The old girls 21

[sporran]

the A8 that is..not the Mrs unfortunately!

Jumped into the car yesterday after a real Scottish downpour and heard the dreaded sloshing sound from behind the bulkhead, and began to wonder the last time I had that problem, must have been about 5yrs ago, and before that was the day I bought it back in May 07 for £2,500 which is the most I've ever paid for a car, Back then I used a piece of wire to unblock the hole and it has been kept in the boot ever since, so duly unblocked the hole and then realized footwell on both side was soaking, so carpets out and in greenhouse to dry out

During ownership of this car of nearly 10yrs it has only let me down once when the fuel pump packed in, apart from brakes and tyres and the services (which I do myself) this car has been exemplary

The car has a comprehensive service history before I bought it having the timing belt done at 78,841mls

So now the million dollar question is I am now at 155,000mls and the timing belt needs done again, been quoted from £900 from A4 audi in Glasgow to 1100 quid from a local Audi specialist

I don't think this is realistic in terms of the cars value, other odd niggles are popping there heads up now, sunroof suddenly stopped working and the window wiper linkages are like drunk Glaswegians on a Saturday night... headlight washers don't work and odd bits of rust are appearing, wheels could do whith a refurb

So now looking at another car in the near future, and I'm sorry it wont be an 8
I just don't have the money, Its gonna be hard taking a step backwards because I know there's gonna be nothing like driving her

Any way I'll keep you informed and just to let you all know this forum has been a great help in keeping her on the road


Sporran

[David's8]

Well, if you are considering getting the belt done I wouldnt choose A for Audi. My S8 had this done there at the 54k mark by the previous owner (THe Laird). When I had a 'stat failure I had the whole caboodle done by my local indy. Despite A for Audis claim on their website that only Audi OEM parts are used the belt was Contitech (one of the cheap replacements) and the pulleys were a mix of original Audi parts (i.e not replaced) and cheap non-Audi parts. My indy knows that I want to see what comes out and that i am choosy about goes back in.
But 21 yrs aint bad for a car and 155k isnt too much on the clock. As you suggest the issue is taking a step backwards. After the quiet comfort and, for its age, the toys. its hard taking a step backwards. and that goes for the Mrs too!!

[YorkshireBloke]

Hi,

Please do post your progress on this: I have a belts/stat/pulleys gearbox service, check suspension rebuild to contemplate. Then a towbar . It adds up.

It is a difficult call as mine has 174k, 3.7 but with vital (to me) LPG kit and
LOTS of history.

I expect £2000 to spend OR buy a younger example with LPG??


Opinions?

Robert

[HPsauce]

Bluntly, that's the (occasional) cost of running these things.
My own view is that, unless there's something horribly/expensively wrong, better the (lovely, comfortable) devil you know....

PS They don't rust, but you can get weird surface corrosion.

[ainarssems]

Mine is 2 years younger and bought in 2008 for the same money and run on budget. I can understand that you don't want to spend too much money on the car if it has other niggles and there is always that uncertainty how long the gearbox will last but yours should be 4 speed at that age and they are mostly trouble free.

I can lend you timing tools if you want to change cambelt yourself and save some money. I have done it twice on mine now in 8 years and 17 000 miles. First time belt only (£30) putting fresh grease in roller bearings and belt (£30) + damper (£90) with fresh grease again second time. I also changed ancillary belt first time (£20) and ancillary belt rollers second time (2x £25) second time.

Or you can just run it without changing belt for as long as it goes. IIRC Dezzy run his from 80k to 230k+ without changing belt and without breaking it but his is now offroad now due to power steering leak.

[1781cc]

Originally Posted by sporran

So now looking at another car in the near future, and I'm sorry it wont be an 8
I just don't have the money, Its gonna be hard taking a step backwards because I know there's gonna be nothing like driving her

Not to divert too much on the topic, but having had two, may I suggest if you do look at other cars, test drive a B6 S4, they are seriously good value for money at the moment, like, really cheap and they are IMO a smaller version of the the 8, at least I can see that my D3 S8 has a lot in common with both my S4s.

If you find one without timing chain issues, thats had the aux rad and the clutch/flywheel done you are laughing. Good ones can be had for about £3K now.

[The_Laird]

Try Audi Technik Centre in Bishopbriggs - that's who looks after mine now. I think you'll find them more competitive than A 4 Audi

[awolfinsheepsclothes]

Change it yourself! What have you got to lose. Or watch over a competent mechanic it's not rocket science it was designed and built by man, so man should be able to fix it. Admittedly mine is FL which very easy and could be done in about 3 hours. Listening to how much money some of my friends waste on there boring cars. even if the gearbox went it's worth fixing, I've done 50000 miles in less than 5 years and it's still worth more than I paid for it. I'm even thinking about getting another, a PF S8 this time.
Dave

[sporran]

Try Audi Technik Centre in Bishopbriggs - that's who looks after mine now. I think you'll find them more competitive than A 4 Audi

They are not far from me, but it was them that quoted the £1100

I can lend you timing tools if you want to change cambelt yourself and save some money.

That might be an idea, the only problem is I don't have any where to actually work on the car apart from my driveway

Or you can just run it without changing belt for as long as it goes.

That's my way of thinking

PS They don't rust, but you can get weird surface corrosion.

I know that, but couldn't spell corrosion

Thanks for the reply's guys...I'll keep you informed

Sporran

[ainarssems]

That might be an idea, the only problem is I don't have any where to actually work on the car apart from my driveway

Driveway is plenty for belts, that's what I am using these days. In the past I did not have even a driveway and have changed gearbox+clutch (for Rover 414) parked on the side of the street.