Viewing an S8 Tonight - Help!!

[Turbo Tony]

Hi all,

I'm going to take a look at a D3 S8 later today. I've been out of the loop too long and I can't remember anything I'll need to check!

The car's got a higher mileage than I'd like - 93k but it looks in good condition with quality tyres (always a telltale sign for me).

What should I look for? Weak points?

I'm taking my VCDS device with me. I'll do a fault code reading, but is there anything I should look for in the measuring blocks?

Any telltale signs of abuse/impending failure?

I know there are a dozen or more threads about this, but I'm leaving straight after work, so I have no time to search.


I'd appreciate any help you could give me.

[Architex_mA8tey]

apart from the obvious general car damage, tyres, service history etc I would specifically look for -
any sign of rear caliper / electronic handbrake issues,
power steering noises on turning the wheel,
functionality of any electronics,
ABS pump issues or sensor issues,
ensure it starts smoothly,
check the battery management /battery level,
check for air suspension function and make sure it all raises and lowers properly
door handle sensors and soft close often fail
fingerprint recognition often stops working
condition of rear lights / any LEDs out or leaks / moisture in lamps
generally check for moisture in the boot and under the carpets inside

[Delboy]

Also condensation in the back window, could be a window out job to fix
Check for readiness codes with vcds to make sure the mil light has not been reset prior to you arriving.

Car needs to successful driving cycles to set them

http://www.ross-tech.com/vcds/tour/readiness.html

Once you have checked the readiness you can then go ahead and clear any faults that are in the system before a drive and rescan to see if there are indeed issue with the car.

[Turbo Tony]

Thanks for the replies guys,

Both of you have suggested a couple of checks with VCDS. I've only ever done an auto-scan with mine. Could you please talk me through the steps to check:

The battery level
The readiness check?

Reading the ross-tech article about the readiness check, it sounds like I won't be able to do a full check because it needs a couple of days worth of driving, so am I just checking if the MIL check passes?

I'm really sorry, I'm sure these are really silly questions but I didn't expect to find this car, nor go to see it so quickly, so I'm caught off-guard.

[Dezzy]

Is there anyone near by the new car that might come with you to plug it in. You might find they'll not be too willing to let you drill in to far if you're not confident. Good luck buddy, hope it turns out to be the car you've been looking for

[Delboy]

Assuming the cars not had the fault codes erased before you arrive then the readiness flags should be ok the reason I said check them is to see if they fault codes have been erased by a dealer trying to hide something

[briang9]

Originally Posted by Turbo Tony

quality tyres (always a telltale sign for me).

Not sure this makes any sense whatsoever to me, I see this nonsense a lot on other forums and always gives me a laugh.

Anyway good luck with your search

[Delboy]

Originally Posted by briang9

Not sure this makes any sense whatsoever to me, I see this nonsense a lot on other forums and always gives me a laugh.

Anyway good luck with your search

In what way, makes sense to me.

If the car has mismatched tyres with questionable names it would tell me that the last owner was a tight wad and if they wouldn't pay for tyres it would be fair to say they would pay for bugger else too.

Sure a dealer could fit new matching tyres and hide that but thats a different story.

[briang9]

Originally Posted by Delboy

If the car has mismatched tyres with questionable names .

Yeah in that case I agree, however there are plenty very good mid range tyres out there that have proven to perform well. I have had leased cars where I have had to fit so called premium tyres which didn't perform well at all, Dunlop for instance were shocking in the wet and that was on a car producing only 200bhp

[Rick]

Quality tyres. Clearly a tell tale sign that the previous owner had a brain and realised unlike many that with a powerfull car they are the only thing stopping you throwing yourself into the scenery!
Miltek may not be to your taste but 99% of the time people buy them for the sound. It doesn't mean the car has had a hard life. The bloke who had it with a standard exhaust years ago could of ragged the crap out of it but the bloke who liked the sound of a miltek looked after it.
Also the tyre size being wrong, some people put the 175's on for rim protection again a tell tale sign as you say they have been refurbed that the previous owner looked after it.
Id say they are all positve points.