JayMcS

I'm considering purchasing a 1997 A8 with hot/cold packages that has 106,000 miles. I've driven 6 A8s over the last few months and this one drives tight as drum. The car has a packet of service receipts totaling about 7K$ . The paint is flawless and the black leather gut looks brand new. The front tie rod ends were done at 70K and it has new goodyear tires with about 5K miles on them. The TB and water pump service were done at 90K miles ( 4500 clams ) . I used the audipages.com checklist to review each car that I've looked at .

My primary concern is the transmission trouble reports on this forum. The transmission pan has been replaced 2x on this car, at about 40K and 70K miles. Am I incorrect in assuming that having the fluid changed 2x over the life of this car will minimize the likelyhood that this car will have the dreaded tranny problems .

Another part of my thinking on this car is that with the major service done , new front end parts and tires , that this car should go another 60 - 80K miles without big trouble.

Am I nuts to consider an A8 with 100K miles ?

Thanks

jay

ohbw

The car can run 250K easily if it's well maintained. If this car had tranny service at 40K and 70K, it's a rare car! And that would bode well for tranny life. Sounds like it's been very well maintained, and if the price is right, it oughta be a good car.

I've had my 99 a little over two months, and I've never been happier I bought a car.

JayMcS

Thanks. The last 2 tranny service incidents were due to transmisssion pan leaks. In both cases , the service provider replaced the tranny pan , gaskets, filters, fluid. Since the tranny pan is not currently leaking after 30K miles , I can assume that the block doesn't have issues that lead to tranny pan gasket failure.


When I first drove and inspected the car . All seemed perfect until I dropped the belly pan and found 2 oil leaks. I reviewed all the posts on oil/fluid leaks and scared myself away from looking at Audi's for 2 months. In that time, the car still has not sold. I checked with the owner and he had the car serviced and the leaks fixed. I'm going to drive it this weekend , check for leaks, tranny hunting issues ,

Anything else I should check outside of the audipages buyers guide ( thanks paulw ) .

BMWho?

Ditto. I cannot say enough gr8 things about my a8

JayMcS

I'll buy the bently and perform basic service and repair myself but I will definitely need a service ship to do allignments and stuff that requires special tools

I'll be dumping a 170K mile 100CS quattro for short money soon ( 2K ) Black, Tan leather , new tires , needs struts.

BMWho?

try New England forum. blusilvr has an a8

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So if you are nuts - you are certainly in good company! :-)

I am a car nut. As you can see from my signature, I have 6 different cars, some are quite interesting (Rare big block Vette roadster) some mundane (my 2002 Tahoe for example).

I also have an affinity for fine wine, watches, firearms, etc.

I love my Audi. It's one of my favorite cars to drive. I am as passonate about my A8 as any of the cars in my stable. In fact, if I could only keep one car to drive everyday in any weather it would have to be the A8 hands down.

I have driven 740 BMW, LS400 Lexus, and Jag. The A8 just feels right. I knew the second I sat in the car that I was in the right place. This forum is a tremendous resource and is *free* with the purchase of any Audi....

The weakest link is the tranny, but at worst you'll have a little hunting - not like the tranny in the Chrysler minivans that self-destruct and leave you stranded. Great minds are at work on the hunting issues and we will have a fix very soon.

I say if you love the car - get it.

JayMcS

Thanks for the counselling. I'm new to posting but have been reading all the posts for months. Here's a little anecdote that impacts my thinking. Imagine if you will , I'm driving my 1983 Audi 5000 in 1987 and an older lady pulls up next to me at a light and says "You have fire coming out of your exhaust pipe".
The car was running on low power and I knew something was wrong but had no idea that the ignition timing was so retarded that it was firing with the exhaust valve open. Needless to say I toasted my valve guides and 1000 miles later I was sending great clouds of blue smoke into the atmosphere.

Since i had no money at the time, I pulled the head myself, sent it out for new valve guides. Since I had the engine open , I did the rings and rod bearing and then put the whole thing back together with no parts left over. It cost me about 300 at the time , and the dealer wanted 3k$. That was my first experience with audi repairs.

I have a 100CS quattro that has 75% of its feature set left.

My 1999 Suburban LT 4x4 has 95K and is a big smoothie with lots of power.

I have a 72 2002 in my backyard getting moldy and waiting for me to rescue it.

I bought my son a 1993 Lincoln Town car that my dad owned since new. That car is a puff to drive and with 260HP and a digital dash. Its a blast to drive when you hold 2nd gear up to 75MPH .

I think a W12 Pheaton is the only thing above an A8 that I lust after. If the A8 I'm looking at passes a second more carefull screening , I'm going to write a check and take it home.. and try to explain to my wife and neighbors whey I bought another car when I already own 4 and have a company car .

Shoot me.

ohbw

I've never seen anything like this in 30 years of being a car guy: a significant number of leading automotive journalists call a car "The Best Car in the World" year in and year out, yet because it doesn't scream bling, the market doesn't value it, and you can buy it cheap.

What's not to love about that equation?

JayMcS

I just read the december posts about the tranny problem reports. Some advocate to stay away from the 97's but a good friend has put 80K miles one ( he bought at 60K ) and I drove 2 2000 models that had the hunting problem.

I recall one picture of an A8 tranny opened up wth sludge and filings on the pan magnets so thick the magnets looked like porcupines. The "lifetime" tranny fluid claim might be a marketing ploy to appeal to buyers frugality in spite of the fact that these folks pay 70 - 80K for the car !

I'm beginning to think that a 97 100K mile car that is has had lots of service/maintenance ( front end, TB, WP, seals , etc ) is a better deal than spending 15 - 20 K for a 1999 with 60 - 80K miles car that has that 7K of service pending.