Audi A8 Roof Rack
 

Hello all,

I am thinking of purchasing a roof rack tomorrow for bikes and luggage storage (thanks to the small trunk) when my wife and I go skiing, and on long road trips. Does anyone use the factory roof rack, or another brand?

Anyone looking to sell theirs?

Thanks,
Robert

Hello Robert,

Did you make the roof rack purchase, and if so, how are the wind noise / door rubber moldings holding up? I have been using the ski pass-through for my skis without any issues, but have been reticent about the roof rack for my mountain bike.

It would be great if Audi had the same roof rack lock on the top of the roof [like in BMW/Mercedes], rather than under the door liner. In the past, leaving the roof rack on permanently on other cars with similar locking mechanisms has resulted in the rubber molding on the doors getting compressed where the rack meets the lock location, resulting in excessive wind noise. Curious to know if the same happens on the A8 as well.

Any opinions of long term roof rack owners in this site?

Thanks in advance.

I'd love to see a photo of how a roof rack connects to a D4 A8 and what the rack looks like.

Page 35 of this brochure has the stock images for the roof rack. You may find a dealer with the rack in stock - a local dealer had one, and was kind enough to let me take one and put it on top of the A8 on the floor. Still waiting to hear from any owner who has had one setup for an extended period of time.

Roof Rack SNAFU and other Audi A8L faults
 

Don't count on finding or fitting any roof racks for the A8L!

I've learned now that Audi of America does not sell a roof rack for the A8L in the US. Even the ASM could not manage to get hold of the carrier bars parts when pressed, despite the assurances that the car could be fitted with factory racks made prior to purchase.

Having had to go to a dealer in Germany, who is not allowed to ship to the USA, The parts arrive mis-fit for the locking covers. Tme installation manual does come with a UK/US section indicating it was intended for the USA market.

The part number for the carrier bars for the A8L is 4H4.071.126

I now find that the kayak accessories for the roof rack system have been discontinued!

This is a 2012 vehicle, and Audi of America cannot get a working roof rack system in a two year old car?

Add to this SNAFU the on-going saga that the passenger air bag deactivates with a person in the seat and the motor mounts continue to clunk after nearly two years of attempts to invoke warrantee repair, and Audi of America's last retort is "as designed" to both.

I can't wait until the NHTSA gets around to digging into Audi of AMerica as they are now with GM. Then we may start to see some "Truth in Engineering" instead of the evasion and lies in warrantee support.

and, by the way, DO NOT rely on the European Delivery Program for working navigation nor collision damage insurance. The insurance, which Audi collected the money for and chose the carrier (AXA), fails to pay for damage done, Audi refused to back up the claim or address the damages nor facilitate repairs, and the USA navigation system will not work while in Europe, for which they loan you a Garmin to alleviate, which was loaded with two year old map data, resulting in endless loops in cities and missing roads.

Not what you'd expect for a company that priodes themselves with a "Truth in Engineering" slogan.
I sense that Audi of America is more concerned with near term profits than protecting the brand and honoring their warrantees and will attempt to out-run their poor reputation for service with more marketing dollars, while short-changing the Audi owners.