barryl

Hello,

I guess it all depends on how many headaches you get, vs the
joy you'll get from driving the car. I bought my 99 A8 in August.
It has 70K miles. Things wrong with it:

driver side seat headrest does not work (motor works, but head
rest does not move). This appears to be a very common problem
driver side lumbar adjustment does not work. Again, motor works,
but bar does not move
driver side seat heater doesn't work
heated steering wheel probably doesn't (it hasn't been cold enough
to really check, but I doubt it works)
valve cover gasket leaked on driver side of engine (another common
problem)
both breather hoses have cracked.
rear drive seal is leaking - again, common problem

So most of the problems are annoyances instead of real issues.
I have fixed the valve cover gasket and the breather hoses.
I will get the rear leak fixed soon. I will probably ignore the
seat issues.

The car drives and rides fantastic. Last week I drove from my
hous on Long Island NY to Lime Rock Park in CT, and back again.
The trip is about 150 miles each way, with about 1/2 of them on
wonderful backroads. The car was an absolute delight to drive
on the backroads. Handling was great, more than enough grip
and performance for the circumstances (I don't want to go too
fast and scare people). Plenty of power to pass when appropriate.
Then, on the highway, the car is comfortable, quiet, and smooth.
After a drive like that I know why I love this car. Granted, other
cars could provide a similar ride, but at what cost? And, would others
have quattro, 300 HP, etc.?

Barry

ryoung

.
Air from the radiator has only one way out -- alongside or around the exhaust manifolds, exhaust piping, and cats. If nothing else, the air flow would help to keep this very hot stuff from cooking other under-the-hood components. In any case, I don't think there would be any noticeable restriction caused by venting the air just a little further back under the car.

Maybe more of a problem is the fact that there's only a 2" gap between the outlet of the radiator fans and the front of the motor. I can believe that this does reduce air flow somewhat.

The bottom line, though, is that more heat exchanger surface area is needed. Since it's probably not practical to install a larger radiator, that leaves adding either an oil-to-air oil cooler or perhaps a transmission oil cooler. The existing oil and transmission coolers just dump their heat into a too small radiator.

neezer

Actually my extended warranty was HALF that of my buddy's '98 740i Bimmer. =)

Audi S5 TC

Does that mean your A8 had fewer problems than your friend's 1998 740i?

Egil A64.2s - S6

It does not follow that an individual's experience is better or worse but it speaks to the family.

neezer

If it's any conciliation, as awesome as the engineering of Porsches is, they are apparently not holding up well at all in extreme heat.

I don't know about Moscow and Helsinki, but in the Persian Gulf, they are apparently not holding up well at all. They are just not designed for the extreme heat and dusty whether you sometimes get. Friends of salespersons and dealers have been told to look elsewhere...not get a Porsche, rather an Audi or BMW.

Interesting. I am not sure about the 90s and 80s, but I don't recall hearing of this issue with Porsche over there back then.