Interest Check: 2001 FL Audi A8 4.2 76K Miles

[Alluminio]

My project vehicle has now progressed to where I will be using this as my weekend toy, with two other vehicles in the household and after much consideration, I am minded to sell my 2001 (2002 MY) Aluminium Silver, with Soul interior, A8 4.2.

The car is pretty much the 'basic' specification 4.2, with only the audio system with its 6 disc changer being an extra.

I bought the A8 almost 2 years ago as a winter runaround, for when my RX8 R3 was unusable. After a month or so of use, the RX8 was sold as the A8 became my preferred vehicle!

I see an indicated 25 -26 mpg for my local running about and I have seen 31/32 for long journeys; I consider this mightily impressive for a 310 bhp, heavy AWD car.

When I purchased the car, it had only 63K miles on it, and, FWIW, it has a main dealer service history up to 58k miles. In my ownership it has been serviced by a local independent.

The car is unmolested apart from a Longlife stainless steel cat-back exhaust system (which gives it a lovely burble and exhaust note) and for which I have the original invoice of £1500 for!!!!! A Dension iPod/USB interface has been installed for the standard Symphony II Audio system, and the car is de-badged.

There are a few minor marks on the paintwork (no dents or anything significant), the A/C is not very cold and there's a slight vibration from the brakes under light-load, which I attribute to the disc rotors - which I suspect are the originals.

The vehicle had remanufactured rear brake callipers fitted by the previous owner, and I have fitted remanufactured front callipers.

There have been the usual niggles; central locking pump impeller disintegrating, vacuum line leaks (which resulted in the replacement of an inlet manifold actuator) and the inevitable alarm module failure. The latter was replaced with a new Audi unit. One of the heater stepper motors is intermittent.

The MOT is due in mid-October and I will sell the car with a full MOT.

The interior is fantastic condition for a 15 year old car. I fitted NOS rear floor mats (the fronts are aftermarket and could do with replacement, but I have been searching for good OEM ones with no success thus far). The rear seats are pretty much unmarked and the fronts show only light creasing; the driver's seat bolster shows almost no wear. The DIS and LCD matrix in the speedometer are great.

The service indicator shows that a service is due in c. 2800 miles.

The CEL illuminates intermittently and VCDS indicates that it is the usual suspect of SAI flow; the pump appears to be working fine, so a perished vacuum line is very likely the culprit. Aside from this, the car drives beautifully.

Oh yes; the gearbox filter and fluid were changed by a reputable automatic gearbox specialist - AGS in Newcastle - a week or so after I purchased the car in 2013. They mentioned some gunge in the pan, but the transmission has never missed a beat.

The car has never been abused in my ownership, and I suspect by the previous owners too. The first owned it for 9 years IIRC.

It has only one remote key (plus the emergency plastic spare), complete with its Camerons Audi of Perth fob.

Three of the tyres are excellent (Sunitrac Focus 9000); one - a Michelin - is nearing replacement. The spare is an excellent and hardly used Yokohama. I had planned to replace the tyres immediately after purchase, but snow and grim wet weather showed that the tyres were perfectly usable and it would have been stupidity to replace them on a whim. That was 13,000 miles go and they' still have life left in them. I have had to rethink my aversion to all non-premium brand tyres...

The alloy wheels are in great condition with no significant kerbing, with only corrosion on the centre caps.

In all honesty I have little idea as to the value of this A8; given the interstellar mileage of many and their respective asking prices, I am thinking £2,600 would be a fair price for what is a lovely car.

What you guys think?

[barzya8]

Some photos would be great, if not a must.

[David's8]

It just seems a shame that for such a low mileage car, the expectation may be as little as what you are suggesting. However, for a fairly standard A8 (no matter how well looked after) its hard to see how much more can be asked. I would like to think that you could ask more (£3.5??) but in all honesty, I am not sure you would get it. The trouble is that at 14yrs old, some of the age related issues (joints/bearings/perishing rubber) can start appearing leading to some highish bills/running costs.