Opinions - A8 4.2 Petrol or TDI?

[Blue Oval]

Hi all, newbie here after some advice and opinions please!

I currently own a Z4 which I intend to keep, and ultimately buy a second car to go alongside this once it's paid off.

After looking at getting myself into something bigger than the Z4 like a Freelander I stumbled across Transporter 3 the other night and it reminded me of what a smart looking motor the A8 is.

This in turn brought me to Autotrader and I'm presented with two main possibilities, the 4.2 petrol or the 4.2 TDI.

So, power wise, it actually looks to me like the petrol has a slight edge, 335bhp for the petrol vs. 326bhp for the TDI. However, the TDI obviously has a lot more torque which I would guess would make it quicker and more relaxed in day to day driving? Any car of that size which can match my Z4 to 60 must have some serious guts. :D

Other considerations are fuel economy, as my main driving is a cold-start 5 mile drive to work each day I never get great mpg, my Z4 delivers 26mpg. I would expect that under these conditions the TDI would get about the same as the petrol A8 as it wouldn't get fully warmed?

Worth mentioning that I intend to buy a pre-March 06 model which wouldn't attract the silly tax band, so the 3.0 has no tax advantage.

One huge concern with a car like this for me is reliability. My only experiences of diesels have been negative, problems with the fuel system, clutch and DMF have put me off having another. What are people's opinions in the A8? Are the petrols more trouble free than the TDI? Is the DSG autobox reliable or will I likely have it in for rebuilding by 100K?

Erm, I think that's my main concerns at the moment. It's still all a little pie in the sky as I can't purchase yet, and even if I could I would be reluctant as I'm waiting for the values to drop further thanks to the introduction of the new A8 :beerchug:

Looking forward to any replies!

[Blue Oval]

After a lot of browsing today I'm going to throw open the options to include the 3.0 TDI, any opinions on that too?

Would I notice that it's significantly more efficient than the 4.2 petrol? I'm guessing the differences between two diesel engines wouldn't be that enormous?

[Quattromatt]

I have the 3.0TDI after testing both this and the 4.0TDI. It's definately more economic. Probably by 8-10mpg. It's got a lot of guts that 4.0 though. Maybe even too much I thought. The 3.0 should give around 36mpg on a good combination of motorway and suburban driving

If I was in your situation I'd go for the petrol I think. It's a cheaper car to buy and the diesel isn't going to like the 5 mile a day journey...

Just my opinion

[Han Solo]

To be honest, with a car like this, unless your mega rich I'd go derv everytime. The deisel unit will last longer, give better mpg also. Stop start the petrol one will muller you cost wise.

Ive a 3.0 tdi. I thought that this car would be the one that I kept, as I (wrongly) thought that the reliability would be there. Only had it 4 months, and there are (expensive) problems rearing there ugly head already.

Don't get me wrong, the build quality is ok and it drives beautifuly. Nothing on these are a cheap fix, but back to your question, I think the 3.0tdi is a great compromise between fuel economy, power and reliability. Even better with a remap so people say ;)

[Micha_elD]

I run a 4.2 petrol, and looked into this really carefully when I bought. The decision was based on:
Performance - the diesel is a bit faster,
Comfort - petrol is quieter, and what noise it does make is more pleasant
Economy - diesel uses about 20% less fuel, but diesel costs a bit more. And diesel is likely to cost more over time for maintenance, with two turbos to worry about
Purchase price - petrol cost about £5k less, which pays for a lot of petrol, even at todays prices

On cold-start trips of about 8 miles, I get 20mpg, so for 5 mile trips, it will be more like 18mpg?. If I felt that economy was really important, I'd probably go for 3.0tdi, and live with the reduced performance.

[Seeker_UK]

I've done a bit of looking as well but I found that the choice was actually between a 3.0TDi and 4.2 :Blush:

Although the 3.0TDi gives better fuel economy on paper, I find that a diesel mpg over 10 mile journeys is proportionately a lot less than a petrol so the difference between the two mpg isn't as great as the 'official' readings, addin the fact that derv costs more and during the winter I find diesel mpg plummets more that petrol and that annual fuel cost isn't hugely different.

Insurance between a 3.0 and 4.2 is about the same for me ditto VED. Factor in a 'good' 4.2 can be found for <£10K and the 'thirstier' 4.2 becomes a very attractive pospect indeed.

WRT insurance, why is the insurance on 4 litre diesel saloon the same as a Porsche 911?

[Micha_elD]

When considering fuel economy, the major factor with A8s is that they are heavy, so they take a lot of fuel to accelerate, but once up to speed, they are pretty economical. So, round town, with lots of accelerating, maybe 20mpg, but get on a motorway at 75 and you get close to 30mpg.

The other aspect of this is that they coast for miles once you've invested the fuel to get up to speed, on a cross-country run I do regularly, I once tried to get the best possible fuel consumption, so I put the car in neutral, rather than use brakes to slow down. It felt like I did at least half the journey in neutral, with all that mass, the car just doesn't slow down.

But, whichever car you get, I'm sure you'll enjoy it. The main factor for me was to get one with the right toys, they cost a fortune when new, but don't affect secondhand values all that much, so hammer AutoTrader for a few months until you find one with comfort or sport seats, TV, solar roof, power boot, power doors, Bose, the wheels you like ...

[hibberd]

I agree with all the comments about the 3.0 TDI as I have one. bear in mind that on the diesels there is a Webasto heater for cold starts built into the car, and it is this that causes the heavy cold fuel use. If you start cold dont let the screen defrost stay on too long as on the one side the webasto is burning diesel while it is trying to heat things up and you are then cooling the water by raming lots of cold air through the heater to create hot air to defrost when its not necessary, also once you change from defrost to normal heating put it onto recirc so that you are not warming the world around you too much. It does make a difference to consumption.

[Blue Oval]

Hey guys, thanks for the replies! Definitely put some more meat on the bones of my thinking and really has confirmed that perhaps the petrol would be a sensible option, if for no other reason than to say that I've owned a V8 petrol as currently my dad is the only one to have that claim in my family!

I just can't imagine a diesel been very economical over my 5 mile morning drive. No more thirsty than the petrol I'm sure but I bet it's not going to save me money overall, especially when those extra turbos and pricey injectors are factored into the equation!

Incidentally, has anyone converted one of the petrols to LPG, I've had a V6 running it before and found it very beneficial to my wallet!

[Micha_elD]

I love petrol V8s, I ran a V8 TVR for 15 years, and bought the V8 A8 to run alongside it.

My only regret is that you can't hear the V8 in the A8 as well as you can on the TVR, so i looked into having exhausts made for the A8 by BlueFlame (the people that designed TVR exhausts), but I keep telling myself that the A8 is the quiet luxury car, and whilst the TVR made me smile massively, after 100 miles the headache set in from all that noise!

The A8 has often transported 4 of us over 650 miles in a day, in complete comfort, and we've got out of the car feeling fine, its an amazing vehicle.

I did look into LPG, but the conversion cost was so high, that the break-even point was after about 22,000 miles, which didn't make a great deal of sense to me then. I've since done about 26,000 miles in the car :(

[devine_nathan]

i went petrol and LPG'd it. the kit cost me over 2k but i made that back within a year.

i get better fuel economy than the 3.0 D by quite a margain.

they are big cars with big engines which will guzzle fuel no matter 3.0 4.0 or 4.2

enjoy it i say.

my 4.2 LPG is up for sale at the moment :)

[Blue Oval]

If I had the spare cash now I'd be on my way to buy it lol. :D

[Mcobinad]

I love petrol V8s, I ran a V8 TVR for 15 years, and bought the V8 A8 to run alongside it.

My only regret is that you can't hear the V8 in the A8 as well as you can on the TVR, so i looked into having exhausts made for the A8 by BlueFlame (the people that designed TVR exhausts), but I keep telling myself that the A8 is the quiet luxury car, and whilst the TVR made me smile massively, after 100 miles the headache set in from all that noise!

The A8 has often transported 4 of us over 650 miles in a day, in complete comfort, and we've got out of the car feeling fine, its an amazing vehicle.

I did look into LPG, but the conversion cost was so high, that the break-even point was after about 22,000 miles, which didn't make a great deal of sense to me then. I've since done about 26,000 miles in the car :(

I quite agree with you that the A8 4.2 V8 is really underpowered. I have a neighbour who drives a Mustang GT V8 American muscle car and every morning when i hear the sound of that V8 engine, i begin to question why the Audi A8 4.2 V8 engine is underpowered. I decided to sell my A8 D3 4.2 to get the W12 for a feel of extra power. But the problem with these big engines is the resale value. They tend to depreciate quickly. I struggled to sell mine at a giveaway price just to get rid of it because staying on Autotrader for months will not do me any good neither the 4.2 V8.

[Micha_elD]

I don't think the A8 4.2 is underpowered, with 0-60 of 6.5 and limited to 155mph top end, its actually faster then loads of 'sports' cars. Its the V8 sound I feel is missing, but then, its just not that type of car.

On acceleration, its probably faster than most Ford Mustangs on the road today, but if your neighbour has an old muscle car then it would probably beat the Audi away from the lights, though I'd bet the Audi would get you to the South of France in much better shape that the mustang.

The depreciation on these cars was actually one of the things that attracted me to it, I bought mine 18 months old, and it had lost £45k in those 18 months. :aargh4:Belonged to a banker that specified £15k of extras, then lost his job and the car was sold. Unfortunately, its probably lost another £15k in the 3 years i've owned it :(, I'm not so happy about that bit of its depreciation!

[tonywilliams]

I have a 4.0 tdi which does a 3 mile journey to work and 3 miles home again every day, I seem to average around 20-22 mpgdepending on traffic and the engine temprature neadle dosen't even get off the rest. I do however do lots of longer journeys which is why I opted for the tdi, on longmotorway runs I seem to be able to average between 37 and 40mpg depending on speed

IO think the choice of petrol or diesel depends on your situation and journeys you make.

[Mcobinad]

I don't think the A8 4.2 is underpowered, with 0-60 of 6.5 and limited to 155mph top end, its actually faster then loads of 'sports' cars. Its the V8 sound I feel is missing, but then, its just not that type of car.

On acceleration, its probably faster than most Ford Mustangs on the road today, but if your neighbour has an old muscle car then it would probably beat the Audi away from the lights, though I'd bet the Audi would get you to the South of France in much better shape that the mustang.

The depreciation on these cars was actually one of the things that attracted me to it, I bought mine 18 months old, and it had lost £45k in those 18 months. :aargh4:Belonged to a banker that specified £15k of extras, then lost his job and the car was sold. Unfortunately, its probably lost another £15k in the 3 years i've owned it :(, I'm not so happy about that bit of its depreciation!

Yes i quite agree with you that the depreciation value of these luxury cars is a cause for alarm but like you did mention, the low price attracted most buyers to it. We tend to rejoice when we buy it at that price but when it comes to selling it is when we begin to complain. Alternatively, some people will prefer to maximise it at a long period of time knowing they wouldn't get much for its resale value and will keep it forever. This leads me to ask why people even harbour the idea of buying Cars that tend to depreciate like this brand new. I had mine for less than 2 years and got so use to it that i wanted to have a feel of something else like the W12 for extra power. Now that my 4.2 is gone, i still turn head whenever i see one drive past. I really love the shape of the D3 A8. What a stunning car that ages well.

[Micha_elD]

This leads me to ask why people even harbour the idea of buying Cars that tend to depreciate like this brand new. I had mine for less than 2 years and got so use to it that i wanted to have a feel of something else like the W12 for extra power. Now that my 4.2 is gone, i still turn head whenever i see one drive past. I really love the shape of the D3 A8. What a stunning car that ages well.

I love the A8, and have had mine for over 3-4 years, likely to have it for at least another 3 years. Will keep adding on new options to keep my enthusiasm going. AMI and 4-zone climate control are next!-

Most (> 95%) of the people that buy cars like these actually get their employer to buy it, which was what happened to the original owner of mine, it was Royal Bank of Scotland, and we all know how stupid they were with our money! So they are company cars that eventually get sold at a price that makes them affordable for the rest of us. Its a good system :D

I do understand someone spending loads of their own money on a new car, I bought a new Aston Martin 3 months ago. I will keep that for at least 10 years, so I'll know how its been looked after from day 1. It replaced a TVR that was built for me 15 years ago. To me, that makes sense, but buying new then selling 2 years later is just crazy

[Mcobinad]

I love the A8, and have had mine for over 3-4 years, likely to have it for at least another 3 years. Will keep adding on new options to keep my enthusiasm going. AMI and 4-zone climate control are next!-

Most (> 95%) of the people that buy cars like these actually get their employer to buy it, which was what happened to the original owner of mine, it was Royal Bank of Scotland, and we all know how stupid they were with our money! So they are company cars that eventually get sold at a price that makes them affordable for the rest of us. Its a good system :D

I do understand someone spending loads of their own money on a new car, I bought
a new Aston Martin 3 months ago. I will keep that for at least 10 years, so I'll know how its been looked after from day 1. It replaced a TVR that was built for me 15 years ago. To me, that makes sense, but buying new then selling 2 years later is just crazy

I thought the 4-zone climate control was factory fitted. You did say about people selling their cars after 2 or 3 years of car ownership is

crazy. The question is this, how do you think average people will be able to afford cars if there were no 2 to 3 years cars available on

the market? I think there should be crazy people like this to make material possession (i.e cars, houses) accessible to the average

income earners because if they don't act crazy to sell their material possessions within a time frame, then the probability of owning

these treasures will be limited. Lest and forget, do you have a profound knowledge on cars especially Audi's? If yes, what factors should

be taken into consideration whilst looking out for a reliable W12? The reason being that i had a bad experience previously on the A8

4.2 because of my naivety. I was excited at the prospect of owning an A8 4.2 and in the process did not take into consideration

detrimental factors that will leave an everlasting bitter taste on my tongue. My ex- A8 had multiple mechanical problems here and

there which the old owner did not disclose to me. Obviously, he attracted me with the price which at that moment was the cheapest

on the market. I did not know much about UK cars, reason being that i'm French who recently reallocated to the UK. I had scanty

knowledge on Cat D cars because in France, nothing of such exists. The guy in question did not mention to me that he was selling a

CAT D car to me. Don't get me wrong, these cars cost a fortune in France, over 30,000€ for a 7 to 8 years old A8 D3 4.2 and you are

looking at 35,000€ for the diesel engine while considering the kilometres as well.


Back to my plight, i inherited this car at a mediocre price which i gladly paid. 2 months later, the car started coming up with never

ending serious problems ranging from tyres, battery management, break pads, engine management light on every time, windows

shutting badly, alignment issues. I only learnt of the car being a CAT D car when i had Audi MK carry out a full diagnostic on the car

only to reveal that my car had been involved in an accident previously. I spent almost £5,000 trying to fix the closely related

electronic problems at an Audi dealership in Milton Keynes. Problem solved and resurfaced intermittently every 2 weeks. Couldn't cope

any longer decided to put it on sale. Now the guy wanting to buy off the car, told me the car appears on the HPI register as CAT D and

told me the value will drop heavily because of its previous accident which i think the initial seller did not communicate to me knowing i

was new in the country, did not know of the laws and was naive. I have learnt my lesson the hard way and want to be careful in my

next purchase. Can you advise me if you know, important elements to look at for? I have seen cars which please me on Autotrader but

i have been beaten once and do not want to be beaten again. I lost roughly close to £11,000 on repairs, tyres, parts, labour on that

car in less than 1 and half year of ownership. Just a bad experience!:angryfire. Thanks for your anticipated reply.

[devine_nathan]

Should have bought a warranty my friend.

would have covered most of what was wrong 2bh.

[Mcobinad]

Should have bought a warranty my friend.

would have covered most of what was wrong 2bh.

I wanted to buy an extra warranty from Audi MK. Audi refused to sell the warranty

telling me that the car in question is too old and the warranty will not cover major

mechanical issues . The dealership where i bought the car from, only gave me 28

days warranty and before the warranty elapsed on the car, i made several visits to

them to report imminent issues that came up within few days of ownership. They

took the car and promised to solve the problems. When i went back to collect the

car, all was working fine. The next week another problem emerged but finally, i

understood that they were waiting for the 28 days warranty to run out so that they

will no longer be liable for future mechanical issues.

[devine_nathan]

I wanted to buy an extra warranty from Audi MK. Audi refused to sell the warranty

telling me that the car in question is too old and the warranty will not cover major

mechanical issues . The dealership where i bought the car from, only gave me 28

days warranty and before the warranty elapsed on the car, i made several visits to

them to report imminent issues that came up within few days of ownership. They

took the car and promised to solve the problems. When i went back to collect the

car, all was working fine. The next week another problem emerged but finally, i

understood that they were waiting for the 28 days warranty to run out so that they

will no longer be liable for future mechanical issues.

i paid £700 for a fully comprehensive warranty from warranty direct.

its probably covered over 2.5k off faults on the car in 6months.

audi wanted over 2.5k to cover my car whuich is a 53plate D3 4.2

[Micha_elD]

Sorry to hear you had so many problems with your last car.

When I buy a car, I look very closely at the car, looking for overspray (rough paint that lands outside the area being sprayed), any sign of that and I'll walk away. Also check round every chrome trim and join on the car, to see if there are any masking marks (where they sprayed up to the chrome, but covered the chrome itself with masking tape). Any sign of that, and it shows a poor quality respray, again, move on to look at another car. Finally, look for all trim, handles, and panels to make sure they look perfectly aligned. When looking for a Toyota Yaris for my son, the first 5 we saw had been in accidents, probably because its a great car for a learner, or new driver. The 6th car was perfect, we bought that one.

If everything looks OK, then I'll have AA or someone examine the car if it is out of manufacturers warranty. I'm never too convinced by after-market warranties, you need to be very careful to check the small-print to see what is covered.

When buying, I'll also assess the garage or person making the sale, to try to get a feel for how they will behave if there is a problem

Finally, I'll get an HPI check, they are very cheap.

There isn't 100% certainty when buying a car, but these checks have always worked for me.

Hope your next purchase goes much better

[Mcobinad]

@MichaelD,

Thanks immensely for this handful piece of advice and information. You see, we keep learning every time from past mistakes. I don't know if i would have been able to know of all these known issues if i was not exposed to these problems. I have never heard of Warranty Direct. Are they reliable? Like you did mention, you need to scrutinise the warranty closely because when anything goes wrong, they will no longer be singing the same lovely song they were singing whilst looking out for their prey.

I was looking at buying from Germany directly and insuring it in France. The reason being that if i want to dispose of the car after 4 years, i will take it back to France for resale and still get a reasonable amount for it unlike the cars here in the UK which depreciate enormously. A W12 in the UK after 4 years of ownership will not even fetch you 4 grand. Anyway, am still to make up my mind on the best route to go. I appreciate so far, your positive contributions to this thread.

[Micha_elD]

I'd do the calculations based on how long you aim to keep the car, and the inconvenience of driving a left hand drive car over here. As petrol prices rise, the depreciation on big engined petrol cars is likely to get worse (or better, depending on whether you're buying or selling)

People tend to think about petrol prices in a fairly irrational way, for example, I do about 8,000 miles per year in my A8, which costs about £2,500 per year in petrol, but the car depreciates about £5,000 per year, and costs about £2,000 in tax, insurance and servicing, so petrol is a small part of the cost, but its something that people get obsessed about, and that affects the retail prices of the cars.

I've never taken out a warranty on a car, but I have bought cars where the dealer has put a 12-month warranty on the car for me. They are just insurance policies, when I looked into the price of the Audi one when my car was 3 years old, it was some crazy price, but nothing has broken in the last year so it would have been wasted money.

[Mcobinad]

@Micha_elD,

Yes, you are right regarding the irrational thinking of people towards the cost of putting petrol in a car over a period of time. People rarely think of other factors which may affect running costs like tax, insurance and maintenance. They tend to focus on Petrol. Anyway, for me, no matter how good diesel engine cars are packaged, am no Diesel fan. It will be a waste of time me driving around a big V8 car in a diesel truck like engine. Am always looking out for the sensation and good feeling you derive in a lovely luxury car, which to me should be quiet and powerful.

For cars to depreciate that high in a year is quite significant. Wow, that's worth pondering over before any eventual purchase. I have seen loads of left hand foreign cars in the UK mostly Polish plate numbers and these people tend to live here in the UK. Is that an issue driving left hand cars in the UK? I know that will pose a big problem at toll gates but apart from that, i see no other hindering factors.

[Micha_elD]

I drive several thousand miles a year across the channel, the only problems with having the wheel on the wrong size are the tolls as you mention, plus car parks, driving twisty roads gives you much worse visibility, and overtaking is much harder - you need to stick much more of the car into the oncoming traffic before you know you can overtake. None of these are a serious problem.

I suspect many of the foreign cars driven over here are to avoid UK road fund licence (road tax), and maybe to get away without paying speeding fines, congestion charge etc.

[Mcobinad]

Yes, you 've just made a point. The probable reason people drive foreign cars over here is probably to get away with speeding fines and congestion charges. It did happen to me the first time i came to the UK with my French car and the camera caught me driving on a congestion zone in London. The fine did not come to me because i had no registered Uk address on that car but as soon as i purchased the A8 and my wife used the car to go to work, she unintentionally used the bus lane and was caught on the camera. Within few days, we received the fine at home and that was a welcome pack to the UK. I was given an option to pay immediately at a reduced amount or see the fine topple (X 2) in 2 weeks. I had no option than to pay.

Anyway, my quest for a W12 still continues. I have just seen one on Autotrader with 40,000 miles on the clock, black, full spec, sunroof but doubt if it's got a soft door close option. So far, the car has had only one owner since brand new. Am not sure what the warranty will be on that car. I will give them a call to enquire of the spec and the warranty. Take care!

[devine_nathan]

My warranty cost 700 as stated and so far in 6months they have covered £2700 including 2x wear and tear claims.

out of the 4 items claimed for 3 were initially denied.

after a few stern phone calls and emails they were then approved.

they will try to deny anything, but as long as you know the terms and conditions you can use them to your advantage.

this includes top arms/track rod ends/bluetooth MMI/boot motor

the warranty i had before that covered seatbelt buckles/engine mount/centre MMI controls/heater controls when they failed - this was over 3k too.

its a 53 plate car, the warranty has saved me a bundle.

buying a car that costs a fortune to fix when it goes wrong - get a warranty.

also the best car i ever owned (reliability wise) was a crash damaged Cat C Primera Se+

so a crash doesnt always mean a **** car.

[Mcobinad]

My warranty cost 700 as stated and so far in 6months they have covered £2700 including 2x wear and tear claims.

out of the 4 items claimed for 3 were initially denied.

after a few stern phone calls and emails they were then approved.

they will try to deny anything, but as long as you know the terms and conditions you can use them to your advantage.

this includes top arms/track rod ends/bluetooth MMI/boot motor

the warranty i had before that covered seatbelt buckles/engine mount/centre MMI controls/heater controls when they failed - this was over 3k too.

its a 53 plate car, the warranty has saved me a bundle.

buying a car that costs a fortune to fix when it goes wrong - get a warranty.

also the best car i ever owned (reliability wise) was a crash damaged Cat C Primera Se+

so a crash doesnt always mean a **** car.

Hello,

I appreciate this piece of information. I know some damaged vehicles are reliable but where the problem lies is the resale value which is next to nothing and even getting people to buy off the car from you is what poses problems to these damaged vehicles.

[Mcobinad]

@Micha_elD,

This is my car which i sold 3 weeks ago. It has now appeared on Ebay auction. This is the link http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/03-AUDI-A8-4-2-V8-QUATTRO-FACELIFT-FRONT-SAT-NAV-/180640821068?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item2a0f082f4c#ht_1273wt_1106

[Micha_elD]

How does the price compare with what you got for the car?

[Mcobinad]

How does the price compare with what you got for the car?

@Micha_elD,

I got £3,700 for that car for only 78,000 miles on the clock. Now i don't know how much the car will go for. At the moment it's bidding for £4.310. Honestly, that car has got loads of problems. The reason i closed my eyes on that price and the fact that i wanted to get rid of a cat D car. The wood gear knob was purchased separately from an Audi dealer as soon as i bought it and also the Audi parking system plus was fixed for me by craiby in manchester. I also left in the glovebox the AMI ipod connection which i purchased at an Audi dealership for £450. Infact, i left too many things in the car. The only thing i recovered was the rear light facelift 2008 which i sold separately to a friend in France. Within few months of ownership, i spent too much money on that car.

[tonywilliams]

I have a 4.0 tdi which does a 3 mile journey to work and 3 miles home again every day, I seem to average around 20-22 mpgdepending on traffic and the engine temprature neadle dosen't even get off the rest. I do however do lots of longer journeys which is why I opted for the tdi, on longmotorway runs I seem to be able to average between 37 and 40mpg depending on speed

IO think the choice of petrol or diesel depends on your situation and journeys you make.

A slight update, I've stopped doing the longer journeys the last couple of weeks and probably for a while so now I have a problem. Startig the 4.0 diesel engine and running it for no more then 10 minutes before switching it off again has caused my battery to start to go flat, infact the cars gone into power saving mode so several features have stopped working. I put a multimeter across the battery to see the state of charge and then switched the engine on to make sure the reading went up whioch it did, at least I know the alternator is working. Luckily tomorrow I've got a 4 hour round rtrip to make which should give the battery plenty of time to charge.

[Micha_elD]

@Micha_elD,

I got £3,700 for that car for only 78,000 miles on the clock. Now i don't know how much the car will go for. At the moment it's bidding for £4.310. Honestly, that car has got loads of problems. The reason i closed my eyes on that price and the fact that i wanted to get rid of a cat D car. The wood gear knob was purchased separately from an Audi dealer as soon as i bought it and also the Audi parking system plus was fixed for me by craiby in manchester. I also left in the glovebox the AMI ipod connection which i purchased at an Audi dealership for £450. Infact, i left too many things in the car. The only thing i recovered was the rear light facelift 2008 which i sold separately to a friend in France. Within few months of ownership, i spent too much money on that car.

The important thing is that you sold the car and now its someone else's problem. If its a dealer selling the car, he will have to put a warranty on it, and he has to make a living, so you've not done too badly.

[GlynC]

Its always worrying buying a used car
I have just bought my A8 and whilst I got her for a decent price I am having some paintwork corrected as it would appears a smart fix was used on a few scuffs. Nothing major thank god! And so far eveything seems to be working.
From what I have seen the A8 has a good rep, compared to 7 series.. S class and the last Jag D where the engines have given major issues.
He says keeping fingers crossed :p

[Micha_elD]

It fairly comforting to see the number of A8s that have done colossal miles, 160k seems to be the point where some people change them, so there always seem to be a few around with that mileage or more

[Mcobinad]

Its always worrying buying a used car
I have just bought my A8 and whilst I got her for a decent price I am having some paintwork corrected as it would appears a smart fix was used on a few scuffs. Nothing major thank god! And so far eveything seems to be working.
From what I have seen the A8 has a good rep, compared to 7 series.. S class and the last Jag D where the engines have given major issues.
He says keeping fingers crossed :p

Wish you all the best with your newly acquired A8. Some are problematic especially the first D3 phase 03-04 with electronic bugs which was corrected in the 05-06 models. They are pretty decent cars even if i had a lemon one. Will definitely come back on this forum. For now, am taking my time to find the right spec and W12 is the only one appealing to me at the moment.

[Micha_elD]

Its definitely worth waiting until the right car comes along. I took months of searching AutoTrader to find the right one for me.

W12s tend to be very well equipped, with many of the things that were options on the A8 being standard on the W12.

I went through the options list to decide which were essentials, which were nice to have, and which weren't important to me, so I had to have TV, adaptive cruise, power boot etc., Then I used the keyword search in AutoTrader to help find the car

Good luck in your search.

[Mcobinad]

Its definitely worth waiting until the right car comes along. I took months of searching AutoTrader to find the right one for me.

W12s tend to be very well equipped, with many of the things that were options on the A8 being standard on the W12.

I went through the options list to decide which were essentials, which were nice to have, and which weren't important to me, so I had to have TV, adaptive cruise, power boot etc., Then I used the keyword search in AutoTrader to help find the car

Good luck in your search.

Hello Micha_elD,

Yes, the more i look on Autotrader website, the more impatient i become. Again, the lovely weather these days makes it interesting to want to be in an A8 chilling. lol. To be honest, i have learnt a lot being on this forum. The forum has helped to pinpoint important elements to look out for before buying a car. The issue of HPI checking the car will be the first thing no matter how well packaged and appealing they are.

In the W12, you are right, they normally come well packaged. But i want Alcantara, Power soft close, power boot, AAC for cruising on the motor way, 4 zone climate control, sunroof (a must) for French weather, Paddle shift on steering wheel, lumbar support for the rear seats, Finger-print recognition, Folding mirrors, double glazed windows, automatic sun visor for rear passengers, welcome home-link and 20 inch alloy wheels with pirelli or Michelin tyres preferably. Infact, the list may continue. The funny thing is that my previous A8 had almost all of the mentioned options. Crazy isn't it? But again, options are least important if the main car has issues all the time.

Am looking at 05-06 W12 models because the 07 ones are a little bit out of my price range. I definitely want a car that will come with at least 1 year included warranty. Do you think Audi dealership will be the right choice? I believe Audi does not sell cars over 5 years of age. If i turn to a reliable independent garage which sells of course prestigious cars to begin with, can i buy my future car there with a one year warranty? Or do i need to buy separately a warranty? Am getting things confused in my head these days.

Apart from Autotrader, is Pistonheads a good car website or are their cars just overpriced? I just saw this one on Ebay but the options are very limited. But the price is not bad at all. Here is the link http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/AUDI-A8-L-QUATTRO-6-0-W12-AUTO-450-BHP-FULL-SPEC-2005-/130499308022?pt=Automobiles_UK
This one looks well packaged in options but it does reflect a well packaged price as well. Here is the link http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/AUDI-A8-6-0-QUATTRO-LWB-/150544272045?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item230d234aad#ht_3667wt_974. Anyway hope to read from you. Cheers!;)

[Micha_elD]

I think Autotrader and Pistonheads are comparable, they just tend to focus on different markets, pistonheads has loads of performance cars, less on luxury, Autotrader has less performance and more of everything else. It pays to check every source.

On the options, mine has the solar sunroof, which is an interesting option, in bright sunlight it powers the fans to keep the car cool. But I never find much reason to open the sunroof, it just messes up the AirCon.

Having the right options is important to me, I love toys in cars, but its less important to some people, I'd wait months to get the right one, because its really difficult to retrofit options that you want, but lots of people don't even know what their car has.

Some of the options you mention are probably standard on W12s, e.g. double glazing, folding mirrors, paddles. I'm not bothered about homelink, its very rare, and I just put my remote garage fob in the door pocket and press it there

Don't know that an Audi dealer is any better than any reputable dealer, I bought mine from Oscar Goldman, an audi specialist, but not a main dealer. He really knows his A8s, that seems to be all he sells. It was a 400 mile round trip to look at the car, but worth it.

[Mcobinad]

I think Autotrader and Pistonheads are comparable, they just tend to focus on different markets, pistonheads has loads of performance cars, less on luxury, Autotrader has less performance and more of everything else. It pays to check every source.

On the options, mine has the solar sunroof, which is an interesting option, in bright sunlight it powers the fans to keep the car cool. But I never find much reason to open the sunroof, it just messes up the AirCon.

Having the right options is important to me, I love toys in cars, but its less important to some people, I'd wait months to get the right one, because its really difficult to retrofit options that you want, but lots of people don't even know what their car has.

Some of the options you mention are probably standard on W12s, e.g. double glazing, folding mirrors, paddles. I'm not bothered about homelink, its very rare, and I just put my remote garage fob in the door pocket and press it there

Don't know that an Audi dealer is any better than any reputable dealer, I bought mine from Oscar Goldman, an audi specialist, but not a main dealer. He really knows his A8s, that seems to be all he sells. It was a 400 mile round trip to look at the car, but worth it.


Thanks for the quick reply. You have a good option regarding the solar sunroof which i didn't have on my previous A8. You see, i searched carefully to get an A8 with a solar sunroof but to no avail whereas the standard A8 D3 in France all come with solar sunroofs. I think because the weather in the UK is not as clement as the one in France. The reason people tend to go for cars without with the exception of fews who remember that summer exists.

There is no rush at the moment for a car. Disappointment was the result for being impatient with my previous A8. It's good news to know that some of the options i did mention above are mostly standard on W12s. Am someone who loves to retrofit gadgets, toys etc. They cost an arm and a leg to fit and waiting for the right spec one will be reasonable. My future projects will be to retrofit AMI if it hasn't got one, IPAD entertainment for my twin boys , Audi telephone conversion to bluetooth, MMI update to 3D(Bird-view), S8 06 front bumper + Foglight mesh (Aggressive look), 2008 Led rear light, W12 2009 horizontal frontal grill. I have actually priced up these items at an Audi ******* and they are quoting me £2000. But they will offer me 20% discount. I think Richter Sport does the AMI retrofit. I have the intention of keeping this car 4 to 5 years hence the reason for all the necessary toys. The more i wait, the more i dream and say but ONEDAY!

[Micha_elD]

I've done a few upgrades, and have a few more on their way. So far have installed MMI 5570, 3D maps, Reversing Camera, and towbar. Also removed the 155mph limit, and unlocked the TV to work at any speed up to 250mph!

Everything I use for upgrading is genuine Audi, but often using secondhand parts to keep the price manageable

These are really good cars to work on, everything is so well engineered

[Mcobinad]

I've done a few upgrades, and have a few more on their way. So far have installed MMI 5570, 3D maps, Reversing Camera, and towbar. Also removed the 155mph limit, and unlocked the TV to work at any speed up to 250mph!

Everything I use for upgrading is genuine Audi, but often using secondhand parts to keep the price manageable

These are really good cars to work on, everything is so well engineered

Did you add the reversing camera or is it the Audi parking system plus? For your MMI update, do you do it by yourself or do you pay a professional to do it for you? When i did the MMI update 3D map 5570, i travelled to Hatfield Audi to catch up with Craigby of Manchester for the update although i paid £160.00 for it. The thing is that most people who own an A8 will do most things for themselves to save money. Am not just that type of person. I prefer a professional who knows what he's doing to handle it than do it by myself and worsen matters. I would love to do these modifications by myself but am afraid of the later consequences if things go wrong. I have a friend who did a Cambelt change by himself whereas i paid MK Audi £1020 to do it for me. Audi will always exaggerate matters by telling you that it's a 3 hours job to dismantle the front end before gaining access to the interior. These are things i want to learn to do by myself in order to curtail expenses. This is why expenses become colossal in the long run.

[Micha_elD]

I added the genuine Audi reversing camera that became available from 2007 onwards, it involved a number of new modules and new rear handle etc. plus updating the MMI. Quite a big job

The MMI upgrade I did myself, the discs cost about £3.50 from Audi, ridiculously cheap, but the service engineer did bring them out to me to ask if I really knew what I was doing with the discs.

If CraigyB charged you £160, that would have been for the 3d Satnav disc, they are very expensive from Audi, mine was secondhand from ebay.

I'm an IT person, so understand what is involved in firmware upgrades, and feel comfortable doing all the electronics. I can do the mechanical stuff too, but don't bother, actually, the car has never needed anything apart from normal servicing, but if the job is likely to be cold and dirty, then someone else can do it!

[Mcobinad]

@Micha_elD,

Thank you for the precise piece of information. Please can you tell me the cost of a year's tax on the W12? Does it have a frugal consumption compared to it's younger brother the classic 4.2?

[Micha_elD]

The road tax is probably the same as the 4.2, which is £420. Seems a lot, but my 1st year tax on the Aston was £950! ouch

I don't know about the fuel consumption, but its likely to be very poor, which is why the W12 depreciates so fast. The 4.2 averages about 20 on a 8 mile trip to work, but its the accelerating that uses fuel on these heavy cars, so on a motorway its almost 30, the average since I bought the car is 22.

[Mcobinad]

The 4.2 averages about 20 on a 8 mile trip to work,

Is it pretty good to average 20MPG on a 8 mile trip to work or is it excessive? I noticed that when i travelled long distances on the the motor way Mk to Dover & Calais to Paris, i fill up the car once until i get to France and i still have petrol left. But when i use the car around town, i keep filling up every 3 days:crying:

[Micha_elD]

The worst it ever does is a cold start, 1.5 mile round trip to the shops. Then it show 8mpg! I try to walk for that journey now ...

Cold starts and acceleration are the thing that uses fuel on these cars, running at a steady speed, anywhere between about 50 - 80, it seems to do around 30mpg, but go into town and traffic lights, roundabouts, and slow drivers really cost.

Slow drivers are becoming a real problem, they go at 30mph in a 60 limit, because their car is economical at that speed, but the Audi won't go into 6th gear until it reaches about 45mph, so anything below 45 is wasting time and money.

[tonywilliams]

The road tax is probably the same as the 4.2, which is £420. Seems a lot, but my 1st year tax on the Aston was £950! ouch

I don't know about the fuel consumption, but its likely to be very poor, which is why the W12 depreciates so fast. The 4.2 averages about 20 on a 8 mile trip to work, but its the accelerating that uses fuel on these heavy cars, so on a motorway its almost 30, the average since I bought the car is 22.

That's pretty impressive, I average about 22-25mpg round town and about 40mpg on long runs with the 4.0tdi, makes me wonder if the tdi was worth the extra money, I've also had to sacrafice the nice petrol v8 pur.



Slow drivers are becoming a real problem, they go at 30mph in a 60 limit, because their car is economical at that speed, but the Audi won't go into 6th gear until it reaches about 45mph, so anything below 45 is wasting time and money.

I agree with you totally, I seem to spend so much time stuck behind them which means I spend more on fuel then I want to even in a tdi.

[fourwh33ldrive]

Hi I'm just wanting to let you know that we had a 2003 A8 4.2 petrol and was the best car I'd ever had. If I could afford another one I'd have the exact same but change colour. We took her all around Europe and she just purred like a kitten without missing a beat. As with most Audi's she did use a wee drop oil, but I'm told they're designed this way. I managed to average over 4500 miles journey a return of 25mpg, and I can tell you over there I wasn't hanging around!!! They a just beutiful cars to look at, and when she was all polished up an clean she turned heads too, coz you can't really miss them coz of the amount of presence on the road they have. As for power she could certainly move when asked and sounded superb too, although because of the double glazed side windows and all the rest of the sound proofing you really had to give gas to hear her too, which I'm sure is a better sound for those outside as your driving past them..! Overall tho we did encounter some electrical issues, which Audi sorted out under warranty back then, and this was a few years ago mind. Also because of the electric motorised handbrake I got into the habit of not using it too much, which resuted in it requiring rear discs, pads, caliper, and motor, so if you did eventually buy one top tip, use the handbrake all the time to keep it moving, more so in the summer when it's dry. Apart from all that she was an amazing motor, and well worth the pennies that cost to drive her around, in absolute sheer comfort and style. Hope this helps mate.