Well I have purchased a replacement A8, here are the extras I have found so far and there are lots. The dealer really had no idea what he had, otherwise it would have been priced for a lot more. Previous owner was a doctor, he part exchanged it at a Mercedes main dealer, which is where the dealer I got from bought it.

Solar Sunroof

Bose surround sound

Audi phone in armrest, with sim card slot

4 zone climate control

Analogue TV

Electric boot open/close (not sure if this is extra)

ACC cruise control with widescreen DIS

Keyless go/entry with fingerprint reader

Comfort heated seats with driver/passenger memory

Front/rear parking sensors

19" wheels

Everything all seems to work as expected, and all the usual standard kit. Suspension all good, parking brake all good.

Now the bad bits.

Upon scanning with VCDS there were a lot of fault codes, however the car had been standing for a long time. The dealer has had the car for 12 weeks, he was waiting for the cherished plate to be transferred from the car before he sold it. The faults appeared to relate to low battery.

The exhaust has a slight blow from one of its joints, nothing serious (I hope) and did not cause the car to fail its MOT in August. The same advisory was on the previous MOT in 2011, so it seems to not be getting worse.

The car might need a new battery, after programming the fingerprint reader it will not start with the button as I get a battery management on the DIS. The battery level indicator is on less than 20%, voltage reads 11.8V with a multimeter but drops as soon as lights are turned on. I have driven it 35 miles, and maybe this is not enough time to put a decent charge back into the battery.

2 tyres need replacing, I am going to get the 18" RS6 wheels swapped from my D2 to the D3 for the time being.

It needs a good clean, its not bad just tidying.

Also unsure when cambelt was last changed, its on 128K miles. In theory it should have been changed at 75K, therefore not due again until 150K. I'll try and get in touch with where it was serviced to see if/when it was last done.

Pics ?

Pics ?

I'll get some up when I get a few minutes, its in perfect condition.

That's a lot of car you get for the money. I like the options list too.

Will be following this with interest. I'm fancying a TDI version with a similar spec to yours!

The Fault codes will most probably due to the low Battery. These are very sencertive to battery's more so than the D2.

It's the first thing the guys at work do is test with a new battery fitted, seems to cure most things especially if it's been standing for a while. If you have the facility to put it on charge, might be worth leaving it overnight.

Looking forward to the pics.

The battery has today been confirmed as OK, it just needs a good charge to get it sorted.

The slight exhaust leak has given the car a nice V8 burble but it really does need to be sorted.

Following on from my previous post, the battery has now been declared dead as it simply is not charging properly, the Halfords battery test must be very basic. The tester used on it today run through a series of simulated scenarios and it failed all but one of them.

 

Whilst starting, the battery voltage dropped to 7 volts and did not really recover as quickly as it should, so it only has a fraction of its original starting current available.

if the battery isn't being charged properly it could be a break in the dfm wire from the ecu, the alternator has an ecu controlled field current for charging which is dependant on load etc and when it goes open circuit it gives the illusion that the alternator isnt charging even though it's fine..

 

lovely cars those a8's, pure fun to drive, super luxuray, and they go like a scalded greyhound

 

edit; you may be able to do an output test in vcds to manually turn on the dfm to 100% to check it's chargin correctly.

The tester today also checked the charging circuit, and it passed with flying colours. 14.5V into the battery at idle.

you'll have to save up for a new battery then

£127 inc. VAT and fitting, for a VARTA so not bad.

 

Next it's tyres and Cambelt, now that's where the money goes. Tyres are 255/40x19 and start at £120 each at the cheap end, upto £270 each or more for premium.

 

Cambelt, £600 or so, including tensioners and water pump.

 

Then the bank 1 exhaust flexi joint needs to be cut out and replaced with an aftermarket one, since the current one has a hole in it.

Think I missed this as I have been away a while....

 

What happened to the old one? :think:

The old one, its still parked outside my house on farmland declared SORN and uninsured.

 

I'll put up some pictures of both of them together, when I am eventually at home in daylight. The new one is so much better put together, but also has a lot more that is expensive to fix if it goes wrong. The worst of these to fix is the adaptive air suspension, if one of the air struts fails I am looking at £600 for an exchange unit or £4K for a new one from Audi. You do only need to replace the failed one, although I am hoping to never need that but you need to budget for it. The air compressor is located down low in behind the bumper, so its exposed to water, stones and everything else. £££ to replace that as well.

 

The new car really is worth more in bits than as its whole, I can get more than I paid for the whole car just by selling the suspension.

 

Anyway, battery now replaced, so we are back in business.

 

PS, anyone want to buy a 2001 Audi A8 with 191K miles on the clock....

if I didn't need an estate for the dogs then an A8 would be near the top of my list for my next car. Look forward to seeing some pics

Work outstanding on the new A8, to be completed in priority order below (with estimated costs) as funds allow.

 

1) Cambelt/Tensioners/Water pump/aux belt Change - Quoted £800

2) Replace all four tyres, £140 each

3) Fix Exhaust system leak , £unknown, needs new flexi joint.

 

I'll not be doing much before the new year due to workshops being closed.

I know, I know still no pictures.

 

Car is now booked in its cambelt to be changed at a local VAG independent I can trust, the same place that did all the work on my previous A8.

 

I will get some pictures up this weekend, since for one it will be daylight when I see the car.

Sorry its taken a while, but here are some pictures. I'll do some better ones when the weather is better, these give you an idea.

 

Today I have been underneath the car, and have seen where the exhaust is leaking from, basically it needs the flexi joint cutout and a repair part installed. The rest of the underside is in good order with no issues.

Edited 21 November, 20178 yr by mannyo
fix pictures

Real jealous mate!

 

I wanted one a while back!

 

But still not sold on the later generations.

Still love the 90s one - maybe just me being old - lol

 

Not fancy an S8 then?

Any pics of front?

Get chrome mirror casing?

I just took those this evening, it needs a good clean really.

I just took those this evening, it needs a good clean really.

Silver looks clean enuff! :-)

Lovely car.

 

Prefer it to the D2 and the spec is very nice.

 

Is there much difference with the engine to the old one?

 

Phil

Engine looks fairly similar, same CC capacity at 3967cc, but there are some minor differences. Some components are mounted differently, and there is no engine cover as such. This engine develops 20BHP more than the D2, so 280BHP and in the D3 it is linked to a six speed auto box as opposed to the 5 speed in the D2. At 70MPH both are doing less than 2K RPM, so the top gear is about the same with closer ratios between.

 

I'll post up some comparison pictures, I still have both cars. The D3 is much taller than the D2, and as such does not really look as big as it is.

 

Sound system is biggest difference, the D3 is a whole new league with speakers everywhere which includes a large subwoofer on the rear deck (pictured). The D3 has 3 speakers in the dash (L + Centre + R), then in each door there are 2 speakers, then the subwoofer and two other speakers on the rear deck (L + R). The system is LOUD, and has bass you can truly feel.

I rather like that!

Here a couple of the front end.

Edited 21 November, 20178 yr by mannyo