tonypai

Spent $3100 getting the timing belt done along with an oil/transmission fluid change among others.

Plus another $1000 for new battery, keys, brakes/rotors, etc.

Maybe do the controls arms/tie rods later this year.

tehA8PIMP

I got my 99 back in April of 2002, with 18k miles and all dealer records. For a 3 year old car, paying half of new was a bargain for me. A 98 with low miles will get some premium, but compare it to a 2002 A8 with the same miles, and you'd have to pay almost double the amount. So that should leave your budget plenty of rainy day funds. My Rims had some scrapes, but they are winter only use as of now. Only issues I had were nuissance items covered under my Assured warranty, none were too expensive anyways. I did the TB at 65k, now I have 82k.

What color is the 98?

jabrown

It's a metallic beige/gold color.

Since this is a private sale, there is no warranty, so I'll be paying for the nuisance items too.

I'm trying to weigh this against a new 2005.5 A4. Either purchased or leased.

Thanks!

---Jim

Return 4 Deposit

but low,low miles isn't always worth a bunch. Sitting can be hard on a car. Seals, belts & hoses can rot/dry out, batteries die, tires flat-spot, rodents infest, etc.

Since you know the owner how was the car used? Was this 20,000 miles a bunch of really short trips in town, or was it more a long-distance road trip machine?

I'd rather have a A8 in excellent condition with average miles than an A8 in average condition with really low miles all things being equal.

The 4.2 engine is good to about 300,000 miles when properly maintained. Most of us won't own cars long enough to wear these engines out. Now the trannys are another matter. Seems the 97' and 98's seem to have issues around 80,000 miles if they are gonna have issues.

I'd say $16,000 - $18,000 is a fair price depending on condition.

jabrown

For trips around town, the owner usually used a different car. The A8 was the car of choice for longer trips, so most of the miles are probably highway.

If I can avoid the tranny problem through 50k miles, I'd feel better about the car.

I've been pumping about $3,000 per year into my '92 100CS Q and am told I've got about $4,300 in repairs pending. Needless to say, I'm looking for something a bit less expensive to maintain.

Thanks.

---Jim

JayMcS

I looked at hundreds of cars on ebay , autotrader, autobyte , Boston Globe , Want Advertiser. I looked at 20 A8's and drove 6 of them . After a 2 year search , I found a black/black that just had a large amount of maintenance. I take delivery tomorrow AM.

I'd put this deal on ice for a week or so and go out and look at bunch of comparible price cars. Drive a better one at a dealer just for a benchmark.

jabrown

Always good advice. If I don't buy this A8, I'll probably buy or lease something new:

A4 2.0T
A4 3.2
325xi
330xi

Given what I know about this A8, I really don't see the need to seek out other A8s. My primary concern is the cost of maintaining A8s in general.

The owner will hold this A8 for me. I'm going to think it over for a bit.

Thanks.

---Jim