Viewing an S8 Tonight - Help!!

[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.

[Turbo Tony]

Thanks very much for the viewpoints. They're really appreciated.

I've got to work on recognising my own prejudice and making sure they don't lead me to the wrong decision, so it's only fair to ignore the stuff that isn't to my taste.

I've managed to get my VCDS working (the button must have got pressed while it was sitting in a drawer and reset the password) so I'll try to get to see the car again this weekend and scan it. I'll also have the time to check all the bits I missed last time round.

If I'm still unsure, I'll get it inspected by AA.

Ok, so over the past few days the power steering has been on my mind. I was surprised that when I got out of the S8 and back into my 1995 Volvo 960, the steering felt more responsive in the Volvo. Although the steering in the Volvo has lighter steering, there was more kickback when turning than in the S8, which gave very little feedback. I need to satisfy myself that it's not on its way out, especially as the £1000 claims limit on the warranty wouldn't cover the whole cost of replacement.

So what are the signs that a PAS pump is about to die? Should I be concerned about the slight hissing on full lock?

Can VCDS scan for the pump efficiency/operation?

As always, any comments or suggestions would be most welcome.

[paulrstaylor]

Originally Posted by Turbo Tony

Thanks very much for the viewpoints. They're really appreciated.

I've got to work on recognising my own prejudice and making sure they don't lead me to the wrong decision, so it's only fair to ignore the stuff that isn't to my taste.

I've managed to get my VCDS working (the button must have got pressed while it was sitting in a drawer and reset the password) so I'll try to get to see the car again this weekend and scan it. I'll also have the time to check all the bits I missed last time round.

If I'm still unsure, I'll get it inspected by AA.

Ok, so over the past few days the power steering has been on my mind. I was surprised that when I got out of the S8 and back into my 1995 Volvo 960, the steering felt more responsive in the Volvo. Although the steering in the Volvo has lighter steering, there was more kickback when turning than in the S8, which gave very little feedback. I need to satisfy myself that it's not on its way out, especially as the £1000 claims limit on the warranty wouldn't cover the whole cost of replacement.

So what are the signs that a PAS pump is about to die? Should I be concerned about the slight hissing on full lock?

Can VCDS scan for the pump efficiency/operation?

As always, any comments or suggestions would be most welcome.

Why not drive another S8 to compare?

The steering can feel different from car to car, especially if it has dynamic steering vs standard - a trait that I noticed when driving different D4s.

[Delboy]

Hissing at the end stops is normal you are effectively closing a running tap that has 135 bar behind it so to protect the pump it vents over a relief valve and that is the noise you hear.

There is no diagnostics for the pump other than is it working and sounds ok for us, and for the dealer they have a gauge that they can fit inline to test the max pressure of the pump.

Ian mentioned about their failures but I haven't heard of any on this forum or others.

Power steering hoses fail and I have seen plenty on the forums and experienced it for myself, not a horrific job on rhd cars.

Best thing is go drive one or two more like mentioned then you can compare

[Rick]

When i bought mine the power steering was grumbling, luckily my dad had had the same issue and resolved it.
Turned out to just be low on fluid, bit tempremental these things when its low.
Easy top you say... nope. Whole of the right side air box system out to even get to the filler cap. Pain in the backside but now i know why it wasnt topped up or checked prior to my purchase.
Its little things like this that make nasty sounds but are quite a simple fix.
I have found a massive wealth of knowledge with the boys on here so far and to be honest everything that i need to know or happens to the car someone else has already had it and resolved it.
Good luck with the car and maybe see you at a meet sometime in the future! Be nice to see what you do to it.
On a side note im after a miltek.... i have standard on wink wink.

[Turbo Tony]

Sorry I've not been replying, folks... I've been busy driving Audis!

There is another S8 on sale locally with similar mileage, so I called the garage and asked to take a look. The seller was busy with another customer, so he let me snoop around the car by myself, which was great because it let me find my groove.

I plugged in the VCDS and did an auto scan and, while it was running, poked and prodded around the interior pushing every button I could see (and even discovered a few I hadn't).

This one was a 58 reg, so it had some subtle differences. I'm sure some are down to specification and others are down to the model year. The gauges did a needle sweep on startup which I don't remember seeing on the other one, which was a nice touch. There was also a brolly holder in the boot (I know how much you guys value a brolly holder). This one had a sunroof and homelink and, although it wasn't working, I found myself staring at it longingly.

To cut a long story short, the interior electrics (except the sunroof) all worked fine, right down to the electric headrests.

He also had a 3.0 TDi A8 there and I took some time to snoop around that one too, including starting it and moving it around the car park.

Then, a surprising thing happened... I'd checked all I could with the car stationary - the bootlid worked, the engine oil smelled the same as the other car, there were no obvious signs of body damage. The seller came over to me and asked how it was going and whether I'd like to take it out for a test drive. When I replied that I would, he first said he would take the other customer out first, then changed his mind and said I could take it out by myself!

I tried to control myself and not do starjumps, but I found myself on my own in an S8 to test. This made the world of difference and, suddenly, without worrying about time, my passenger or the deluge, I was able to calmly test the car.

All I can say is that it was a revelation! The car itself (as you all already know), is a lovely thing to drive. I was pleased that it had the same snatchy take-off as the other, so I'm no longer worried about that. Thank you to whoever pointed out that the steering was dynamic - now that I knew what to look for, I get it completely. It felt just like the last one and even hissed slightly on full lock, right on cue.

There were two major differences in the way these two S8s drove:

1) This one rattled and squeaked over bumpy surfaces, where the other one felt solid.

2) The brakes on this car were scary! As I drive such an old car, I'm accustomed to brakes that are... leisurely. When I got into Thursday's S8, every time I dabbed the brake pedal, it wanted to do an emergency stop. This one slowed down only a little better than my own car, so I had a nasty fright the first time I wanted to slow down for a 90 degree bend!

When I got back, I tested the suspension (the battery wouldn't let me do it before without the engine on) and it raised and lowered much slower than the other car. The seller had another customer turn up and I could feel he was beginning to feel stressed by juggling all of us, so I thanked him and left before the second VCDS check.

All in all, I think I gave the first car a much harder time than it deserved. I think this was in part due to it being my first time driving one and partly because of the less than perfect circumstances in which I drove it. I'm going to call the seller and ask to take a second look tomorrow, when I can hopefully get a little more time to check it properly and give myself enough peace of mind to say 'yes'.

To those of who who have kindly offered to swap your standard exhaust for the Milltek, thanks very much and if I buy the car I will consider it, but I'd really like a new exhaust if I can stretch to it. If so, the Milltek will certainly be going on sale.

[IT]

What a great result, thanks for sharing...... Sounds like you're going to end up something rather nice

[Norretal]

Great update Turbo, sounds like a Miltek auction is happening soon