FL D2 S8 prices
 

The only reason why this post is about the FL S8 cars is because I live in America and we only got the FL S8 cars. Since I'm fairly new to these cars, I'm trying to understand why some of these cars are selling for crazy high money with a poorly designed automatic transmission!?! It doesn't make any sense to me! this one sold this past December and this one sold this past June and this one is currently for sale and the price has been slowly coming down

'D3 transmission Valve-body upgrade'

Eh??

Well, they’re nowhere near that expensive in the UK! Depending on spec, condition, mileage and so on, you’d be looking in the order of £5-6K for a pretty good one. The auto transmission can last if cared for (professional oil flushes and filter changes) and have been known to run for well over 200K miles. But apart from the box, most of here think they’re a brilliant car - beautifully hand-built, classic styling and a dream to drive. But you’re probably in the wrong place for an unbiased opinion!

At $2-£ (or better) these cars would be 'on the money' for FL S8's
We're just stuck with a cruddy exchange rate until the newfangled Brexit thingy gets sorted (whatever that is)

In my mind, that's one of the reasons why they should be changing hands for more than they do. If it wasn't for transmission failures there would probably be a lot more of them left on the road. As a result they're a very rare beast and most of the remaining examples will have had lots of money spent on them to keep them on the road. I know I have personally spent the value of my car several times over in my ten years of ownership.

Taking running costs and rarity into account, I think a fairer price for a good example should be in excess of £40K. There are many vehicles less rare than the D2 S8 (less remarkable vehicles too, in my opinion) that change hands for far more money. But most of the remaining D2s are currently around 20 years old or younger, which doesn't quite give them that 'classic' status, yet. Demand seems to be a little higher than supply right now, but psychologically, to most people, they're still just a big old Audi. I think in 5-10 years, when most of the remaining cars will have passed that magical 25-year milestone, values might be quite different.

Check prices in Europe for a better comparison. autoscout24.com
UK is a very special captive island market with too many used RHD cars that the rest of Europe doesn't want. Therefore prices of used cars plummet here unlike anywhere else I have seen.
Almost any used car model you pick is more expensive in Europe for the same spec/condition.

Bring A Trailer isn't a particularly good comparison tool to use. Cars there seem to sell for more than average. I've heard it called the BaT Tax before.

For what it's worth, I picked up my '01 S8 in Vermont last year for $3800, and then drove it back to South Carolina. It's a high mileage car, but otherwise in great shape.

I understand these cars are slowly getting rarer and rarer but come on with auto trans that isn't that reliable and I don't care how well it's been serviced there is a chance where it'll fail. So this is why I don't get why these cars ask for high money or sell for high money. If these cars came with a very good robost reliable auto trans then I can understand the high prices.

The transmission is basically fixable if it breaks, but at a price. In the UK market (very low prices as explained above) this means many owners just don't bother as the car isn't "worth it". If they were "worth" £40K we wouldn't think twice about it as an issue. :D

As HP says, it's fixable. In the UK, it can be professionally rebuilt for around £3K, a job that a lot of owners (myself included) have already had done. And done properly, it should be good for another 100K miles. And perhaps even double those miles if the rebuild is done properly and the transmission is regularly serviced thereafter. So, as I see it, rather than detract from the value, the work that is required to keep these vehicles on the road should justify a much higher price, as long as the work has been done.