For some time now, someone local has had their very well kept Pearl White/Black '97 Audi A8 Quattro listed for sale, with considerable recent work, and 183k miles. The price has gone down, and it disappeared for a while, but is back up (not hard to understand...full-size V8 luxury cars aren't exactly the heart of the market anymore, especially used). It's listed at $5000 OBO.
I know of the usual VW idiosyncrasies, and have read of the typical things on A8's such as the transmission and a couple electronic toys dying...but, also, that they seem quite respectable overall in terms of reliability. Shouldn't expect it to be cheap domestic in terms of maintenance either, but again, apparently not terrible.
I've just been SO attracted to these beasts for years, especially now with the used prices...and just tired of my current, also older, daily driver.
How attracted or not, would you be to a '97 A8 Quattro with 183k that visually looks like a 50k car, has a stack of maintenance receipts (including complete trans rebuild a little over a year ago, complete front & rear brakes, new tires, new tie-rods, flushed coolant, new alternator, new plugs, battery, etc.)?
Is the mileage at 183k too scary for this car, despite obvious maintenance and care? Just too many possible problems (that I just haven't seen)?
My dinosaur of a Cadillac I drive now was a commonly fleeted/limo, etc. vehicle and I know many people that have them with 300,400,500k miles and still original engines, etc., so that doesn't worry me too much. Well, except for an A8...known to go 100k's and still be fine? From the looks of this one, it certainly seems as so.
Just trying to either slap myself and say forgot it...or go over and look at & drive the beauty.

 

I cant tell you how appealing it is until I see a price............. Definatly great looking and driving cars but the price would have to be right with that many miles

 

Yes, that would help, wouldn't it Now edited, above^^.

 

Realistically, no matter how well it's been kept, the "complex German luxury car that's 10+ years old" factor is reality and will keep me from doing anything...but that urge is still there, regardless.

Unless it was just really, really cheap...or...

 

The tranny would be my main concern. Do you have access to the shop the performed the rebuild? Find out what their warranty is on their work. If you're serious about it, have the car inspected and tell them to look for anything that may need attention ($'s) soon. If you can get it for $3-4K there's not much risk if it inspects well.

 

Yeah, good point. As I said, it's a garaged and well kept car that has clearly had every bit of maintenance when needed, but more specifics never hurt...such as with the trans, that just says complete rebuild "due to common A8 problems" in the fall of 2006.

It's still just a daydream, but I emailed the seller with some questions (timing belt change, other issues, etc.). Not that I need a high tech used V8 Audi with nearly 200k on it...but darn if it isn't attractive, especially with the BO price.

 

I bet you can get it for 4800 cash

 

Oh, I do too--if not lower.

He's had it advertised for a long time, or at least there was a break there in the middle, and now has $5000 OBO with "I need this car gone as soon as possible. No reasonable offer refused!" added in the latest ad.

He hasn't emailed me back, but there's a number, and I should try and call just to see it.

The big thing still in my head is would this even be a smart move, theoretically, for a sub-$5k '97 A8 that seems to check out, and just hasn't sold, but has a mountain of miles. I'd also have to sell my current car, etc.

It SEEMS like it could be a great deal...but would be a huge change from what I have now, and have been used to. And would prefer not to have to keep a few extra grand on hand for random problems that pop up, either, which is another sticking point...not that I'd expect anything given the care, but you know.