TinyElviss

I bought my 2015 A8 (not an L) in May of 2018 for $49k with 18,000 miles and decided against an extended warranty. I had previously owned a 2009 A8L with an extended warranty, and only used it once for a water pump.

I currently have 58,500 miles on my A8. I replaced brakes front and rear ($2500 at one dealer, $1800 at my new dealer). Oil change every 5000 miles per the recommendation of my service adviser referring to the oil screen issue. This issue can be remedied by replacing the screen or installing a bypass system, either of which can run you between $1200 and $2000. If the car was sold in and you live in a CARB state, you are covered up tp 7 years from date of original owner's purchase or 70,000 miles. I am in a CARB state, and I have told my service adviser that at 70,001 we are going to replace the filter or do a bypass. Whoever quoted $10,000 to fix earlier was referring to the cost of replacing blown turbos only.... the actual coast will be much higher if shredded turbo bits get into the engine.

Expect to pay $1200-$1800 for a set of tires. If your thinking of saving money in this area... look at a different car. To buy this much motoring enjoyment and then compromise it with crappy tires is just wrong.

I purchased a set of EOM rims for a dedicated winter setup. I also had an Apple Car Play module installed. Other than that, my costs have been for basic service intervals (they are not cheap, but you can't play at this table if you can't foot the bills). This car is truly magnificent. The performance upgrade from the 3.0 is worth every penny. Same for those with an S8... they say the premium in performance over the regular 4.0 is worth it!

I can tell you I had my A8L while my kids went from the 5-12 year old range, and daddy certainly had the car all their friends wanted to go in. Good luck with your choice.

A8L_New_England

That warranty would run out at right about the mileage which many turbos have been reported to fail! It's kind of a crap shoot if you don't address the issue well before then.

Vikingbeachbum

Thanks for the reply’s, these are some great experiences and perspectives.

I missed the car, unfortunately. I do think this solidified my resolve to get get what I want. Since I don’t have to have the car until mid summer I think I’ll just wait and add to the down payment until one pops up.

I am not going to try and get a warranty. It doesn’t sound like it would pay off. I love working on cars and plan to do all the maintenance, or try. We’ll have to see what it’s like to work in this beast.

...I have caught myself entertaining a pre facelift D4 S8. You can find them at the nearly the same price as the 2015 and up D4 A8s. This is hilarious, always trying to get something that is just past the limit I set.

I can’t wait to join the club, and again thanks for all the reply’s.

tx170754

That is the perfect design !

2turbos4rings

If you have a good set of tools and the car can be down for a few days to a week no problem then you can absolutely do the oil screen and turbos yourself! The hardest part to the whole job is getting the intercooler off as some of the fasteners are hard to reach (at least D4 owners don’t have to take the bumper off like C7 owners do!). Some of the exhaust manifold studs might come out as well making it a bit more fussy. But really that’s about it, the rest is patience and careful work/being clean.

I wouldn’t discourage you from looking at an S8, there are lots of goodies that come with it over the 4.0T A8: all the performance stuff like bigger compressor wheel, twin air boxes, higher torque rated gearbox, bigger brakes, and all the handling extras are standard. Alcantara headliner, dual pane windows, diamond stitching, carbon trim (if you like that, personally I do not on a car this big and heavy) aluminum trimmed shift paddles and then a lot of them have B&O and extended leather which seem to be less commonly specc’d on the A8. But if you would use the rear seat for trips with adults then the A8L is the way to go and I’d look for one with reclining rear seats and pano roof.

Also in your budget you might be able to squeeze in a W12 where nearly everything is standard, reliability is perhaps the best in the range and power is comparable to the S8 in different ways. If you don’t use the back seat and you work on the car yourself then just go for the S8 and keep money on the side for turbos. The W12 is almost too rare to bother trying to find one unless that’s what you really wanted.

A8L_New_England

Now I want an S8

2turbos4rings

Sorry!!! Hahah

TinyElviss

Be careful what you wish for!
A previous Forum member and S8 owner near me took me out for a spin in his S8.... at one point he accelerated so fast then braked so hard I damn near tossed my cookies. When he came to a complete stop, I looked over and said "hey, that made me a bit woozy" to which he sheepishly replied "me, too."

A8L_New_England

I like the A8 luxury, but I guess that I just miss my 928 handling and power! The S8 might bring me a little closer to that nirvana

Spock1234

It is unusual for me to the voice of caution in any discussion, but I would ask you to think twice before purchasing a luxury sedan without a warranty.

First, there's the touchy part - money. You mentioned that that you could buy this only after you received your bonus. This is absolutely not the car for someone who has to stretch to buy it. I would not even consider buying a car in this category unless my regular monthly income was more than sufficient to buy and maintain it. You have to consider the $250 oil changes, the $1200 - $1500 tires, expensive brake jobs, the cost of the unusually-sized front rotors, etc.. Everything on this Audi costs 2-3 times more than a regular car. Unless you have previously owned an European luxury car, you cannot possibly understand how expensive these things can be.The only way you can avoid this is to do the work yourself, or get really, really lucky with an honest independent mechanic.

Then, there is the inconvenience. Repairs take twice as long, because you often have to wait for parts to come from Germany. Audi's design choices make simple fixes on this car much more difficult than you would expect. To reach commonly serviced parts, you may have to lift the engine from its bay. Repairing a simple scuff on the bumper is a nightmare, because you have to disassemble the trunk-floor in order to remove the bumper. Once you remove, paint and re-install the bumper cover, you have to re-calibrate the parking sensors (another $2500+ job). I personally experienced multiple loss-of-power / stalling incidents due known design flaws in the Start-Stop system. This is a life-threatening flaw that Audi refuses to acknowledge or fix.

Finally, there is the insurance on this car. An A8's cost to repair is 2-3 times the industry average. You'll pay through the nose for that. I pay over $300/month for insurance, compared to just $100 on my 2017 Mazda CX-5. The A8 insurance is almost half my monthly payment for a top-of-the line CX-5.

In conclusion, don't buy this car without a warranty if you are a normal-good income earner, or if this will be your only car, or if you are unwilling to put up extended repair times. This is truly a Super-Car, and it demands that level of care and attention.