Buying a D4 A8L
 

Any advice for a new potential buyer looking for a used A8L? What type of negotiations have you been able to pull off at the dealership? Is there a website you find provides accurate estimates for a used car? Do you recommend bringing an Audi mechanic to give the used car an inspection? I'm looking at several A8's but none of them are at Audi dealerships, they are all at used car lots.

On a side note, my local Audi dealer has been fantastic - even if I'm not buying from him if I provide him the VIN, he gets me the window sticker for that VIN so I can cross-reference features. I've been incredibly impressed with their customer service - even though I'm not a customer.

I don't see the value in a CPO that others on the boards seem to see. CPO provides 3 year, 100k warranty ($85 deductible) but appears to come at a 7-10k premium - at least what I see at dealerships in Connecticut. I've received quotes for an extended warranty with a $100 deductible (Audi Platinum) that will effectively be 6 years, 120k miles and is bumper to bumper and is about $ 5,500. That price is less than the 7-10k premium I see at the dealerships. The way I see it, I can purchase an A8L from a private seller, negotiate a good price and then purchase the extended warranty. That will provide me the protection of a warranty that CPOs also have. Unless CPO cars have some other value I don't see, I just do not value CPO if I can get an extended warranty for less. Of course, the 300 point inspection does provide some assurance that the car is in tip top shape but I can take a used car to an Audi dealership and have them do the same inspection.

Let me get back to my original question - which is not around CPOs. My original question is what have you negotiated with a seller in regards to purchasing your A8? Is there a website that anyone knows of that provides realistic sales prices that I can use to compare to and leverage for negotiations?

On CPO's, the basic assumption I question is the price. Like everything else, quite negotiable. Watch the spread largely disappear when you find a motivated selling dealership and especially if you have a comparable to make them work against. Mine came down that entire spread (even at upper end) you are discussing, for a then only year-old, 3,000 mile car in greater demand than now. Thus, BTDT.

Also realize some items CPO'ed get pricy for them to prep as cars get several years old, like front brakes. Simply buying a D4 with or without a complete front brake job is the better part of two grand (at dealer prices); much less likely done by private party or fly by auction, oops I mean third party lot. Or the "missing key" (the one they may sell on eBay next week along with the manuals if you don't catch it) that costs like $400 a copy to replace, and so on. CPO has the keys and documents spec, which small (and sleazy) though it seems, folks get burned on regularly. Any dealer will also know and (many will) contend with D4 at end of life for supply/demand and pricing; others not so sure. From experience with CPO, they will also fix anything in a TSB post 4/50. Not so sure on third parties, and good luck on some known things for D4's like front sway bar links (most warranties will say "wear part") or the known leaky front windshield gotcha.

On pricing question, as always start w/ Edmunds, KBB, NADA, etc. For selling sites, I think CarGuru's has the best (really only?) halfway decent pricing info. AutoTrader tends to have more listings, but prices vary widely over time, geography, and other things. Don't dismiss CL either, at least in a larger metro area, but very hit and miss. Hardly worth the paper its printed on half the time, but whomever the seller, you want a CarFax to at least spot the big accident stuff and probably see the early maintenance history logged.

Finally, you don't say what year, but I would at least try to buy inside of 4/50 warranty right now. Then you can bring punch list into dealer (excluding wear and missing items of course) pre 4/50 warranty expire regardless of CPO or third party warranty later. That probably means late 14's and the 15's with facelift currently. If buying anything past 4/50, realize price should take a meaningful step down hit, since you have to backfill with a warranty and take additional general risk.

Thanks so much for the detailed response!! This is great info!

CPO or not?
 

Mine is also a CPO. It was a new car with 30k on ODO when I picked her up. 58K on now. I do oil every 5k and Audi scheduled maintenance per their book and she purrs like a kitten.

No matter how you buy I would only suggest 1 car over the A8L and that's the S8. No other car compares!

Taking advantage of information from the local dealer is smart. Not only can they produce the original window sticker, but they can also be useful to retrieve the maintenance history for services performed at any Audi dealer as well as verifying any open recalls. We just took delivery of our 'new' pre-owned A8L on Monday. We purchased from another high-end brand new car dealer without taking an Audi mechanic. We were comfortable with the dealership's reputation, info we got from the local dealer, as well as the fact that the car was still within the manufacturer's original 4Yr/50k warranty. Of note, as long as the car you are looking at is still within the manufacturer's original warranty, you can get an Audi Total Care extended warranty on it from an Audi dealer (even though you didn't buy it from an Audi dealer). We bought a 10Yr/120k Platinum Audi Total Care Plan (which is a bumper to bumper exclusionary warranty) with a $250 deductible for $5190. For an additional 6.5 years and 70k miles of coverage, we're happy with that price.

There are many sources of listings for used Audi A8Ls. Ones that I used before selecting the one we bought include cars.com; truecar.com; cargurus.com; carfax.com listings; edmunds.com; and eBay. Good luck.