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Audi S8 Reliability

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Old 12-04-2015, 11:16 PM
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Originally Posted by MP4.2+6.0
If you owned a 2006, you know the traditional D3 week spots--front control arms, air ride by somewhere around 100K miles, trunk motor, etc. A strong car, and you do have better odds with end of run (2009 was it for S8s) and low miles. But it is a complex vehicle and it is an Audi in the end, so don't expect Land Cruiser reputational reliability.

You say you are in Kuwait. Off and on we seem to have a few posters form there or surrounding locales. My sense from afar is repair expertise is hit and miss and parts really expensive. Watch for those.

A nuance on scans BTW (if not for this, for future scans) is always read the readiness codes in the ECU module. If the readiness codes read "not ready" and no light is on, it's a dead give away someone cleared the codes just before you. They reset to "ready"--or the check engine light turns on--within a couple of driving cycles max. Probably has happened before, though presumably more with used car lot sleaze than private party sales.
My A8L's suspension does seem to have a problem, especially the front right side, it's lower than the rest of the car and because of that the rest of the car is completely raised up as if it were in the lift mode, that too by the way is locked for some reason, I cannot seem to put the car in lift mode, only comfort, automatic and dynamic work, lol but the thing is that when I had it checked by an Audi mechanic, he said that there was something wrong with the wiring and gave me an astronomical figure for replacing the wiring which I did because my car was limping and the dashboard was lit up with traction control and e-brake lights even though the e-brake was working fine. Had the wiring replaced and the car was fine for a bit, the suspensions were leveled, lift mode was working, all was well, replaced the gearbox oil because it hadn't been replaced since new, I finally had a sigh of relief but it was about 6 months later that my car now is in the same sorry state that it was before the wiring issue. Also, the steering wheel losses power for some reason but if I turn the car off completely and restart it the steering wheel power comes back on, lol.

And I completely agree with you regarding the lack of third party support in terms of skilled mechanic's here in Kuwait, they know very little and are never able to get to the source of the problem for various reasons that I don't quite understand.

Thanks for the VCDS trick!, I will have it scanned one more time to see if any error codes were previously reset.
Old 12-04-2015, 11:22 PM
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Originally Posted by Hannibalacp82
Age has nothing to do with the control arm bushings or air strut issues. When your number comes due is when the problem arises. If you are fearful of putting away 2-5k for repairs then this isn't the car for you. My analogy rings all to true...just because the car is now the price of a Honda accord doesn't mean it is going to run like one.

However there is a wealth of knowledge here on what can go wrong, what to do to prevent it from going wrong and how to fix it once it does go wrong.

As for the torque issues I am not aware of any problems. It is the same block from the Gallardo but it was bored out from 5.0 to 5.2 and the HP was dropped a bit and it was given a more even torque curve.

It is NOT the 5.2 from the LP560.
I don't mind setting aside 5k for repairs but the question is that how often do I need to keep 5k reserved once I've depleted the original 5k reserve? lol

Originally Posted by Hannibalacp82
Stock turbos? You know the V10 in the S8 is NA and not FI? The rs6 was putting down like 600+ HP...the s8 is "only" 450 HP.
My bad, I guess I thought that the car was TT like the RS6 except with maybe perhaps smaller turbos, small wonder the car sounds so throttle-ly and breaths so freely, thanks!
Old 12-04-2015, 11:25 PM
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Originally Posted by MP4.2+6.0
Not really. If you want more power, get any D4 4.0T--A8 or S8--as a way more cost effective solution w/ chipping. Hard to pump up any already highly tuned normally aspirated motor meaningfully. And put the RS6 turbos in there in Kuwait? Huge tuning difficulty aside when you get into ECU swapping and such... As in, from the second gen RS6 that literally burned down in its first track run in Germany? Serious performance Audi, but you are headed way the wrong direction if the reliability point was at all serious.
haha, obviously I don't have the kind of cash required for such an endeavor. And I agree, Turbo's aren't the most reliable here in the heat of the Kuwaiti desert.
Old 12-05-2015, 01:17 AM
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Originally Posted by a7mado
I don't mind setting aside 5k for repairs but the question is that how often do I need to keep 5k reserved once I've depleted the original 5k reserve? lol



My bad, I guess I thought that the car was TT like the RS6 except with maybe perhaps smaller turbos, small wonder the car sounds so throttle-ly and breaths so freely, thanks!
I don't have enough experience yet to tell you how long to keep it stocked for. What I do be it car repairs, IRA/401k or HSA contributions or the like is to take the upfront hit once and then contribute monthly. So i would put 2-5k aside for the car as soon as I bought it and then every month starting at +1 from purchase put 1/12th the amount I want in reserve towards it.

It quickly becomes a line item in my household budget and if I get to the end of the year and have a surplus great..I can reallocate funds as I see fit.

Just my 2 cents.
Old 12-05-2015, 04:21 AM
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I was going to say that if you passed on the car, then forward the seller's info, but I guess that'd quite a hike for me to see it! Although I have a standing invite in AD. GL
Old 12-05-2015, 07:27 AM
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Originally Posted by Hannibalacp82
Then again I pay around 27USD to fill the tank.
It's been $30-$34 in many of the States here lately.
Old 12-05-2015, 07:28 AM
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Originally Posted by Mister Bally
It's been $30-$34 in many of the States here lately.
Nice. Is that for 91? I think it's 98 out here.
Old 12-05-2015, 07:54 AM
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Originally Posted by Mister Bally
It's been $30-$34 in many of the States here lately.
Originally Posted by Hannibalacp82
Nice. Is that for 91? I think it's 98 out here.
But we don't get to experience H's favorite weather!
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Old 12-05-2015, 11:35 AM
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[QUOTE=Hannibalacp82;24750459]Nice. Is that for 91? I think it's 98 out here.[/QUOTE
I actually bought 92 last time because it was soooo cheap. Usually, I buy regular which is 87 here. No arguements about using Regular fuel please.
Old 12-05-2015, 07:56 PM
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Originally Posted by 911 Crazy
But we don't get to experience H's favorite weather!
I've only been in one sand storm that wasn't even close to that and it HURT!


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