Hello all,

All my life I have been afraid of owning an Audi, due to many stories of numerous problems.

I have always appreciated the look Audi designers have been creating.

I have had a secret love affair with the 8 series for years.

I have owned Nissans, Acuras, Infinity, Dodges, GT Mustangs, but strangely enough (I am Polish originally) never explored the European import segment.

Professionally I do sales for Mercedes-Benz, but for different reasons don't see myself buying one.

I was about to pull the trigger on a Infinity FX 35, but am almost sure to take a chance on a 2000-2003 Audi A8.

I know this is a common newbie topic, but please help a fellow car enthusiast with some suggestions, words of advice and heads up on potential problems.

Thank you for all of your input. I promise to be a worthy addition to this forum if I make this choice.

THANK YOU in advance.

 

1st, make SURE you have access to its service history, and that the timing belt has been done if the mileage is anything over 60k. Check the CV boots. make SURE all the switches and buttons inside teh cabin make whatever they're supposed to meve, actually move (seats, headrests, suroof, etc.) Check the cowling for debris. If your drainplugs get plugged up with leaves and detrius someone's G/G - wife - s/o is going home with wet Ferragamos' and an at-TIT-tude...

Along with all teh normal stuff, fluids, test-drive, and schiiiiiituff.

Make sure you have teh radio code, and check to make SURE it works, too!

There's a few other things i'm sure others will add, but, other than that, there isn't much with teh D2 besides some random things that couold go wrong with almost any car (with a 310hp v-8 mota, sporty stylin', and good looks that SHINE on a set of 19"s), 0 - ticket in nuthin'-flat (ask me, I know, BOY do I know!)

 

just bought a 2004 A8L , nice very very nice .
i"ve had bmw x5 mercerdes 350E and honda's, and vw ....this audi is the one....if you like driv'en then this vehicle is superrrrrrr.
like AWdaholic said check it out...i was lucky i bought this one from pfaff audi in toronto. they have been good so far...,
i had problems with a wheel bearing, which they replaced under ext warranty, new sunroof (slider worn out, replace under warranty) .got to do the timing belt but also bought a bently manual so it should be good.

all in it's a great looking , riding car , and you get the performance and the luxary in one (unlike the mercedes ) i get 8LTS/100kilo gas milage ....i like it .

hope this helps.

 

ijust took myleap of faithwith an 04 A8L with 66000kms. picking her up2morrow. can't wait. really love audi's subtle design. gets lots of points for class. the 745 kills it in performance but theyjust dont look right 2 me.

note: there was 6 inches of fresh snow on the ground for my test drive... not sure how nervous the sales guy was but he was holding on pretty tight.... world famous quattro..... nuff said

 

"pull the trigger", I love salesman talk, and how long have you actually worked at Mercedes? anyway if you are selling for MB I would hope you would be very well aware of the fact that A8's, S's, 7's are some of the best luxury cars in the world, they all have most advance technology available at the time of production (reason they are so high maintenance); and not to mention part prices that are unbelievably high (regardless of year), therefore (among other obvious reasons) the cost of owerships of extremely, extremely high. Your best bet would to be stay late model and if you decide to buy, like the others said, make sure it's mechanically sound. Try to find one that is still under factory warranty (depnding heavily on your price range). But yeah, they are fantastic cars, I mean the 04&up body, common, it's gorgeous.

 

My 1999 A8 has 110,000 miles on it. Yesterday was reviewing service records. Noted that, since 50K warranty expired early in 2003, I've had exactly one non-maintenance repair (right rear brake caliper froze, and had to be replaced).

It looks like a new car, in and out. Average 27-28 mpg on highway.

FYI, I installed Pulstar plugs (www.pulstarplugs.com) at 103K miles and they're unbelievable! Performance greatly increased, and perhaps 1-2 mpg better. (Same result on my wife's 93 Infiniti J30). Also use BG44K in the gas about every 5K miles -- instant throtle response.

I'm a nut for mainternance, which I think is the answer to keeping any car running for a long time.
Audi manual doesn't mention changing the transaxle fluid. I did it anyway, thanks to an article in the Audi Club magazine by their tech expert. Also, thanks to that magazine, I changed the transmission code to 11. It adapts to your driving style (if aggressive, holds each gear longer), can hold cruise control's speed on moderate downhills, has the hill-holder feature -- when stopped. Those transmission codes aren't mentioned in the manuals and the dealer didn't even know about it.

Good luck with your A8!

 

47 Magic,

I like you have owned, Acura, Mercedes, BMW, Lexusand some older Audi's, but I must say that my 2000 A8 compares to my 7 series BMW in every aspect but torque. I recently took her on a 4 hour tour and and unlike Gilligan and the Skipper, I returned with a smile on my face and a new found respect for the manufacturer and the car. In regards to service, I agree with the others, see if you can get your hands on the service records, to at least give you an indication of how the vehicle was taken care of and perform all of the normal checks that you would on any other used vehicle that you would purchase. My question to you is, how are you going to get away with buying something other than what you sell? Once you buy an Audi, you might want to consider changing Dealers.

Good Luck!

 

First of all,
thank you all for replies.

As of last night, I am a new owner of:


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Black on Black 2003 Audi A8L!

HOLLY SHIAT!!! What a ubercar! I drove 3 hrs to get her (him? Due to major set of ***** this car has, I haven't decided yet). Drive back was a dream. It was dark by the time I finished and with all the red lights, I felt like a pilot of a private jet.

Wow. I have been missing out all these years. I am just praying to the MAN upstairs for good luck in the reliability department.

Car has 49k miles and my I am working on getting the Audi CPO warranty switched from the previous owner to my name. ($250)

What makes this car so fantastic to me is the fact that I traded my 2005 GT Mustang. Before you get on me, let me tell you that it was a BEAST, with over $8k in performance and other accessories. But are they ever worlds apart...

My next post will be with pictures.