Dear A8L Community;

I was driving home from work (in my 2002 Saab 9-5 Aero Wagon w/ 125k) and she caught the corner of my eye in the used car lot. I flipped a U-ie and drove in to take a closer look and become deeply infatuated with buying this 2004 A8L with 57k. It is dark grey with a tobacco leather interior and beautiful bright work. The test drive was like the first kiss with a beautiful woman, or any other woman for that matter but I digress. I am on the serious "jones" to buy this car and I want some advice.

1) They are asking $22k and I think I can get them down to $20k or so. What would you pay?

2) I am an experienced low volume euro lux car buyer, so I know the reliability risks, but is there anything cronically wrong with these that I should check out? Any opinions on extended warranty?

3) If my wife talks me out of buying this thing, how long will it take for me to stop thinking about it.

Thanks

DS

 

You simply don't want a 04. Unless the previous owner cured all the problems it had/ will have. I'm guessing with 57k miles this was not the case. The problems are just waiting for you to buy Think of it buy for $20k; sink quite a few k in future repairs/maintenance to get it in the condition mine is in or any other member on this forums are in.
Pricey investment!

BTW you drive a saab lol; I'm guessing your a dentist?

 

I owned a 2004 A8L 4.2 for about a year and didn't have any drivetrain or suspension related problems besides an inexpensive brake pedal sensor going bad, which btw was not a safety issues and also recently happened to someone with an S8 on this forum.

I did have to replace the rear window due to heating elements going bad, the rear sunshade broke, and a few other issues but all this was covered by CPO at the time. Would have paid ~$4000 in repairs over the course of the year I owned it without the CPO so my point is if you buy it, account for buying an extended warranty with the car. Fidelity offers an Audi branded platinum warranty, everything is covered except what is explicitly listed type, that with a $100 deductible should run you $3000-5000 for 4 year/48k miles. I would not recommend owning any year/mileage D3 A8 without at minimum the type of warranty I suggested unless you are an German car mechanic and have a few grand set aside for when something breaks.

 

dang, why do you have to go and hate on dentists?

 

bought my 04 with 60K miles; 114K now, The only repairs needed have been a fuel pump for $600 and a rear wheel bearing for $400. I'd call that great reliability for a $100K car with a lot of complex systems and technology !!

 

I bought my '04 with 56k six years ago. It now has over 135k on the clock. Main problems were air suspension (WABCO brand ECAS air compressor for $1500.00 installed and one air strut(Audi calls it a damper) for $1800.00 installed. Everything else was normal maintenance items. A great deal if you ask me.

 

That does not answer his question.
6 years ago your car was 1 year old, he is not asking on a 2010 A8.
would you buy your 2004 A8 today? is the question.

 

Yes, I would. $20k is half of what I paid so there is plenty of $$ to cover parts & service. Is that better mr. forum moderator?

 

I purchased my 2004 A8L one year ago (purchased with 36K miles) and have driven it approximately 10K during that time period. The only items needing to be serviced were a water temperature sending unit which cost $35.00 and the 45K service which was essentially an oil change and filter. I have done preventative maintenance such as having the timing belt, accessory drive belt,rollers, tensioner, and thermostat changed recently just for peace of mind ($1,300.00 with a local Audi specialist).

The car drives like it is brand new which I feel is an excellent value since I paid less then $25K for the car. This is considerably lower mileage then the typical A8L's on the market which you can bet will require significant service to be done with miles near 80K -100K. The typical service work is going to be for wear items such as brakes (rotors/pads/brake hoses), timing belt and t-stat if it has not been done, suspension bushings (upper/lower a-arms and sway bar bushings which will be cracked due to wear from the heavy weight of the car. Transmission needs to be flushed which is very expensive (relatively speaking) as I have been told the trans fluid costs about $200.00 to do a complete flush and filter change.

If you can get a low mileage example in good condition with complete documentation as to service work performed in and out of warranty then you are in good shape. If you do not have a clear idea of what the car needs have it checked out prior to purchase by a specialist as it will possibly save you an arm and a leg!

My car was purchased from an Audi dealer which ended up replacing all of my TPMS sensors which were experiencing low battery voltage and not working reliably. They changed them out one at a time which took multiple trips to the dealer and was a PITA however it did not cost a dime. The sensors are about $135.00 each times 5 for a total of $675.00 plus you would need to factor in shop labor for mounting/dismounting tires, re-blancing which would take it to closer to $1K by the time you were done with this.

MMI software updates and GPS Navigation maps to bring the car up to date can also cost several hundred more as the NAV disc costs about $235.00 alone.

Suspension Webco compressors do not have to cost an arm and a leg as they may be purchased directly from Webco in the USA for a fraction of what dealers charge. The air suspension dampers are pricey however they do seem to last for well over 100K miles in most cases.

As far as aftermarket extended warranty plans they are a complete waste of money and you need to read very carefully what they cover. Most of them are exclusionary policies and do not cover the suspension system at all! The timing belt, accessory drive belt, tensioner, and rollers would only be covered if the belt was wiped and took out your engine which would open up another can of worms and a seriously expensive engine rebuild. I checked a number of these companies out prior to my A8L purchase and found that they are extremely expensive and in the end you will likely pay far less to maintain your car properly then the policy will cost assuming you due some due diligence on the car prior to purchase.

I plan to keep my car for 3 years and then look for a replacement. In that time I will have spent $1,300.00 for timing belt related service, $35.00 dollar water temp.sensor, a brake job which is being done next week including pads rotors and stainless steel braided brake lines for $900.00. I will need to have another 2-3 oil changes performed over the next 20K miles so add in another $400.00 or so for that and I will have spent roughly $2,700.00 in three tears of ownership which is fairly trivial for almost any car and for an A8L I consider myself very lucky. I doubt many owners would have spent more then this if they had purchased a car with similar miles on it as most of the issues that I read are not from premature failures but more from routine service on systems that are wearing out from miles and age which cannot be avoided on any car. Audi's simply cost more to maintain if you go to a dealer for service as you feel you are paying for the real estate the showroom sits on when you get the bill. My suggestion is to also locate a reputable shop in your area to work with so that you can keep your car maintained at a reasonable rate for both parts and labor.


Good luck with your Audi search!


Cliff

 

"Suspension Webco compressors do not have to cost an arm and a leg as they may be purchased directly from Webco in the USA for a fraction of what dealers charge."

It's WABCO, not Webco. All Capital letters is the proper way. Where can you buy one "direct from them in the USA"?