larkinortho

My son found this car with only 90k miles and wants to get it. Any issues with these earlier A8's. I have the '13 S8 and still in love with it. I'm familiar with all the potential issues with the D4, engine shudder at 2k rpms, PVC valve failure, sway bar bushings. Strolling thru your threads I'm not seeing anything jump out.. He's also looking at 2005 S4 with 90k miles. About the same price. Telling him the repair items may be big ones and costly.

Jack88

Well, I bought what was supposed to be a very nice car needing one strut replaced and tires. It is a very nice looking car, in and out, to be sure. However, the following needed immediate repair;
-2 front struts
-tires
-7 front suspension bushings were torn
-Oil cooler coolant leak
-Torn outer passenger CV boot
-Front pads and rotors
Also replaced because of near failure or comfort;
-Torque Mount
-The remaining front CV boots
-Sway bar links
-Transmission filter seal
-Sanded and cleared headlights
And I have a new suspension noise I am chasing, trying to find out what I broke or did wrong in the course of the other work. My car has 150k miles. The things I have been handling were collecting over time, kept up with, these cars are not bad and tend to be reliable. Every now and again you have an expensive or difficult repair, part of the game. It cost me $4000 to sort all of that, almost all of that being used struts, brakes, and tires. I did nearly all of the labor. One thing on the car your son found, if the timing belt has no record of being done, assume it needs it and it will need it immediately. It isn't too far past due on mileage, but the real concern at this point is the age of the components. A full service is around $500 in parts and $8-1400 labor.

larkinortho

Thank you Jack. I did see your post regarding that new noise. I truly appreciate the feedback. I'll find out about the belt before I pull the trigger. There was some recent brake and suspension work completed. The carfax is super clean. You were very informative on our D4 board, I assume you left with a change in vehicle. I believe it was your thread that had all the vcds codes for cool changes. I bought the rosstech tool and followed your lead. Good info. Thanks again. Solid folks on these boards.

Jack88

No problem! Not sure I can ever give back for all the help I've gotten here. Everyone puts up with the million questions, I tend to ask if there is any doubt and always assume someone else has done it first.

tsuter