This is my first post on this forum. I am an audi newby and looking to get a used 2001 S8 in the USA. I found a couple online for sale and they are all several hundred miles from me. I plan to get a pre-purchase inspection done on a car and then if it turns out ok go out there and get it. I have a couple of questions.
1. Does the 2001 S8 have any common known problems? I can pass this information on to the inspector.
2. Can anyone recommend any website where they do these inspections across the country.

Eagerly awaiting to become a member of the S8 club.

Thanks in advance.
Karthick

 

Welcome to the forum karthick!

First of all, be prepared for noisy brakes. All Audis are notorious for this, but the high performance cars (S4, A6 2.7t, S8) have a more frequent issue because of their larger brake systems. The best remedy has been to install upgraded pads.

The only issues I have heard about with the S8 (and they have been very rare cases) were (1.) the door seals degraded and (2.) the auto tranny would have shift linkage trouble at speed (it would make a hard shift when floored).

(1.) This was easily remedied by a simple R&R.
(2.) This was resolved over time - it took a while for the techs to discover the problem (sorry, I don't remember what it was).

Other than these incidents that I read about one or two years ago, I have heard nothing else. It seems to be a solid car.