Glisse

https://www.motor-talk.de/forum/audi-a8-d5-b1027.html

Although private ownership of these type of cars is quite low in Europe. They are used predominantly as commercial vehicles.

angrypengu

Thanks, if only I could read German or if Google Translate would actually work!

angrypengu

Interesting.

https://www.audi-mediacenter.com/en/...s-at-audi-8748

New 3.0 TFSI engines are made in Hungary, versus the 4.0 engines are made in the Porsche factory.

The old 3.0 TFSI was Supercharged, and the new one is Turbocharged. I'm going to guess these are new engines altogether for the D5...

That makes me cringe and worry., but anyhoo, just thought I'd share.

superswiss

Personally, I never buy all-new models during the first 3 or so years. Definitely not a first year model, but as said, the US launches are delayed by a year, so technically we get the 2nd year model. But in my experience it takes a few years for some of the kinks to be resolved as things come up once the cars get some good real world mileage. There is also the whole feedback cycle. The car gets into consumer and journalist hands for the first time, so there will be complaints, dislikes and negative reviews from journalist. This feedback generally gets incorporated and improved upon during the mid cycle refresh. I so far have always bought new cars right after the mid cycle refresh and that has served me well. The Germans have a good track record of addressing negative feedback about their cars during the mid cycle refresh. I'm not too worried about stuff breaking, that's covered under warranty, but for me it's stuff that needs to go back to the drawing board and requires some redesign and software fixes that take a while. Those don't happen in the first couple of years generally. There are bugs in the current models that are frustrating consumers. Things like parking cameras not working right, settings not being remembered and stuff like that. That's with the cabin tech that's in several of the models and has been there for a few years. The D5 has an entirely new MMI system and lots of other technology firsts, so issues are bound to arise and as said, this is not a volume car and is generally bought by folks who can just sell it if it doesn't work out for them and get something else or they are used as commercial limousines.

So far, I've always been glad I waited for the facelift and my next car is gonna be the same. I was looking at the 2018 C63 S and it didn't quite do it for my, but the 2019 is the mid cycle refresh and again, most of my complaints have been addressed with the facelift, so I'm most likely gonna place an order in December for a May European Delivery. I'm changing brands this time after having owned Audis for the last 12 years. The diesel gate aftermath is starting to show signs within Audi. The Management is made up of sales people with a reputation in cost cutting and no longer Engineers as before. I'm starting to notice it in the products they are putting out. Don't wanna discourage you if you have your eyes set on Audi, but I'm not feeling very enthusiastic about the brand anymore. I just happened to talk to one of my German acquaintances last night. He used to be a big Audi fan and still has contacts within Audi Germany and he echoed much of the same sentiments. The VW Group has their work cut out for them.

angrypengu

Thanks for the insight. I agree of course!

superswiss

You are welcome. Also, in case you are not aware, the US won't get the Traffic Jam Pilot AI tech, which is after all the biggest news about the D5. It'll take a few years for the legislation to be in place, so if that's something you were looking forward to, it'll be a while and it's unlikely Audi will offer a retrofit of the hardware should they be able to work out the legislation in the near future. For now they are concentrating on getting it introduced in Germany.

angrypengu

I was unaware that they would have had to retrofit the AI system. I thought it was a matter of just coding it to be 'on'. This is BIG news for me. thank you for th einfo

angrypengu

As per the technical guide, looks like the new A8 will be using CO2 as the refrigerant for the AC. Adding this on my list to make sure we test the hell out of it!! Based on MB's initial testing, they have decided not to offer it in the really hot markets "like in Saudi Arabia" due to performance limitations. Well....let's see!

angrypengu

Alrighty kids, I just got pricing for 1 air strut for the D5 A8. This is NOT covered with the Audi extended plan, even at their most exclusive platinum line. It's an EXCLUDED item and it is mentioned right there on the T&Cs.

Ready?

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$2335. per strut. (Canadian dollars)

****....

Part # is 4N4616039F

angrypengu

Thankfully my wholesaler can get it for 25% off, so that brings it to roughly $1750 CDN/strut. Ok fine, I'll live with it.

Dear EPA or whatever institute is holding back our cars, LET US DRIVE THEM!!!!!!!!