my previous 93 BMW 750il, it's about the same. As far as resale value, my 750il is a good sample-- it was close to 100k car initially, but I could only sell it for about less than $10k last year. I suppose a 200k mile A8 will be about the same range after these many years, because the new owner will have to pickup the major tab for the cost of repair. I love my A8, love the quattro, and love the 300HP, but it's keeping my wallet thin.

wws03

was the timing belt/water pump/ serpentine belt changed? If not, there is your $2k quota.

DarrenCT

is that the one on Ebay???? :-)

PaulW

I too looked at that car on ebay last night. Few things:

It says it has dings on it, make sure what these are before you buy it, 'cause nobody wants an A8 with dings on it. The car is too beautiful for that. Fixing that would be expensive.

Being an owner of a 91 200q, I bought it with 85K miles and drove it for five years, sold it with 245K miles on it. Luckily, never replaced the tranny or clutch, but I think I replaced every damn coolant hose, one by one (I know I did!). I bought it for 13.6K (was a good deal at the time) and sold it for 4.5K last summer (sold it less than anyone else). It sold in a week. I fixed a ton of stuff on that car over the years.

Be prepapred to do a lot of maintenance, like brakes (rotors and pads will cost you $650 for parts alone for all four wheels), but since they've been done a few times before, the pistion caliper boots probably got ripped so a new caliper will be needed. If the dealer does it, then double the cost to include labor.

The heater fan might need replacement some day, along with the alternator, find out when the timing belt was last changed, that's a $1200 job, who's going to do the maintenance?

So what can you get the car for? If it's $17K, that's about a $400 payment for 36 months? Add another $200 a month for maintenance costs, that's $600. A recent post showed that somebody could buy an Audi Assured 99 A8 for something like $650 a month lease for 2 years and have the maintenace included. Need a headrest fixed? Done, Need the steering wheel replaced because the heater doesn't work....done....get the picture?

I think I will probably sell my car about four years after I bought it (97 with 45K miles in '01, sell it with 150K miles in '04 or '05) and I think I'll get anywhere from 9K to 12K. Bought it for 25K. I take really good care of my car and do all the maintenance myself. When I sell it, I price it so it sells right away. It's a love/hate relationship.

Good luck, if you get it, you'll love it! I would visit that car first though.....are you in MN?

Paul

BTW, the insurance will probably be $1200 to $1600 a year.

Wayzatajim

I'd noticed a post elsewhere.
Lemmeno.

wws03

exceed their asking price for "buy it now". I would figure in a few thousand to fix it up though. I'm sure you'll find some problem with it soon.

hisport

A8's are tremendous cars - absolutely unique and a thrill to drive.

They are also tremendously expensive to keep. As Paul W noted below, the decision really rests upon who will do the repairs. If you're planning to do the work yourself, and have the skill, tools, time, place, etc, then maybe this would work for you.

If not, buy an Audi Assured example.

I've got all the ownership prerequisites mentioned above, and bought a '99 A8 with 50K mi (for $28,000 cash). If I had to do over again, I would have bought an Audi Assured A8.

There are just too many really expensive bugs with these cars. The used Jag example is perfect - low price, exorbinant cost of qwnership.

John

acheap8

Thanks for the great info!

Your buy/lease argument is pretty compelling, but doesn't quite apply to me -- I was going to pay cash and not insure it for comprehensive or collision, figuring the cost would be exhorbitant. I live in a low-theft area, and if I crashed it, would just sell whatever was left. Still your point makes sense.

Also I am *not* as mechanically adept as you (understatement) so would be relying on someone else (local Audi dealer most likely) for service. So I won't be getting any breaks there.

On the plus side, I do live (sorta) local to Minneapolis so I'd be able to check it out. Now I'm a bit afraid to go test-drive it -- if I love it sounds like it might be a one-way trip to the money pit.

acheap8

I explicitly *don't* have those skills, so would be at the mercy of the local Audi dealer.

Thanks. Not what I wanted to hear, but I certainly appreciate hearing it now.