I Need Advice before i buy
 

I am trying to buy a D3 A8 3.0TDI Sport either a 2007 or facelift 2008 and have been looking for the last couple of months and a couple have slipped away from me because i procastinated for too long. My mechanic and his friend have said that i am mad as so many things go wrong and the fuel consumtion is terrible and everything is so expensive to replace on them if something goes wrong. I am looking some genuine advice and opinions from people who it seems have owned one or several over a number of years. I really dont want to go and buy an A6 as i much prefer the look of the A8.
Comments please. Chris

Welcome Chris

I will let the D3 Owners on here comment on their 3.0 tdi's etc but your mechanic in my opinion needs to answer the following - what specific evidence does he have for too many things going wrong on these cars? what examples?

Has he ever owned one and what other cars is he comparing that against and is it therefore a fair comparison? What fuel consumption does he expect for a vehicle of the size/type of a D3 A8 and why does he feel its worse than competitor brands? Is a 3.0 tdi in an Aluminium A8 worse fuel wise than a 2.0 tdi in a heavier steel A6 for example?

What things is he saying are expensive to replace and what particular parts does he think are likely to fail that are more costly?

Lastly, perhaps the reason you havnt landed one yet is because they are all so good they are getting snapped up quickly by others?

I'm just playing devil's advocate here but have a browse around each section of the D3 forums and you will build up an idea of what issues crop up and how easily or otherwise they are solved. A8 Parts (Prestige Motor Services); the Forum sponsors, exist to provider us with a cheaper-than-Audi spares and replacement parts service for many items.

Again welcome and I hope that you find the right '8 for you and that you can see past the "generalized comments" that many people seem to make in these situations without full awareness or knowledge +++ Good luck!

I agree, there is always some luck involved in whether you get a good car or a lemon, and of course things will go from time to time, but the audi build quality is excellent, and though ive seen a few posts from unlucky owners they are few and far between, I dont see what your mechanic is basing these statements on

when things go wrong it will cost more, some parts seem stupidly priced, and we all moan from time to time, but they cost no more than an SClass merc or BMW7 parts, and with good quality secondhand spares around its not always that bad.

My advice - Buy the car that makes you happy, check it out as best as possible before you buy, make sure you get the toys you want, as these can be expensive retrofits,
find a good audi specialist ie a non main dealer, ask the experts on the forum if you have a problem first.

try an audi A6 then get in an 8, its a different class. the shape isnt that disimilar but the ride and feel is 100 times better. ( I recently had to do this with a new A6 and my 05 A8, couldnt wait to get it back )

I think the fuel econ is quite good, more than i expected anyway. i get around 42ish on a run

Actual maintenance costs for mine over the last 2 and a half years including parts, all done by an audi specialist comes to under a grand

the wife moans that my audi is always going wrong and costs a fortune - compared to hers it may be true, but, she drives a new hyundai tin can i10, that she has nearly written off twice due to its inability to turn a corner on any road thats a bit icy.

I know which i prefer

Thank you for the speedy replies, my mechanics friend was there when i called and he has an 06 A4 DTM and supposedly is an Audi enthusiast, He suggested that i would get better fuel consumption from a remapped 3ltr tdi
A6 Avant Than the A8 with the same engine,which considering the A8 is aluminium i thought sounded strange but it was two against one so i was fighting a losing battle. I think they believe that because there are so much more electronic controls and ecu's that this would be a nightmare if something goes wrong. I have to travel to Dublin every Sunday which is a 220mile round trip and i want to be able to travel in a bit of comfort with my Buddy and our two Kids and still have a reasonable MPG return. I have joined a couple of A8 forums to carry out research as i dont like to buy without knowing what i am getting into and if there are any serious problems that i need to be aware of.

There is a hell of a lot to go wrong, again though its the same for a big merc or bmw, if you want the luxury, the ride and the toys it goes hand in hand

ive no idea if fuel consumption is better or worse in the a6, after trying both for comfort , ride and enjoyment its a8 all the way.

i regulaly do a 400 mile round trip, and 1800 mile round trip 5/6 times a year -


i can tell you i get roughly this - in a 3.0 TDI

the 1800 mile trip to france costs me around £300 with 2 adults , 1 child, 1 baby - a fully laden ( i mean fully) boot, there and back, not going slow (easy to get carried away going through miles of empty motorway) and a bit of driving around whilst there, more than a quarter tank still left when i get back.

I reckon i could make it there and back on 2 tanks of fuel, if i conserved fuel by traveling at a lower speed.

when doing the 400 mile trip Leeds to London on the M1, alone, not laden with baby crap, i normally put about £60 quid in, again not taking it to easy, but with the usual traffic at points.

I know we are going to be biased here, as we are an an 8 forum, but I think the fuel economy is pretty good in mine. I do a 50 mile commute, there and back, every day, mix of Motorway and local roads and consistantly get 35mpg..on a long run to Blackpool i was getting 43mpg.

I dont get much better from my 1.6 petrol mini.

There is a lot to go wrong, but the is a lot of second hand parts aailable which really keeps the costs down if you are handy with a spanner, though not a lot does go wrong. I actually think the huge number of ECUs is a good thing as the car is able to tell you whats wrong most of the time.

When i look through my list of works done, a good three quarters of it is upgrades or just trying to keep it perfect, not stuff i would have done on any of my previous tin boxes.

If you get a good one, you are likely to want to keep it as mint as possible, so will spend a little more on even the slightest niggle that you would ignore on any other car....

same with me, most of the expense the wife moans about is me adding expensive toys rather than fixing problems.

im not good with a spanner so i need someone to do these things, parts and labour at a non dealers seems pretty reasonable to me

I just make sure she has ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA WHATSOEVER what any of them cost. :ROFL:

Though I can't hide the cost of petrol. :o

i tell her but focus more on the good deal i got, ie got the digital tv for 350 rather than the 1250 that audi wanted.

she does the same with me but with shoes

:ROFL:

I know that the A8 Has a lot more going on with electrics and Toys but in general are they as reliable as any other car on the road or are there any major issues that i should be on the lookout for whilst i am hunting for one, i dont believe that your opinions on here are anymore biased than i would be myself but in my opinion i am better getting the advice from the people who use them instead of some people who may have heard a horror story about someone elses car which i believe is my mechanics problem, it wasnt even an A8 it was a VW Phaeton which decided to switch itself on in the middle of the night while its owner was in bed and the keys where in the house, when he went out and switched it off he was never able get it started again. so in their eyes the A8 is the same as this Phaeton and should be avoided at all costs!!!

Gearboxes seem to be an issue, but mainly on D2's.
Odd bits of plastic around the engine on D3's.
Nothing much that I've noticed TBH.

I have noticed that a lot of people seem to have vag com or vcds whatever that is or maybe that is just our American friends that seem to use these regularly to check and repair or update items and codes, would i need to get something similar if i get an A8?

join the club , been looking since july and found nothing apart from one at a car supermarket that was up for 17k which eventually sold for 13.5k , which i originally offered 13.5k but missed at the last hurdle due to a sales bod not liking me telling him what his stock was actually worth :(

VCDS / VAGcom is a diagnostic software you can use on a laptop etc by downloading online - http://wiki.ross-tech.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page you can then purchase either a genuine lead which most prefer to do (£250 -£300 ish) of a cheaper aftermarket lead on eBay which may have more limited functionality but will perform most standard functions.

You will then be able to fully use the diagnostic tools to scan any VW/Audi/Seat/Skoda car of a certain age onwards to see what codes are thrown up and then use the ross-tech wiki at http://wiki.ross-tech.com/wiki/index...ry:Fault_Codes to look up the fault codes and at least get some pointers to what issues may be there.

If you know someone with a lead it is always worth scanning an 8 that you are considering for prospective purchase to see what issues may be there along with a proper inspection and test drive of course. You can also use it to re-set service lights and warnings if appropriate and to change coding if you make any upgrades to the vehicle to ensure that all operates correctly.

If you dont want to purchase a lead you may be able to "borrow" someone else with their lead and laptop to scan a car you are looking at or if you come to a meeting there are invariably people there with sets that can be used +++

I'd say the A8 is at least as reliable as any other car. You tend to find more 'evidence' of things going wrong as forums like these tend to have a large number of owners who like to post even the little niggly things for others to be able to diagnose and repair themselves, as a result, you see more 'issues' than actually exist.

I'm on my 3rd A8 (PF D2, PF D3 and FL D3) and they've caused no more issues I'd say than any cars the wife has had in the same time period. Yes, my PF D3 had some issues to start with, but that was simply due to water ingress and the garage being useless rather than an inherent fault with the car.

VCDS is nice, does save you some money at the garage now and again, but if you'll never show your car a spanner, then it's not really worth it.

whats the difference between the PF and FL? I will give something a try if i have a rough idea and a guide to what i am doing, I have the tools to try most things, but anything too tricky and i will refer it to my faithfull although scared of A8's mechanic.

Well theres actually a PF then a FL which really indicate the split grille for PF and one peice grille for FL, and then there are later FL which had more subtle Further changes like rectangular fog lights and LED rear tail lights

Thank you, Does the later facelift FL come with ami or any bluetooth devices added as i know that for that one they added the four zone air con as standard im not sure if the rear seats are heated also, ideally i would like to be able to take music from a memory stick as you can store a lot more tracks on them than a cd although i haqve seen photos of the HDD with sd card slots in it also, can you upload music to the HDD via usb or sd card? A lot of questions i know but brochures dont explain all these things!

OK.. Now we're into a can of worms :)

'AMI' as it's known wasn't 'standard' until the MMI3G but was an option and is easy to retrofit to any 2G MMI system. You can plug in iPods, HDDs, Memory sticks, or even bluetooth if you buy the right adaptor.

Not sure about 4-zone being standard, but anyway... Heated rears were definitely an option (mine has them).

The one with the SD cards is a 3G MMI system I'm guessing which also has better sat nav (though still no full postcode), better screen and a little joystick style top for the MMI control.

Bluetooth phone was standard from the 2006 FL I think...

Thats what I thought, but I was in a 2012 A4 with MMI 3G the other day and it has full postcode match . Finally +++

Dont know if its a disc or firmware upgrade, or retrofittable but defo full postcode. Yee har.

3G didnt come out till 2009, so you're not going to see it in 2007/2008 cars, even if they have the 2nd facelift square fogs etc.

Facelift with full grill was around 2006, although the W12 got it from launch in 2004.

I think the Audis are all generally well built from quality components and dont suffer the fatigue or rot that lesser brands do. They wear miles well and will be comfortable and reliable at high miles. The downside (as with any big expensive motor) is that if you are unluckly (which is honestly rare) and something big breaks, like engine etc then its going to be a 4 figure repair bill for something big and german, rather than 3 figures for a 2nd hand unit dropping into a ford / vauxhall...

I couldn't help but giggle to myself a little over this one, the only person that is telling you it's going to be expensive is the mechanic (mate) of yours he’s already greasing you up before he rapes you. They’re all crooks, the hassle I have with these lying, 2 faced, unreliable and more times than not useless ****s has to be experienced. And only since owning the 8, strange you may think, but I never had these issues in the Landrover they just fixed it. Now all of a sudden it’s a nightmare for them, parts are hideous, took ages to do, and my personal favourite “It’s one of those cars mate” They should be shot in the face, I have fixed most things outside on my drive with crap tools in the rain and they do it for a living. So why so expensive?

I’m not bitter about it, honest

And i'm not saying your mate is a crook, just venting. And in then out deaper in and out, deap breaths

Dezzy it just doesn't happen to 8's!

Yeah, the D4 is rocking full postcode nav too.

Hi Dezzy, im glad that you managed to let off a bit of steam there as you may have exploded otherwise, My mechanic friend is a mechanic i have used for years and have become friendlier with over the last 3yrs and is very easy to pay aswell which helps alot, Im not sure what his underlying problem is with high end Audi/VW's but when the two of them got together they nearly scared the bejesus out of me and may even have oput me in a bad mood for a few hours as they where beginning toaffect my thoughts and dreams of owning a D3 but i think i am over that now after getting words of encouragement/ advice on here.

Hi Chris, i'm feeling much better now thanks. I'm in an old D2 so can't really comment on the D3 really, but from what i've seen from this site there is very little or if there is it's not being posted.

I was nearly talked out of my D2 by friends that said stuff like it's a ticking time bomb and it'll cost a fortune to run and the like but as it is she's been a true trojen and to be perfectly honest not cost a lot at all really.

So in your face friends.

I'm in a much more playfull mood now i've had some good news..... My 8 is back, woop, woop.

If it helps, my 2006 D3 has just had its MOT last week. The only failure was a tyre that I managed to cut on some drainage kerbing while avoiding a pothole :mad:

I did not realise that I had cut the tyre, but none-the-less, the car passed as they popped the spare on for me. +++

This was a nice change for me as I was running a 20 year-old Lexus Soarer V8 which whilst it was great, the age was the problem with new pipes, refurb calipers etc being needed. But again, for a high-end car, it was pretty trouble-free for the 8 years I owned it, with only age related problems rather than ECUs failing left right and centre.

I don't agree that the cars stuffed with ECUs are automatically money pits, it really is about whether the car has been made well or not, and the 8 is very well made.

Casing point - I looked at many cars before the 8 and the Merc CL600 was one I looked at. Lovely looking car - but a serious money pit. I was looking at cars that had done 60K and they had £12K suspension rebuilds and perished coil packs.

I tend to agree with what you all seem to be saying and i really do appreciate other peoples points of view. I think that its the same if you go somewhere and have a bad meal then thats the one that you will hear about most often, so if someone has a major issue occur on their car then that is the story that is most likely to be passed around instead of all the people with years of mostly trouble free motoring. I have a GtTDI Golf which is remapped and sits nicely on its coilovers and i have driven for the past seven years and still love the car. Unfortunately it will have to go as i also have a MK2 Golf GTI which i dont want to sell but there would be hell to pay if one of them didnt go. As i have a good car i am willing to keep looking for the Right A8 with as good a spec list as possible for the money i want to spend.
Hopefully i'm not living in cloud kookoo land, I guess only time will tell.