Greetings and Salutations....It's about Time! (VERY Long)
04-03-2008, 10:02 AM
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Greetings and Salutations....It's about Time! (VERY Long)
Pull up a chair, get a cup of coffee this post is going to take a little while! I have been lurking on this forum since January 2007 and somewhat active since August 2007 and it's time for me to "Offically" introduce myself.....
My name is Ben, I am married (June will be 8 years) with one, 13 month old kid and I do all my own wrenching and minor fabricating. I joined the Audifans "Mother List" in the summer of 1994 (when it was still on the Coimbra server and I was using a DOS based mail program) after I bought my first UrQ. I live in Colorado about 25 miles due west of Denver at almost exactly 8000 feet above sea level and have lived there my whole life. I have been an "Audi Dork" since going to the Pike's Peak Hill Climb for the first time in 1984 and seeing Michele Mouton run the Sport Quattro. Up until the late 90's I went every year, but the Quattro years were the ones I remember the most.
Over the years I have owned 5 UrQs, countless 4kqs, several 5ktqs and several 200qs. Basically, I have been an "Old School" Audi guy my whole life and pretty militant about it. I can appreciate what the B5 A4 did to resurrect Audi as a brand in this country, but I have a hard time appreciating the car itself and the crowd they seem to attract. So, I just stuck to my guns and was happy with my "Old School" stuff.
As I bought and sold various cars because they were a "good deal" or someone made me "an offer I couldn't refuse" on what I was currently driving, my wife was driving a 1991 V8 5 Speed. She drove the car for almost 9 years and while it was good car to her, it was a maintenance hog to me. Anything that went wrong on that car, I fixed it. It was a beautiful car and she actually loved it a lot. HOWEVER, when the kid was born and car seat had to sit facing backwards behind the front seats, it turned into the "littlest big car" you have ever been in! If you were riding shotgun, your knee's were instantly into the glove box! Aside from that, free time was evaporating, which meant wrench time was going bye-bye and after 9 years we were both ready for a change.
What to buy though? I'll be honest here: I wanted to step away from a VAG product. It has been a tough ride trying to be the owner of any "old School" Audi because Audi has so little interest in supporting them and it was quite a turn off from the brand. However, we had to have a car that more interior room than the V8, it HAD to be AWD and the wife absolutely would NOT tolerate a wagon of any sort (Don't Ask!). I leaned heavily towards a G35X or a 330xi (the 5 series was not in our budget), but she was fairly under whelmed with both of them and they weren't much bigger than the V8.
So, we went and looked an A6 2.7 and while she liked it when she was in it, she was less than enthusiastic about the way the exterior looked......and quick frankly, it doesn't do a whole lot for me either. The next step was to go look at an A8 and naturally, she loved it (what's not to like?). It came down to this: It met all our criteria for a car, it was in our price range, and it's was going to primarily be *her* car, so if she was happy with it, I guess I needed to set my grudge against Audi aside.
However, if we were going to lay our cash out there, I felt that our money would be better spent on an S8. I felt that future resale would be much easier and the price difference between the two was small enough to warrant getting an S8. The "Issue" came when we drilled down to what we both wanted in the car. She was 100% against silver, I wanted nothing to do with maintaining a black car in our mountain environment and we just got out of a Pearl car, so it was time for a change. Furthermore, we both REALLY wanted a black interior, so that eliminated ALL 2003's. Now, I am sure you can see where I am going with this, but just try and find an S8 that ISN'T black, silver or pearl and has a black interior! I assure you, it is painful!
In the following 7 months, I watched eBay, Cars.com, Autotrader, Craigslist and the local classifieds and not one car, nationwide, came up that fit the bill. All of the sudden, in August, a Burgundy Pearl/Black (w/Alcantara) car pops up on Cars.com at a Chevy/GMC/Chrysler/Jeep dealership AND it was in Colorado!!! I put a certain value on the car itself, then assigned value to certain things like I was getting an original Colorado car (no rusty suspension bolts), the fact that I didn't have to ship it and the fact that if it were 2002 again and we walked into an Audi dealership to buy our "Perfect" S8, it would have been this EXACT car! How often does THAT happen in the used car world? We made a cash offer based on all these facts and they accepted. We drove away in the car 4 days after it hit Cars.com.
Here are some pictures from the dealership's ad on Cars.com
<img src="http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa294/coloradoaudi/johnson4.jpg">
<img src="http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa294/coloradoaudi/Johnson2.jpg">
<img src="http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa294/coloradoaudi/Johnson14.jpg">
Almost immediately, I put 15mm spacer up front and 25mm spacers in the rear, added In-Pro smoked side markers and got the factory splash guards. It looked better, but I still have a hard time with the stock wheels. The original pre-face lift S8 wheels made by Speedline are so nice, that I just see the newer ones that the USA got as, almost, an insult. So, they were sold on Audifans and 19x8 ET35 Hartmann RS4 "DTM" wheels were procured. They were wrapped with 255/40-19 Pirelli P-Zero Rosso's.
Here is where the story takes a small turn for the worse. I have lived in the "Sticks" my whole life and something finally happened that has NEVER happened before......I hit a dear. Quick run to the store for some dinner, no radio on, just listening to the sweet music of the car and she popped out between two bushes and I didn't even have a chance to get on the brake pedal, just BLAM-O! I was lucky in the fact that she was mid-stride upon impact, so the car didn't take a full, deer-in-the-middle-of-the-road impact and the damage was just cosmetic. The mounting tabs on the DS headlight were broken, but it didn't even get the AC condenser......
<img src="http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa294/coloradoaudi/S8Front.jpg">
Naturally, with the car getting a new headlight, the hood replaced and the paint blended into the fenders, I had the rest of the front end "Fix Up". Front bumper was stripped and painted, PS headlight was sanded and polished, both alu. trim strips under the headlights replaced, all new grills and fog lights. All the work was done by SVE in Broomfield, CO and they are absolutely top notch. They are well known for their attention to detail (and RS4 widebody S4 conversions) and it came out as close to perfect as anyone could ask for. Given the fact that it's a red and it's a pearl, you would not believe how close the paint match is. You simply can not tell! The car looks really really good! Insurance paid out almost $6k....look at the pictures again and it's hard to believe, but it's true!
Here are the only, decent, pictures I have of the car and this is 5 minutes after we picked it up from SVE. Shortly after these were taken, I switched to the snow tires and wheels and have yet to take any pictures of those.
<img src="http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa294/coloradoaudi/IMG_1177.jpg">
<img src="http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa294/coloradoaudi/IMG_1175.jpg">
You already know about and have seen the pictures of my Vavona wood trim install, so while I won't bore you with any more details, but I will say that it is a great "Upgrade"! The latest and last mod was a switch over to the 1997 A8 (and Euro) Look-Red/Blink-Orange tail lights and I LOVE them! On the bed waiting for some Free Time (HA!) is an RNS-D and Phatnoise set-up.
Well, that is the long version.....actually, there are many details beyond that, but we'd be here forever! Many thanks to everyone here and if you see a BLT4SPD S8 roaming around the streets, honk and wave....it'll probably be my wife, but she'll tell me about it when she gets home!
<img src="http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa294/coloradoaudi/IMG_1335Cropped.jpg">
My name is Ben, I am married (June will be 8 years) with one, 13 month old kid and I do all my own wrenching and minor fabricating. I joined the Audifans "Mother List" in the summer of 1994 (when it was still on the Coimbra server and I was using a DOS based mail program) after I bought my first UrQ. I live in Colorado about 25 miles due west of Denver at almost exactly 8000 feet above sea level and have lived there my whole life. I have been an "Audi Dork" since going to the Pike's Peak Hill Climb for the first time in 1984 and seeing Michele Mouton run the Sport Quattro. Up until the late 90's I went every year, but the Quattro years were the ones I remember the most.
Over the years I have owned 5 UrQs, countless 4kqs, several 5ktqs and several 200qs. Basically, I have been an "Old School" Audi guy my whole life and pretty militant about it. I can appreciate what the B5 A4 did to resurrect Audi as a brand in this country, but I have a hard time appreciating the car itself and the crowd they seem to attract. So, I just stuck to my guns and was happy with my "Old School" stuff.
As I bought and sold various cars because they were a "good deal" or someone made me "an offer I couldn't refuse" on what I was currently driving, my wife was driving a 1991 V8 5 Speed. She drove the car for almost 9 years and while it was good car to her, it was a maintenance hog to me. Anything that went wrong on that car, I fixed it. It was a beautiful car and she actually loved it a lot. HOWEVER, when the kid was born and car seat had to sit facing backwards behind the front seats, it turned into the "littlest big car" you have ever been in! If you were riding shotgun, your knee's were instantly into the glove box! Aside from that, free time was evaporating, which meant wrench time was going bye-bye and after 9 years we were both ready for a change.
What to buy though? I'll be honest here: I wanted to step away from a VAG product. It has been a tough ride trying to be the owner of any "old School" Audi because Audi has so little interest in supporting them and it was quite a turn off from the brand. However, we had to have a car that more interior room than the V8, it HAD to be AWD and the wife absolutely would NOT tolerate a wagon of any sort (Don't Ask!). I leaned heavily towards a G35X or a 330xi (the 5 series was not in our budget), but she was fairly under whelmed with both of them and they weren't much bigger than the V8.
So, we went and looked an A6 2.7 and while she liked it when she was in it, she was less than enthusiastic about the way the exterior looked......and quick frankly, it doesn't do a whole lot for me either. The next step was to go look at an A8 and naturally, she loved it (what's not to like?). It came down to this: It met all our criteria for a car, it was in our price range, and it's was going to primarily be *her* car, so if she was happy with it, I guess I needed to set my grudge against Audi aside.
However, if we were going to lay our cash out there, I felt that our money would be better spent on an S8. I felt that future resale would be much easier and the price difference between the two was small enough to warrant getting an S8. The "Issue" came when we drilled down to what we both wanted in the car. She was 100% against silver, I wanted nothing to do with maintaining a black car in our mountain environment and we just got out of a Pearl car, so it was time for a change. Furthermore, we both REALLY wanted a black interior, so that eliminated ALL 2003's. Now, I am sure you can see where I am going with this, but just try and find an S8 that ISN'T black, silver or pearl and has a black interior! I assure you, it is painful!
In the following 7 months, I watched eBay, Cars.com, Autotrader, Craigslist and the local classifieds and not one car, nationwide, came up that fit the bill. All of the sudden, in August, a Burgundy Pearl/Black (w/Alcantara) car pops up on Cars.com at a Chevy/GMC/Chrysler/Jeep dealership AND it was in Colorado!!! I put a certain value on the car itself, then assigned value to certain things like I was getting an original Colorado car (no rusty suspension bolts), the fact that I didn't have to ship it and the fact that if it were 2002 again and we walked into an Audi dealership to buy our "Perfect" S8, it would have been this EXACT car! How often does THAT happen in the used car world? We made a cash offer based on all these facts and they accepted. We drove away in the car 4 days after it hit Cars.com.
Here are some pictures from the dealership's ad on Cars.com
<img src="http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa294/coloradoaudi/johnson4.jpg">
<img src="http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa294/coloradoaudi/Johnson2.jpg">
<img src="http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa294/coloradoaudi/Johnson14.jpg">
Almost immediately, I put 15mm spacer up front and 25mm spacers in the rear, added In-Pro smoked side markers and got the factory splash guards. It looked better, but I still have a hard time with the stock wheels. The original pre-face lift S8 wheels made by Speedline are so nice, that I just see the newer ones that the USA got as, almost, an insult. So, they were sold on Audifans and 19x8 ET35 Hartmann RS4 "DTM" wheels were procured. They were wrapped with 255/40-19 Pirelli P-Zero Rosso's.
Here is where the story takes a small turn for the worse. I have lived in the "Sticks" my whole life and something finally happened that has NEVER happened before......I hit a dear. Quick run to the store for some dinner, no radio on, just listening to the sweet music of the car and she popped out between two bushes and I didn't even have a chance to get on the brake pedal, just BLAM-O! I was lucky in the fact that she was mid-stride upon impact, so the car didn't take a full, deer-in-the-middle-of-the-road impact and the damage was just cosmetic. The mounting tabs on the DS headlight were broken, but it didn't even get the AC condenser......
<img src="http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa294/coloradoaudi/S8Front.jpg">
Naturally, with the car getting a new headlight, the hood replaced and the paint blended into the fenders, I had the rest of the front end "Fix Up". Front bumper was stripped and painted, PS headlight was sanded and polished, both alu. trim strips under the headlights replaced, all new grills and fog lights. All the work was done by SVE in Broomfield, CO and they are absolutely top notch. They are well known for their attention to detail (and RS4 widebody S4 conversions) and it came out as close to perfect as anyone could ask for. Given the fact that it's a red and it's a pearl, you would not believe how close the paint match is. You simply can not tell! The car looks really really good! Insurance paid out almost $6k....look at the pictures again and it's hard to believe, but it's true!
Here are the only, decent, pictures I have of the car and this is 5 minutes after we picked it up from SVE. Shortly after these were taken, I switched to the snow tires and wheels and have yet to take any pictures of those.
<img src="http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa294/coloradoaudi/IMG_1177.jpg">
<img src="http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa294/coloradoaudi/IMG_1175.jpg">
You already know about and have seen the pictures of my Vavona wood trim install, so while I won't bore you with any more details, but I will say that it is a great "Upgrade"! The latest and last mod was a switch over to the 1997 A8 (and Euro) Look-Red/Blink-Orange tail lights and I LOVE them! On the bed waiting for some Free Time (HA!) is an RNS-D and Phatnoise set-up.
Well, that is the long version.....actually, there are many details beyond that, but we'd be here forever! Many thanks to everyone here and if you see a BLT4SPD S8 roaming around the streets, honk and wave....it'll probably be my wife, but she'll tell me about it when she gets home!
<img src="http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa294/coloradoaudi/IMG_1335Cropped.jpg">
04-03-2008, 10:17 AM
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You made the right choice my son.
That is a beautiful car indeed! I like that color as it is unique. Too bad about the whole deer thing, glad you're alright. The Phatnoise should be taken care of straight away as it is an easy install. You're wife is sooo lucky to be driving such a fine machine! :-)
04-03-2008, 10:41 AM
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Hey Ben, good to "meet" you, interesting read. While we'd traded a coupla emails...
...back and forth previously, it's great to get to know fellow forum members better.
You know how I feel about your car - downright friggin _STUNNING_. Good show, Watson!
Damn man, had no idea on the deer - wow - how disheartening that must have been. I'm amazed how well you faired - could have been soooo much worse. Oy! But, sometimes good comes from bad, I keep hoping someone will tap me here or there so I can respray my bumpers - ISSUES!
Your car is looking stellar, keep up the good work. Funny on the amber rear corners, that was near the first thing I set off to tackle but and even had someone here willing to trade me. But then I vacillated and got cold feet that I'd make the car look older as the all-red does look sharp across the back (as much as I despise criminally indestinguishable indicators with a passion!). Now yous gots me wundrin' again, hmmmm.
Anywho, again, keep up the good work you've got great taste. Looking forward to more from out your way.
Heh, "free time"... add kids 2 & 3! 8-)
You know how I feel about your car - downright friggin _STUNNING_. Good show, Watson!
Damn man, had no idea on the deer - wow - how disheartening that must have been. I'm amazed how well you faired - could have been soooo much worse. Oy! But, sometimes good comes from bad, I keep hoping someone will tap me here or there so I can respray my bumpers - ISSUES!
Your car is looking stellar, keep up the good work. Funny on the amber rear corners, that was near the first thing I set off to tackle but and even had someone here willing to trade me. But then I vacillated and got cold feet that I'd make the car look older as the all-red does look sharp across the back (as much as I despise criminally indestinguishable indicators with a passion!). Now yous gots me wundrin' again, hmmmm.
Anywho, again, keep up the good work you've got great taste. Looking forward to more from out your way.
Heh, "free time"... add kids 2 & 3! 8-)
04-03-2008, 10:53 AM
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Nice Write-up...
And a fine car! I've seen the Andorra red on A8Ls, but never on an S8 in person. But, you *do* know that a green S8 would've gone better with the Colorado tags, right? 
But seriously, congrats on finding that gem!
But seriously, congrats on finding that gem!
04-03-2008, 11:17 AM
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Your wheels are sooo much nicer than stock
I share your opinion of the S8's wheels and have been kicking around the idea of selling mine and buying the RS4's. If you dont mind my asking, how much were you able to sell yours for?
I'm amazed that you got your car fixed for $6000. I was run off the road by an 18 wheeler and hit a plastic barricade on the expressway shoulder. No body damage- only some scrapes on the rt front fender, door trim and rear fender. $5300!!
I've had my share of Audis and the S8 is by far the best. Welcome aboard!
Phil C
I'm amazed that you got your car fixed for $6000. I was run off the road by an 18 wheeler and hit a plastic barricade on the expressway shoulder. No body damage- only some scrapes on the rt front fender, door trim and rear fender. $5300!!
I've had my share of Audis and the S8 is by far the best. Welcome aboard!
Phil C
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04-03-2008, 11:40 AM
#8
Greetings Ben. Congratulations on finding the right one. :) Love most of your upgrades...
thus far.
I too came from the world of the V8q (11+ years now)...although I rarely ever drive her now. I still haven't come to the point that I'm ready to part ways with her...much to my wife's annoyance.
I keep telling her we have a 4 car garage with 3 cars so as far as I'm concerned we don't have too many cars, we appear to be short 1!
Anyway, congrats on your car it looks great!
Cheers,
Justin
01 //S8
90 V8q
I too came from the world of the V8q (11+ years now)...although I rarely ever drive her now. I still haven't come to the point that I'm ready to part ways with her...much to my wife's annoyance.
I keep telling her we have a 4 car garage with 3 cars so as far as I'm concerned we don't have too many cars, we appear to be short 1!
Anyway, congrats on your car it looks great!
Cheers,
Justin
01 //S8
90 V8q
04-03-2008, 11:54 AM
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GTG / Free beer, filet grill / R8 drives / Cheerleader lingerie show @ my place, Sunday, 2-5.
A8s, only, please. Those S8 guys have gotten clique-y lately.
<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/84266/lynn0264.jpg">
<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/84266/lynn0264.jpg">