Hello all. I'm new to Audi's and the A8 as well, and was hoping I could find some answers here. I have been a long time Subaru enthusiast, and have recently been looking at a used '99 A8 as a "daily drive" and road trip-mobile.

For the last three years, I have driven a '03 Forester 2.5X as my "daily driver". I commute to class, work, and around town by bicycle so in reality it is mainly used as a highway cruzer to go skiing every weekend and mountain biking around the Denver metro area and over in Fruita/Moab. The car has been a lot of fun (surprising to most people), and has been fun to slightly mod and play around with at rallycrosses and in light off road adventures. However, I recently picked up a roughed up '98 Forester S for dirt-cheap which will take over the rallycross and light off road duties, so the "lesbaru" as it is affectionately called will only be used for long trips.

The reason I have been looking at used A8's is because long road trips IMO, are one of the things the Forester is quite poor at. It is loud, slow, and requires a steady foot on the pedal to hold anything over 55. Starting next year, I will be transferring to a college in Eastern Washington (Whitman) which will require 2-3 round trip drives back and forth (2200mi/roundtrip) per year. Because of this, as well as the fact that I have a cheap car to abuse, I have decided to look at more plush and comfortable cars like the A8 to make the long trips to Washington, as well as for the shorter trips to various ski areas and Moab/Fruita.

I have been eyeing (and will be most likely driving tomorrow) a '99 A8 with 87k miles at a local dealer (with a 2yr/100k warranty). It is way overpriced (from what I've read) at $13,999, however I am quite confident I can talk them down. I have read audipages.com and the used A8 buyers checklist and plan to check those things over when I see the car tomorrow. It appears to be in good condition from the pictures, and looks to have all the options I want.

Here are my questions:
1) On audipages.com, it is mentioned that you can take the VIN to an Audi dealer to have the service history printed out for free. Is this true, and what kind of data can I gain from this? Secondly, at 87k miles, besides scheduled maintenance and timing belt/water pump, what other things should I look for?
2) How reliable (on average) is the A8 as a long road trip car? Part of my reason for selling the Forester, is that I've had some problems that trouble me, and I don't really want to be stranded somewhere in Wyoming with a blown head gasket. Again, the car will see very few city miles (1-2k/year maybe), but will see many highway miles. Assuming scheduled maintenance has been performed, and major issues addressed, is it likely that I'll be driving in the middle of nowhere and suddenly the car will die?
3) I have also read that the 90k service is a big one. What all is involved at 90k, and is it something that I could do myself with a fairly extensive tool kit, ramps, jack, and jack stands (minus timing belt: but I plan to make sure that is already done).
4) I have seen various people posting different data as far as gas mileage. Of course it changes on driver/setting, but what is the approximate mileage for highway driving at 70-80mph?

I'll probably have more questions later, but this should be a PLENTY good start.
Cheers
-Jeff
www.i-club.com

 

Jeff,

Here are some answers:

1) Yes, most Audi dealers will give you a general idea of the maintenance by calling or stopping by. Make it clear that you will be bringing the car in for service going forward.

2) As a rule, A8's will not leave you stranded. I have 2 myself and would drive either one cross country.

3)The 90k service is "big" because that includes the TB. Other than that it's just plugs and filters.

4) I got around 22mpg highway

There's a lot more collective knowledge since auidpages was put together. I would add control arms (squeaking, groaning in the front end, also take note of front end play which would be tie rod ends).

Pay particular attention to the transmission and the way it shifts. There's no way to check the fluid from under the hood.

Rear differential and driveshaft seals are worth a look too. Commonly leak gear oil.

Bob

 

A well-maintained D2 A8 is quite reliable and way more car than you can find for the money in any other direction. For sailing across a bunch of Western mountain ranges several times a year, you'd be hard pressed to find a safer, faster, more comfortable car.

I get 25mpg on trips from Boulder to Park City, Moab, or the left coast where I often cruise north of 100 and average over 80.<ul><li><a href="http://www.audipages.com/usedA8.html">Checklist here.</a></li></ul>

 

You cannot find a better long distance cruiser than a well-maintained A8. The car will not leave you stranded unless you get a flat tire and the POS aluminium jack collapses and you can't change the tire! The 4.2 V8 is basically bulletproof.

I have taken several long distance roadies with mine and I can drive the car for hours on end with little or no fatique. I usually get around 24 mpg on the hwy at an average speed of 72 mph.

The Audipages checklist is the best tool out there to evaluate a used A8. This site is a tremendous resource - I would not own an A8 with it!

My 99 has been perfect for the last 40,000 miles and 3 years of ownership. &lt;knocking on wood&gt;. I have a TB service coming up soon as I am right around 80,000 miles but the car is now almost 8 years old.

 

Personally, IMO avoid 97 to 99. I got my 99 about 5 years ago, 20k per year since. Budget in a tranny, buy a cheap 97. Or spend extra, get an 01 A8L with all the goodies for mid to high teens.

 

READ THIS FORUM! Everyone with a pre-2000 A8 is looking for the magic bullet to cure their trans failures. DO NOT under any circumstance buy an A8 older than 2000.

 

<center><img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/80919/dscn0056.jpg"></center><p>

 

I have a 99 A8 with 115k miles on it. I just had the transmission rebuilt ($4700) and it runs great. I have taken many long trips with this car and have never had it stop dead. Maintainence is expensive when done at the dealer, parts are astronomical, but you will not find a better "road car".
I just drove from Seattle to Coeur d' Alene last week and averaged 27 mpg at 75 mph. It is a very quiet and comfortable ride.
I had to face the difficult decision of whether to do the expensive transmission rebuild or get rid of it altogether. I am glad that I kept it and am still driving it daily. Wouldn't think twice about getting in for a 1000 mile trip.
Go for it!

 

Here are not-easy-to-fix problems with post 2000 cars: if the thermostat fails on a trip, you get a day's delay because it's behind the timing belt. If the oil cooler O-rings start letting oil into the coolant, the same applies.

Make sure you can get comfortable in the car. For some people, the forward curve in the top third of the seatback is hostile, and will need reworking by an upholstery shop. For long trips, I don't find the A8 stability or ride to be anything special.

Tom

 

I've had my car for 2 1/2 years, besides doing the maintenance stuffs, it's just drives like a new car, actually better many new cars.
I paid 11,500 for the car @107k miles, it's 131k, and it doesn't even show its age.
Only thing that I notice is that if you can't fix your own Audi, it would be a pain to own one because dealers charge a lot and they don't even know how to troubleshoot the problem, therefore the customers pay for their "shotgun" technique.
I've owned many types of so called "unreliable" cars like Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Lancia, Porsche 928, Jaguar, Audi, and they were all reliable and all I can say is "the less you touch the car, the longer it will last" and I don't mean less driving... :-)
I changed oil every 7500 NOT 3000 (this is over doing it)
I changed spark plugs 30-50k miles (if it starts right up, idle smoothly, and the gas mileage stays within +/- 3 miles/gallon, I don't replace. Same for air cleaner.
Many owners take care of their cars better than taking care of themselves. I don't.
The more times they take it to the dealers for maintenance, the more chance for them to screw up and when the car got screwed up once, it's wounded for life.
My wife and I will only drive Audis, they're cheap to buy, they drive nice, safe and reliable.
Every weekend my wife asks me if I need to do maintenance on her A6, she wondered why it lasts so long without me spending any major money or time for it. I told her if it starts with first crank, she still can pass other cars when she wants to and gets 20 mpg, don't ask me to do anything.
Spend $11k for 100k miles well kept A8 with trannie, timing belt, water pump replaced, you will have another 60k miles minimum before any main things break, drive 60k miles with trouble free ~ 4-5 years, after 4-5 years, sell it for 3-4k or even donate it, it's still worth the money because 11k/4 years &lt;3k a year. Any comparable car you touch these days would cost more than 3k a year in principle.

Good luck and you will love it,